Read an Excerpt
Two coeds exit the bathroom across the foyer from me, both way overdressed for students attending a lecture, and one is applying lipstick while the other giggles uncontrollably. They walk past me and I hear hushed comments about how they "just had to see for themselves" if he's as hot in person and "damn security for kicking them out" before they push through the doors I've just entered
My curiosity is now definitely piqued. Who the hell is the guest lecturer if there is security here?
Maybe it's one of Dad's friends. Stranger things have happened.
"So you see, it was the Grammys-it's not like you can say no to him when he just won album of the year and asks you to hang out. Little did I know," the male voice says in a low tenor that's almost a contradiction: smooth like velvet but with a rasp that pulls at my libido and makes me think of bedroom murmurs and hot sex, "that I'd go with him and walk into a private club where everything is laid out like candy-drugs, women, record producers. He turned to me and said, 'Welcome to Hollywood, son.' Shit, I looked at Vince here and thought is this what I have to do to make it here? Play this game? Or can I do this the old-fashioned way? And I don't mean sleep my way to the top either."
The room erupts into laughter with a few whistles as I clear the doorway. I recognize him immediately. He may be on the stage at a distance but his face, his presence, is unmistakable. I've seen it gracing tabloids. TMZ, Rolling Stone-you name it, he's been on their cover.
He's Hawkin Play, front man and lead singer of the highly popular rock band Bent.
And according to his most recent press coverage, a man on the path to a drug-fueled destruction. So that exaggeration most likely means he was caught in possession of some drugs.
Why in the hell is he here?
I walk farther into the auditorium and falter at the top of the steps because just as my ears are attuned to his voice, my body reacts immediately to the overpowering sight of him.
And I sure as hell don't want it to.
I tell myself it's just because I need some action. That my battery-operated boyfriend is getting old and the visceral reaction of my racing pulse or the catch in my breath is just from my dry spell. Well, not really a complete dry spell per se, but rather a lack of toe-curling, mind-numbing, knock-you-on-your-ass sex that I haven't been able to find lately. It's the good lays that are hard to come by.
Don't even think about it. He may be hot, but shit, I grew up with Colton, the ultimate player, so this girl knows what a player sounds and acts like. And from everything I've seen splashed across headlines and social media, Hawkin plays the part to perfection.
But the notion that just like the drug rumors blasted across the magazines, his reputation as a player could be manufactured just as easily lingers in my subconscious. I stare at him again as the class laughs, his ease in front of a large crowd more than apparent, and I immediately wonder if I had a chance with him if I'd take it.
