Neon Summer, page 1
Neon Summer
Linny Lawless
Copyright © 2020 by Linny Lawless
All rights reserved.
No portion of this book may be reproduced in any form without written permission from the publisher or author, except as permitted by U.S. copyright law.
This book contains mature content and is intended for adults 18+ only.
Cover Model – Jamieson Fitzpatrick
Photographer – CJC Photography
Cover Design: – Jodie-Leigh Plowman, JODIELOCKS Designs
Proofreader: Jackie Ziegler
Contents
Blurb
SONG LIST
1. CINDY
2. ERIC
3. CINDY
4. ERIC
5. CINDY
6. ERIC
7. CINDY
8. EPILOGUE
Linny Lawless
Blurb
Cindy
The year was 1987 and I was on Spring Break. It was my first time away from college and away from my smothering parents. I wanted to break free just like my girlfriend, Angie. She was wild and knew how to have fun. Then I felt as if I was struck by lightning when I crossed paths with a fine-looking guitar player named Eric. I felt his sexual energy, but he was a total jerk and I didn’t know any heavy-metal headbangers back home. But Eric made me weak in the knees and I wanted to show him my wild side.
Eric
I had a feeling Cindy was a virgin because I got that vibe from her when she walked toward me in that dark hallway at the nightclub. With long, dark, wavy hair, she was innocent looking but with curves in all the right places. I was into groupie chicks who liked to party all night after a gig. But there was something about Cindy, other than just her innocence. I sensed she was a little wildcat, even though she kept it hidden underneath her snobby attitude. But I was game to draw that wildcat out.
SONG LIST
“Walk Like an Egyptian” – The Bangles
“Here I Go Again” – Whitesnake
“Livin’ on a Prayer” – Bon Jovi
“Mony Mony” – Billy Idol
“I Want Your Sex” – George Michael
“U Got the Look” – Prince
“Wanted Dead or Alive” – Bon Jovi
“Addicted to Love” – Robert Palmer
“You Give Love a Bad Name” – Bon Jovi
“Manic Monday” – The Bangles
“Why Can’t This Be Love” – Van Halen
Chapter 1
CINDY
It was a hot and humid afternoon on the beach. My girlfriend Angie was sunbathing with me, her neon blue, leopard print bikini hugged her perfect figure. I laid beside her, wearing the bikini I bought at the last minute–neon pink with black polka dots. Angie’s long blonde hair was pulled back with a banana clip, and the bright sun reflected off her pink shades. She tapped her foot to the beat of “Walk Like an Egyptian” from the boom box radio wedged in the sand between our towels.
I loved Angie. We went through grade school and high school together, finishing up our first year of college at George Mason. We were like two puzzle pieces that fit together. She was the outgoing type, and I was the miss home-body. Angie was very popular in high school and made friends easily. She also had much more experience than me when it came to guys.
We both lived in the same preppie neighborhood and were spoiled by our wealthy parents. My father worked as a salesman in the new wave technology business of fax machines, copiers, printers and other cool gadgets. My older brother, Tommy, and I never had to worry about anything because we were handed anything we wanted from our parents. He was a few years older than me and still hung out with his lame friends from high school.
My dad gave me a pager, which was the most awesome gadget ever invented. It was a little square box the size of a zippo lighter and it started vibrating on the beach towel beside me. I picked it up and looked at the little screen displaying a ten-digit phone number.
“It’s Tommy,” I said and stood up, wiping sand off my butt. “I need to go find a pay phone to call him back.”
Angie blew a big pink bubble with her chewing gum then it popped, “Oh, Cin, really? I thought we had a few more hours to hang on the beach together?”
“I’ll just tell Tommy we’ll meet him later. He’s going to that bar Stingrays tonight. I’m supposed to with go him and Kelly.”
Angie sighed, her foot stopped tapping to the Bangles song. She lifted her shades up over her forehead. Her eyes squinted from the sunlight as she looked up at me, “Your brother is an asshole. Why do you have to go with him? You and I can just go to some other bar or find something much more fun to do.”
