K. Linde - Take Me for Granted

The only thing I could think about as I moved on to our last song was how fast I was going to get her backstage when I was finished.

Okay, I’d underestimated how good he is. Why didn’t I pay attention the last time I was at the ContraBand show? His voice was smooth and sexy, captivating the audience with the clever lyrics and easy rhythms.

Grant moved across the stage—guitar forgotten, microphone in hand—as he belted out the bridge of the song. His stage presence was the male equivalent to a Siren entrancing and capturing its victim. He owned the stage, the music, the lyrics, the people, the lights, and the sounds. The whole fucking room belonged to him, which inevitably meant that I belonged to him.

His eyes swept the crowd, making every single person around him feel like he was singing the song specifically for to that person, but then his eyes would return to me—intense, enthralling, and alluring.

I could feel people looking at me, assessing me, wondering what was holding Grant’s attention. I’d thought that I would make some kind of splash by showing up tonight, but more like a ripple and less like a tidal wave.

It had been two weeks since Grant had basically broken into my apartment and kissed me. I’d kind of been expecting him to continue stalking my existence until I was sick of him, but just when he had made me promise to see him again, he’d disappeared. And, well, I wanted to know why he’d disappeared. It was more morbid curiosity about why the man who had taken my life by storm had cleared out just as quickly. Why would he push so hard and then fall off the face of the planet?

His silence intrigued me, and I wasn’t easily intrigued.

Cursing myself for wanting to figure him out, I’d told my friends that I was going to the ContraBand show with them. Shelby had looked stunned, Gabi had worn a knowing smile on her lips, and Cheyenne had jumped up and down while insisting on dressing me. That was how I’d ended up in a fit black dress and heels when I preferred cardigans and ballet flats.

Grant finished out the lyrics to the last song, which had to be my favorite. “That’s our show. Thanks for coming out to see us. We’re ContraBand. See you in a few weeks.”

The crowd cheered, and I joined in with the applause. My eyes were still trained on Grant, and after he put his guitar back on its stand, he found me again in the crowd. He crooked his finger at me, and my cheeks heated. Cheyenne nudged me forward through the dispersing group of people to the side of the stage.

“Hey,” I managed to get out over the noise in the room.

“Come here you,” Grant said, holding out his hand.

I wavered for a second before the girls made up my mind for me and pushed me forward. I walked straight up the stairs to Grant.

He smirked. “Hey, Princess.”

Oh, those goddamn nicknames! At least it isn’t darlin’!

“I didn’t wear my glass slippers tonight.”

“Then, I guess that means you won’t be leaving me at midnight either,” he said, taking my hand and walking me toward the stage exit.

I glanced over my shoulder for a brief moment and saw my friends freaking out along with a whole lot of other girls glaring at me. I raised my head and attempted to look like I belonged exactly where I was going. It was what I’d been raised to do. Though, my parents had probably instilled it in me for when I would meet politicians and CEOs, not for when I was walking backstage at The Ivy League.

The backstage area actually wasn’t much of a backstage. It was more like a long hallway with a restroom, a closet, and two exits. The other guys in the band were standing in the hallway. I only recognized Vin because he had tried to drug me, and he was now interested in Cheyenne.

“Picking early, Grant?” Vin asked, eyeing me up and down.

Oh, dear Lord, did he actually think I was a groupie? I opened my mouth to make sure he knew that I wasn’t, but Grant was already pulling me down the hallway.

“Something like that,” he said over his shoulder.

“Are you going to let them think that we’re coming back here for a reason?” I hissed as we walked away.

“That’s exactly what I’m going to let them think.” He wrenched me through the closest door.

The room was bigger than it looked from the outside. It looked more like an employee break room.

“I’m not some groupie,” she said, trying for a playful attitude. I fluttered my eyelashes at him, placed my hand on his chest, and mockingly leaned into him as if I were. “Oh, baby, take me now,” I purred.

Grant reached for me, and I slithered out of his grasp. I twirled slowly in a circle, knowing his eyes were on me, and then I beckoned him forward. When I backed away and tried to sidestep him again, I almost got past him, but he was too fast, and I was in heels. He pinned me back against the table, and I was lost in his dark brown eyes.

“If you keep teasing me like that, I’ll make you one,” he growled.

I laughed softly, trying to slow my thudding heart, as he nipped at my ear.

“I was just joking.” I pushed him off me and straightened out my dress.

“Darlin’, joking about sex with me when you’re not offering it up might not be in your best interest.”

He had a playful glint in his eye, but I knew he was serious.

“So, you came to my show.”

“Well, you stopped stalking me, so I thought I’d give it a go.”

He raised his eyebrows. “Oh, yeah? How’s that working out for you?”

“I think it’s working out better for me than it did for you.”

“I like that.” He dropped his hands to my waist and ran his hands down my sides and before landing on my hips. “I’ve been thinking about you.”

I took a step forward, startled by his honesty. “You’ve been thinking about me?”

“Mmhmm…about this.”

His lips touched mine, and just like last time, I felt myself giving in to him. I thought I’d imagined how intoxicating his kisses were, but my memory hadn’t done this justice. The only thing I could focus on was the electricity between us. Heat pooled in my stomach and radiated from my center.

