And BTW, just in case you missed the announcement, Ian Somerhalder is no longer Acton Black. Casted as Acton Black is now the extremely sexy and extremely greek, Alexis Papas.
***
When I woke up the next morning, I couldn’t help but smile. I was lying on my back, and Acton was facing me, though sleeping, with one arm wrapped around my waist. His hair was messed up, and I grinned knowing that I was the one who did it. I had to admit, Acton was very, very good in bed. But that wasn’t the only thing I liked about him.
While Acton slept, his face took on a relaxed, innocent look, compared to his cocky, hardened look he wore during the day.
Glancing at the clock on the night stand, I saw that it was already eleven o’clock, and we were supposed to be on the road by noon. Gasping, I shot out of bed, fumbling with the sheets because I was tangled up in them. I rushed into the bathroom, desperately needing a shower after all of the sweating I did last night. Once the shower water was ready, I jumped in, washing my hair under the cool spray of water. I felt lethargic, all of my energy had been used up last night, and the little sleep Acton and I had gotten was not enough to replenish me.
Amidst the sound of the running water, I heard the door of the bathroom open and saw Acton’s shadow through the curtain, which he soon whipped back and got into the shower with me.
“Good morning,” I said in a croaky voice, the aftermath of all the screaming I did last night. “How did you sleep?”
Acton just grinned at me, pulling me in by the waist. “Wonderful. Had a few dreams.”
“About what?”
He leaned down to growl in my ear, “Flipping you on your stomach while I fucked you from behind, among many other positions.”
My face flushed as I remembered. “That wasn’t a dream.” I had lost count of how many times we had made love last night. Minimum had to be five. Acton and I were both insatiable in bed. I had to admire how quick he was. He hardly needed five minutes before he was hard and ready for another round. My body was deliciously sore from our lovemaking, several love bites were located all over my body, on my chest, my neck, my thighs, everywhere. And I loved every single second of it.
“I know,” he said, squirting some soap onto his hands. He placed his hands on my breasts, and my hands stopped where they were, tangled in my hair. He rubbed my breasts, pinching the nipples and making me cry out. They were even more sensitive this morning because of all the attention they had gotten last night. “And now I want to try another position.”
He kissed me under the shower of water, the water making our skin slick and wet. I gasped as he continued to rub his hands against my skin, all over my body, before picking me up and trapping me against the wall, forcing my legs to wrap around his waist to stay up. We didn’t need words as he slipped inside of me, making me cry out because I was so sore from the night before, but it was pleasurable, and we soon started moaning. His movements were lazy, since we had both just woken up, but each thrust still sent a wave of pleasure through me.
The water pelted our bodies, adding to the simulation. I wrapped my arms around him as he held me close, panting as I whispered, “I love you.”
“Love you too,” he gasped, thrusting into me with more purpose. I clenched my inner muscles around him, making him growl. “What are you doing? Ugh, Princess,” he moaned, nuzzling his nose into my neck and licking me, making my head go back to give him more access. “I can’t get enough of this.”
“I’m almost there,” I told him, writhing my hips against him in an effort to push him into me deeper. “Fuck me, Acton,” I groaned, feeling the pleasure build up. Our bodies slapped against one another, and his thrusts became faster, animalistic and almost frantic as we reached our release.
“Come for me, baby. Cream all over my fucking dick,” he growled, and I immediately came from his words. I liked the naughty words he said as he thrust into me. I cried out in ecstasy, the pleasure he gave me was better than any drug, and dug my fingers into his back. I clenched my pussy around him, trying to get him to come with me.
He bit down on the side of my neck, making me moan again, and he came, shooting his seed inside me. He stayed inside me for a little while, before pulling away and helping me to stand on the wet tiles again. I wobbled a bit, my knees felt as though they were made of jelly. We exited the shower, and Acton quickly found the biggest, fluffiest towel and dried me off. He took his sweet time, and before wrapping me up in the towel, he pressed a kiss to my pussy before kissing me on the lips. “Good morning, Princess,” he murmured, smiling.