I knew Angie didn’t like Tommy but tolerated him because she was my best friend. He dropped out of college in his second year and really didn’t care about his own future. He lived for today and didn’t think about what would happen tomorrow. Since my parents adored him, they didn’t push him to better himself. Tommy was gifted with the good combination of my parents’ looks, where as I felt just, well, plain. I had long dark brown hair that I didn’t really spend too much time on like most girls with curling irons, crimpers, and hairspray. I focused more on my brain than my looks—and education was much more important to me.
“I’m sorry Ang . . . I know you and Tommy don’t get along. But my parents worry too much and pressured Tommy into watching over me while we’re here at the beach.”
Later that night, we rode with Tommy and his girlfriend, Kelly, to Stingrays. Tommy parked the car and turned around to look at me and Angie sitting in the back seat, “Don’t embarrass me, Cin. The only reason I brought you and Angie along is because I promised Mom and Dad that I’d make sure you stayed out of trouble.”
Angie pulled a cigarette out of her purse and flicked her lighter. Tommy reached out and snatched it from her mouth. He smashed it in his hands, tobacco spilling onto the car seat.
“Hey!” Angie shouted.
“Smoke it outside or in the bar. Not in the car, Ang!” Tommy barked back.
It was going to be a long night and I was not in the mood to hear Tommy and Angie badger each other. I rolled my eyes and climbed out of the back seat of Tommy’s Chevy Malibu before anyone else did. The moment I shut the car door, the humid and sticky air clung to my body. I gathered my hair up and off the nape of my neck and fanned myself. Kelly has just finished off a joint with Tommy on the drive there and she giggled, stumbling out of the passenger side of the car.
Angie climbed out of her side of the car and walked around to whisper in my ear. “Tommy is totally un-cool, Cin. You deserve a better brother than the one you got stuck with.” Then she pulled out a new cigarette from her purse and lit it.
The sign for Stingrays Nightclub glowed in neon blue above the doorway as Angie and I followed Tommy and Kelly inside. Poison’s new song “Cry Tough” blared loudly within the club. The place was small and narrow and I felt swallowed up by the large crowd. As I walked through a haze of cigarette smoke, I saw the neon beer signs hanging behind the bar. A set of drums and several guitars on stands sat on a stage several yards in front of us. A printed flyer tacked to a corkboard and taped on the walls showcased the band who was headlining to play that night. The flyer showed a black and white photo of the band called Steel Dragon written in gothic themed letters above it.
I turned to look behind me searching for Angie as more crowds of people walked through the entranceway, pushing me. I reached out for Tommy pulling on the back of his T-shirt, “Wait for me and Angie!”
He spun around, his arm still draped over Kelly, “It’s too packed in here to babysit the two of you!” he barked as loud as he could over the loud music. He turned away and sauntered through the crowded bar with Kelly. Leaving me standing there. Alone.
“Cin! I got us some beers!” Angie shouted as she appeared out of nowhere. Thank goodness! She handed me a bottle. “Oh my god, the lead singer of Steel Dragon totally winked at me! I hope you won’t hate me, but I really wanna go hang out with him and the band tonight. It would be a fucking blast! ” Angie’s eyes were wide and bright like she was going to be famous for giving some guy in a band a blow job after the show.
But I didn’t want to be lame and ruin her night. “Ok, Ang. I just wanna have a good time and not get into any trouble, but I will be by your side all night.”
We weaved through the thick crowd of long hair, torn jeans, and neon clothing. Beside the stage was a long dark hallway. I assumed it led to the bathrooms and a private room for the performing band.
Angie was suddenly several paces in front of me, and disappeared. I hurried as fast as I could, weaving through people toward the dark hallway. It was very narrow, and my eyesight had to adjust to the sudden darkness in contrast to the bright neon lights. A man’s leg, wearing stone-washed torn jeans shot out in front of me, his boot thumping against the wall, blocking my path.
