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Prologue
~ 17 years old
They were my life. Those three boys were the reason I woke up every morning. They drove me absolutely insane, and half the time I was left questioning why I put up with the hell they put me through, but the answer was easy.
I loved them.
The three boys went from being my enemies to my best friends in elementary school. I guess it’s true what they say. Boys who have a crush will always pick on the girl they like. For me, that was definitely the case. I tried hard to ignore them, to fight back at every turn, but the three of them were persistent. They were determined to have me for themselves. By middle school, when other boys started taking an interest in me, they made sure to tell everyone I belonged to them. Poor Jimmy Teller. He braved their wrath to take me on a date to the park. I had promised him that, if he was with me, the boys would never dare touch him. While no one was allowed to touch me, I was certain that, as long as I was happy, the three of them would let the subject drop.
I was wrong.
The three of them followed us from my house, stalking in the shadows and watching our every move. Jimmy must have felt confident when I said the boys would leave him alone if I asked because he thought he could use that as his chance to make a move on me. Now, we were only in eighth grade, and I had never even had my first kiss, so having someone touch me inappropriately never crossed my mind. We had made our way to the park, and he found us a little secluded spot to set up a blanket hidden amongst the trees giving us privacy to just sit and talk, enjoying the day. Or so I thought. After a few minutes of us sitting there, Jimmy forced me onto my back and began trying to kiss me, while shoving my shirt up my stomach. I fought back, trying to shove him away as tears blurred my vision, shaking my head to prevent him from actually touching my lips.
“Stop it, you whore! You said this was what you wanted,” I remember him snarling when I had gotten in a nasty kick to his knee. Before I could do any further damage, or he got what he wanted, my boys were there. They were like my dark angels, scowls on their faces as two of them lifted him off me. The third helped fix my shirt, pulled me into his arms, and held me, promising me that everything would be okay, and no one would ever touch me again.
I had no idea what happened to Jimmy after that, but he didn’t show up to school on Monday, and rumors spread quickly about him suddenly moving away without an explanation. Not once did I try to ask the guys what happened. I didn’t care. I never had to see him again, and that’s all that mattered to me. The nightmares from that experience had kept me up for months. The only way I would sleep was if one of the boys was with me. I have no idea what they told their parents or mine, but no one fought them on it. The three of them rotated every night and stayed with me. Eventually, I just got so used to it that it was second nature.
I never would have thought those events five years ago would lead us to where we are today: about to graduate in just a couple of days and gearing up to start our first U.S. tour. Our dreams of becoming a rock band were finally being realized. Thanks to some contacts that Creed’s family has, we were able to get a couple of demo tracks in front of one of the largest record labels in the United States. When we got the call around Christmas with an invitation to come to play in person for Unchained Records, it was a blessing. From that moment on, our lives changed forever. With agreement from our parents, we were allowed to start recording with the company to produce our first album. Sebastian’s parents are lawyers who made sure our contract didn’t fuck us over, which allowed us to create the album of our choosing using songs we already had. Our band, Damned Embers, was able to write and produce the songs we wanted with only a small amount of input from the company.
The months leading up to graduation were busy. If we weren’t in school, we were in the studio playing, recording, editing, and everything in between. A month before graduation, our first album was released, and we became overnight rock stars. The four of us were riding on cloud nine and went from nothing to some of the most popular teenagers, not just in our city, but in the country.
Dreams and Nightmares rose on the charts overnight to become a number-one hit album. The record company was pushing for us to go on tour, and we all agreed, under the condition that we graduated first. That was something none of our parents were going to let up on. Our education was their number one priority.
“SKY!” Creed shouts, shoving open my bedroom door without a care in the world. “Let’s go already! We graduate in less than a week! We need all the practice we can get.”
His entry startles me from my thoughts, and I let out a little squeak from being caught off guard. I’ve always been one to jump at the little things, and he knows it. I’m almost positive Creed gets a kick out of scaring me just because it means he gets to hold me after to soothe my fears.
