Olivia Cunning - Rock Hard

Jessica’s nostrils flared. “What chick?”

“Yeah, someone probably thought the actress in the video was you. That’s all.”

Jace’s brow twisted with confusion. “That woman didn’t look anything like Jessica. Wasn’t she Japanese?”

Work with me, Jace. “Yeah, so some of our fans are stupid and blind. Whatever.”

“A music video?” Jessica wrung her hands together and took a deep, steadying breath. “I hope you’re right.”

Well, what else could it be?

When they entered Trey’s flower-and-balloon–infested room, Trey, Eric, and Dave were squashed together in Trey’s hospital bed watching the computer screen with their mouths hanging open. Some woman was vocalizing her sexual excitement on whatever porn video currently held their attention.

“What are you guys watching?” Sed asked.

Trey glanced up from the screen. His eyes moved to Jessica and widened. He slammed the laptop closed on Eric’s hand.

“Ow. Fuck!” Eric jerked his hand back and then moved it to his mouth to suck on his fingertips. He reached over to slap Trey alongside the head, hesitated when confronted with a row of staples, and dropped his hand on the computer on his lap instead.

“N-nothing,” Trey said.

“Well, it must’ve been something good. All three of you have drool on your chins.” Sed was ribbing them, but the three on the bed wiped their chins on their shoulders in unison.

Dave struggled to stand. Eric gave him a push and he found his feet. “I’ve gotta go.” And Dave darted out of the room as if Trey’d been eating too many bean burritos while they were trapped on the tour bus again.

Eric cradled the laptop against his belly and climbed from the bed as well. “Yeah, I’d say it’s time to go.”

“Yep,” Trey said, struggling to rise from his bed. He grabbed his IV pole for leverage.

Jace grabbed his arm. “Don’t hurt yourself. Get back in bed.”

“All right,” Sed bellowed. He glanced from Trey to Eric. “What the fuck is going on here? It’s not like Jessica doesn’t know you guys watch porn videos. She doesn’t care and you know it. Explain.”

Eric and Trey both looked at Jessica. Eric shifted the laptop down to cover the bulge in his pants.

“She’ll care about this video,” Trey said.

“Video?” Jessica strode over to Eric and tried to wrestle the laptop out of his hands. “Show me.”

Eric shook his head vigorously. “You don’t want to see it.”

“Show me, Eric. Now!”

“He doesn’t have to show you,” Trey said, allowing Jace to stuff him back in bed. “You were there.”

“Oh God, don’t tell me…”

“Okay, we won’t,” Eric said.

Jessica yanked the laptop away from Eric and popped it open. Sed moved to look over her shoulder. He had no idea what had her so upset.

“What’s the password?” she demanded.

“Uh, the password is password. Duh,” Trey said.

“Jessica, don’t do this to yourself.” Eric squeezed her shoulder, his expression empathetic.

Jessica got the video going and the chick on screen started vocalizing again. Wait a minute. That wasn’t a chick. That was Jessica. A bubble of intense rage erupted from Sed’s insides. Not only was she a stripper, now she was a fuckin’ porn star, too. What else was she hiding from him? And he didn’t care if it was work. He’d kill the jackass she was fucking so well while clinging to some chain-link fence over the Las Vegas strip. That prick who was drilling her… Wait. Why did that jerk look so much like him?

Ohhhhh.

Sed bit his lip. That was him. And her. Going all out at the top of the Eiffel tower. Oh shit. She’d never forgive him for this. Not in a million years.

“Five hundred and twelve thousand views!” she bellowed. “This happened last night. How in the—I can’t believe—Who posted this? And how did they get it?”

“There’s some girl at the beginning of the video…” Eric attempted to take the laptop from her. “You shouldn’t watch this, honey.”

She slugged him in the gut. “Why not? You were.”

“Yeah, but—”

“And more than five hundred thousand other people have.”

“I think some of those are repeat viewers,” Trey said. “I mean we watched it, what, five times?”

“Six, I think.”

Typically, Sed found Jessica irresistibly sexy when she was pissed, but this pissed-off-Jessica wasn’t sexy. This pissed-off-Jessica was terrifying. He took a step back and let Eric take the brunt of her fury.

“You watched it six times?” she screamed. “Six times?”

“I’m sure it was only five and a half,” Trey said. “You confiscated the computer before we finished watching it that last time.”