I decided that that was how I wanted to be woken up every morning.
***
When we regrouped the next morning, we loaded the bus in the parking lot after eating breakfast. As soon as Acton and I walked across the blacktop, the rest of the band members turned to look at us. “Oh, my God,” Ren practically squealed, putting on a show and running over to us to shake our hands in congratulations. “Congrats!”
“For what?” I asked, raising an eyebrow, but knowing why he was shaking our hands and wondering how he knew we had sex.
“You finally fucked him!” Ren said, winking at Acton.
“H—how can you tell?” I asked, utterly confused.
Acton leaned down to whisper in my ear. “Your hair… is still messed up. Your clothes are wrinkled, and the same thing you wore yesterday. Your body is covered in love bites. And your face is glowing from the releases you had last night,” he growled. “I’m two seconds away from whisking you away to the bus so they can’t look at your beautiful, freshly fucked body.”
My eyes widened and my blush spread across my face from embarrassment. “S—sorry.”
“Don’t apologize, Princess,” he whispered. “I’m not sorry one damn bit.”
A small smile spread across my face and I found myself reaching down to entwine my fingers with his. Acton froze, and his entire body tensed when he realized we were holding hands. I raised an eyebrow at him, and asked, “What’s wrong?”
He just swallowed and shook his head, and I could tell that he forced himself to relax and squeeze my hand to let me know he was okay. “Later,” he whispered, before breaking away from me to go and help the guys load the bus. I followed him, determined to pull my weight as well.
“So how many times?” Ren pressed on, and Nick groaned, not wanting to know about this aspect of my life.
My face flushed an even deeper shade of crimson, as I realized I was unable to answer the question.
“Somewhere around 9,” Acton took a wild shot in the dark, but thinking back, he wouldn’t be too far off of the mark.
“My God,” Ren murmured, winking at me. “You insatiable sex goddess.”
I bit my lip, trying to hide a smile. I couldn’t deny that I kind of liked that term.
“Well, I’m the sex god,” Acton growled, stepping forward in front of me protectively. “And the sex god asks you to kindly stop looking at his goddess before the sex god punches you in the face.” Acton always seemed to get protective when things concerned me and other men. I knew that some women found that a turn off, but I liked it.
“I didn’t know that gods referred to themselves in the third person,” Nick raised an eyebrow, taking Ren’s side.
“Well, this one does,” Acton literally growled at them.
“You guys about ready to get on the road?” our bus driver, Phil, asked us, checking off another checkpoint on his clipboard that had a rough outline of the tour schedule. Thank goodness he spoke up, because I had a feeling there was going to be yet another brawl between Nick and Acton, concerning me.
“Yeah,” Vance answered, writing some stuff on his own clipboard and going over to chat with Phil.
“What’s our next stop?” Acton asked no one in particular.
Vance looked down at his clipboard, and swallowed thickly. He froze when he saw the words, and soon Colt, Acton, Ren, and I had gathered around him and Phil. “Uh, it’s um… Nashville.”
One of the people in our circle audibly stopped breathing. I glanced over at Colton, who had paled like he had just seen a ghost.
“Colt, you’ll be fine. You won’t even see her,” Ren said, showing a compassionate side of him, but Colton didn’t answer him.
Colton closed his eyes instead, and just turned around and entered the bus without a word.
“Cara’s in Nashville, isn’t she?” I asked, recognizing that Colton only reacted that way when a situation concerned Cara.
“He gets like this every time we go to Nashville. Three years later, and he’s still torn up,” Acton murmured, wrapping an arm around my waist and pulling me into his side protectively. “She really did a number on him.”
“I thought they were only friends,” I murmured in question, not wanting to speak to loud because of the gravity of the situation.
“They were. But even a blind man could tell that Colton loved her, and she didn’t love him the same way.”
“He’s going to call her again,” Ren stated, running a hand through his hair.
“He wants her to come?”
Vance shook his head in pity, and Phil opened his mouth to speak. “Guys, I’m sorry, but we’ve got to get on the road if we’re going to get to Nashville in time. It’s about a four day trip to get down there.”
