Page 11 of Stuck With My Rockstar Boss (Soul Sounds Brothers #4)

Mika

Lake Michigan in the summer with the sun bouncing off the water is a divine sight. I have to keep myself from staring at it in order not to crash my bike.

“On your left!” Lucas cries as he rolls up past me down the lakefront trail.

“Hey!” I laugh and start to pedal faster.

He throws a smile over his shoulder to me. Fuck, that smile. It makes me weak in the knees, makes my head spin.

We’re racing over to Diversey Harbor terrace, a point on the lakefront path that juts out a little further into the lake.

Our blue divvy bikes whiz underneath. It’s been a tight race, especially for two amateur cyclists such as us.

Since it’s a beautiful day, the path is rather busy.

We have to avoid walkers, runners, teens jumping into the frigid lake water.

Luckily, we’re going so fast people don’t have time to recognize Lucas.

After the show last night, I’m sure Soul Sounds is the talk of the town.

Given the response last night, I can’t wait to perform for Chicago again tonight.

Especially since I’m an established part of the set.

It took everything in me not to squeal and happy dance when Ken told me.

He came onto my bus before we left for Chicago yesterday morning.

I thought for sure, somehow, he knew Lucas and I had slept together and was about to fire me, but no!

‘Vicky’ would be a permanent part of the setlist. Shortly after I found out, I pulled out my phone to find a text from Lucas.

See you onstage tonight ;)

And my heart soared. At least we could have that. We couldn’t have each other again, but we could sing on stage together every night.

Except… desire got the best of me. It always does. I think I can outrun it and yet. How am I supposed to resist a guy who rips off his shirt and sings like an angel? Exactly, I’m not. So last night after the concert, I had to have him.

After our little entanglement backstage, we met everyone else back at the hotel: there isn’t a good place in downtown Chicago to park a tour bus and sleeping on one can be a nightmare, so tour management sprung for a luxurious block of rooms right on the Chicago River.

After the debauchery of Nashville, everyone played it lowkey and we all had drinks on the rooftop.

Lucas and I retreated to our rooms, but shortly after, he invited me up to his suite where we indulged in each other a little more. Okay, a lot more.

Fucking Lucas is fun. It’s everything I had imagined and a little more.

I push my bike a little faster so I’m riding right next to him now. “You’re letting me catch up,” I scold.

Lucas shakes his head, although it’s clear he’s pumping his legs slower than I know he can. “No, you’re just a very talented cyclist, Mika.”

I brake hard and let him zip ahead of me, winning the race. “I don’t like to win under false pretenses,” I call out to him as I walk my bike to the edge of Diversey terrace.

“Sorry, I’m used to letting Amy win,” Lucas chuckles.

Up until recently, Lucas would always say “my sister, Amy”. Now he just says Amy. I can’t help but feel that’s because we’ve gotten closer.

“I play hard, Lucas. Or maybe I should say you play hard.”

Lucas blushes and bites his lip. “Good one.”

I smile to myself. He’s so cute when he blushes.

“I wish I could kiss you right now,” he says softly, leaning over his bike toward me.

My heart sinks. It’s one thing in the dead of night in Nashville. It’d be a nightmare if we were caught midday in Chicago smushing our faces together. “Mmm… something to look forward to later, maybe.”

He tilts his head to the side and smiles. “You could sneak up to my room before the concert. Think about how good our duet would be if we…” his breath tightens, “…you know…”

“Definitely something to consider,” I grin, but my smile fades when I see a group of teens in the corner of my eye looking at us. Laser beam focus. They’re not old enough yet to know how to look covertly. “Adolescent mob at two o’clock.”

Lucas looks over his shoulder.

“Your other two o’clock.”

He looks over his other shoulder briefly. The group all titters, laughing with one another. They’ve been spotted and it’s thrilling to be looked at.

“Oh, they’re just kids,” he says with a lopsided smile. “You said mob like they had torches or something.”

“Yes, the torches of abused youth! You can’t underestimate what pain and suffering they can cause,” I reply.

To my surprise, Lucas turns to look again and waves at them.

“What are you doing?”

“I don’t know, it’d be nice to talk to some fans. I’ve been kind of avoiding it all tour…” he says and then eyes me. “Plus, if something goes wrong, I’ve got my secret weapon.”

Warmth floods into my chest. Secret weapon. Onstage and off.

One of the group of teens, the bravest one, a girl that looks to be nearly six feet tall with braces and dark brown, overly straightened hair, bounds over to us, followed nervously by the rest of the group. “Oh my god, we are such big fans.”

Lucas smiles. “I’m glad you weren’t just looking at me because I had toilet paper stuck to my shoe.”

“We were at the concert last night and–my mom took us,” she goes on. God she must be like fourteen? Younger? Kids these days… “You were both so good. Oh my god.”

“Mika sounds so good, I just try and follow her lead,” Lucas says and touches my shoulder.

One of her friends, a smaller redhead with freckles, whispers something in the girl’s ear and the girl waves her off. “I can’t ask that! Oh my god, she’s crazy.”

The redhead blushes. I can’t help but wonder if her question would be about Lucas and me and what we are . Or what we’re not…

“You guys want a picture?” I ask.

“Oh my god! Yes! That would be amazing,” the girl says and her three friends all nod wildly.

I hold out my hand for her phone, but she goes past me to ask a stranger to take the picture. I’m confused until one of the girls crowds in beside me and I’m in the picture too. “Okay, wait–“ I say, nervously laughing.