“Oh jeez, Trey, that makes me feel a lot better. Thanks.” She slammed the computer on the mattress at his feet and moved the slider to the beginning of the video. “I have a pretty good idea of who filmed this and posted it online.” She turned her head and pinned Sed to the floor with a glare. “One of your stupid fangirls, no doubt. The one who gave us privacy in exchange for your shirt. What do you bet?”

He lowered his gaze. “Probably.” He wanted to comfort her. Knew that her anger was a front for deeper feelings, but he didn’t know what to do. He couldn’t take this back. Couldn’t hide it. Couldn’t make it go away. How could they deal with something like this?

Jessica started the video from the beginning. The attendant from the Eiffel Tower came on screen. She wore the white T-shirt Sed had given her, his signature evident across her left breast.

“I knew it,” Jessica muttered.

The girl on-screen started talking to the camera. “I know there are a lot of Sedric Lionheart fans out there who hate this bitch as much as I do, so please, copy this video and distribute it as much as possible. Sed, if you see this, you are an absolute god and you can do so much better than Jessica Chase. She’s such a skank.” She extended her pinkie and thumb and held it to her face. “Call me, big guy. I’ll treat you right. Enjoy the show, fans!”

“Skank?” Jessica sputtered. “Where does that little bitch get off calling me a skank?”

The video recording started. Grainy, but not terrible quality. The sounds. Oh dear God, the sounds. Sed couldn’t help but get excited watching Jessica with her top down and her skirt up while he plunged into her eager body. And you could definitely tell it was Jessica. Their undetected audience kept zooming in on Jessica’s face. And as if the title, Sedric Lionheart Screws a Harlot Over the Vegas Strip, wasn’t bad enough, the caption at the bottom read, Jessica Chase Orgasm Count, and there was a rolling ticker beside it, currently at 2. When Jessica cried out and shuddered with release, the number flipped to 3. Three? He was sure that had been her fourth. But that was beside the point.

“God, Jess, this is bad,” Sed whispered. He reached over her shoulder to pause the video. Her beautiful face stayed frozen on screen as she continued to cry out in ecstasy.

Jessica released a wounded groan though she probably couldn’t even see the video through the tears in her eyes. As scary as her rage had been, the mortified look on her face was far worse. She tilted her head back to prevent her tears from falling.

“Bad? You don’t say,” she said, her voice surprisingly steady. Jessica crossed her arms over her chest, her jaw flexing as she worked at letting go of the anguish and recovering her anger. “Fuck it,” she said. “Who cares anyway? It isn’t as if I had dreams or anything. I don’t need a future. Or a life.”

Sed zeroed in on a link to mark the video as inappropriate. He clicked it. “There. They’ll take it down,” he said. “It will be okay.”

“What do you mean it will be okay?” she bellowed. He winced. “Over half a million views in less than a day and that little bitch told people to copy it and distribute it. There’s no telling how many copies are circulating right now.”

“It’s not the end of the world, Jessica. So you had sex. Big deal. Everybody does it.” He grinned. “Maybe not hanging upside down over the Vegas strip with a rock star…”

Her jaw set in a hard line, she focused on the floor. “You are not making me feel better.”

“It was worth a try.”

He touched her chin to encourage her to look at him. She jerked her head to the side.

“We could retaliate by posting a new sex video online every day for the rest of our lives,” he suggested, hoping that making light of the subject would help her cope better. Right now, she wasn’t coping at all.

She scowled. Punched him in the ribs with a tiny fist. “How is that supposed to help?”

He chuckled. “It will guarantee I get well-laid on a very regular basis.”

“Oh yeah, I like that plan,” Trey said. “Do you take requests?”

Sed waited for her smartassed retort, but it never came. Instead, she covered her face with both hands, turned on her heel, and fled the room. Sed’s eyes widened. Distraught? Jessica didn’t do distraught. That’s one of the reasons he loved her so much. He never had to deal with a hysterical female. Pissed? Yeah. Opinionated and vocal about it? Hell yeah. But not totally flipped out. Jessica usually took everything in stride. Laughed it off. For some reason, this situation was different. He honestly didn’t get why it was such a big deal. She looked amazing on the video and he was doing his part properly. She should be proud.

Eric shoved Sed to gain his attention. “What are you waiting for? Go after her, you idiot.”

Go after her. Right…

Jessica tapped the down elevator button like a jackhammer demolishing pavement. She needed a moment to collect herself. A ladies room, or… She turned and glanced around, looking for directional signs, but the elevator dinged behind her, and Sed (the callous jackass) was headed in her direction. She stepped onto the elevator and held the button to close the doors.