Chapter 80

Billie woke slowly, a smile on her lips which faded gradually as she realized that solid bulk of man was no longer tucked against her body.

“Richie?” She murmured, pushing herself upright and looking around the room.

The empty room.

As the dregs of sleep wisped away from her brain, Billie understood that it made sense. Richie wouldn’t want to be caught leaving her room in the morning, still in the same clothes he’d worn the night before. With a slight smile she realized he probably also wasn’t sure how she’d react to waking to find him lying close against her, and she shook her head as the smile widened.

Billie wasn’t sure why she was even surprised. The man was certainly full of love, not to mention chock-full of intuition that bordered on womanly. Of course, that was the only womanly thing about him, she thought with a soft chuckle. The rest of him - most of him - was allll man. Wonderful, caring, sweet, tender-hearted man, but definitely man.

She eased out of bed, heading into the bathroom, letting the shower warm while she cleaned her teeth, the taste of last night lingering, certainly not unpleasant but, still, minty-fresh was the way to go! As usual, the sound of running water had a direct effect on her bladder, so she took care of that before stepping into the steam-filled shower enclosure, soaping and shampooing as her mind ran back over the previous night.

It had been a night of discovery. A night of honesty and catharsis, and even the faint dull ache she could still feel wasn’t unwelcome, as it served as a reminder of what had transpired, though it was unlikely that she could - would - ever forget it.


In the plush bathroom of ‘the Sambora Suite’, Richie was also showering, his thoughts eerily similar to Billie’s. Running alongside those memories, though, was a streak of inspiration, and he was humming a soft new melody as he stepped from the shower, reaching for one of the thick eggplant colored towels as his brain worked through chord progressions and tempo. After a cursory rub at his hair, he twisted the towel around his waist to catch the dripping water and headed out to the desk, flipping open a pad and scribbling quickly, wanting to get the ideas down on paper before they evaporated from his brain, replaced by memories of last night.

When he finished writing, Richie was still humming as he dried off, blasting his hair with the dryer before pulling on loose cargo pants and a once-black shirt. The patchy gray of the shirt matched the light stubble on his face, but he had no intention of shaving today, so he just grabbed up the pages of chicken-scratch writing and leaving the room, his bare feet once again shoved into his shoes. They were quite possibly the ugliest shoes on the planet, but, man, were they comfortable!


Jon was in the studio, his annoyance pushed aside as he worked on the bridge he’d come up with, and just as he decided he finally had it the way he wanted, the coffee maker gave that final, despairing gurgle and hiss as the last of the water drained through the grounds. Perfect timing, because he was in desperate need of a caffeine fix. He had his back to the door, pouring coffee, when he heard footsteps on the stairs and the sound of the door opening.

“Mornin’ bro.” Richie said cheerfully. “Coffee smells good.”

“Morning.” Jon said tersely, walking back to the battered couch with his coffee in hand.

Richie raised an eyebrow at Jon - usually he’d have automatically poured a mug of coffee for his wingman, though he left the sugar-and-cream-adding to Richie’s sweet-toothed preference. After a few seconds, though, he decided Jon was just preoccupied when he watched him pick up pen and paper as soon as he sat. He fixed himself a mug of coffee before heading over to sit on the couch, pulling crumpled pages from one of the voluminous pockets of his pants.

“I came up with something this morning.” He said, unfolding the paper, trying to smooth it a little.

“Really?” Jon’s tone was heavy with sarcasm. “Inspired, were we?”

“Huh?” Richie looked more closely at his friend, whose eyes were fixed on his own pages, but the shitty attitude was pretty obvious. “What crawled up your ass this morning?”

Now Jon did look at him, his eyes icy. “You used to be more discreet.”

“What?!” Richie was lost, but Jon was about to provide him a roadmap.

“Back in the day, at least you looked around before leaving someone’s room in the morning.” Jon grunted.

“Before………”

“I saw you this morning.” Jon explained a little more clearly. “Sneaking out of Billie’s room.”

“I wasn’t sneaking anywhere!” Jesus Christ - is he serious?? “I was leaving the room. Leaving quietly because I didn’t want to wake Billie.”

“So you admit you spent the night with her?”

“That………what?” Okay, seriously? She’s been living in my home for weeks, but now it bothers him? Besides…..

“That you…” Jon got cut off sharply before he could say another word.

“What has it got to do with you?” Billie snapped from the doorway, her arrival having gone unnoticed as the guys talked.

“Billie!”

Both guys spoke at once, but she really wasn’t listening as she slammed the studio door and strode across to where they sat.

“I asked you a question, Jon.” She said angrily. “What the fuck business is it of yours?”

“I……..you and………….I thought…………I mean……….” Jon stammered himself into silence. Well, except for one more insightful comment. “Aw fuck.”

Nice one, JB. Last night you pissed off Jay, now you’re pissing off his mom. A quick glance to the side. AND Richie. Jesus you used to have more brains than this.

Billie glanced at Richie and rolled her eyes. He just shrugged, happy to let her deal with Jon on this one.

As much as Billie would have loved to keep yelling at Jon about this, though, she knew he and the rest of the guys had work to do, and leaving this hanging over their heads would just create animosity. Sighing - why did she always have to be the grown-up? - Billie spoke in a less aggressive tone. A little less aggressive anyway.

“Jon.” A pause, then her voice sharpened. “Jon!”

Now he looked up at her. “Yeah?”

“I had a nightmare, okay?” As she started to speak, Richie got up and headed to the coffee maker to get her some caffeine. “I had a nightmare, and Richie heard me crying when you guys finished up here. We talked for a while until I fell asleep again, then I guess he left.” That’s all he really needs to know. “And I assume that’s when you saw him, and as usual you put two and two together………”

“…..and got five.” Jon finished the sentence for her. He felt like he was missing something, but it didn’t feel like she was lying to him, so he smiled a little.

Truth be told, after their reactions he’d realized he was a bit out of line anyway. Billie wasn’t his property. Right?