Feeling This

Chapter Ten

                 

(A/N: tbh I love chapters from Tom's pov. They're just so much fun to write.)

The kiss with Nicolette played over and over and over in Tom's mind. Every detail of it was imprinted in his memory. The way her mouth tasted like cherry soda, her favorite drink that she had begged Travis to let her go out and buy the second day of tour. The way her body molded against his like two puzzle pieces finally put together. How soft her skin had felt beneath his calloused fingers. How right it had felt for those brief seconds, and how wrong it had felt when reality came crashing down with Cam's jarring voice.

            Tom felt so guilty; it was practically oozing out his pores. He had done exactly what he said he wouldn't do and had gone behind his bandmate's, his friend's, back. And he had liked it. Tom had wanted to kiss Nicolette ever since he had seen her in that fucking towel back in Vegas. And it had felt so fucking good to do it finally, despite how heavy his heart felt after it.

            But how guilty should he really feel? Nicolette had said it was just a kiss after all, albeit a steamy one that had escalated probably a little too quickly. It wasn't like Tom had stolen her virginity. Could Travis really get that mad at Tom if he ever found out?

            And then there was the whole issue of wanting to kiss her again, because Tom did. A lot. Hence the kiss being on instant replay in his head. But he couldn't. For obvious reasons, one of those being the possibility of Tom being wrong and Travis actually getting really mad. Maybe even so mad that he quits the band. Or even worse, Travis teams up with Mark and they kick Tom out of the band. That would fucking suck.

            "Tom?" Mark's voice snapped Tom out of his daydreaming. Tom looked at his friend blankly and Mark returned a dumbfounded expression. "Are you going to check your mike?" Mark finally asked after an uncomfortably long pause.

            "Oh, yeah," Tom said. He shook his head to remind himself that he was in the middle of soundcheck for tonight's show, not back in the tour bus bathroom with Nic. Damn it.

            Tom turned to his microphone and started to speak into it. "Check, check. Mark loves fucking guys in the ass."

            Tom remained focused for the rest of soundcheck, not wanting to raise any more suspicions from Mark. Apparently that hadn't been enough, however, because Mark cornered him once they were off the stage.

            "What the fuck was that?" Mark demanded. Tom didn't meet his friend's eyes as he put his guitar back on the rack.

            "Dude, relax. I just spaced out for a minute," Tom shrugged. He tried to play it off, but his heart was racing as Mark's eyes trained on him.

            "Spaced out?" Mark repeated, astounded. "It was like you were on a different planet."

            "So what?" Tom asked, finally facing his bandmate. It wasn't like Mark could know what Tom had been thinking about just because he hadn't been paying attention during soundcheck.

            "So that's how you were acting at the start of tour when Nicolette showed up," Mark stated. Okay, maybe Mark did know. "I thought you told her to stop?"

            "I did," Tom replied, feeling slightly better that it wasn't a complete lie.

            Mark narrowed his eyes at Tom, who tried his best not to fidget under his scrutinizing gaze. "So nothing's going on between you two then?" Mark checked.