Worth the shots, p.1
WORTH THE SHOTS, page 1
WORTH THE SHOTS
HEATHER M ORGERON
Copyright © 2023 by Heather M Orgeron
All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of the publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into retrieval system, or transmitted in any form, or by any means(electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, brands, media, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of various products referenced in this work of fiction, which have been used without permission. The publication/use of these trademarks is not authorized, associated with, or sponsored by the trademark owners.
Cover design by: Y’all. That Graphic.
Photographer: Wander Aguiar Photography
Model: Christian M.
Formatting: Champagne Book Design
CONTENTS
1. Aiden
2. Veronica
3. Veronica
4. Aiden
5. Veronica
6. Aiden
7. Veronica
8. Aiden
9. Veronica
10. Aiden
11. Veronica
12. Aiden
13. Veronica
14. Aiden
15. Veronica
16. Aiden
17. Veronica
18. Veronica
19. Aiden
20. Veronica
21. Aiden
22. Veronica
23. Veronica
24. Aiden
Epilogue One
Epilogue Two
PREVIEW OF POUR JUDGMENT
Also by Heather M Orgeron
Acknowledgments
About the Author
For Harloe Rae, who practically forced me out of retirement. (Again). Because everyone needs a best friend who calls them a whorebag and refuses to let them quit.
CHAPTER 1
AIDEN
Sweat drips from my brow while my fingers glide across the keys, a final wave of adrenaline surging through me as I belt out the background vocal, relying strictly on muscle memory to synchronize with our drummer Nick’s steady beats.
My vision devolves into flashes of white light as I lose myself to this ultimate high—one that no drug has ever come close to reaching. Hell, not even the ecstasy that comes from sinking my cock into a warm, wet pussy can compare with the burst of euphoria that hits at the end of a set when the stars align the way they have tonight.
The band is perfectly in sync, and the crowd’s energy is the kerosene driving our flame.
As soon as the curtain falls, our manager, Anika, rushes out from backstage with a blinding smile. “You guys are on fire!”
My bandmates’ spouses aren’t far behind my work wife, spouting similar sentiments and going in for some semi-public displays of affection.
Warmth swells in my chest as I drop back on my bench and soak it all in.
The opening of our club, Booze & Bad Decisions, in the heart of Nashville last year has turned out to be a godsend. With a steady Saturday night gig, The Rhett Taylor Band has, for the most part, put our touring days behind us. And for the first time in my twenty-eight years of life, I have a place that feels like home.
Not too shabby for a foster kid from the wrong side of the tracks.
“Them titties, though…” With a feral growl, I haul Annie into my lap and give those tatas the motorboatin’ they’re begging for. They’re practically pouring out of that skin-tight band tee she’s customized with a very, very deep neckline.
“Ugh, gross.” She shoves my head back, her face aghast. “Now my tits are gonna smell like your boozy breath.”
I snort, brushing her nose with the tip of my own. “So?” With a quirk of my brow, I reach around to retrieve my whiskey glass from the keyboard and take a long swig, relishing the burn in my throat.
“So…” She scoots off my lap, the motion causing my dick to strain against my zipper. After righting her clothes, she shakes her hair out. “I have someone I’d like you to meet.” Her voice raises a few octaves as her eyes leave mine to scan the room. “All of you.”
A petite redhead with lush curves built for sin steps out from the shadows. Her right hand lifts to chest level, and she gives her fingers a tentative wiggle. “I’m Talia.” The timid smile that follows perfectly complements this shy girl act she’s trying to pull off. My dick twitches in anticipation of what’s to come. It’s these innocent types that are always the most fun in the sack.
Anika chose well tonight. Not that I can complain about any of the treats she occasionally delivers to me backstage. No one knows my tastes better.
I bound to my feet and cross the stage to where she’s standing beside our manager and tuck a finger beneath her chin. Tilting her face this way and that, I give her an appreciative onceover. “Annie,” I purr, meeting the groupie’s emerald irises with my own. “You shouldn’t have.”
“I didn’t.” The little spitfire’s voice is filled with piss and vinegar as she shoves my hand away. “Jesus, Aiden.” She tosses her long dark hair over a shoulder and levels me with a look that has me feeling about two inches tall. “Can’t you ever just act civilized?”
My eyes volley around the room, finding everyone else looking confused as well. “My mistake.” I take a step back, the fire in my veins now running ice cold.
She’s not usually so bitchy with me.
“Sorry,” Anika says, before taking the woman’s hand into her own.
My breath stutters. Then she laces their fingers together and I swear it stops completely.
“Guys, this is Talia…my girlfriend.”
I barely register the ceremony taking place around me. It’s so far removed from the place I find myself in.
“You all right, man?” Our bassist, Lyle, claps me on the back, jogging me from my stupor.
“I’m fine,” I lie. Seems like the right thing to do, considering I have no explanation for why I’m not even remotely okay with this. I’m with other women damn near daily, and Anika’s not mine. She’s never been mine. Yet, I feel an undeniable sense of possession over her. “Why wouldn’t I be?”
