A/N: So sorry, I skipped chapter! I've updated chapter 7 to show the actual chapter and then added 8 to it's actual place.
Eight: Hard as a Rock
By the time Chris figured out Samantha had left, the talent show had ended and they had announced her moving onto the semi-finals. That wasn't a surprise. He wanted to celebrate with her, but that wasn't meant to be since she'd taken off. Shrugging, he decided to drink with the band for the night and, if his eye caught another Samantha, he would bring her to bed. That was doubtful, however.
Bill had outright told her she and Chris couldn't be seen together since that would be grounds for DQ from the competition, fucking the judge. And… she was also overwhelmed. Maria had remained at the beach to continue with the festivities so Sam took advantage and had a very, very long hot shower, working out all the damn hairspray and gel that had been used to hold up her hair. She felt about ten pounds lighter when the make-up was off too.
She was fresh out of the shower and attempting to pick through her tangled, wet hair when her cell phone rang. She regret answering it, her very irate mother was on the other line.
"How are you feeling? Paul told us you were sick last night and that's why you missed your flight. Do you have any idea how upset your father is, Samantha? You better get on the next flight available and come spend your Spring Break with your family or ELSE, young lady."
"I think it was the Chinese I ate last night…" Sam made a retching noise, sniffling. She got into Maria's small little cupboard, pulling out a can of veggie soup and popped the lid. "I can't stay away from the toi-" She was over said toilet now, pouring the soup in slowly while gagging and purposefully dry heaving. She heard her mom shrieking about the grossness, hearing the plops. "Hold on mom…" More heaving. When she picked up her cell, she had been hung up on. "Ahhhh better."
"Damn it, she's actually sick…"
"Really?" Paul didn't buy it until Marsha began explaining what she'd just heard, immediately clamping his hands over his ears. "Gross! I told her not to eat that greasy crap and she refuses to listen to me."
"If she is lying, she's putting on a hell of a performance because… oh God, I can't even describe it again. Excuse me." Marsha swept out of the room, upset that her daughter would not be joining them for her Spring Break.
Paul was irate, going to complain to his parents about having an incompetent girlfriend. "I'm seriously thinking about breaking up with her."
Laura gaped, shaking her head instantly. "You can't, Paul! Samantha is your soul mate and you know this." She coaxed her son, wrapping an arm around his shoulders. "Just give her time to get over this illness and then call her. I'm sure she can still make it up here a couple days for the break…"
Maybe, he mused, but why did it feel like Samantha was lying?
"Damn, you girls are some scantlous hoes." John shook his head the next day, sitting with Maria and Samantha in their room, all of them stuffing their faces. Sam had just finished explaining how she had delayed going home.
"You haven't met her folks, it's totally warranted."
"No, he's right, women are scantlous hoes." She laughed, taking a very large bite of her sandwich, puffing her cheeks out when Maria shook her head.
Maria grinned, thankful she had a solid friend who didn't tattle to her boyfriend about her one night of being shady. It was a night she would never forget, Maria had always been kinky in the bedroom and luckily, so was John. Hell, he probably would've asked to join in if he'd gone with them. Then again, he was very possessive of her when it came to other men, so maybe. "So what's the plan, Sam?"
Even if she were so inclined to tattle, she wouldn't have simply because she had cheated on Paul, a lot, with Chris. Considering it was probably a once in a lifetime deal, she figured that should be an automatic freebie but that was neither here nor there. "I say we hit the beach, so I can hide under an umbrella and not fry."
"I'm down."
"Same here." Maria grinned, eyeing her boyfriend and pointed at the door. "You. Out. You're not gonna watch us change like a pervert." John grumbled his way out the door, both women laughing at him. Maria decided to wear something a little provocative to tease her boyfriend with and maybe she could entice him for a little watery fun.
Shaking her head at her friend's antics, Sam began changing into her two piece, black, and then a cover-up. She tossed a few towels into her tote along with sunscreen. "Where's my hat?"
