"She's a rebel. She's a saint. She's the salt of the Earth and she's dangerous."
Caitlyn Gellar is different and that's exactly why Shane can't have enough of her. He's used to Mitchie's soft caresses and Tess' rough kisses and Caitlyn seems to be right in between the two.
Shane is convinced she's perfect.
He's never been so smitten before. He really doesn't understand it because how does it make any sense to go from making love with Mitchie to fucking Tess to the amazingfantasticincredible experience that having sex with Caitlyn is. He's scared of how badly he wants her because Shane is not usually like this.
He's Shane Gray, for crying out loud.
So why does she have him so enchanted? He has no clue. All he knows is that she had him the minute she showed up at the studio in her combat boots and Bon Jovi t-shirt because Nate had asked her to work with them. Jason hugged her and Nate just waved hi from where he was tuning his guitar.
Shane was pretty sure his jaw dropped.
"So what are you guys working on?" Caitlyn asked, dropping her bag on the couch next to Shane, barely acknowledging his presence. He wasn't sure why she was ignoring him but he didn't care – he didn't normally lose his cool but it was nowhere to be found now.
He had it bad.
Eventually, she did talk to him; something about how he sounded pitchy and did he think he could stop screeching at the end of the song? It wasn't a Muse song, after all. They weren't hardcore or metal – they were bordering on pop-rock. Normally, he'd have gotten mad.
He didn't give a shit this time.
Shane had no clue why she made him act so differently from the way he normally was, but whatever it was, he just wanted more more more. He couldn't get enough of her sarcasm and her criticism and her curls and her perfume and her boots and her Ray Bans and all he wanted was to ask her out.
It terrified him.
"Just ask her out, dude. You're obviously obsessed with her," Nate said absently, probably because he was texting Mitchie. Shane sighed and shook his head. It just wasn't that easy. He told Nate that, who rolled his eyes but just ignored him.
Caitlyn walked in, combat boots and headphones around her neck, probably listening to You Give Love a Bad Name (her favorite song ever). "You guys ready to finish this album?" she asked, smiling widely. She sat down in front of the table, motioning for us to go into the booth to start recording.
Once the last song had been recorded, Nate and Jason left the studio, both of them on their ways to see their girlfriends, get food, get the hell out of the studio. For the last eight weeks, they'd been in there every day with Caitlyn.
For the last eight weeks, Shane had been there every day with Caitlyn.
He swore it was torture. "Puppy dog love," Nate called it. He also mentioned it was totally lame, especially because Shane was normally a lot cooler, apparently, and not a total coward. Shane just punched him. He wasn't being a coward, he was just waiting for the right time.
He was smart enough to know he didn't want to mess this up at all, that's why he'd waited until the last minute. This way, if it didn't work out, then at least he wouldn't have to see her all time and have it be awkward.
He grabbed his keys and said bye to Caitlyn, who was planning on living in the studio until the record was done with the editing, and headed to the nearest Burger King to get them some lunch; after all, wasn't that step one in winning someone over?
He drove back to the studio humming to himself, trying to calm down – why were his palms sweating so much? He was nervous because he knew that it was now or never; if he didn't ask her out, then he might as well never do it because a girl like her couldn't be single for long.
Shane walked into the studio and set the bag down next to Caitlyn, who looked up at him in surprise. "Hey, thanks, Shane," she said, smiling at him, and Shane swore he'd do anything to see her smile like that again.
"No problem," he said. "I figured you'd get hungry sooner or later."
Caitlyn grinned at him. "And right you were, I'm starving," she said, opening her food enthusiastically. Shane started eating his own food, laughing when Caitlyn finished before he was even halfway done.
"Damn," Shane said and shook his head, grinning. "You sure you don't want more? I can get more."
Caitlyn laughed and shook her head, and Shane got ready to finallyfinallyfinally ask her out for once and for all. "Maybe not now, but I'll take you up on that for tomorrow night. Deal?"
Shane looked at her, his eyes wide, before fully realizing what had happened. "Do you mean as in a date?" he asked carefully.
Caitlyn grinned and nodded. "You okay with that, popstar?" she asked. Shane nodded and grinned. "But since you already asked me out, I'm picking the place," he said and she grinned.
"Deal."
Holy crap. This took me ages to write.