Stone Cold Notes: A Rock Star Romance (The Seasons Change)
Stone Cold Notes: Chapter 18

THE SECOND I WOKE UP, I remembered I was in Wren’s bed. Without opening my eyes, I also knew for sure she wasn’t in it with me. The shower was running in the bathroom next door, so I assumed she was in there.

It must’ve been early. She hadn’t kicked me out yet, and I was still tired as hell. That was partly because Wren and I hadn’t fallen asleep until…well, it was late. But we had lost time to make up for, and no matter how many times I came, I couldn’t seem to get enough of being inside her.

She couldn’t get enough either. She let me bend her soft, round body in every way, experimenting to find positions we liked, then fucking missionary, because hell, sometimes vanilla was the sweetest flavor of them all. Wren never forgot where we were, though, reminding me to be quiet when I got too loud, smothering her face in her pillow when she couldn’t hold back her moans. Even that part was sexy, because it was her. My pretty little bird who was finally in the palm of my hand. Everything I never knew I wanted.

All these years, watching from afar, telling myself she wasn’t mine, that I was protecting her from a distance and I’d been missing out. Not just on her body, but on her. I smiled when I was with her. I talked. I didn’t cringe at the sound of my voice when we were having a conversation.

What the hell had I been thinking staying away?

I knew. I’d been wrapped up in her purported rejection. Too consumed with jealousy over her being with another guy to even question why the asshole wasn’t in her life when he’d knocked her up. Licking my wounds like a damn kicked dog instead of taking charge and getting my girl.

So much time we could’ve been together, all wasted. I fucking refused to waste another second. I’d push if I had to, but I wasn’t going away.

A gentle poke on my shoulder had my eyelids flying open. Dark amber pools stared back at me from beside the bed. Ezra.

Shit. Wren wasn’t going to be happy. To be quite honest, I didn’t love the situation either. A tiny sweet-breathed boy staring at me like a puzzle before the crack of dawn. I should’ve climbed down the motherfuckin’ drainpipe like I’d planned.

“Are you Mommy’s friend?” he asked.

“I’m Callum.”

Wren’s son has the same color hair as her, but where hers was silky and glossy, his was a pile of wild curls on top of his head. His cheeks were just the right amount of round, and he shared her too-big eyes. The kid was cute. But maybe I thought that because, up close like this, all I saw was a baby version of Wren. It was like she’d made him without any outside help.

I liked that idea.

“Callum?” He had trouble with ‘L.’ In his soft, little boy voice, my name came out “Cow-um,” and I don’t know, maybe it was an improvement.

“Yeah. I’m Callum.”

He nodded once. Decisively. Like that had sealed the deal. “You are Mommy’s friend. She only has three.”

“Did she tell you about me?”

He nodded again, this time smiling. His teeth were small, with gaps between, and bright white. “Mommy only has three friends.” He snickered like he’d just told the funniest joke he’d ever heard, and damn if I didn’t fight the urge to chuckle. “Mommy thinks I’m her friend!” He laughed even harder.

“You’re not?”

“No, I’m her boy.”

“Can’t be her friend too?”

His nose wrinkled. “No. I’m Mommy’s boy. You’re Mommy’s friend.”

“Yeah.” I rubbed some of the sleep from my eye. “I guess I am.”

Or…I had been until her kid found me in her bed. Didn’t know how friendly Wren was gonna feel toward me when she discovered Ezra and I were acquainted.

He looked me over, kinda judgy. “You wearing your jammies?”

“I think I forgot to put them on last night.” Thank fuck I’d listened to Wren and tossed on my briefs and a T-shirt. She really wouldn’t have liked me if her kid had seen my bare ass.

He tugged on his snug T-shirt. “I’m wearing jammies. You like them?”

I looked him over. He had some kind of dog with a fireman hat printed on his shirt. The dog seemed pretty legit.

“I do. You think they make those in my size?”