“Smile!” the girl cries out and the stranger takes too long to take the picture.

I must look horrified in each one. I mean, it’s not like we’re kissing or holding hands. We’re just in the same photo. I’m freaked out at the idea of being known this way. No wonder Lucas has all this anxiety over it. It’s terrifying.

However, after the photo, he looks totally at ease.

He chats with the girls a little longer and this draws in the attention of other passers-by.

He starts signing autographs. He flashes all of them smiles.

People come up to me and ask me about the duet: what does it feel like to sing with Lucas?

How did I meet the band? Do I have an album they can listen to?

From just half an hour being inundated with questions, I feel like I’ve run a marathon.

Lucas puts his hand on my back. “You good?”

I look at him with wide eyes. “This is crazy.”

“Now you know how I feel,” he chuckles. “Come on.”

Lucas says goodbye to the remaining fans, ignores prying eyes, and hops on his bike.

We ride off a little further down the lakefront path until the crowds thin out.

We find a Divvy bike docking station, park our bikes, and find a cove of trees to sit under.

He positions his baseball cap with the brim over his face again and puts on his sunglasses.

“Wow, I don’t even recognize you,” I say playfully.

“Shut up,” he laughs and thwaps my knee. His hand lingers there, fingers grazing my leg gently, before returning his hand to his lap.

I lean up against the trunk of the tree and tilt my head back. “You handled that really well. Maybe you don’t need me anymore.”

Lucas shakes his head. “No, Mika. I was only able to do that because you were with me. You diverted a good chunk of the attention after all.”

“Please,” I snort.

“You did. Plus… I don’t know. Things just feel easier around you.”

Even though I can’t see his eyes behind his aviators, I know they must be soft at the corners. Genuine and true. “You too,” I say. “I mean things feel… it’s easier around you too.”

Okay, what the fuck. This isn’t a love thing. This is barely even a like thing. He’s paying me to be here. I’m like a friend escort. Ugh.

“I’m glad you don’t feel like you’re lugging me around like a kid brother or something.”

I smile. “No, I wouldn’t know that feeling anyway.”

“No siblings?”

“Nope. Just me and my parents.” Then I add through a half-laugh, “Although, sometimes it feels like I’m dragging them around.”

Lucas frowns. “How do you mean?”

I sigh and close my eyes. Being on tour makes me feel so far away from them. And while I’m close with them, I need that sometimes.

“You don’t have to –”

“No, no, I…” I swallow. “Basically, things aren’t good financially at home. And it wasn’t always like that, but a couple years ago they both quit their teaching jobs to get involved in a ‘business plan’ which is basically a glorified MLM and… they don’t realize they’re just hemorrhaging money.”

Lucas’ expression is unreadable. “Ah, Mika.”

“It’s not a big deal,” I try to play it off with a meek laugh. “Like, I help out a lot with tour money. And chaperone money.”

Lucas doesn’t laugh.

I tuck a little hair behind my ear; my pixie cut has gotten a little longer since the start of the tour. Maybe I’ll let it grow out. “Anyway.”

Lucas touches his hand to his lips and then places that hand against my knee. “I can’t kiss you, but I can try.”

I don’t know why I feel like crying. I’m so utterly embarrassed, and at the same time, I feel overcome with affection for him. I can’t get soft. There’s no room for that. I clear my throat and shake my shoulders mischievously. “You wanna go try and unwind before the show?”

Barely half an hour later, we’re naked and locked in an embrace in Lucas’s hotel room.

The view from his room is peppered with tall buildings, some of them iconic to Chicago’s skyline.

In a way, we are on display, our bodies pressed together, moaning each other’s names.

And at the same time, there’s an anonymity being this high in the air.

“You wanna shower with me?” Lucas asks in a breathless moment.

That’s how we end up in the luxurious rain shower with water pouring over us. Slick from head to toe. Wet. Steamy. Hot.

Lucas turns me around and pushes my hands up against the tiled wall. He growls in my ear, his cock pressed up against my ass, and drags his teeth down my neck to the apex of my back. I rut my hips back against him.

We’re learning our shared language. And we’re nearly conversational in it.

Lucas takes his cue and slips inside me.

I bend my head back, my hair plastered to my forehead.

His hands grip my hips tightly as he begins to thrust into me.

The water rushes around us. Even though it cleanses us, I can’t help but feel dirty.

“Mika… Mika… Mika…”

He repeats my name with each pulse of his hips.

It feels so good that’s all he can say. I feel a knot in the base of my belly start to tighten, electric and warm.

Lucas rests his head against my back and lets out a whimper.

I reach back and grip his hair in my hands.

“You feel so good. You always make me feel so good.”

Lucas lets out a strident cry, his hips move a bit faster, and then comes the familiar jerk of his belly against my back, hips shuddering into me. As he fills me, he drops his hand to my center and rubs me with vigor.

My insides singe as he stimulates my clit. I squeal as I feel a cascade of shocks to my pelvis. I try to reach for something to steady me, to grab onto so I don’t fall. But Lucas tightens his free arm around me and draws me into his chest. “That’s it.”

The shock builds to a magnificent burst. I weakly whine, my back up against his chest, rolling my face into his bicep. Water pours down his skin.

“I’ve got you,” Lucas assures me when my knees start to give out. He kisses the side of my head. “I’ve got you, Mika.”

Everything inside me twists when he says that. He’s so gentle. He treats me with such care. And yet… it’s temporary.

It’s gotta be, right?