“Let’s get going then,” Vance said, and we all followed him onto the bus. It was like any good mood anyone had was put on a damper as soon as Vance had mentioned Nashville.
We all sat in the couch area of the bus as Phil started the bus up and we got on the road. No one tried to go search for Colton, I think we all knew that he needed to be alone for a while.
“I’m a bastard,” he whispered to me as we lay on the couch, me on top of him.
“What makes you say that?” I asked, squeezing his hand, urging him to continue.
“So many reasons,” he murmured, and his emerald green eyes, I could see, were filled with sadness. “I—I took you from Colton. He liked you, and you were probably his best bet if he was ever going to move on from Cara. You’re sweet, beautiful, sexy, smart—I don’t deserve you. Yet I got you anyway. I don’t know why Colton doesn’t hate me more than he already does. And— “ He closed his eyes as though he were in pain, like the thought he was thinking was the worst of all of his reasons. “When you took my hand this morning. I wanted to let you go. Instinct was to let you go, because I couldn’t handle this.” He gestured between the two of us, and I knew he meant our relationship.
“Your instinct is to run,” I murmured, pulling away from him. I needed to know how he felt about this relationship.
“N—no, I mean, yes,” he stammered, rubbing his face with his hand. “I don’t even know anymore.”
“Answer me this,” I said, and he perked up to listen to my words. “Did last night mean anything to you? Or was it all an act just to get me into bed with you?” I couldn’t hide the hurt in my words.
“Of course it did,” he answered, his eyes widened, incredulous. “How could you even ask that?”
“You’re trying to let me down easily. Well, you don’t need to, Acton. If you want to end this,” I gestured between the two of us, mocking his earlier comment, “End it now. Or I will.”
“No. No, no, no, baby, that’s not what I want. I just—“
“What? Acton, if you don’t want to let go of your bachelor qualities, then just end it,” I said, my words turning harsh. I was fighting to keep my voice down so Vance, Nick, and Ren couldn’t hear our conversation.
“Don’t you dare put words in my mouth,” Acton growled, furrowing his eyebrows at me and narrowing his eyes on me. “I never said that I wanted to break up. You are mine. I’m yours. I just don’t want to fuck things up like I have in the past.” With every word his voice rose, not caring that Nick, Ren and Vance were listening in. “I fucking love you. I’ve never—“ he cut himself off, realizing that he was about to say something he didn’t want to say in front of the guys. “Fuck. If Colt wasn’t in the back rooms…”
“I know,” I bit out, still upset. “I’m going to go talk to him.”
“Don’t—Please stay, Anya,” he begged me, pulling me down to him by my waist.
“I’m fine, Acton,” I assured him, my face softening as I took in his desperate, pleading face. Sighing, I leaned down to press a kiss to his lips. “I need to check on Colt, though. I think he’s about ready to talk to a friend.”
Acton sighed, gripping my hips tighter before letting me go. “You’re an angel. I can’t hold you back,” he murmured, “What did I do to deserve you, Princess?”
I giggled, and kissed him once more, at a loss for words, before leaving to open the door to the bunks.
***
Colton wasn’t in his bunk. I searched for him, but he wasn’t there. I paused for a second, to use my ears, and faintly heard quiet sobbing in the bedroom.
Lightly knocking, I tried to open up the door, but it was locked.
“Go away,” Colton said, but I could hear the emotion in his voice.
“Please Colton,” I begged him. “I just want to talk.”
I heard some shuffling and a loud sigh on the other side of the door before he opened up the door. “I’m sorry, Anya. I just—“ he cut himself off because he had to sniffle his nose.
“It’s okay, Colt,” I murmured, pulling him in for a hug. I always knew that Colton was a sensitive guy, but I didn’t know that he was this distressed after three years. He must have really loved Cara. Scratch that, I thought, he’s still in love with her.
“I’m such a fucking pussy,” he whimpered, sitting back down on the bed. “Excuse my language, please.”