He squinted at me, like he was taking stock of just how big I was. “I can ask my mommy. She could buy some for you.” Then he ran out of the room, yelling for his mother.

I rolled onto my back, breathing out a sigh. Raised the way I was, with a mishmash of families living communally, I’d been around kids. A lot of kids. I’d never been uncomfortable with them. The thing was, in the back of my mind, I thought I’d resent Wren’s kid. Ezra. Not that it was his fault he existed, but I thought I’d resent his existence anyway.

I searched around my brain and chest, and there was none of that there. I didn’t quite know how I felt about him, but it wasn’t anything bad. Definitely no resentment. He was too much of Wren for that to even be a possibility. That was a good thing, because I didn’t think Wren would like me too much if I gave her kid the stink eye.

A few minutes later, Wren stepped into the room, wrapped in a towel, with bright red cheeks and wild, frantic eyes.

“Oh my god,” she wheezed.

“Yeah.” I sat up and swung my legs off the bed. “I met Ezra.”

Her eyes flared. “Oh my god!”

“He’s cute, Wren. Looks like you.”

That snapped her out of her broken record stupor. Pride straightened her spine. “Right? Brian’s DNA got trounced by mine.”

I chuckled even though hearing that fucker’s name didn’t fill me with the warm fuzzies.

She approached me, standing between my legs. Gripping her hips, I pulled her close enough that I could press my face into her stomach. Her fingers trailed through my hair, and I felt her sigh.

“He should be sleeping. I think he must’ve heard me showering and wandered in here. I’m sorry. That had to be weird for you.”

I shook my head. “He told me you talk about me.”

She stiffened for a beat, then giggled. “Once. I mentioned your name once when I had to scramble to come up with friends’ names so my own child wouldn’t think I’m a loser.”

“Are you sayin’ I’m not your friend?”

Her hand smoothed over my head down to my shoulder. “You were always my best friend, Callum Rose. I’m hoping we can get back to that status. You’re definitely my friend, though.”

I slid up her towel to cup her butt. “Gonna work hard to get back there.” I moved my face back and forth against her stomach, wishing I could pull her astride my lap and let her ride me hard like she had last night. Now wasn’t the time. And I still didn’t feel that resentment I’d worried I might. I was more relieved by that than I expected. Then again, not liking my girl’s son was probably a dealbreaker for her.

“I have to get dressed.” She poked my shoulder. “And so do you. Ezra’s playing in his room, but there’s no telling how long he’ll be occupied. I need to sneak you out of here before he unloads a million other questions I don’t have an answer for.”

I didn’t let her go, pulling her closer instead. “Why do you need to sneak me out? The cat’s outta the bag, Wren. He’s met me. I’ve met him. The world didn’t end.”

Her shoulders curled with a weary sigh. “I don’t know what I’m doing here, but it seems like I shouldn’t be introducing men to Ezra all willy-nilly. I don’t want him confused by it.”

“Men?” My fingers dug into her peachy ass. “Why plural? I’m the only man he’s gonna be meeting, and that ship has sailed. He’s met me, he’s cool, let it be.”

The corners of her eyes pinched. “You’re sounding awfully presumptuous, sir.”

“Mmhmm. You’re mine. I’m not lettin’ you go. So, there’s no need to worry about Ezra meeting other men. It’s me and only me. I get that you wanted to go slow, but that didn’t happen, and this is the place we’re at now.” I rose to standing, letting go of her ass to cup the sides of her neck. “I’m not goin’ anywhere, Wren, and neither are you. Not gonna hurt you or fuck up your life. Not gonna hurt the boy. Stop worryin’ and get your sweet ass covered before I act inappropriately with someone’s mother.”

Her mouth fell open, so I bit her bottom lip. “Go, Little Bird. Put some clothes on.”

