A/N
I know. I know. I suck! Seriously, I am the worst. I promised more regular updates and I still left you hangin. PLEASE forgive me.
To make it up to you there will be two updates this week. That is if I still have any readers......
Any way, this is kind of filler and I don't love this part but I promise we are getting somewhere.
Comments are always appreciated and loved.
Love you all!!!
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Tommy POV
Finally! My fucking turn again.
Truth be told, we didn't have any fucking clue what to do with those boneheads.
We had no plan.
There was no "Operation Nashten," which by the day I still think is the best we could come up with.
I mean what else do we have? Sashten? Ashikki?
But that's beside the point.
Basically, we had fuck all.
No plan.
No good ship name.
Fuck all.
I knew they had been somewhat talking and figured we just needed to get them some one on one time. Even if it didn't result in them getting back together that night.
Stella's only mission was to make sure Ashten was dressed to kill. And it wouldn't hurt for Sixx to see her before they left the house for the evening.
And I may have accidentally slipped some of the details of that morning's conversation to Nikki. All the shit Ashten said about skipping the dating and courting stuff. I figured maybe he could use the information to his advantage.
The thing about Sixx not many people know is that despite the bad boy rockstar, womanizing pig reputation, he too, is a hopeless romantic. Maybe not as hopeless as me, but I've known him long enough to know he's good at the whole Casanova thing.
The dude can make panties drop like no other. It's beautiful. It's almost like watching an artist paint a masterpiece on a canvas.
And we needed panties to drop.
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Narrator
"I wasn't feeling that kick drum at first but I'm digging it now," James said through the recording studio intercom system. "Can you guys do that part one more time?
"Why? It sounded fine," Tommy whined.
"It sounds great," James agreed. "Just humor me and let me get one more down on tape."
Knowing Tommy was about to open his mouth in protest, Nikki intervened.
"It's for editing. You know that. It's not like this is the first time you've recorded or produced."
"Fine." Tommy threw the devil horns towards the booth. "But who's up for going out for a drink when we're done. I'm getting cabin fever."
"I am," James nodded
"I'm in," DJ chimed in.
"Pass," Nikki grunted, plucking the A string on his bass.
"You're going. Your birthday was yesterday. We're celebrating," Tommy declared, popping a piece if gum in his mouth.
"T-Bone, I don't feel like going out. And I've got too much to do."
It wasn't a lie. He had a bunch of email to go through and phone calls to make. Plus he was leaving the next morning to go see his grandfather in Idaho and hadn't packed yet.
"Tough shit. We got things to do."
"Like what?" Nikki struck another cord and twisted one of the tuning keys."
Tommy's response was interrupted by James's voice over the intercom.
"Uh, ladies? Are we gonna finish this or would you two rather just chit chat and braid each other's hair?
His comment was met with a laugh from DJ and middle fingers from the two Motley members.
Wisecracks and insults aside, they both took a few swigs of water and got back to it.
It had been a long studio day filled with laying down bass and drum tracks and Tommy's focus was quickly approaching expiration time. At best there was a ten minute window left in which they had at least an iota of his attention and if they wanted to finish their parts of the record that day every one of those seconds was critical.
To be fair, they'd made a lot of progress and were actually way ahead of schedule which is exactly what Nikki wanted to accomplish for the day. With his upcoming trip and then Christmas it would most likely be the last time they'd get any further on the album until after the new year.
They finished the take. Then did another one for posterity. As soon as the last note was played they each lit a cigarette and briefly discussed using a fade out in the track or ending it straight away. The chat ended abruptly when they heard laughter from the booth. The sound was comprised of masculine tones mixed in with a higher, sweeter, more melodic pitch.
Nikki's stomach plummeted to the ground.
He knew that laugh.
He had dreams about that laugh.
And damn did he miss it. Miss her. And in their current state of separation he'd discovered there was an unnatural ache in his bones when she wasn't around.
He'd been miserable for the past few weeks but he'd purposely kept himself busy. It kind of worked. He'd gone from practically comatose to finding a way to reach a somewhat stable level of not quite okay but fine enough-ness.
Nikki tried to ignore that fact that his heart started racing the moment he saw her. She was mostly hidden by the door but just seeing Ashten's face was enough to suck the wind out of him.
He also tried to ignore the jealousy that slithered in his gut as he watched James say something to make her laugh and smile enough to make her dimples appear.
"Tommy," James filtered into the room, "the lovely doctor will see you now."
