The Devil's Reprise Read Online Free Page B

mind, tried to get myself to stop comparing Ryan to him, or anyone to him. But I couldn’t. Even as Ryan started undoing my corduroys and slipped his hand into my underwear. Even though I moaned into him, because it felt damn good. Even as he dropped his pants and I could make out the outline of his erect dick in the darkness and my hands immediately went for it, Sage was still at the forefront of my mind.
    After absently stroking Ryan for a few moments, and as he lay me back into the soft grass, I knew this wasn’t going to happen. I couldn’t just fuck Ryan and be done with it. I couldn’t fuck anyone but Sage, and I knew how goddamn ridiculous that was.
    Sage and I went through a lot together in a short period of time. But for the most part, I was the journalist and the fan, and he was the mysterious rock star. I’m not sure any of that had changed. Sure, we had sex, and after Jacob scooped us out of Lake Shasta, we spent a few weeks together trying to pick up the pieces and be normal people. But even though I’d fallen in love with the man—it wasn’t hard to do—he never told me he loved me. In fact, all I knew for a fact was that he didn’t love me. We were just…well, I guess what Ryan and I were supposed to be. A fuck. That was it.
    But foolishly, somewhere deep inside, I felt like I still had another shot with Sage. A reason to be loyal to him, even though our contact over the last ten months had been extremely limited. He had still invited me to come to Paris with him, fucking Paris ! And I was going in a week. I had to at least see how things were going to go between us before I did anything foolish.
    And a fuck was just a fuck until it was foolish.
    “Ryan,” I said as he kissed my breasts, the grass tickling my ears.
    He groaned in return. He was not going to like this.
    “Ryan, we need to stop,” I said, pushing myself back on my elbows.
    He finally looked up, though I couldn’t make out his face in the darkness. Noise from the barn drifted toward us over the field.
    “Stop?” he asked, his voice ragged.
    I was afraid this was going to get very ugly.
    “Sorry,” I told him. “I don’t mean to be a tease, it’s just…this isn’t a good idea.”
    Silence fell between us, and I waited with bated breath to hear his response. The music from the barn had changed to The Who’s “Pinball Wizard.” Finally he sighed and moved off of me. “Right.”
    I sat up and pulled down my shirt. “Sorry,” I apologized again. “I’d probably regret it.”
    “Well, that sounds like the old Dawn,” he remarked.
    “What?”
    He stood up and pulled up his pants, towering over me. “I don’t know, I thought maybe after you’d fucked all those rock stars, you would have been a bit…easier. You know, looser.”
    All the heat from between my legs went to my head instead, flamed by rage. “I didn’t fuck a bunch of rock stars,” I spat out defensively.
    I could tell he was giving me a wry look. “Sure, Dawn. You go on tour with a band for a few weeks, a band we were obsessed with, and you didn’t end up blowing all of them.”
    I only blew one of them ! I thought and decided that wouldn’t help my case.
    I struggled to my feet and glared at him. “I didn’t sleep with the band or do anything. I covered it like the music journalist that I am.”
    “Everyone knows that,” he said. “I just figured hanging out with Hybrid would have made you…well, anyway. I should have known.”
    “Ryan,” I said, trying to control my anger. “You don’t know shit. Maybe I’m not sleeping with you because you’re my ex-boyfriend…who fucking cheated on me with some whore!” And finally it was all coming out.
    “Well, maybe I cheated on you because…” he trailed off. “You know what? Forget it. If you want to be a tease, then be a tease. Let’s go back inside.”
    He turned and started off to the barn, to my party. I didn’t move. He turned around. “Aren’t you coming?”
    Hell no. “I want