Maria tossed the wide brimmed sun hat at her. "You and your damn white ass."
"I'm from New England, it's a thing there, I'm sure."
"Yeah, you need to tan that white ass, if you're gonna be sticking around Florida too." Maria smacked her backside with a laugh, already lathering her body up in oil and couldn't wait for the sun to bake her skin. She loved tanning and it was the perfect time of year to do it, not too hot and not too cold. The water would be a little chilly, but after baking in the sun for 2 hours, it would feel like heaven to dip into. Rolling her eyes, she looked up when there was a knock.
"All right, let's go."
When she opened the door, Maria nearly ran into a brick wall and stumbled back, eyes wide. "Umm Sam, I think it's for you."
"I'm sick!" She rasped, having this horrible feeling Paul had come back to drag her ass home. Just what she DIDN'T want. When Maria pushed open the door, Sam's jaw dropped. "How- how the…"
"I'll see you at the beach,' Maria cleared her throat and stepped out of the room after grabbing her stuff.
"The beach, huh? Sounds like fun." Chris grinned, pushing the shell-shocked woman back into the room and kicked the door shut, his hands cupping her face before she could really do or say anything else. "You did great yesterday." Against Bill's advisement, Chris had to see Samantha again and pulled back, sliding a finger down her cheek to her jaw, neck and shoulder. "We have some fond memories together at the beach, don't we baby?"
Sam was three shades of red, unable to do much more than stare at him. Chris Irvine was standing in her tiny dorm room. "You… why are you here?" Why did he keep showing up when he wasn't supposed too? Life didn't work like this, right? She caught his hand before he could play with the strap to her swim top, trying not to smile.
She failed horribly at that, her eyes glittering up at him. "I wanted to see my woman, of course. Give her a proper congratulations and maybe convince her to join me for a bite to eat or a stroll on the beach, something like that. Then again, you look so delicious in this getup, I might just keep you locked up in here and fuck you until we go blind, baby. How'd that be, hmm?"
"I'm not supposed to be seen out in public with you, Bill said it meant I'd be disqualified." Which, was probably not a bad thing she considered. She had nearly hurled on stage. Chris didn't look like he cared. She rolled her eyes. "Did… do you want to come down to the beach with me and my friends?" She offered hesitantly. What the fuck did a rock star do on his downtime? Besides college girls.
Bill was full of it since Chris had spotted several of the women that were in the competition hanging out with the other judges afterwards. It didn't mean anything to hang out with them, but being physical and affectionate towards each other would have to be done besides closed doors. "How about we go shopping? Get you something sexy to wear for the semi-finals, hmm?" The beach and her friends could wait, he wanted to make sure she looked like a star up on that stage.
"Shopping?" Sam wrinkled her nose, wondering if he were serious. "I still have that dress from yesterday." She had taken it to be dry cleaned actually, now it was hanging in her closet, in a garment bag, way to sexy for the likes of her. At his look, she groaned. "Let me change." Not going out in a bikini. Hell. No.
Grinning, Chris loved how she complied with whatever he wanted and sat on the bed, waiting patiently for her to change. He watched her every move, those curves went on for miles and he enjoyed the fact she wasn't a toothpick either. "Ready to go?" He yanked her flush against his body, passionately kissing her until he was sure her panties were damp and pulled back with a sly smile. "Let's go." Before she could protest, he had her out the door.
Shopping with Chris was an interesting, painful experience. Stuff she wouldn't have looked at twice or even considered in her wildest dreams was exactly what he went for. One part of her was seriously flattered and in awe, the other part was terrified. "I can't wear that!" She whispered, eyeballing the 'dress' he had picked out.