“You look a little shaken up.” His throat clears. “I know you and Anika are really…uh, close.”
Close. That’s one way to put it. She’s the Jane to my Tarzan. My fucking soulmate, if such a thing exists. And sure, I’ve known she was attracted to women for quite some time now, but given even the slightest bit of liquid courage, she’s hanging all over me.
We’re a perfect match everywhere but the bedroom. And I’m positive it’s only because we’ve never explored that area. That’s where the groupies come in. And while I always take care to treat them like the goddesses they are, I make it very clear from the start that it’s a one-and-done situation. My emotions have never entered the equation.
And maybe that’s what has me so fucked up. She put a label on it. This isn’t just some random hookup. It’s an emotional entanglement and a threat to the most dependable relationship in my life.
“We’re all really close.” My voice carries a little more edge than I intend as my composure dangles in the balance. “One big happy family.”
Lyle pinches the bridge of his nose. “Don’t do this.”
“Don’t do what?” I say loudly. “Nothing’s gonna change, right, Annie?”
The nervous smile plastered to her face looks so out of place. Anika is a pistol. Always steadfast and sure. “Right,” she quickly agrees.
“Just so we’re clear, bestie.” I trail a finger along her cleavage, unable to keep from smiling at her sharp intake of breath. “How’s this gonna work? Get our rocks off separately…” I waggle my brows at her friend. “Then all crawl into bed together to cuddle?”
“Oh, brother.” Raven climbs out of Nick’s lap, her eyes widening with unnecessary alarm. “Do something!” She shoves her husband in our direction.
“That’s enough, Aiden.” The giant of a man rakes a hand through his spikey blond hair. “Come on… just fucking chill.”
A loud guffaw bursts from my chest—a lame attempt at saving face. “Oh, my God. I wish you could see yourselves right now.” But my voice sounds maniacal even to my own ears. “I’m fine.”
Desperate for a reprieve, Anika’s the only one buying into my bullshit. Her pinched expression visibly relaxes, just as her tiny fist connects with my sternum. “I hate you.”
“No, ya don’t.” Scooting her aside, I reach for Talia’s hand. “Good luck.” I press my lips to her knuckles. “You’re gonna need it with this one.”
“Truer words never spoken,” Rhett agrees, stepping between the happy couple and myself. “It’s nice to finally meet you.”
He already knew about this girl?
“Likewise,” she smiles up at him. “I’ve heard so much about you.”
“That was really shitty.” At the sound of her familiar voice, I look down to my left to find Annie glaring up at me. “Could you have made her introduction to the group any more uncomfortable?”
“Whatever.” I shrug. “Clearly you expected my shenanigans.”
“Why do you say that?” she asks, while dragging me off to a secluded corner backstage.
“Rhett already knew about her.” I quirk a brow, curious to see how she’ll explain th
Anika’s face falls as she folds her arms across her chest. “I couldn’t figure out how to tell you.”
“Hmm…wonder why that is?” I lean in closer. “Guilt, maybe?”
“I have nothing to feel guilty for,” she snaps. “I just…didn’t want to hurt you more than necessary.”
I nod, sucking my tongue to my teeth. “How long have the two of you been secretly dating?”
“Not long,” she hedges. “It’s new.”
“She’s hot.”
Anika blushes. “Right?”
“Licked her clit yet?”
She jerks back. “Why are you like this?”
“We’re besties, right?” I don’t know what she wants from me. That was totally a best friend thing to say.
“Yeah...”
“Who else you gonna talk to about these things? Just sayin’, you got the connoisseur of cooch right here, at your disposal.”
“We haven’t gotten that far yet.” Her anxiety over their looming intimacy makes itself known in the unease of her tone.
“There’s still a chance,” I mutter out loud.
“A chance for what?”
“That you’ll make an honest man outta me.”
“I have a girlfriend,” she counters, rolling her eyes.
“Yeah. Yeah…” I wave that pesky detail away. “Relationships come and go. I’ll just sit back and watch the movie—wait for this one to run its course.”
I yelp when Anika’s hand shoots out and twists the barbell on my nipple. “Stop using me as your excuse to keep from getting serious with anyone else. It isn’t fair,” she says through clenched teeth.
Her accusation stings, or maybe that’s just my tit. Because, fuck, that hurts. “That’s not what I’m doing.”
“You are.” She releases my nipple and gently shoulder-checks me. “And it isn’t fair to either of us. I want the chance at romance, Aiden. The shit the rest of these guys have. A physical…emotional…spiritual connection.” She jabs a finger into my chest to punctuate each word.
I shake my head, the bitter pill of denial perched on the tip of my tongue.
“You’re so fucked in the head,” she accuses, “that you’re willing to settle for the first thing that feels comfortable.” She reaches out to cup my cheek in a rare show of compassion. “I do love you, Aiden, and I always will. But I’m not in love with you. If you opened yourself up, you’d realize they are not the same thing, and that you aren’t in love with me, either.”
