Damon Drake Alt-POV Scene – Hard Rock Heat
She kicked me out.
Faith Briars kicked me out of her apartment.
No. That wasn’t totally true.
I hadn’t been allowed into her apartment in the first place. She’d shut the door in my face while I’d been standing in the doorway. We’d just returned from our Halloween carnival date and she’d practically thrown me out on my ear.
Part of me was taken aback, but still, a slow grin crossed my face.
I couldn’t think of the last time a girl had turned me down.
Except for Faith. All that girl did was turn me down.
Recently, though, she’d been more open to my flirting and come ons.
I don’t know what came over me that night when I’d offered to take her on a date. I hadn’t planned on saying anything like that. Damon Drake, notorious playboy, manwhore, rock star god, didn’t date. Even thinking the words in my head left a dirty taste in my mouth.
There were so many other things that came along with dating. Things like emotions and attachments and relationships and feelings and risk and loss and—
I cut off my wandering thoughts with a shake of my head and concentrated on the drive home. It was late so the traffic wasn’t that bad. It wouldn’t take me long to reach my penthouse. I put down the window and let the breeze wash over my face and mess up my hair. I fucking loved driving, especially in this car. My ride was always smooth and quiet — the exact opposite of Faith.
Shit. There I was, thinking of her again.
But why not think about her? We’d definitely had some fun times.
I chuckled to myself. If I was going to tell it straight, I’d had some of the best times I’d ever had with any girl.
I supposed the real problem was that Faith still ran hot and cold around me. I didn’t know how to handle that.
I wouldn’t have admitted it out loud to anyone, because they’d think I’d been whipped or something, but Faith really was different. There was something about her, and it wasn’t just that she always turned me down. I liked a challenge as much as the next guy. The chase was sometimes just as fun, especially for a rock star who could get anyone he wanted.
But Faith was feisty. She did her own thing. She was sexy and smart and competent and loyal and loving—
Fuck. My thoughts were wandering again, getting sappy and shit.
That was what this girl did to me.
Because our date had been fun. It had gone as well as I could’ve hoped. I’d won her a toy and everything. Of course, Faith being Faith, she had to be contrary and tell me it was too big.
That tunnel of horror though…
I snickered to myself. There had been nothing horrible about what went down in there. Faith was one hell of a girl and I wanted to show her one hell of a time.
Pretty sure I succeeded, if the dazed and blissed out expression on her face when we left the tunnel was anything to go by.
She’d gotten kind of freaked out in that mirror maze, which concerned me. Faith had so much going on inside her head. I hoped whatever was bothering her wasn’t as shitty as my problems. I wouldn’t wish that shit on anyone.
And fuck, what a shitty situation it was. There was no way I was going to let Ian get dragged into the whole mess with our asshole of a father. My brother had finally got a good thing going for him and I wasn’t going to ruin it. As much as I hated to admit it, Ian and Hope were just about the cutest damn couple on the planet. Once I’d gotten over myself and realized how good Hope was for my brother, I’d been able to let go.
It had been hard. I’d been watching over him, taking care of him, for so long. Watching him go off and be happy with someone else was heart wrenching.
Was it any wonder why I never slept with the same girl twice? Was it any wonder why I refused to date? I had enough worry and heartache and other emotional shit to deal with when it came to my brother. I didn’t need any more of that.
I supposed it was about time I let my brother grow up and find his own happiness, even if it meant losing a piece of him to someone else.
But of course, with Hope came Faith.
Just as Ian and I came as a pair, Faith and her sister were a matched set. I found it hilarious that twins were dating twins, but whatever. The heart wants what the heart—
I jolted back to myself, squeezing the steering wheel so tight it squeaked.
Fuck. Here I was, thinking about what the heart wants.
That damn woman. Faith made all my thoughts turn upside down and inside out. I know she thought I was the one turning her world upside down. If she knew just how much she had twisted my life into a knot…
I had no idea what I was doing with her. I had no idea where this was going. I just knew that being with this girl made me feel happy and free and open and loved and—
Shit. I’d used the L word, hadn’t I?
It should have freaked me out. It did freak me out. Not as much as it should have, though.
Hearing that word, even inside my own head, should have sent me into a panicked spiral. Instead, it only made a warm sensation settle in my chest.
Great. I was turning into the rest of those losers in my band. Soon I’d be writing Faith songs and getting her name tattooed on my body and buying her flowers and chocolates and all that mushy shit.
I did sort of understand, though.
Faith hadn’t let me give her a stuffed animal, but I had kind of wanted her to have a memento of our date. A reminder that she was mine, at least for now. A reminder that she was in my thoughts.
Fuck, but wouldn’t Cam just die laughing at me if he heard me now.
But my brother… Ian would simply smile and squeeze my shoulder and encourage me to follow my heart. He’d always been the more thoughtful, sensitive twin.
There was no way I could hold a candle to Ian when it came to love and romance and all that crap, but there was one thing I could do.
Pulling out my phone, I did a quick search. I called up a shop explained my situation. They gave me exactly what I needed.
Six blue irises, symbolizing hope and faith, and six yellow irises, symbolizing passion.
After all, I wasn’t some two-bit wannabe Romeo who would settle for a dozen red roses. That was beyond cliché. Faith deserved a gift with more meaning.
I’d never in a million years thought I’d be sending flowers to a girl, if I weren’t giving condolences. Sending flowers just to say I’m thinking of you was totally out of my realm of experience.
Of course, with my selection of yellow irises, it wasn’t just a thinking of you bouquet. It was a thinking of fucking you bouquet.
I chuckled at my own hidden message. I was sure that girl would immediately look up the meaning of the flowers. Maybe then she’d get just some idea of what else I had in store for her on our next date.
I was already planning where we would go and what we would do.
That was so unlike me. But everything I’d done since meeting Faith had been unlike me.
Or maybe… this was exactly like me.
Maybe this was who I was supposed to be.
If I hadn’t always focused so much on taking care of my brother, on making sure he was okay…
If I hadn’t grown-up with that asshole of a father…
Maybe I would’ve turned out to be a different person. A better person. A person worthy of a girl like Faith.
Maybe Faith was making me the person I was supposed to be.
And it shocked the hell out of me that I didn’t mind the thought at all.
Continue reading Hard Rock Heat >>
Join my reader group
Are you a Feral Fangirl or Darkest Diva? Let the competition begin! Join my reader group for contests, giveaways, early access, sneak peeks and more.
> Join now <<