“Creed,” I grumble, shoving my laptop away. There was no way I was risking him ruining my final school project. My grade in computer coding was riding on it. That is something the guys never let me live down. We were going to be rock stars, and, still, I was determined to keep my grades up and graduate with honors. I wasn’t about to get valedictorian, but I was coming in damn close to it, that’s for sure. I didn’t need my computer skills to get me there either. I may have been a genius with computers, but I came by all my book smarts on my own by studying my ass off. If I wasn’t playing guitar with the guys, I was studying. Hell, there were days I was doing both at the same time.
I moved my laptop just in time as Creed jumped on the bed and tackled me against it, starting to tickle me. I tried my best to fight him off, but I wasn’t exactly putting in any real effort. I loved having his hands on my body. All of them. Every spot they touched set me on fire.
“I give, I give,” I laugh, trying hard to catch my breath. Creed settles in front of me, pulling me into his chest and placing a soft kiss against my forehead. He may be the one who likes to have fun in our group, but he was also always sweet with me.
“Come on my little computer genius, we need to get to the arena. Our tour is coming up in two weeks, and I want to be ready.” His tone is serious as he pulls away, helping me off the bed at the same time.
“Creed,” I groan again, needing just one day's break to breathe. “We have been practicing non-stop. We’re good. I promise. Our first concert is here in Coventry. We got this.” I reach up and run my hand along the side of his face. I always loved the little stubble on his jawline. He thought it was so cool that he already had facial hair. I never had the guts to tell him he was failing at growing a beard because of how excited he was.
“Give me and the guys tonight. I promise, tomorrow, we will do whatever you want. Even if it’s playing on your computer,” he says, glaring past me to where my laptop sits.
The move makes me laugh, and I know I’m giving in. I always do for my men. “That computer didn’t do anything to you, Mr.,” I say, stabbing my pointer finger against his chest. “Remember if it wasn’t for my tech skills, our album wouldn’t be as good as it is. Now, let’s go macho man. If we want to be famous, then we can’t be sitting on our asses.” I push past him and seductively sway my hips, knowing full well he is staring at my ass.
“You’re gonna pay for that!” he shouts behind me, attempting to catch me when I’m already halfway down the stairs to the entry.
“What’s the dumbass paying for now?” Sebastian questions from his spot, leaning against the wall at the bottom of the stairs.
I had no idea all my men were here. Usually, they would all come to my room together, but I guess Creed must have said something to convince them to stay behind. As I reached the bottom of the stairs, I didn’t hesitate to fling myself into Sebastian's arms. Just like I knew he would, he caught me, his arms coming to wrap around my back and lifting me, giving me the ability to wrap my legs around his hips and kiss him deep and hard, thrusting my tongue between his lips. All too soon, he was breaking the kiss and helping me down to my feet again.
“Hi, Princess,” he greets me with a smile, still keeping me in his arms. “You finish your project?”
That was one of the things I loved about the boy. Sebastian was extremely smart like me. So smart, he was the valedictorian of our class. I was a little jealous but also extremely proud of him. When someone looked at him, they just saw a boy who always had drumsticks in his back pocket, wore black jeans, band t-shirts, and dark-colored zip-up hoodies, and his dark brown hair was kept a little on the longer side covering his bright green eyes. They didn’t see the brains he had or the amount of time he spent in the library. His parents expected him to follow in their footsteps and get a college degree to become a lawyer. Sure, they supported our rock star dreams but they also said we needed a backup plan. I’m not sure if becoming a lawyer was his or his parents’ backup plan, but I knew he would be able to do whatever he set his mind to.
“No,” I sigh, turning to glare at Creed who had stopped halfway down my stairs. “Someonehad to interrupt me. It’s due in two days so I have the time. It’ll get done.”
Even if I have to stay up all night to do it.
“You better, or no more kisses for you,” Sebastian threatens, letting me out of his hold.
“Stop hogging our girl,” Gunner grumbles, pulling me into his arms and kissing me deeply. His hands reach into the back pocket of my jeans as he grasps my ass, grinding our bodies together. I can feel how turned on he is, and every part of me wants to drop to my knees right now and help him out.
