Page 29 of Ravaged By Lust

I nod as I take off the guitar case from off my back. “Yep.”

“I love that. God damn, you’re so freaking talented. What’s it like becoming internet famous?”

“Pretty crazy, if I’m honest. I wouldn’t call myself famous.”

“I’ve heard about you, so that certainly counts for something.”

“I guess so,” I reply.

“What are you doing in Los Angeles, then? Why aren’t you back home celebrating and getting drunk and having an orgy?” he asks me.

“Well, I’m making my dreams a reality, thanks to the boost coming from the video.”

“You go, girl. That’s what I love to hear.”

I blush. “Thanks, Gary.”

“You can have my room. I call it my dungeon. It’s bigger than my spare room.”

His room is no dungeon at all.

“I can’t take your room, Gary. It’s too nice, and I’m your guest. You can’t sleep in the spare room.”

“I insist. There are only a few times in life when some talented person who’s about to launch into the stratosphere stays at your place. I want you to feel welcome in my city and take all that stress out of your life. I want to facilitate your stardom, and then I’ll be able to ride on the coattails of your success for many years, Chloe. It’s purely selfish on my part.”

I giggle. “Right.”

“I want to say on dates as your songs play in the background of the bar that I knew that girl. She stayed in my bedroom, not merely my spare room but in my actual bed.”

“You’re funny, Gary.”

“Darling, you haven’t even properly met me yet. What are you doing tonight?”

I shrug. “I dunno. Maybe some practice. Unpack. Unwind.”

Gary points a finger at me. “No way. A girl like you who’s just gotten her first whiff of internet success? I’m going to take you out tonight. I’m going to get you drunk.”

9

BISHOP

Drake doesn’t say a thing to me until we’re a twenty minutes drive away from Axel and Maddie’s. It’s only then, when infuriated by his silence, that I finally bite the bone and bark at my friend and bandmate.

“What is it?”

Drake just smiles at my outburst and puts his foot down on the gas, speeding his Ferrari along the winding highway.

“Nothing.”

I can’t contain another outburst.

“Don’t you dare smirk at me, asshole.”

“It was funny watching you with Chloe,” he says calmly, infuriating me even more. “You really tried all your moves on her, didn’t you? And yet, none of them worked. Hilarious.”

“Oh, I’m not afraid of beating your ass,” I retort with a huff. “Even if you are driving.”

Drake chuckles and I mumble obscenities under my breath and try to focus on the LA scenery zooming past us.