Ashten held up a filled syringe and tapped her shoulder to which Tommy nodded and motioned for her to come in. A few seconds later she made her way into the room dressed in a long-sleeved black wrap mini dress with a plunging v-neckline that showed off a healthy amount of cleavage. The material curved deliciously over her spectacular female anatomy and, paired with the black boots climbing up her impossibly long legs, she'd managed to show enough skin to be classy and unbelievably sexy all at once.
She was stunning, head to toe. Nikki was actually jealous of that dress.
And he swallowed the dry lump in his throat as she approached with a blood pressure cuff in her hand and her stethoscope hanging from her neck.
"Sorry to interrupt but I need to borrow your drummer." Asthen gave him Nikki a somewhat bashful and hesitant look.
There was an obstruction is his throat and he thought it felt a lot like nervousness. Or even pain. Like aching for the woman in front of him that he was not so sure he could continue to live without.
Finally, after choking down the emotions, he found his voice.
"You can take him. But I have a request." Nikki unplugged his bass but continued to pluck at the strings as he looked up at her from his perch on the stool.
"Ok?" She cocked her eyebrow at him.
"If whatever you are doing to him is gonna hurt you have to let me watch." He smirked, striking a D chord.
"I'll allow it." Ashten met his eyes and gave him a shy smile causing a warmth to spread through his chest.
Tommy stepped out from behind his drum kit, looking her over. "You're all dolled up."
"Yeah, I guess." She shrugged and pulled up a chair, motioning for Tommy to have a seat.
"Excited for girls night?"
"Not particularly." She rolled his left sleeve up and slid the blood pressure cuff over his arm, securing it around his bicep. "If it were up to me I'd be wearing pajamas right now and spending the night watching a movie."
"Sounds like a blast." Tommy retorted dryly as he inspected his arm. "Why do you have to take my blood pressure?"
"Because I'm about to shoot you up with a steroid and I need to make sure your pulse and pressure aren't too high." Ashten tightened the cuff and put the stethoscope ear pieces in her ear while sliding her necklace over to avoid it tangling with the tubing.
"Nice cross!" Tommy commented on the gothic-like rosary hanging from her neck as she placed the stethoscope's chest piece in the crook of his arm. "Very goth."
"Yeah. I've always had a thing for crosses and rosary beads. Guess it carried over from my Catholic school days." She began squeezing the inflation tube on the cuff.
Tommy furrowed his brow and looked at her in shock. "You went to Catholic school?"
"Yeah."
"Like all the way up through high school?"
"Yes."
"Hmmm," Tommy hummed in thought. "You a Catholic school girl? I can't see it."
"I can," Nikki said before taking a drink from his water bottle, the corners of his mouth curving up.
"So can I." The three of them looked up and over to the control room as they heard DJ pipe up.
"Me too." James's voice immediately followed.
"Boys." Ashten rolled her eyes and let out a silent chuckle while shaking her head, trying to return her focus back to Tommy's vitals.
"Boys?!" Tommy scoffed in mock offense.
Ashten rolled her eyes again. "Fine. Men. Manly men. The manliest of men."
"That's better."
"Good," she stopped pumping and frowned. "Now stop moving or this isn't going to work."
Tommy nodded and remained silent leaving the pumping of the cuff and Nikki's light strumming the only sounds in the room.
Satisfied with the blood pressure reading, Ashten deflated the cuff and removed it from Tommy's arm, picking up his wrist to take his pulse.
He was silent for another moment until he just couldn't help himself.
"So, if I were to look in your closet would I find a Catholic School girl uniform? Like pleated skirt and knee socks and all?
She dropped his wrist in annoyance almost making him slap himself with his own hand.
"Why? Do you want to try it on?" Nikki deadpanned.
"Maybe. Can I free ball?"
Ashten cringed and screwed her eyes shut. "Ugh. Bad! Bad mental images!"
"Dude..." Nikki began only to be interrupted by the wolf whistles and cat calls coming from the control room.
Seconds later, the door opened and Stella strolled in wearing a short dress and heels, both in her signature shade of red.
She smiled and tossed her long copper red hair over her shoulder as she blew a kiss towards the glass separating the two rooms.
Ashten placed her hands on her hips and scoffed in mock offense. "How come I didn't get a greeting like that?"
"Because there was a recording in process when you arrived, babe." James shrugged and spoke into the intercom before shifting his eyes to Nikki. "And I'd like to keep my balls."
"I'm attached to mine as well," DJ added.
"Ugh," Stella grimaced. "Too much testosterone. Ashten, can you give him the damn shot so we can get the hell out of here?"
"Aww, don't leave us ladies," Tommy pled. "We'll girl it up for you."