“You lost, babe?” I looked to the sound of a deep voice. He was sitting on a wooden chair to my right. I couldn’t make out his face, but his hair appeared to be long, just past his shoulders. And he sounded cocky.
“Uh. No. I’m trying to find my friend. She came this way.”
“You shouldn’t go back there. Not alone anyway.”
“How is that even your business?” Now I was ticked off. But he didn’t move his leg, and it brushed against my hip.
He stood up and stepped closer to me. He was so tall! I couldn’t make out the color of his eyes, but I could see a square jaw. I noticed a dark spot on his bicep that appeare
I took his hand. His palm was wide, and his fingers were long. It was very warm, sending goosebumps up my arm. I followed him down the hall and he led me into the room. He closed the door, muffling out the loud music and voices. I just walked into a private party. He leaned into me, “I’m guessing that’s your friend?”
I spotted Angie instantly, giggling with a guy whose image was also on the Steel Dragon flyer. He must have been the lead singer called “Zeek”. His long jet-black hair was teased out big, and he wore black eyeliner and black lipstick. He dressed all in black, except for a red leather vest.
I turned and looked up into the tall stranger’s eyes. I could see them better in the light of the room. They were blue and the color of his hair was chestnut. “Yes, that’s her . . . Thanks.”
His eyes were so very blue and intense, that I almost got lost in them. His mouth was set in a straight line, “I’m Eric,” he said, while he still held onto my hand.
“I’m Cindy.”
Eric was the first to look away. He put his thumb and forefinger into his mouth and blew a loud, high pitched screeching whistle. “Yo, Zeek!”
Angie rushed over to me, squealing. “Hey, Cin!” she just then noticed Eric. “Hi! I’m Angie. You’re the guitar player, right?”
He smiled this time. At Angie. “Yeah, that’s me.” He didn’t say much, but his hotness made up for it.
Angie pulled me closer to her, away from Eric, “So, Zeek wants us to hang out with them tonight after the gig!”
“Oh, Angie. Really? I don’t think Tommy—”
“Who cares what he thinks. He’s such a hoser! I totally want to hang out with these headbangers… Please, Cin?” She whined and stuck out her bottom lip and pouted.
I really wanted to hang out too, only because I wanted to look into Eric’s blue eyes again. “Sure. Okay. But promise me you won’t jet on me again.”
“I promise! This is going to be so rad!”
Zeek spanked Angie’s butt fifteen minutes later as we left the room to get ourselves another drink and grab a spot toward the front of the stage. The band sauntered up onto it, and Eric stood to the right, which is where Angie and I stood. He picked up his guitar from the stand, pulling the strap over his head and settling it against the front of his hips. He picked a few notes, tuning the guitar, and then his eyes met mine. The side of his mouth lifted in a smirk and he winked at me.
I’d seen local bands play live at the bars back home, and the guys usually had their sights on Angie. She had that rocker chick look and she had curves that were eye catching. Me on the other hand, I felt like her shadow sometimes. I didn’t stand out as much and guys rarely gave me a second look. So, when Eric smiled and winked at me, my heart started beating faster and I felt warm and tingly all over. He was gorgeous up on that stage, playing his electric guitar, his long chestnut hair flowing back and forth to the heavy beats in tune with the band. Zeek screamed into his mic and got the crowd riled up and some banged their heads to the hard rock sound.
By the time Steel Dragon performed their final song, I drank a few too many beers. The packed crowd clapped, yelled, and whistled. The neon lights were turned off as the ceiling lamps were switched on, and bartenders yelled, “last call!”
“So, we’re hanging with the band, right, Cin?” Angie finished her last beer with me but she was just getting started and wouldn’t stop until the morning.
I felt the hazy effects of the beer, and my body tingled all over after watching Eric play guitar onstage. I was drawn to his gorgeous blue eyes and admired his muscular thighs under the torn jeans. He was gathering up his assortment of peddles and cords along with guitar, kneeling away from me on the stage. I wanted to talk to him again. “I’ll come along, but I have to find Tommy and let him know.”
