Free A Rock & Roll Romance by Sophie Monroe Page A

elevator door opened. There stood Jake with red lipstick still staining his mouth. I turned and started walking away from him. I’d rather sleep on a park bench than be anywhere near him at this point.
    “Stop. Aubrey, wait a minute!” He yelled.
    “Fuck you, Jake Parker!” I screamed.
    I walked out the front door of the hotel and made a left. He was running after me. I started walking down the street. I didn’t care that it was two in the morning, or that I had no clue where I was. I knew he was right behind me, but I forged on anyway. I turned the corner and walked right into a large body. I fell right on my ass. I looked up and saw that it was Brett. He reached his hand out to help me to my feet. I crossed my legs and sat unmoving on the ground. I also didn’t give a shit that I was acting like a five year old. Jake was not my boyfriend. I had no claim to him, and after tonight I didn’t want one either. So what if he could touch me? Maybe I was over my aversion.
    Jake kneeled down in front of me.
    “Are you done?” He asked comically. My fury spiked.
    “Get away from me!” I shrieked.
    I stumbled to my feet and started back on my path.
    Brett really looked as if he wanted to do something to block me. I glared at him. He shrugged and stepped out of my way. Jake continued following me. He started singing ‘Brown Eyed Girl’ at the top of his lungs. I wanted to laugh. I wanted to cry. I wanted to scream. I kept walking until we had gone at least a mile. Tonight sucked and I just wanted to go to bed. I stopped and turned around. Jake looked stupefied.
    “Fine, you don’t want to stop and talk to me? I’m going to talk anyway. You ignored me all night, Aubrey. You hurt my feelings, so I hurt yours. I know it wasn’t the right thing to do, but you get under my skin!”
    “Go fuck one of your gr oupies and leave me alone, Jake!”
    “Come on, don’t be like this. I don’t want a groupie. I want you.”
    “ Too fucking bad!” I screamed.
    “Hey, I told you that I could be an asshole sometimes. Tonight was a stellar example.”
    “Exactly. I don’t want to deal with that kind of thing, Jake. I won’t.” I turned to look at him.
    “ Maybe if you would fucking let me in, I would be able to understand.”
    “Fuck you! I’ve known you for less than a week. I didn’t deserve that, Jake. So what, I was talking to Kevin. Did you stop to think that maybe I would want to know the people in your band? I did it because they’re important to you! Before tonight, I thought I liked you. If you could be like you were yesterday, I might even say that we could even have something. After tonight, you have about as much of a chance as a cold day in hell. I’m staying in my own room tonight.” I stalked forward.
    He stood there defeated. 
    “Everybody leaves. I guess I should expect the same from you.” He called after me.
    I stopped in my tracks. I turned and looked at him. It was his trump card , and he knew it. We both had huge trust issues. His stemmed from abandonment mine were from being hurt in the past.
    “I’m still here , aren’t I? I just don’t want to be around you right now. I especially don’t want to be in bed next to you. Can you blame me?”
    “All because of a fucking kiss? Seriously Aubrey, it was just a kiss.”
    M y anger flared. Fine, he said it was just a kiss. I overpowered my fear and grabbed Brett by the back of the neck. Before he could process what I was doing, I kissed him. I pulled away and smirked at Jake. He was steaming. Good. I ignored him and walked back into the hotel lobby to retrieve my bag. I hit the call button for the elevator and pushed the button for the third floor. When the doors opened I went to find my room. Once I was safely inside I felt a little relief. At least I gave him a taste of his own medicine. I grabbed my toothbrush and vigorously brushed my teeth. I changed into my pajamas and walked back into the room. I jumped out of my skin when I saw Jake was