******Vi’s POV******

I melted back against their front door after I shut it. Tears threatened as my heart beat wildly. Tossling my hair, I told myself to buck up and headed to my car. The engine revved to life and always instantly made me feel better. How the fuck was I going to handle this? Meaghan had just asked me to model. In her place. For Vengeance University. I couldn’t possibly say no, but how could I say yes? Did Zack have anything to do with this? Did he even know??

How on earth was I going to keep this from blowing up in my face?

****

Monday I spent the entire day doing errands, looking for a gym, making my tiny apartment a tad more welcoming, and doing anything to keep myself busy. Fortunately, I wore myself out enough to actually sleep that night--my dreams still of my beautiful Zacky.

Tuesday I noticed Meaghan was on the schedule and I readied myself to handle whatever might happen. She was chipper as usual, yammering away happily with Erin--who had at least been nice enough to only give me one sideways glance.

“Kelly’s on tour right now, but the rest of us are having a girl’s night in Saturday. You should come! You too, Violet.”

My eyes snapped up, “What? Are you serious?” I smiled.
“Absolutely! I’ll send you the address. It’s gonna be at Brian and Chelle’s place. It’s always such a great time. There will be more and more people there probably as the night goes on. They like staying in when they wanna get crazy so they don’t have to worry about stuff getting out or whatever. Sometimes she goes all out, we’ll get manicures and she hires a DJ. One time there was even a pool boy just for us to stare at.”

“Wow. Sounds like a great time. We’ll be there!” Erin grinned like she did this all the time. And maybe she did, what did I know. I sure didn’t, though.
What would I wear? How should I act? Just be yourself, girl.

So that’s what I told myself all week as I tried to figure out what to wear to such a thing. Erin informed me on Thursday that it would also be a pool party, so I had to start over. At least I knew the twins were never afraid of showing skin (since they looked amazing). These were California girls, so I don’t think I had to worry about a bikini being too sexy or too revealing. I’d worked really hard for the body I now had and I loved showing it off. Last year I had celebrated my new body with a new swimsuit and adorable sarong and flip flops--all matching and all purple. I couldn’t wait to do it up and wear my new Saint Owens with this getup. And meeting the girls? How awesome would this be?!

******

“Violet, I’ve never seen you like this,” Erin giggled, “Fucking relax, girl. You look great, and they’re going to love you. Meaghan already seems to take to you,” She teased me and I narrowed my eyes at her. She constantly tortured me about Zack being attracted to me.

We walked up the winding stone walkway to what was of course a gorgeous, huge bungalow style house. The boss had let us leave early since it had been all we could talk about all week, so it was early evening by the time we got there. Val opened the door and my eyes widened. She squealed and hugged me.

“Violet! I love it! The hair, the--” She looked me up and down, “Everything! I’ve heard so much--well, okay, some--about you.”
Okay, I was officially dead on cloud nine.
I took a deep breath and smiled big, making sure I stayed Violet, “Thanks. It was so nice of you guys to invite us.”

We walked in and she insisted on taking our purses somewhere as she pointed to a room where most of the girls were lounging around, “Mani's and pedi's are in there, champagne’s also in there. Hot tub and pool are out back!” She disappeared and Erin and I looked giddily at one another as we tried to stay cool, hurrying to the others.

Immediately, we were met with excited hellos and introductions. Meaghan pulled me down onto the couch next to her, looking at the extremely handsome man painting her toenails, “I think I have an idea what color she’ll want.” She giggled and the man winked at me quickly before continuing.

Before I could even say anything, Lacey was now grabbing my hand, “Nuh-uh. Massages first.” She pushed me in front of her and towards a hallway, “First door on the right. And don’t worry, his touch isn’t as hard as his body.” The twin winked at me and left. Um, what the hell?

