“Who told you we were back together?” I asked.

“Mace did, yesterday,” Buzz answered.

Okay, I was going to kill Mace. I just hoped my jury was made up mostly of jilted women but at that moment I was happy to do my time.

The bastard!

“We are not –” I started to tel Buzz but he interrupted me.

“Linnie would have been beside herself with f**kin’ glee.

She loved you two together. Think she was more upset when you two broke it off than you were.” I doubted that.

I also again had no way to respond. It was better to think of Linnie beside herself with glee than lying in a bed with half her head blown off.

Buzz finished up, “Keep safe. Don’t worry about me or the band. We’l be okay.”

I doubted that too.

“Buzz, I… um…” I didn’t know what to say. What could you say? “Do you need anything?” I finished lamely.

“Linnie’s parents are coming in this morning. They’re planning everything. I’l let Mace know what’s goin’ on.”

“You’l let Mace know?” I asked, my eyes went back to narrowed and this was a different kind of narrowed, a dangerous kind of narrowed.

Juno caught my look, read my look, knew my look, sat on her doggie heiny and woofed a “What now?” doggie woof.

“Yeah, he told us you were incommunicado and we should talk through him to you. We’re cool.” Erm, ex-kah-use me?

“Buzz –”

“Later, Stel a Bel a.”

Disconnect.

I flipped the phone shut. Then I took a deep breath. Then I wondered where the mel ow, laidback, I don’t have time to be pissed off Stel a Gunn disappeared to.

Then I tossed the phone aside, shot from the bed breaking free from Mace’s arm and turned on him.

“You held a band meeting,” I accused.

Mace’s leg on the bed came down so he was in a ful sitting position. His elbows went to his knees, his hands dangling between them and he tilted his head back to look up at me.

In keeping the information flowing, Mace often sat like this, this was Mace’s way. For some weird reason, I always found it sexy. Now I found irritating.

“Stel a –”

“With my band,” I went on.

“Stel a –”

“Without me, ” I kept at it.

Mace decided to keep silent.

You should also know Mace often fel silent when I was in rant mode.

Juno decided to woof then pant, unsure what this turn of events meant to her imminent bathroom break.

“Who happens to be the leader of the band,” I reminded him.

Mace kept his silence.

“You told them to communicate with me through you.” I was on a rol .

Mace stil didn’t speak.

I waited. Mace did too.

I was wearing nothing but a white tank top Daisy gave me and my white panties. Mace was wearing nothing but light blue boxer shorts. I ignored the state of our undress and his utterly fantastic body and put my hands on my hips.

Mace didn’t move. I lost patience.

“How dare you come between me and my band! ” I shouted.

He started to push off the bed and I don’t know what came over me (maybe temporary certifiable insanity seeping into my pores after a day with the Rock Chicks), I launched myself at him.

Ful body.

I hit him in the chest. This surprised him and he took my weight with a grunt. My head connected with his chin which was kind of painful and his arms went around me. We fel back onto the bed, me landing on Mace.

Why I decided to wrestle with Mace, both of us barely-clothed, on a pul out bed would forever remain a mystery for the ages.

But wrestle with Mace I did.

We rol ed, we tussled, the bed creaked loudly and frighteningly. We rol ed back, we tussled some more, the bed creaked louder and more frighteningly and Juno woofed, now thoroughly confused about the current state of affairs.

I tried to gain the upper hand, an impossible feat.

Mace’s long fingers wrapped around my wrists and mostly we tested each other’s strength with me losing.

Mace got on top, his face in my face, his was angry and he clipped, “Damn it, Stel a, stop. You’re gonna tear your stitches.”

“Piss off,” I shot back, not caring about my stitches, in the throes of undeniable temporary insanity, I pushed off with my foot and rol ed him again.

He rol ed me back. We tussled some more.

Looking back, it wasn’t about the band (not total y) it was about being pissed at him for leaving me. Then being pissed at the way he came back in my life. And taking out on him (even though it wasn’t his fault) the fact that I was pissed because Linnie was dead and I was shot. Not to mention him wanting me back and me knowing that couldn’t happen because I couldn’t live through him walking out on me again.

He somehow got on top with his h*ps between my legs and my hands pinned above my head.

I was defeated, I knew it and so did he.

We stared at each other both breathing heavily. Him, I would realize later, from attempting to hold back knowing if he used his ful strength, he’d hurt me. Me, I knew at the time, because I gave it everything I had.

Eyes locked, we just panted in each other’s faces.

Then, face stil angry, that anger warring with something a whole lot different, he said through his teeth, “Christ, I forgot how f**king good you feel when you’re beneath me.” At his words, something shot through me, an electrical current vibrating through every nerve and ending with a sizzle.

Then, do not ask me why, stil deep in my insanity, I lifted my head, pressed my lips against his and kissed him.

Without hesitation, his head slanted and he kissed me back, open-mouthed, wet and deep.

Oh dear.

I forgot how good a kisser Mace was.

We then tussled a different way. He let go of my wrists and our hands started bumping into to each other’s as they moved, mine over the muscles of his back, his sides, his chest, my fingers sliding up his neck and into his hair. His up my sides, in the tank, he tilted up his abs and ran his hand along my bel y, up, to cup my breast, sliding his thumb across my nipple.

Lordy be.

I moaned into his mouth.

It didn’t take long for it to get out-of-control mainly because it had been out-of-control since I threw myself bodily at him – a weird, wild foreplay. I was so turned on I was ready, beyond ready; I’d been waiting a year for this.