Page 114 of Hard Hitter
She noted the cherry red and black Gibson Les Paul mounted on the wall in the living room, along with an all-black Fender Stratocaster next to it. On a guitar stand next to the couch was an acoustic Gibson.
Jett was the only one of their group who had any real musical talent, apart from Chris who would occasionally grace them with a sample of his singing voice, which was completely untrained. But he liked to brag that he used to sing in his church choir…when he was eight. Jett was possibly the only person who had ever actually played the multi-thousand dollar grand piano in Raelyn’s parents’ living room. Her eyes swept to the piano pushed against the wall next to the window near the fire escape and she smiled fondly at the memory from over a year ago when Jett had offered her a place to stay when she didn’t feel like being alone.
It was a week after she and Emerson had broken up. She had come into the bar,alone...for shots. Exclusively for shots. And she got tanked. She had no reason to worry, of course, with big brothers Chris and Jett hanging out at the bar, shooing away any guys giving off rapey vibes. When Chris had asked if she needed a ride home, Raelyn had insisted on staying in Jett’s apartment. She’d been terrified that Emerson would show up at her door trying to explain away his infidelity like he had before. Or worse, admit it, start a huge fight around it, and they would inevitably crash together in what could only be deemed break-up sex. She’d felt horrible enough, she didn’t need the shame of giving into him one last time.
So she’d stayed here in Jett’s apartment. He had come up after closing the bar down and locking up, and she was still wide awake on the couch. Jett had gone to the piano and played and sung various pop songs before she fell asleep on the couch to something more classical sounding. The next morning, she’d woken up having been moved into his room, and Jett had taken the couch for the night.
He might be the easiest to tease and give shit, but he was probably one of the most sincere and fiercely loyal friends any of them ever had.
Raelyn spun around, looking for the hallway. Hopefully she’d be able to find something in Jett’s room, like a baseball cap or a beanie. Maybe some non-prescription glasses. Who knew?
When she lifted her head to face the hall entrance, she gasped and jumped back.
Jett did the same- well, it was more of a shriek- buthewas only wearing a towel. A towel that he hadn’t seemed to tuck in just yet, and when he jumped, his hand slipped and the bath towel was whipped away from his body, falling into a pool at his feet.
“Oh my God!” Raelyn shouted, hands flying up to her face.
“WHY ARE YOU HERE?!” Jett screamed, scrambling to cover himself up with his hands.
“Why are younaked?” Raelyn yelled back, turning to the side and shielding her eyes.
“Because I’m in my own apartment, Rae!” He kept dipping to grab the towel off the floor but missed each time.
Raelyn cast a squinted side glance at him before blinking in shock. “Holy shit, Jett! Good for you,” she said sincerely. “Seriously, have you ever considered doing porn? That thing’s a fucking beast.”
“Would you stop LOOKING AT MY DICK?” Jett’s shouts came out panicked, the last words more of a shrill screech than anything else.
“I’m sorry, butdamn,” Raelyn turned away, but her eyes darted back a few more times, confirming that she had in fact seen correctly that Jett’s penis was enormous. “Why aren’t you working? You realize you have a line wrapped around the building down there?”
“I was supposed to be off tonight,” said Jett, finally getting the towel wrapped around his waist and tucked in. “I went with Quinn to his mom’s, then we had an incident that resulted in getting covered in mud, so I showered and now I’m going to have to go help out downstairs anyway. The joys of being a business owner.”
She processed this information as she peered at him again from the side. “Do you pass out when that thing gets hard? From all the blood in your body rushing to it?”
Jett let out a heavy sigh, “That’s a bit of an exaggeration, I think. But thank you. Make sure you tell Quinn that. He can be famous and rich, Chris can be happily married, but of the three of us guys,Ihave the biggest dick. That’s all I need to know in life.” He puffed out his chest and smiled with pride.
“Is Quinn downstairs? I thought you were with him,” said Raelyn, facing Jett again, but not putting her hands down all the way just yet.
“I dropped him off at the hotel already,” Jett replied. He glanced at the clock on the stove top. “Like an hour and a half ago. At least.”
Instinctively, Raelyn pulled her phone out of her purse and checked it. No new messages. Not from Quinn or anyone. She frowned at the screen. “Maybe my phone’s not receiving texts. It might need an update.”
Without being asked, Jett padded over to the kitchen counter where he’d left his phone. He shot off a text and seconds later, Raelyn’s phone buzzed. More confused, and now starting to get a little worried, Raelyn could barely laugh at Jett’s message-On second thought, don’t tell your bf you saw me naked. He scares me.
“I hope he’s okay…” Raelyn stared down at her phone for a few seconds, pondering. If they’d had an incident, whatever that meant, and got covered in mud, he likely had to shower again. But he didn’t take that long in the shower. “Maybe his phone’s dead.”
“Shouldn’t be,” said Jett. “He was charging it in my truck. Pretty sure it was over fifty percent when he unplugged it. That guy gets a lot of phone calls”
“Hmm…” Raelyn chewed the inside of her lip, brow furrowed. “Well, I guess I’ll just go to the hotel. He told me what room it was. I’m sure there’s some sort of explanation.”
“Yeah, I’m sure he’s fine. Maybe he got held up by reporters and had to make a run for it,” Jett suggested. “Maybe…” Raelyn could hear the conspiratorial tone in his voice, “they ran out of Quinn Casey bobbleheads, and Bobble Corp had to have him flown out for a new replica.”
Raelyn giggled, appreciating the lightening of the mood.
“Maybehe was trying to set up a sex swing in your hotel room and decided to try it without supervision and got stuck!”
Laughing again, Raelyn shook her head.
“Maybe...and just hear me out on this one-maybe…he’s Batman.”