"I don't think I can picture you guys 'girling it up'."Stella replied with a skeptical look on her face.
"I don't think I want to," Ashten stated as she pulled up a chair and sat behind Tommy.
"Hey," Tommy tilted his head so he could see her. "We can so girl it up. Remember, there was a time when your boy over there wore more eye make up than you do."
"And looked dead sexy doing it." Nikki declared. "Your just jealous because I was prettier than you."
"Still are," Ashten muttered a little louder than she meant. Her eyes widened and a heat crept across her face. She could practically feel Nikki's smirk but refused to look up at him, only concentrating on cleaning Tommy's shoulder with an alcohol swab.
Tommy, to his credit, didn't bust Ashten's chops about her inadvertent slip and merely exchanged grins with Stella.
"So, where are you ladies heading off to tonight?" Tommy nudged the conversation along.
Stella, taking his hint, scooted up onto a stool and took a seat. She dug her compact from her clutch and checked her lipstick. "Going out trolling for guys."
The loud unmistakable sound of a guitar string breaking snapped through the room and made everyone jump.
No one even needed to look to know it was Nikki.
Ashten's eyes widened before she glared over at Stella. "Not all of us."
Stella only replied with a satisfied looking smile before returning her attention to Tommy, as well as DJ and James who had entered the room.
"We're going dancing. This place I've never been. It's called The Mad Hatter or something like that."
"Oh, I've been there," DJ nodded and lit a cigarette. "It's got a whole Alice in Wonderland theme. Nice vibe. Good place to go listen to music."
"So, it's not a meat market?" Ashten asked, opening the packet containing a pre-filled cortisone injection.
"Not any more than any other bar." DJ took a drag of his smoke and exhaled, his eyes bulging out at the syringe in her hand. "Jesus, that's a big fucking needle!"
"What?!" Tommy turned around in alarm, getting a good look at the needle she was getting ready to plunge in his shoulder. His eyes almost doubled in size. "Oh, fuck no!"
He tried to get up and escape only to be intercepted by DJ and James who pushed him back into his chair.
Ashten let out a deep and impatient sigh. "Do we really have to go through this every time I give you a shot?"
"Go through what?" Tommy asked, folding his arms across his chest and pouting.
"You acting like a little bitch baby," Nikki riled his eyes. Noticing the look of irritation in her eyes, as Tommy continued to squirm, he put his guitar down and walked over to stand behind Ashten's chair to help the process along.
He leaned over them and tried to ignore how amazing Asthen's hair smelled as he planted his hands firmly on Tommy's shoulder's to hold him in place.
Ashten held in a gasp and felt her chest pound at Nikki's close proximity. His chin was almost grazing her shoulder and she could feel the heat of his warmth radiating from him. She was also breathing in the intoxicating aroma of his cologne which set butterflies in her stomach fluttering.
She dared to shift her eyes in his direction, catching his glance from the side. Somehow, even from that angle, their eyes locked and for a moment time stood still before Nikki nodded for her to proceed.
As she did, she swore she heard Nikki take in a deep breath through his nose he could breathe her in.
She desperately hoped no one noticed her squeeze her thighs tightly together.
Finally, after what seemed like hours, Tommy got the damned shot and the girls left to meet up with Jozie.
Nikki could still smell Ashten's perfume and it was driving him insane. Watching her walk away without him was always the worst. He should be the one who got to take her out.
And a thought crossed his mind as he remembered what Tommy told him about his conversation with her earlier that morning.
'We skipped the dating part. The courting part.'
Maybe he should take her out. Go back to basics.
He cleared his thought and looked over at DJ who just rolled his eyes knowingly.
"How long?" DJ asked.
"How long what?" Nikki asked innocently.
"How long of a head start are you going to give her before we follow them and crash girl's night?" DJ smiled.
Nikki shrugged and lit a cigarette. "Don't know what you mean. I was just thinking about maybe going out for a drink.
"Oh now you wanna go out?" Tommy exclaimed loudly and burst out laughing at Nikki's sudden change of heart. "What on earth could have possibly changed your mind?"
Nikki shrugged not even attempting to conceal his growing smirk. "Just suddenly feeling thirsty."
"That's one way to put it." DJ muttered. "Let's give her an hour or so."
"Whatever," Nikki shrugged and looked down at his shoes, trying to seem aloof.
Of course, that just made Tommy laugh even harder.
"I swear," he said, wiping tears from his eyes, "you and Ashten are the best show I've watched in years."
A/N
Well, well, well.....what does he have planned ?🤔
Thanks for hanging in with me. 😘🥰