I tugged my jeans on, then I sat down to watch the show that was Wren getting dressed. Her panties were no-nonsense black, bra the same. She caught me looking a few times, blushed over her shoulder at me, and shook her head like I was crazy for wanting to see her like that. She didn’t understand how starved I was for this—this intimate peek into her life she gave me freely, not something I had to steal.

“Am I entertaining you?” She tossed a balled-up pair of socks at me, which I caught, grinning. “This can’t be as interesting as you’re making it look.”

Cocking my head, I grinned and swept my gaze over her. “Like watchin’ you get dressed. Bein’ in your room, smellin’ your girly scent all over everything, seein’ you in the soft morning light, it’s like I’m enveloped in Wren-world, and I’m not in any hurry to get out.”

She blinked, a smile playing at the edge of her mouth. “I smell girly?” Sᴇaʀch Thᴇ Find_Nøvel.ɴet website on Gøøglᴇ to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

“So girly. Like lemonade, summer sun, and pure, sweet girl. I’ve had dreams where all I’m doin’ is smelling you and it’s like fuckin’ heaven.”

Her bottom lip caught between her teeth right before she turned away, sifting through her closet. I approached her, pushing her hair aside to kiss her shoulder, then looped my arm around her chest and pressed my front to her back.

“You don’t need to hide your reaction from me,” I murmured.

“I’m not.” Her head fell back on my chest. “It’s just…you keep saying these things that are filling a part of me I hadn’t even been aware was empty and I’m scared.”

“Why are you scared?”

“Because what if I get used to it and it goes away?” she whispered. “It was okay that I was empty before. I didn’t even know what I was missing, you know? But now I do, and I’m afraid if you keep filling me up the way you do, I’ll get used to it. And then, one day, what if this doesn’t work out and you’re gone, and I have this big empty place in me I’m acutely aware of because you took such good care of me and said such nice things and made me feel so pretty and desired. What am I going to do then?”

I took her by the shoulders, spinning her around, and covered her worried mouth with mine. She gasped at first, then melted into me, giving me her lips and tongue.

Words weren’t my thing. I once went fifteen days without speaking, and only broke my silence so I didn’t fade away. But with Wren, my thoughts tumbled out, and my thoughts about her were overwhelmingly sweet. Maybe I should’ve played it cool, kept some of it to myself, but games weren’t my thing either.

My forehead knocked against hers when our lips parted. “Not gonna happen. I’m not goin’ anywhere by choice. If I should happen to be hit by a bus tomorrow, then I’m glad you’re aware of that part of you that’s been achin’ to be filled. You deserve to have that. I never want you to think bein’ empty is okay. Even if my ass is splat under a damn bus.”

She scratched my beard and sighed. “I need to get dressed.”

Reticent little bird. I guess I was just going to have to show her how out of my mind I was over her. She wasn’t getting it. But she would.

As if on cue, the door to her bedroom banged open and Ezra charged inside. Ignoring his mother, he stopped in front of me and jumped up and down, poking his chest.

“Mommy, Mommy! Cow-um wants my jammies!” he proclaimed.

Snorting a laugh, Wren pulled a long-sleeve T-shirt over her head. “Really? I don’t know if they’ll fit, Cow-um.” Her eyes flared with amusement. “Are you a big PAW Patrol fan?”

I raised a brow at her. I had no fuckin’ clue. “The biggest.”

Ezra jumped again, this time with his arms straight up in the air. “I’m the biggest!”

I smacked my forehead. “That’s right. You are the biggest. I forgot.”

He squealed and threw himself at Wren’s legs. She laughed and rubbed his hair, all while keeping an eye on me. I’d seen them together, but watching from the outside was nothing like being in her sweet-smelling bedroom, Wren pantless, Ezra in jammies and crazy hair, hugging and happy.

“What do you want for breakfast?” she asked her son.

“Eggs!” Everything seemed to be an exclamation from him. “Cow-um can make them.”

Wren laughed. “Callum has to go bye-bye. I’ll make your eggs, baby buddy.”