“You don’t know shit!” Her declaration is a crushing blow, because if nothing else, it’s clear to me in this moment that her feelings don’t run half as deep as mine. The only woman I’ve ever loved is essentially breaking up with me, and I’m completely alone in my pain. I resigned myself long ago to the fact that a physical relationship may never be in the cards for us, but I don’t know how to sit by and watch her give her heart to another.
“I know you deserve a hell of a lot more than a revolving door of meaningless sex and this half-assed game of house the two of us have been playing at.”
“What if I like things just the way they are?” I back her up to the wall. “What if I enjoy fucking random women? And what if I don’t need more emotional baggage than whatever this…” I flatten my palm to her heaving chest. “Whatever this fucked-up thing between us is? What if I don’t want more?”
I fist a hand into my hair and growl, “What then?”
“Then that’s just too damn bad, because you might not want more, but I do.” Her eyes well with tears. “And if you’re really my friend, you’d want that for me too.”
The crack in her voice splinters me to my core. I’m being selfish. A total dick to the person I care about above all else. So what if my heart is breaking? No one in my life has ever loved me enough to put me first. Not my parents. Not the shitty foster homes I bounced between throughout my childhood. I swore I’d never be like them, yet here I am, acting like a true product of my raising.
Well, if my wants come at the expense of my best friend’s happiness, then I’ll just have to do without. Can’t imagine it’ll be too hard of an adjustment. I should be a fucking pro at this shit by now.
Drained of any fight I might’ve had left, I grip her chin in my hand and gently glide the pad of my thumb along her jawline. “Then I hope you find it,” I rasp before ripping myself away and storming off into the night.
“Aiden! Bro, where’s the fire?”
Freezing rain pelts against my face as I barrel down Broadway, ignoring the frustrated calls coming from my bodyguard, Josh, at my rear.
My booted feet splash through neon tinted puddles while every few steps the music from one live band bleeds into the next. Yeah, a trek down Honky Tonk Highway is just what the doctor ordered. This place is always buzzing with fresh talent and big dreams. It takes me back to the beginning, reminding me of how far I’ve come, and never fails to get my blood pumping. It isn’t long before the excitement overtakes whatever unnamed emotion had me feeling numb and lifeless back at the club.
I cringe at the thought of my own weakness.
All I need is my music—the true love of my life. She raised me up. Comforted me in the darkest days of adolescence and ultimately afforded me a career and stability I only ever dared to dream of. And tonight, she and whiskey are gonna nurse me through my first—and if I have any say in the matter, only—broken heart.
Another minute ticks by and Josh is at my side, his jaw clenching as he speed-walks to keep up. “Mind giving a guy a head’s up before you haul ass on foot like that?”
“Sorry.” I hook a right into Bottle Grounds Dueling Piano Bar, my favorite haunt when I need to burn off some energy, or in tonight’s case…a little steam. “Needed to clear my head.”
“Wanna talk about it?”
I remove my ball cap, shaking the water off on the entrance rug before replacing the sopping wet garment and giving him a hard stare. “Do I ever?”
He shakes his head, guiding me to the VIP section that’s roped off to the left of the stage where my favorite girls, Bangin’ Betty and Tenacious Trixie, battle it out on matching grand pianos to a crowd favorite, “The Devil Went Down to Georgia.”
It’s impossible to come to this place and not leave in a good mood. Bottle Grounds isn’t your run-of-the-mill classy piano joint, but a modern-day spin with boundless energy and theatrical flair. The hostesses’ over-the-top antics and bubbly personalities are, in a word, infectious. But strip away the gaudy costumes, big hair, elaborate makeup, and fuckery, and they’re still two of the best damn pianists I’ve ever encountered. Better than myself, even.
“Fuck yeah!” I shout, garnering a wink from Trixie. I stick out my tongue and lap the air, imagining running it along those triple-Ds bouncing and glistening beneath the stage lights while she executes the ending with flawless accuracy and unparalleled showmanship.
The packed house goes nuts, cheering and tossing wads of money to the stage.
“Well, if it isn’t our favorite rock star,” Betty coos into her mic when she finally notices me occupying my usual spot just behind her setup. “No lady friend tonight?”
I choke, taking the glass of Johnnie Walker the bartender just set in front of me and washing down the sour taste climbing in my throat. “Nah.”
I swirl what’s left of the amber liquid, momentarily stricken by how similar it is to the color of Anika’s eyes. “Decided to leave my options open tonight.”
“We-heh-heh-helllll, you hear that?” The voluptuous brunette directs her gaze to the gaggle of women gathered in front of the stage. “Sounds like it just might be someone’s lucky night.”
I toss back the rest of my drink then shake the cup at the bartender, signaling for another. “Come home with me after your shift, sweet Betty, and the luck’ll be all mine.”