“Dammit, Cin. You drunk?” Tommy’s voice came from behind me.
I spun around and lost my balance for a split second, staggering into him. “I had a few. I’m hanging with Angie and the band tonight.”
“Oh no you’re not! You’re leaving with me and Kelly now! I already told you that I’m NOT catching any shit from Mom and Dad.”
“She’ll be with me tonight and she’ll be safe.” Warm hands grasped my shoulders. I swayed back around. It was Eric.
Tommy rolled his eyes. “Whatever. Do what you want. I’m done babysitting your lame ass anyway.” With his arm draped over Kelly’s shoulder he turned and left.
“Your brother’s a scum bag.” Eric grumbled as he watched Tommy and Kelly blend into the drunken crowd.
He had some nerve! “You don’t know me. You don’t know my brother.” I shot back at him.
“Chill. I’m glad you’re going to stay,” his mouth lifted into a smile. I exhaled to calm myself. I was glad I was I was going to stay with him too. But I didn’t want to admit that to him.
He offered me his hand again, “Come with me. I need to get my equipment back into Toby’s van.” I took his hand and followed him backstage, “Who’s Toby?”
“The drummer. He’s got a van and hauls the equipment to gigs. I can’t ride with a guitar case and amps.”
“Why not? You don’t have a car?”
“No. I ride a Harley.”
I had never ridden on a motorcycle before. They looked so dangerous, they were loud, and the men who rode them looked dangerous too.
Chapter 2
ERIC
Cindy was so god damn adorable! And I would’ve bet my next paycheck she was still a virgin. She didn’t give off the same vibe as her friend Angie. She would’ve been eaten alive if I had left her alone backstage. She looked innocent and naïve, and I wanted her all to myself.
I hauled my guitar and equipment into the back of Toby’s van parked outside in front of the club. Cindy stood on the curb-side, her hands gathered in front of her. She fidgeted and weaved a little. I could tell she’d drank way too many beers and had a buzz from all the weed we smoked backstage.
The last drunk stragglers stumbled out the front door of the club, hollering and laughing. Someone smashed a bottle on the concrete causing Cindy to jump and spin around. I came up behind her and leaned down next to her ear. “It’s ok. Just a bunch of amped up headbangers.”
She twisted back around to the sound of my voice. And a little too quick, because she stumbled into me. I braced her by the arms, “Whoa. You ok?”
She blinked a few times, “Yes. Sorry. I think I drank a little too much.”
I couldn’t stop myself. I lifted her chin up, and kissed her. She moaned and draped her arms over my shoulders. My tongue plunged in between her soft lips, flicking and exploring hers. I reached down and cupped both her ass cheeks. So soft. My dick was suddenly hard as a rock!
I pulled back and looked into her glossy eyes, “Are you a virgin?”
She stepped back as the bright blue neon Stingrays sign out front shut off. Toby, Jimmy, and Zeek, with his arm draped over Angie, were the last to amble out of the nightclub.
“Eric! Man! That was a righteous gig!” Zeek was high. “Dude, we’re going back to your pad to party. Snort some, smoke some. Meet us there, right?”
I didn’t want to snort some, or smoke some. I wanted to be alone with Cindy. I took her hand and led her away. I waved back at Zeek and the guys, “Nah, man. Go on ahead. I’m taking Cindy for a ride.”
She stopped, and her hand slipped out of mine. “I’ve never been on a motorcycle, Eric.” She was so cute!
“It’s like riding a bicycle. When I lean, you lean. Not that hard. And I’ll take care of the rest.” I offered her my hand again.
I was relieved to find my bike parked in the same spot I left it, and in one piece. You never knew what could happen on a crazy Saturday night on the coast. My bike was an old Harley Sportster, painted cherry red with leather fringes hanging off the ends of the handlebars. I climbed on, pulled out my shades and handed them to Cindy. “Go ahead and put these on. I got another pair.” I pulled those out of my tool bag, tied to the handlebars.
