Chapter Seventeen
Jen
Once the show was over I followed the girls and Raleigh to the back of the stage as we looked for our men. Lexington and Cal are against the sponsor wall and posing for photographs and answering a few questions for TMZ, Rolling Stone, Guitar and Sound Logic magazine. I wait the whole ten minutes before I charge to the group as it disperses and grab him from behind, turning him to face me.
"Hey Firefly." He says and tucks a strand of my hair behind my ear.
"Caly..." I say and go to my tip toes and pull his mouth to mine until I couldn’t breathe. "I have no words for what you have created here, none. Every song felt so personal..."
He cups my face in his hands and forces me to look at him. "They were Red. I wrote the music and told Lex everything I could about how I feel, from losing Tay and finding you under the ruble. Every single song is inspired by you."
"My Journal?" I ask about the song that brought the house down.
"Fine-tuned and made for you baby." He says and winks as he taps my ass.
"It was your journal of us." I state, knowing I am right.
"I wanted so bad to find a way to tell you and I was always lost for words. There’s this hive of emotionally stunted bee's and it is centered in my chest. I couldn’t take the agony of it anymore." He cups my face so gently and I see the flashes of a million cameras going off, but he is my focus and I am his. "I had to show you and let you see inside of me, like you let me see inside of you."
I feel the tears come from his confession and the tears are welcome here. "I love you so much Cal." I say and turn my face into his palm kissing it.
He grips me tight and brings me against his chest before burying his face in my neck. "I love you Jen. So, fucking much it's scary." He pulls me to his mouth and kisses me deeply, his tongue a welcome promise. "I am so in love with you. Madly."
More lights from cameras flash as he confesses something I have died a thousand times it seems, to hear.
"You and the songs you wrote... you are so talented Lexington. You were able to help him show me his depth." I say and hug her close, hoping she understands how thankful I am.
She smiles so kind at my words and I misjudged this woman. She was a gift that brought him to me in a way he couldn’t have before. "He suffered for this Jenny. He needed it real, right down to actually rapping."
We both laugh, and still the memory of it had me mind blown. "He did it the first time when he was frustrated for the next part of the song. He wanted a lyrical bridge instead of a solo by itself. He was so annoyed trying to find it he started rapping some bullshit and honest to God... there was no denying his gift to know how to pull it off."
I am still astonished by the show and the intensity of every minute. "I don’t know if thank you will ever be enough, but thank you." I say and hug her close.
She is interrupted as we talk about the after party at our house once everything is done here and she agrees. I say my goodbyes to everyone, including Cal again.
"I want to be alone now." He says quietly against my lips and I agree, moaning into his kiss.
"You’re the one who planned an after party." I say. He groans as he pushes me against the back of his Jeep. I sit on the bed with the door open to my side when he invades my space and splits my legs with his body.
"I could pull some real rock star shit and fuck you right here..." He questions and I know he means it because he is a nasty depraved pervert. I love that about him and though I wouldn’t dare do it, I toy with him and lean back on my elbows.
"I'm game." I taunt and the idiot I am didn’t take into consideration that he is dead serious. He starts looking over his shoulder as one hand works his jeans when I laugh and stop him.
"I was kidding." I say and lean up to kiss him.
"That's some savage shit firefly." He says and luckily the guys come out with some of his gear and interrupt this little interlude.
"You aren’t cancelling this party bro." Shame says and eyes me, like I was the one with the plan.
"Told you." I say and blow him a kiss as I hop off the back end of his jeep.
"Will you get your fine ass outta here so I can focus woman?" He says and lifts his amp to set it inside, before looking at Chad. "You mind hauling some in your truck for me?"
"Yeah." He says and grabs the other amp that won’t fit and sets it beside me.
"Alright. I am gonna head home and hopefully see Axe before your parents take him." I say and lean in to kiss him goodbye again. He pulls my hair free of the perfect messy knot Ral created and roams his fingers through the tangles down my back.
"Love you." He said and tugs the bottom of my hair like he always does when he wants me to look at him. Hearing him say it so simply and free in front of his friends melts me.
"You too, Caly." I say and kiss him for the final time of this epically cheesy goodbye.
"Jesus Christ, none of us were this pathetic." Shame says and Cal laughs.
"Give me a break, you guys are all still just as bad."
I laugh and hug the guys goodbye and leave him to get teased.
Rightfully, happily so.