“It’s fine, Colton. It’s what makes you likeable.” I offered him a smile, but he didn’t look up to meet my eyes.
“What? The swearing or the crying? Both seem like pretty bad qualities.”
“You don’t swear as much as the other guys. And the crying means that you’re sensitive. Women like that in a man.”
“You didn’t,” he whispered, and as much as I wanted to steer away from the topic of Colton and I, I knew he needed to talk about it.
“Maybe if I were more sensible, I would have gone with you, Colton. And I know that if I had, I would still be happy. You would make any woman happy, Colton.”
“Not when I’m like this. Fuck. I haven’t gotten laid in months,” he groaned, then blushed because he realized he was talking about this with me, a woman.
“It’s fine, Colton. Say what you need to say. I’m your friend, and I’m here to listen,” I assured him, encouraging him to open up.
“I couldn’t make her happy,” he whispered.
“Tell me more about her,” I said, genuinely wanting to know more about the woman that had gotten Cole strung up so tight.
A faint, ghostly smile shadowed his face. “She’s so short. Even shorter than you,” he whispered, as though he was describing her from a picture in his mind that was permanently embedded. “5 feet, 2 inches. I doubt she’s gotten any taller since she left. She hadn’t grown for the two years I’d known her before we went on the road.”
“She has the deepest, darkest red hair I’ve ever seen,” he said in awe, smiling when he recalled the memory. “It tended to curl into waves, but it was usually straight. But when it curled, it curled around her shoulder in the prettiest way. When she was shy or uncomfortable, she would tend to hide behind it as a way to protect herself.
“Her eyes a deep, dark blue, like the ocean. She’s was the most beautiful woman I’d ever met, and I fell in love with her instantly when I met her on the college campus the first day of our freshman year. She was curvy, shaped like an hourglass, like you, and the tops of her thighs touched, but I thought it was one of the sexiest things about her because she didn’t care.
“She loved to draw. She was at college for an art major, while I was majoring in musical arts. She would draw almost everything she saw. Birds, people, anything. So many times that first year we sat on the bench in the park, me listening to music and looking at the sky, her drawing the squirrels and trees and the people that walked by.”
Every word he spoke was breaking my heart. He could recall so much about her, even after three years. He hadn’t forgotten the small moments that many people wouldn’t deem important. Tears started to well up in my eyes, as they streamed down his face. His pain and heartache was so potent that I could taste it, and my heart broke for him.
“Her favorite band was Bowling for Soup. Even on while she was on the road with us, she never changed her opinion, but she told us she still loved our music. When she first left, I called her every single day, leaving messages for her. I texted her when I could. I did it every single day for a year, until her mother finally answered the cell and told me to stop because her daughter needed to heal. She hung up, but that didn’t quite stop me. I kept calling and leaving messages, but I didn’t do it every day. Gradually, I slowed down until I rarely called, only when I was in a bad place. She never answered. One time, when I was drunk in a hotel room last year in Nashville, I called her. I got out my guitar and sang for her, even though I knew she would never hear me. It was her favorite song, titled If Only. It was about a guy talking to a girl he liked on the phone, begging her to pick up and listen to him and see what a great guy he could be. It seemed to fit the situation. I knew I was talking to a wall, but I couldn’t give up.”
Colton sighed, and gradually, he was all cried out. By that point, we were tangled up in blankets, crying together. I tried desperately to stay strong, but I think I started crying even more than he was.
“She still never answered,” he finished his story, sighing. “And I’ve tried the one night stands, the meaningless hookups, but I could never find it in myself to be like Acton. He could leave one girl and jump to the next, no emotional attachment required. But I knew I wasn’t like that, and I couldn’t just women like that.
“When she was here, she only had eyes for Acton. She never seemed to realize that I was standing right in front of her, ready to sweep her tiny figure into my arms.”
“What can you do that will help you finally get over her?” I asked, hugging him tight.
“I don’t know. I think if I could see her, just once, to know that she’s okay and to finally say goodbye. I think that would either put me in a spot to move on, or it’ll shatter me entirely,” he answered honestly, rubbing his face and running a hand through his hair.