"Why not? Do you have any idea how gorgeous you are? You've got legs, an ass you can bounce a quarter off of and breasts that aren't too big, but not too small either. This dress will accentuate all of your features." Not to mention, it also matched the color of her eyes, which was a huge plus. Her eyes would pop with this dress as he shoved it in her arms and pushed her into the dressing room. "Put it on and let me see."
Groaning, Sam closed the door behind her before stepping out of her sandals, hanging the dress up on the garment hook. Within minutes, she was out of her shorts and tank top and stepping into that dress. Sort of. Mostly. She opened the door and crooked a finger at the Rockstar. "I can't get the hooks on the back." She said, knowing the top wasn't hugging her like it was supposed to do to said hooks but he got the overall picture of what it would look like.
Chris devoured her with his eyes, his fingers delicately sliding up her arms until he came in contact with the hooks. He fastened them in place and slowly moved her in front of the full-length mirror, brushing hair away from her neck to rest over one shoulder. "Complete knockout. Men will be falling over themselves to get to you when you win that contest, baby." He murmured, pressing a kiss to the side of her neck since there were no eyes on them and chuckled at her shiver. "Stay with me in my bus tonight. We'll have complete privacy."
Samantha nodded, smiling against his collarbone before pulling back to look up at him. "Can we swing by the dorm so I actually have an overnight bag this time?" She had spent two nights with him and had lost two dresses, gained two t-shirts. Probably time to break that habit. Well, it wasn't a habit, not really, this wasn't a long term thing, regardless of his talk about her being 'his woman', he was obviously sort of crazy. "Oh, and I need to text Maria so she knows."
"What is she your babysitter now?" Chris joked, nodding at her request and kissed the top of her head before brushing his lips against hers. "I like the thought of you having an overnight bag." He wondered if there was a way to convince her to travel with him during the summer, once school was out, even if it was for a short amount of time. "Come on, we gotta find you some rockin' shoes now to go with that saucy dress, baby."
Babysitter no, Maria was her friend and she had blown off said friend without notice for him. Samantha was not prepared for when they stepped out of the store and his guards shoved a stupid hat on her head, then she noticed Chris had been spotted. "Ow…" She grunted, rubbing her arm where she had been pinched and began working her way out of the cluster, watching as he was swarmed. It was very easy to see that he was reveling in the adoration.
Chris spotted that guard -Benny- manhandle Samantha and would take care of him once his adoring fans were satisfied. He would never turn down any fans that wanted pictures and autographs. It took awhile and Samantha was put in the back of a car with tinted windows. Once he finished and all the fans were taken care of, he slipped in the back of the car and wrapped an arm around Samantha with a grin, the car driving off. "Well that was fun."
Sam simply nodded, having occupied herself with her cell. "That was insane." Life of a famous person was definitely not for her. It wasn't exactly like she needed to pursue riches and wealth, she was a rich bitch, even if she didn't always act or dress like it. Tucking her cell back in her purse, she glanced at him. "You really get a rush off of that."
"Makes me harder than a rock, Sammy." Chris stated bluntly, laughing at the appalled and mesmerized look on her was the truth; in the small amount of time they knew each other, she should've been used to his bluntness by now. "When you win that contest, you'll be famous too, you know. Adoring fans, mostly men, flocking at your feet and doing anything you ask of them. All because you have a beautiful singing voice. What do you think of that?"
"Um, I don't know." Samantha hadn't thought that far and she wasn't counting on winning the contest either. Or hadn't been, but she had a feeling one of the judges was swayed in her favor, her blue eyes narrowing thoughtfully as she studied him. "You got lipstick on your jaw, Rockstar." She smiled slightly, pulling a tissue out of her purse to start wiping it away. "I don't think I need a bunch of men flocking at my feet."
A couple of the women had gotten a little rambunctious and kissed his face. Maybe going shopping out in public, especially a mall, wasn't the smartest thing to do. "You like cleaning me up, don't you?" He murmured while she continued wiping the lipstick and gloss away, finally stopping her to capture her mouth in a passionate kiss.