Grant moved me to the couch to sit next to him. He dragged my bottom lip between his teeth and then captured me in another searing kiss. My breathing was ragged. My arm was around his neck, the other grasping his side. My leg was nestled against his, and as he drew me closer, it slipped over his knee. His hand dropped down on my bare leg. I didn’t even have a mind to move him. His kisses were keeping me completely occupied.

He positioned me to straddle him. My dress rode up dangerously high, and I squirmed, wondering if I was letting this go too far. But he kept his lips on mine, and that energy was burning its way through me.

Both his hands were on my legs now, and I could feel his calloused fingertips trailing up my thigh. They were featherlight touches at first, making my whole body hum, as he traveled higher and higher. His hand slipped under my short dress, and I let out a soft gasp against his mouth. He grinned at my response as he slowly traced the line of my underwear. My body quivered at the touch, and I seriously contemplated letting him do whatever he wanted with me. How did he get me this flustered?

He distracted me with his mouth, but this time, he pressed his luck, tugging lightly at my underwear. His finger slid under the material, and he swiped it down my core. That brought me back to my senses. I jumped out of his lap faster than I’d thought I could move in these heels and yanked my dress back down.

Jesus, I was about to become a groupie if I couldn’t get a hold of myself. Gripping the table, I took a few deep breaths. I didn’t care if he saw how worked up he’d gotten me. I just had to stop.

Grant casually leaned back, looking completely unperturbed that I’d run away. Well, aside from the large bulge in his jeans.

I averted my gaze quickly. “I should probably get back to my friends.”

He stood and moved so that he was in front of me again. He tucked a loose strand of blonde hair behind my ear and planted another kiss on my lips. “Are you sure?” he asked, his hands finding the hem of my dress again.

“Sure, um…yes,” I said.

“Your body disagrees.”

He started to slide my dress back up over my hips, but I stilled his hands.

“My friends,” I said more confidently.

He sighed. I guessed he was realizing he wasn’t going to get anywhere else with me right now.

He checked his watch. “Ten minutes.”

“What?”

“Nothing. Don’t worry about it.”

I didn’t wait to figure it out as I walked toward the door.

“Hey, Ari,” he said, catching up to me.

“Yeah?”

His hand reached out for mine, and he threaded our fingers together. My heart skipped a beat, but I tried not to get caught up in him.

“I’m really glad you showed up.”

A smile broke out on my face. “Me, too,” I admitted shyly.

He gave me that heart-wrenching smile that had started it all. “And I’m going to see you again?”

His brown eyes stared deep into mine, and I couldn’t think of a reason to deny him, so I just nodded. His broadening smile was worth it.

We walked back down the darkened hallway and out the door to the bar. The band was standing with a cluster of girls, my friends among them. The guys looked at us with various forms of surprise.

“You done already, bro?” Vin asked with a cackle. “Quickest quickie ever.”

As the other guys cracked up, I glared at Vin.

“Seriously?” I asked in frustration.

I was ready to contradict them when Grant bent down and whispered in my ear, “Ignore them.”

“Ignore them?” I hissed. “Are you kidding me right now? They think we just had sex, and you’re just going to—”

“They wouldn’t believe me even if I told them that we hadn’t,” he told me plainly.

“Oh, how your reputation precedes you.”

“You and I both know what happened. Why does it matter what anyone else thinks?”

“Because I have a reputation, too, and I don’t want you to make me look like one of your sluts.”

Grant laughed at my comment, but I didn’t think it was very funny.

“Sorry, babe, but it’s a hazard of being around me.”

I opened my mouth to say something smart back, but he wasn’t finished.

“And you’ve already promised to see me again. I’m not letting you back out now.”

“You’re going to make me regret this, aren’t you?”

He winked at me. “Not a chance.”

Two guys I didn’t recognize walked up to us. “Grant,” one of the guys said, “Hurst said tonight was the biggest crowd we’ve had.”

“Epic,” Grant said.

I glanced between them and wondered why I was left standing here awkwardly. So, I thrust out my hand and introduced myself. “Hi, I’m Aribel.”

Both guys looked at me in surprise and then back at Grant.

After a second, one of them took my hand slowly, like he had never been introduced to anyone before. “Miller.”

“Nice to meet you.”

He quirked a smile at me. “You, too. This is McAvoy.”

McAvoy’s eyes were bloodshot, and he looked really out of it, but he still managed to nod at me.

“Hi,” I peeped. “Who is Hurst?”

Both guys’ eyes bugged, and they turned to Grant. What the hell is wrong with them?

“He owns the bar,” Grant informed me without glancing at his friends.

“Oh, well, that’s great for you guys, right?”

“It is,” Miller said. “Bigger the shows, the better the business is for him.”

“Bro!” Vin called, barging in between them.

I was thrown back into Grant and grunted as I slipped on my high heel. He put his arm around me to help me regain my balance.

“Bro, where is Sydney? I thought she was going to come to the show.”

I raised my eyes to Grant, who still had his arm around me. Who is Sydney?

“She couldn’t make it,” Grant said.

“Dude, you spend all week with her and can’t even bring her back to share with me?” Vin asked.

He was clearly cracking himself up, but Grant looked like he was about to pummel him.

I moved away and crossed my arms. So, that is why he had been gone. He had been away, visiting someone else. If I had to wager from Vin’s comments, she was probably someone who was a lot easier than I was.

“What the fuck have I told you about talking about her like that?” Grant growled.