“Call her,” I suggested. “Invite her to the concert in Nashville this Friday. It can’t, and it probably won’t work, but at least you tried. And while we’re in Nashville, maybe we can track down where she lives and you can see her.”
I didn’t know if Colt would go for it, especially since it was so farfetched.
But he agreed, regardless. “Okay. It can’t hurt to try. I already know where she lives, as long as she’s still living with her parents.” He chuckled, licking his lips. “I can see her parent’s faces right now. They would absolutely shit their pants if I showed up on their doorsteps unannounced, looking for their daughter.” He looked down at his arms, which had tattoos on them, just as the other men in the band had tats littering their arms. “I’m not exactly parent material anymore.”
I offered him a small laugh and smile, and he fished out his phone from his pocket, dialing her number. I moved to get off the bed, but he held up his finger as the phone rang in his ear. “Please, stay,” he mouthed, and I realized that he still wanted moral support.
I nodded in assurance, and listened as the phone went to voicemail, which he was expecting, and he poured out his heart in a quick message to Cara, inviting her to the concert on Friday. When he was finished, he sighed. “It cut me off. I talked too long.”
I patted his shoulder. I wasn’t particularly good at comforting people, but I didn’t want to give up. I couldn’t stand to see someone hurting. “You left the main part of the message. Now, we just wait to see if she turns up.”
“She won’t,” Colton whispered, looking out the windows as the bus moved down the road. “But after this Friday, I’m going to finally snap out of it, whatever it takes. I can’t let her run my life anymore.”
“Good for you, Colton,” I murmured, smiling at him.
“I’m going to lay down for a while,” he whispered, though sadness still echoed in his voice. “I’ve got a headache from all that crying.”
“Okay,” I said, making sure he was okay before I left him to sleep and think about her. I didn’t think there was much more I could do. The rest, the ending to Cara and Colton’s story, was left up to him.
Entering the lounge area where the rest of the band was located, I moved to sit down next to Acton on the couch, but he grabbed my hips and positioned me on his lap. “How is he?” he asked me, rubbing circled on the tops of my thighs.
“I don’t know how he’s held up this long,” I answered, recalling the vivid pictures he created in my mind of her, and he had so many more memories than the ones he managed to paint in my head. “We both ended up sobbing.”
“Are you okay?” he asked me, his eyebrows furrowing in worry.
I nodded, resting my head on his shoulder, nuzzling my nose into his neck. “Yeah,” I murmured, “I’m fine. It’s just so sad.”
“Yeah,” he murmured, holding me tight to comfort me.
“No matter what happens, we won’t do that to each other. If we break up, we can’t torture each other like this,” I whispered, and he squeezed me in agreement.
“We won’t end. I won’t let you go. I won’t let this end.”
“I don’t want it to end,” I whimpered, running my fingers along the material of his t-shirt.
“We’ll talk about… earlier later, when we’re alone, okay? But when we do, I want us to keep calm and talk. Not yell or raise our voices,” he murmured, rubbing my back to comfort me. I fit perfectly next to him, and soon fatigue started to overwhelm my body. He was so comfortable, even though his body was hard and toned because of his muscles.
“Okay. I’m sorry I got angry,” I apologized.”
I felt Acton’s face stretch out into a small grin. “I’m sorry I was such a dumbass and made you worry like that. I’m not going to cower and do what I've done in the past, Anya. And if I do, feel free to slap me.”
I giggled, and whispered, “That sounds abusive. That’s not right either.”
“Sometimes, I need a good slap to get my head out of my ass. And you have just the right amount of power to do it correctly,” he murmured, continuing to rub my back even as I fell asleep curled up against him on his lap.
***
Happy Independence Day! I thought I'd update a bit early because of the holiday, and because I have an underlying guilt about not posting more often. There are only a few more chapters of No Curtain Call left. I hope you enjoyed! I hope to get the next chapter out in the next two weeks or so, it's almost written. Thank you for reading! Please vote and comment!
L.C.