Dazed and confused, I wandered down the hall and knocked on the door that was already ajar.
“Entra, donna!” A beautiful Italian voice sounded from the other side, and when I casually walked in my jaw hit the fucking floor. A beautiful, shirtless god stood there getting a massage table ready. I’d never seen a body so hard up close in my whole life. Cut lines everywhere--arms, chest, abs. And, of course, he was beautiful, too. He smiled sweetly at me, ignoring the fact that I was shamelessly staring, and motioned for me to get onto the table.



Thirty minutes later I was a flushed mess, unable to deal with how much noise I had just made as he worked me over. It wasn’t surprising that I was carrying way too much tension in my shoulders, which he cooed into my ear in his extremely sexy accent. His hands felt amazing and all I could think about the entire time was Zack’s strong guitar hands all over my body from two weeks ago, which got me even more flushed. It took everything I had not to throw myself at the masseur and tell him to take me right there on his table.
His name was Leon and he kept telling me how tense I was and I kept wanting to tell him what he could do to help. After he was done, I was totally making eyes at him as I left, and he was just laughing at me--blushing cutely like he didn’t get that all the time.

I grabbed a glass of champagne and chugged half of it, red-faced and sighing as I sat on the couch next to Erin.
“Where the fuck did you find him?” I shamelessly fanned myself as they all laughed.

“Leon’s probably the only reason we had River. My first pregnancy was so uncomfortable--” Val started and got interrupted by her sister.
“And you were so fuckin’ horny.”
“You got alotta nerve, Mich!” Val stuck out her tongue, “I walked in on you having phone sex the other day!” She chucked a pillow that was easily caught.
Michelle grinned wide and wagged her eyebrows, “Not my fault Brian’s a great dirty talker.”

I coughed out a laugh, blushing a little since she was talking about the infamous Synyster Gates. Don’t know how I was going to talk to him after that comment.

Meaghan giggled to herself, catching the attention of everyone as she leaned in towards everyone else, “You should hear Zack talk.” She rolled her eyes for emphasis and I almost choked. My cheeks, followed by my entire body, heated. That was definitely something I did not need to know.

“No fucking way! Zacky?! I cannot see it!” Lacey slapped her knee,
“Well, ya know, before we had kids,” Meaghan sighed.

“You guys okay?” Val refilled drinks, “We've all noticed you guys are...distant.”
I watched the room nod in agreement and fought not to lower my gaze.

My eyes shot up when the blonde in question chirped, “No, we're better now. We did have a rough patch, but...things have been different lately…”
Wait, what? Different? Different how?

She blushed and smiled a little and my stomach dropped, “Let's just say...for the last week?” She gave a little smirk that sent my eyes wide, “Like when we first got together.”

My vision flashed red as my ears buzzed. I could hardly breathe. Flashes of them in bed together flitted through my rattled mind. They'd been together? Often?
I started to panic. Could any of them tell? Oh god I was so fucked. I was gonna be sick.

“Get it girl!” Val's voice broke me out of my jealous haze as my eyes watered, “We all know you two are perfect together, so,that's not surprising!”

Michelle was sitting next to me and grabbed my arm as she laughed, “I’m sorry, you probably didn’t want to know all this about us just yet--”

Erin cackled from across the circle of girls, “Are you kidding? All Violet talks about is sex. She's a horny motherfucker.”

I just raised my glass her way and winked at her, “It’s fucking fun. Don’t know why we don’t all do it and talk about it way more often.” This earned my a round of applause as I smiled.
“Amen to that,” Michelle high fived me.

Val walked over and got Meaghan on her feet, “Now let's make this a party! To the pool!” She gestured overdramaticilly and we all whooped and hollered as we ran out to the pool.

Wanting to stop any and all thoughts of Zack, I tackled Erin without a second thought into the water.
Gasping for air, we both surfaced and she pawed at me.
“Violet, what the fuck!”
I grabbed her wrists as she flung herself at me and I pressed her up against the poolside, kissing her. It got heated for only a moment before she pulled away blushing.
Teasing her eyes up at me, she whispered, “Someone's all riled up.”
“Damn skippy I am.” I smiled before pushing off and diving back into the water as I heard a few holler at us.