It was early Sunday morning, I had nowhere to be. I wanted to contradict her, but I wasn’t about to do that in front of her kid. I didn’t always understand a lot about most people, but I knew better than to get between a mother and her kid.

Ezra poked his lip out. “You gotta go bye-bye?”

I shrugged. “Maybe I can hang out for a little while. I can’t cook eggs, though. Not unless you want them to be black.”

His tiny nose wrinkled. “Nooo! That’s yucky!”

Wren put her hands on her hips. “See why Mommy has to cook your eggs? Nobody likes black eggs.”

Ezra screeched again and ran to the bed to start bouncing all over it. Kid had energy, fuck. It wasn’t even six thirty in the morning.

Wren looked at me. I looked back at her. Her forehead was crinkled.

“You need pants.”

She looked down at her legs, giggling after a beat. “Yeah, I guess I do.”

Once she put on a pair of leggings, I got down on my knee and took a foot in my hand to slip a thick, woolen sock on. Then I traded it for the other foot, repeating the process. I stood and kissed her crown. Her forehead was crinkled again when I met her gaze.

“Go make your kid breakfast, Little Bird.”

“Are you staying?” she asked.

“Yeah. Maybe you could make me a couple eggs too.”

She reached out and squeezed my hand, giving me a shy, sweet smile. “I think I can handle that. As long as you’re not freaked out about hanging around my kid for a while longer.”

I shook my head. “Not freaked out. Wishin’ I had the freedom to do dirty things to you whenever I want, but no, I’m not freaked out.”

She sputtered a laugh. “Oh my god, the mouth on you.”

I was still tired as hell, regretting I couldn’t take Wren back to bed and fuck her until we were both sore, and unsure what to do with a three-year-old, but I plopped my happy ass down next to Ezra on the couch and watched an episode of PAW Patrol with him. He was a talker, that kid, so I really didn’t have to do a lot, which was good. If I’d been called to do much more than watch a TV show, I didn’t know that I could have kept up. I would have tried, though.

But I sat there, with Ezra’s hand on my arm, catching glimpses of Wren’s head as she was busy in the kitchen, and I didn’t resent a single thing about this morning. Well, I could’ve slept a couple more hours. Maybe I was delirious, but even that didn’t seem so bad.

When we were eating buttery eggs and toast, Jenny came down, giving kisses to Wren and Ezra, and shooting me a glare without any heat behind it. She fixed herself coffee and Wren sat beside me, eating her breakfast while keeping an eye on Ezra, who, it appeared, liked to throw his food to the two cats who seemed to have emerged from the ether. Lyle and Lovett. God, even the cats had great names.

Wren squeezed my leg under the table. I looked at her, her kid, and her aunt. This was family. I’d grown up never alone, always surrounded by brothers and sisters, aunts and uncles. It hadn’t felt like this. It’d been strange, unconventional, and sometimes fucked the hell up. Wren’s family wasn’t conventional either. Teen mom, widowed great-aunt, one little boy. That was it, no one else. But it was a whole lot.

As I ate my eggs and listened to Wren and Jenny talk about nothing much but riveting all the same, I thought Wren had better like me, ’cause I liked her, liked her family, and I wasn’t going anywhere.

Night fell, and I was spent. After a sunrise breakfast with Wren and Ezra, I went home to further deal with the shit show of the fight I’d gotten into at the bar. A few blogs were covering the story, and the video was circulating, but it wasn’t huge news. All my people seemed pretty unworried by it. My bloodthirsty manager even seemed a little gleeful about the attention. What mattered to me was keeping Wren safe and her privacy secure. For now, her name was out there, but the buzz was low enough, I wasn’t crazy concerned.

I picked up my phone and sent my girl a text. It’d become our ritual to end our day like this. It didn’t matter that I’d spent the morning at her place, followed by her stopping by to watch me spar with Gregor, and then a visit to the grocery store. I couldn’t get enough of her. Soon, I was going to find a way to have her by my side all the time.

