Rockstar by Lexi Adair

of her neck.
    Please stop. The fire burning in the pit of her stomach spread slowly through her veins, consuming her body with an aching desire that refused to subside whenever he was near.
    His kisses burned into her skin a brand she would forever bear. Please stop. Her tears, like the rains above, fell in sheets. Her heart ached painfully. Tightening like a vice with each unspoken moment that passed.
    Please. The plea played in her thoughts like a prayer. “I can't tell you what you want to hear,” she whispered.
    She broke free of his grip, put distance between them with each step she took away. The rain pelted angrily against her as though punishing her for the betrayal. She reached her car. Watched her keys tremble in her hand. Get in. Just open the door and get in.
    "Summer.” His echoed calls lingered in the alley behind her then faded into silence. She cast a glance over her shoulder. The rain beat down on him. Drenched his clothes and matted his dark hair to his face.
    Her hand stole out and she took hold of the door handle. Yet she paused. Was she really going to walk away? When all she could think of for the past month was having one more moment with him? One more chance to tell him how she felt?
    She whipped back around and crossed the distance toward him even as the rain poured down on her. She paused before him and lifted her chin to meet his dark gaze.
    "You want me to lie to you? To tell you that I didn't mean every damn word that I poured into that story? That I could even for one moment pretend that I wasn't falling for you?” She shook her head, fighting back the onslaught of tears that wanted to fall. But she wouldn't let them. She wouldn't give him that satisfaction. “I won't. I won't lie to you just to appease you. Just to make you feel better about yourself. I think I've stroked your ego enough for one lifetime."
    He took hold of her then. Pulled her forcefully into his arms. Dragged her wet body against his. His breath was heavy with want as it fanned over her. His eyes tinged with a deep hunger as they searched her face.
    "Damn it, woman, how is it you can be so fucking cold?"
    "Me? What about you? How could you have reduced what we had to just another one of your flings?"
    "I didn't.” She tried to turn away but he held her. “I didn't. My manager filled it out beforehand. He always does, no matter the girl, no matter the circumstances. But I wasn't going to give it to you, Summer. I wasn't."
    "There will always be something. Some contract, some story, something to get in the way. Something to tear us apart. I could tell you that I love you, that I want to spend the rest of my life with you. But what kind of a life would that be? I'm just an ordinary girl and you're...” She couldn't even fucking bring herself to say it anymore. Even the idea of the word brought a sickness to her stomach.
    "I'm just a boy,” he said finishing her thoughts with a sentiment of his own.
    She shook her head. “No you're not."
    He pulled her closer, their lips were but a breath apart. “I am. Underneath it all, just a boy in love with a girl."
    Tears trickled down her cheeks making tracks unseen beneath the rains that slipped down her face. She didn't want to cry. Didn't want to be that weak, but God she ached.
    As he pressed his lips to hers she melted against him. For one breathless moment she forgot about the world around them.
    A brilliant flash exploded around them, intruding on their moment and tearing Summer's gaze away.
    She tipped her head to the sky as she searched for lightning, but the flash pierced the gray evening light from her peripheral vision.
    A man in a dark overcoat let his camera drop away then turned and fled the alley. He'd captured their stolen moment on his film. No doubt she'd see it in the pages of a magazine by morning. She pulled back.
    "Don't you see? There will always be somebody in the way."
    "Yes,” he grumbled. “There will always be somebody in the way. I can't help who I