The liquor continued to flow and I got along well with everyone. Meaghan seemed way too comfortable with me. The music started and the minute we all started dancing I swear more people showed up. At some point I got inebriated enough to dance and shamelessly makeout with Erin.

Taking a much needed water break after a song ended, we lounged on some pool chairs, her head on my chest as I lay behind her.

“So..are you two, like, dating?” A drunk Lacey asked us and caught several people's attention.

I scoffed, “I might never date again, girls. I'm here to--” I pointed at my lyrics to try and make a point.
Val raised her glass and yelled, “To Jimmy!”
Which was casually answered with other raised glasses and cheers like that happened all the time.

Michelle smirked from the chair next to ours, “So you're clearly running from something. What's your story anyway?” She put her chin on her hand in genuine interest.
I sighed, playing with Erin’s hair, “I was married for a decade. Finally escaped only recently. The woman you see now is nothing like the pathetic excuse for a human that was chained to him. I’m free and plan to stay that way for a long time, maybe always. Don’t really believe in the whole marriage thing anymore.”

“Can’t blame you on that one, that’s a long time to be married and split. No kids? How old are you anyway?” Val now sat down next to her twin.
“I’m the guys’ age. And no kids, thank all the gods.”
“There’s no way you’re their age.” Lacey smiled nicely, which only made me smile in return without answer.
“So you’re...gay now? Again, not that I blame you…” Val sipped at her wine glass.
I grinned wide, “No, I just don’t do labels anymore. Girls are just more my speed right now while I get over how disgusting dick was for over a decade.”

This did exactly what I had hoped and lightened the mood as everyone spluttered and coughed and laughed at my comment. It was a white lie, kind of true, but they didn’t know that. I was going for chicks because the only dick I wanted was Zack’s.

For a moment Meaghan’s confession came back to my mind and my heart tightened. I was holding my feelings at bay, they’d just have to wait. I couldn’t let them get to me here, so I kept having to push them aside--which got harder he more I drank, which is why I was drinking water now.

I forced myself up to mingle and got to meet Dan “the Body”. We talked fitness for a little bit and he told me where he worked out as well as some others he recommended. I still had fitness goals that I knew he could help me with, but I didn’t want to just throw myself into his life. He invited me to stop by when he was at his gym sometime and told me when he was usually there--and one of those days happened to be tomorrow. That’s one way to distract myself, I guess.

I was getting to the point where I was pretty sober and not really having fun anymore--since all I wanted to do was go home and have a good cry--so I went about corralling Erin, cooing in her ear to try and get her to leave, “C’mon, babe. I’ll drive ya home.”

“Nonsense!” Val insisted, even though this was Michelle’s place, “We have tons of room here! Stay, drink, get shitty!!” This riled up Erin, and I did my best to pretend to be thankful. That’s when I overheard the conversation right next to them between Lacey and Meaghan.

“--I can’t wait to join them for an entire week in Europe! We’ll have so much fun! It’s going to be so romantic…” She sighed and it was a like a punch to the gut.
Lacey, who apparently was also going, agreed.

Dammit I needed to get outta here. Instead, I decided to drown my sorrows in whisky, which I was pretty skilled at doing, and an hour later Erin and I were fast asleep on the couch together.

*******

The following morning I awoke to a slight hangover and soft lips on mine. Not remembering where I was, I pulled her closer and deepened the kiss. Just as hands were going places, we heard someone come down the steps and end our makeout session.

“Coffee anyone? Unless I’m interrupting something,” Val smiled down at us as I yawned and smiled as well, holding Erin close.
“Thanks, Val. Coffee sounds great.”

After some extremely fancy, wonderful coffee, my physical hangover went away--my emotional hangover just beginning. We thanked them again, they claimed we should do this again, and I took my girl home.