Me: Hi, Little Bird. You in bed?

Wren: Hey. Yep. You know me. Are you?

Me: Yeah. Someone kept me up all night with her demands.

Wren: Don’t blame me for your insatiability!

Me: You think it’s not your fault my dick is constantly rock hard? ’Cause it is.

Wren: Well, it’s mutual. I don’t even want to tell you how many panties you’ve ruined.

Me: Please, tell me. Better yet, give them to me so I can wrap them around my cock when I’m thinking about you.

Wren: Gah! I’m trying to wind down and you’re getting me worked up. No more sex stuff. I’m too tired to get myself off tonight!

Me: Wish I was there, Little Bird. And not just because I would tongue fuck the frustration out of you. I want you in my arms when I’m going to sleep.

Wren: Callum Rose! That isn’t helping…but yeah, I’d like that too. A lot. Let’s give it some time, okay? Then we’ll do that.

Me: Hope you mean both the tongue fucking and the sleeping.

Wren: I absolutely do mean that.

Me: Fuck, Little Bird. You’re too hot. Drive me crazy. Today went well, right?

Wren: Yeah. Everything about today was really good. Ez was asking if you’re going to be here in the morning. Love how he says your name. It’s so cute.

Me: I kinda like it too. I spent a lot of time around kids growing up. Lots of kids. Think yours is the cutest.

Wren: Obviously. 🙂 Thank you. I like him. He likes you too. He told Jenny you’re going to teach him to play guitar.

Me: And he’s gonna show me Bob.

Wren: I’m happy, Callum. Really happy. Are you?

Me: Can’t you tell?

Wren: I think? Maybe? I’ve never had a boyfriend. I don’t know what I’m doing. I’ll probably break all the rules and read every signal incorrectly.

I froze with my phone in my hand. My cock went rock hard, straining against my jeans. Wren was mine in my head, but seeing her calling me her boyfriend without being forced or prompted made me want to tear down the city blocks between us and claim her sweet pussy all over again.

Wren: Crap. I probably shouldn’t be calling you my boyfriend until we actually talk about that. So, maybe just ignore that.

I dialed her number. I couldn’t have her doubting me because I got too caught up in my own thoughts to reply to her.

“Hi,” she whispered.

“Wren. Stop.”

“Stop?”

“Mmhmm. Stop freakin’ out. I told you you’re mine. If you wanna call me your cock slave or your boyfriend, I’m good, as long as you’re callin’ me yours.”

Her laugh was choked. “Cock slave? I don’t know if that would fly in public. In private, though…”

“Wren.”

“Yeah. I hear you. I’m getting used to this, Callum. Like I said, having a boyfriend is really new for me. You might need to be a little patient with me.”

“I’ll be as patient as you need.”

I could hear her shifting in bed, and the soft sounds of her breathing. My cock was still throbbing. I would have given almost anything to be in that bed with her, holding and touching her warm body.

“You haven’t been a boyfriend before, right?” she asked.

“No. Never. There’s never been anyone else I’ve wanted.”

She sighed. “So, I could be a hot mess at this, and you’d have no idea?”

“Yeah. Same goes the other way, though.”

Her laugh was breathy and soft. “Thanks for calling me and talking me down from my mental ledge. I really don’t want to screw this up.”

“You won’t.”

“I might, but I don’t want to.” She yawned. “Will I see you for lunch tomorrow?”

“Yep. Wouldn’t miss it. You and your shitty bench.”

“I really can’t wait,” she replied.

“Go to sleep, Little Bird. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Good night, Callum.”

Wren wasn’t going to screw this up. Me? No doubt I would. I could only hope she was patient with me, because after this weekend together, there was nothing that would get me to walk away from her.

My phone rang, jerking me out of sleep. Instinctively, I knew whatever lay on the other end of the call wasn’t going to be something I’d like. Nothing good came from one a.m. phone calls.

