John Francis

Gasping to fill his lungs after his orgasm, Jon eased his weight down onto Amanda, shifting slightly to let her breathe. Their sweat mingled together and the scent of sex and musk and need filled their nostrils as they breathed each other in.

Without looking at her, Jon repeated her words back to her.

“I was happy once. I had a life and a love and I lost them both one year ago yesterday.”

He soothed her as she stiffened slightly from what she was hearing.

“I don’t know what happened to me here, with you, where that man came from, but he didn’t exist until today.”

“Please stay with me,” he murmured, putting a finger over her full lips when she started to protest. “Please, stay.” His eyes once more met hers and as she was coming to know, she was lost.

In the living room, Tico and Richie were watching a movie while talking about some of the stuff that had happened on the last tour, especially with Jon. He had never been a prima donna. Sure, he was demanding as hell, a perfectionist, and didn’t suffer fools as well as he pretended to. He was, however, great with fans and the press and that had been slipping badly in the last several months.

He had always taken such care to keep his private life out of the tabloids and in the last few months his face had become so haunted and his drinking so out of control that there were mentions of him that he would have never tolerated in the past. Last night was only the worst of what had been happening. They knew they were going to have to talk to him.

Upstairs Jon and Amanda were still once again as each thought about what had been said. Both were a bit shocked at their admissions and a bit scared. Jon wondered where this was going, but it was the first time in a long time that he had wanted a woman in more than a casual way and even more important lately, that he had wanted a woman to stay with him after the act itself. He was not yet ready to admit it to himself, but he was not going to let her go.

For her part, Amanda was trying to tell herself again just who was in bed with her. But since the first time he had been just a man to her, not some rock superstar. She couldn’t make her mind go back to “Jon Bon Jovi” when it was just Jon. She knew she wanted this man and needed the way he made her feel.

He spoke first. “I don’t know where this is going, Mandy, but I need to know if you can stay with me. I don’t know anything about you yet, other than I can’t take watching you walk out the door.”

Amanda raised her head and looked directly into those eyes. “I can stay” came her simple reply. He nodded and drew her down to his lips. This time they simply held each other, enjoying the pleasure of being with another person who wanted nothing other than human closeness.

Hunger of a different kind finally drove them from Amanda’s room. She was dressed in one of the tops and a pair of the shorts Richie and Tico had thoughtfully provided. She was carrying the sweatpants and t-shirt directly to the laundry herself! Both men were in the kitchen when the two appeared from upstairs. Stopping their conversation mid-sentence, they turned to Jon and Amanda.

They didn’t need to ask anything with Amanda blushing her face off. Jon cleared his throat and announced, “We’re starving”.

Amanda’s head swung in disbelief towards Jon as the other two burst into laughter.

“Yeah, we kinda figured you both had to surface for either air or food. We were gonna check on you in about a week or so.” Richie smirked at the two of them after that making that comment.

Amanda had not believe she could blush any harder; she was wrong.

“We’ve got Chinese on the way,” Tico informed them, grinning his sly smile.

“Sounds great,” Jon acknowledged, giving Tico the eye to speak to him privately. “Mandy, give me those clothes, honey, I know where the laundry is.”

She handed the clothes over and turned her eyes to Richie. “Thanks for letting me borrow those, but I wanted to make sure they were returned to you the same way I got them.”

“Oh honey, I’m SURE they’re not the in the same condition as I gave them to you” Richie guffawed as Amanda once again blushed her face off. She swatted him on the shoulder and he managed to squeak out, “hey babe, not my playing arm!” She started laughing at his antics then, letting her wonderful giggle escape at his silliness.

Richie continued to entertain her as he had noticed that Jon and Tico had both gone back toward the laundry.

“Teek, man…” Jon began, stumbling a little over his words and how he wanted to phrase his request. “I know it’s your house, but I want Mandy to stay. Ok with you?”

Tico grinned at Jon, but only replied, “well, if you need more supplies, you know where they are.”

Jon actually colored lightly at that remark, slapping Tico good-naturedly on the shoulder. “Thanks my friend.”

As they turned to leave the room, Jon stopped Tico by clearing his throat. “Tico, I know I’ve been…well, an asshole lately. I’m more sorry than I can say. Thanks for sticking by me.”

Tico smiled a bit sadly at one of his closest friends and then in his deep voice “We all fall, Jon, it’s knowing when to ask for help that gets us back up.”

“Yeah, well, I fell a lot further than I ever thought I would. Somehow though…I think I might have found a rope to hang onto.”

Tico’s eyes raised a bit at that, but he just shrugged his broad shoulders and smiled, “Whatever works, man, whatever works.”

They left the area, returning to the kitchen, both hearing the delighted laughter of Amanda to some secret that Richie had undoubtedly let out of the bag.

Although she was laughing hysterically at Richie’s latest “road story” and could not possibly have heard Tico and Jon returning, she immediately turned to the doorway as Jon came through. She didn’t even notice that she had seemed to sense his presence, however, everyone else did, most particularly Jon. He felt heat arise once again and walking closer he touched her only to find that she once more was lightly trembling. The doorbell ringing saved them all an awkward moment.