Looking at me as she opened my car door, she took off her sunglasses, “You alright?” Her tone was understanding, soothing.
I smiled sadly, appreciating that she wasn’t berating me right now for my transgressions that she didn't even know about, “Thank, Erin. I’ll be okay.” I lied and she got out.

While I was going to go to Dan’s gym that afternoon, I had plenty of time. So I just drove. The hot tears stung my eyes, but I let them flow freely.

What the fuck was I doing? It was just one hot romp with a sexy rock star, how could I possibly be this attached? But it hadn’t been. Or so I thought.

I was so confused and I know how silly it sounded. Here I was, actually thinking the heavy metal guitarist had real feelings for me. Old story, right? So lame.

But those eyes...the way he looked at me...what had I missed? Not to mention, it hadn’t just been the one time. In our five minutes alone at his house, he had kissed me like the world was ending…

But now, he was happy with his wife again? I tried to remind myself that this was a good thing--god forbid they split up. No matter how much he could tell me it wasn’t my fault if that happened, I would forever feel like it was--and how good would that feel, huh?

I just let the hurt, hurt as I drove. I stopped by the beach and went for a walk. It would suck, but I’d get over it. I’d have to take it one day at a time, and worry about what would happen the next time we ran into one another later.

*******Zacky’s POV*******

I watched my wife talk to Lacey at the bar in the upsale bistro in Florence. She was beautiful, so bubbly and full of life unlike she’d been for awhile. My last week at home had been interesting. We’d fucked like rabbits. And made love. All that stuff. I was so relieved to be falling back in love with her.

I still thought about Violet all the time, but with my marital situation improving--it was so much easier. I couldn’t lie to myself, sometimes in bed I still pictured it was her I was deep inside--but it was getting better. Sure, Megs was far less adventurous, less vocal, came less...but she was my wife and we were happy again.

And this...Europe...what a place to fall back in love together. Right now Ness sat in my lap excitedly looking around and grabbing after random food items. I fed him some as I tried to eat myself, drinking horrendously expensive wine. Having my son on tour always put me in the best of moods and reminded me to never take a moment for granted of the wonderfully awesome life we got to live. The fact that I’d put part of it in jeopardy by sleeping with Violet often made me sick. Sure, she was amazing, but that shouldn’t matter.

I’d been subconsciously avoiding alone time with Brian, just in case he brought it up. But now Shadz got up and went to the bar, leaving me with Gates at the table as the others socialized nearby. The right-handed guitarist leaned towards me and whispered, casually drinking his wine like we weren’t about to discuss my infidelity.

“You and Meaghan appear in better spirits. Things okay? Did you talk?”

Boy did we. Saying our talk had gone well would be an understatement. I’d felt so elated afterwards and we’d had the best sex.

I grinned wide, “Yeah, we talked.” I choked out a laugh as Brian caught my meaning and smiled back at me, “Things are much better. I feel so relieved about the whole thing.”
Syn got a little more serious, “You still think about her?”

Why the fuck would he ask me that? “Yeah, of course...but...that day will always be a nice memory but that’s all it can ever be. I’ll have to have a...a more serious talk with her when we get back.”
“You sure that’s a good idea?”
“Yeah. She deserves to know that I’m serious about fixing things with Megs and that it’s not her…” Or whatever lame excuse I could come up with just to see her.

Ness stood up in my arms and faced me, flopping against my chest as I laughed and held him tighter. Man, was he my whole world. I looked lovingly between him and Megs as she caught my gaze and smiled back.

********

Notes

Larisa knows how it feels, being HUGGED by VALARY SANDERS. You bitch. ; )

So, got some different eye candy for you guys. He is Leon Chiro, a favorite cosplay guy that I follow on Twitter/Insta. He's sooo fucking gorgeous. My fav is when he plays Gladio from FF, but he does a TON of different ones. And he's actually. Italian.



I assume by now you guys have caught on to what's actually happening bw Z and Megs, but that's ok, the main thing is that it's a surprise to HER.....