My sister’s name flashed on the screen, and if I didn’t answer, she’d call again and again.

“Chrys,” I groused into the phone.

“Cal. Hey, honey. I wake you up?”

Chrysanthemum Claudette Rose was exactly ten months younger than me. She was one of two of my full-blooded siblings. I didn’t know how many half-siblings I had. God, I didn’t even want to know.

“You did. You wantin’ money?”

No sense in beating around the bush. Chrys might call and act like she cared, but in the end, money was the real reason she got in touch.

“Saw your name in the news.” She chuckled. “You’re still gettin’ in fights, huh? What’d the guy do to piss you off this time? Bump into you and spill your beer?”

I didn’t bother answering. She saw the article, so she knew why I’d gotten in an altercation—and it had nothing to do with a beer.

She sighed. “It’s been a long time, honey. I miss you. The only way I see you is if I read the music news. I was thinkin’ about comin’ to the city with Rasc. Maybe you’ll have time for a visit?”

Rascal Theodore Rose was my other full-blooded sibling, and he was exactly ten months older than me. Once upon a time, the three of us had been thick as thieves—and I did mean that literally. But shit happened. I needed out of that lifestyle, to go my own way, and Rasc and Chrys got stuck. They didn’t see a way out, but they’d never looked.

“How much money you want, Chrys?”

Her sigh came heavier. “Do you not want to see us? I know we’re not close anymore, but we love you, Cal. We’re family, honey.”

My jaw clenched so tight, I heard my teeth squeaking. “Were we family when you blackmailed me?”

She made a choking sound, then cleared her throat. “That was a mistake. I would never hurt you. I don’t know how to make you believe I’m sorry. We were desperate.”

“I’m tired. I don’t wanna play games with you. Just tell me how much you want this time.”

“I saw your woman in the video. I’m glad you have someone in your life. That makes me so happy for you. Raised like we were, it isn’t easy to have someone. But you…you were always the best of us. If anyone was going to rise above it, it was you, Cal.”

Barbed wire wrapped around my chest. There was no threat in Chrys’s words. She probably didn’t even intend to imply one, knowing her. She was a good girl. A sweet girl. But desperation made people ugly, and her and Rasc knowing about Wren wasn’t safe.

My hands opened and clenched, opened and clenched.

“Don’t you even think about her. She doesn’t exist to you. You tell Rasc the same.”

“Okay,” she whispered. “I’m sorry.”

“Now, how much you want, Chrys?”

She didn’t speak for a while, but I could hear light chaos in the background. I had no idea if she was still with The Traveling Roses or if she’d broken off to start some other brand of grifting. Either way wouldn’t surprise me.

“I hate askin’, Cal. Hate it so much, especially when you don’t think of me as your sister anymore. But the RV Rasc and I are travelin’ in needs some repairs. The thing is, we can’t earn money unless we’re travelin’, but we’re stuck and—”

“How. Much?” This was the last time I’d ask. The less I knew about my brother and sister, the better.

“A thousand, if you can spare it.” Her voice quivered, and if I didn’t know better, I’d say she sounded ashamed. But I knew better. “Maybe two. That would be even better.”

“Tell me where you want me to send it. It’ll be there by morning.”

She rattled off the place, still sounding shaken as she spoke. I kept my walls up, heart hard, not falling for her tricks. Never again.

“Cal—”

“No. I’m sending you this money so I can get off the fuckin’ phone and go to sleep. Not because I want anything to do with you. The opposite is true. You dropped a nuclear bomb on the only bridge between us when you blackmailed me. I’m hangin’ up now, Chrys. I’m done.”

Ending the call, I tossed my phone onto my nightstand with a clatter.

Fuck this.

After a perfect day with a perfect family, of fucking course the antichrist had to remind me of the hellhole I came from and would always come from.

My family. The very fuckin’ reason why I’d never been able to have nice things.

Fuck this.

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