Book 1: You Could Be Mine (Izzy Stradlin FanFic)

Ch. 16: Merch Girl

I woke up with my body spooning up against Izzy. I could feel something hard digging into my butt and I turned around to see Duff spooning me, an awkward-albeit, impressive-morning boner poking at me from behind. Snoring filled the room and I sat up as silently and carefully as possible.

I clutched my head, trying to numb the pain of my increasingly annoying hangover, and tip-toed off of the bed and out into the living room.

"Oh, god!" I hissed, taking in the nudity that was sprawled out on the couch in front of me.

"Not impressed?" Jasey purred.

I rolled my eyes. "Where's the fucking Tylenol?"

Jasey raised an eye brow at me. "Whoa. Someone's grouchy!"

"Whatever. I'll find it myself."

I cursed under my breath as I stumbled into the bathroom, praying there was some sort of medicine I could take to ease the pain.

"You should drink some water."

I froze at the sound of his voice and I turned around to see Izzy standing behind me, shirtless and with his hair tousled all over the place. He looked so sexy like that.

"I also should chug some pills," I growled. He smirked at me and walked over to the medicine cabinet, opening it up and searching it's contents. After a few moments, he turned to me with a bottle of Tylenol. I snatched it from him and he filled me up a paper cup full of water.

"You have fun last night?" He asked, handing me the cup.

"I can't remember," I admitted.

"Then that would be a 'yes'," he teased with a half smile. I couldn't help but laugh a little at that one.

When I had finished with my cup, Izzy turned and filled it up with more water.

"You need to get some water in you," he explained.

I accepted the cup from him once more. I watched as he returned the Tylenol to its original position in the medicine cabinet. I soaked up the view of his ivory back, gazing as the slight hints of muscle rippled under his skin with every movement. He wasn't a body builder, but he was just as attractive.

"Izz?"

"Hm?"

"Why did you stop talking to me?"

He paused briefly, not looking me in the eye. After a moment, he began to aimlessly toy with the various other bottles that were in the cabinet. "What do you mean?"

Now I knew he was fucking with me, and I wasn't in the mood for it. "Don't act like you don't know. Why did you stop talking to me?"

Izzy began fiddling with one of the bottles, lowering his head. I stood there, watching him and waiting for a reply. After a few moments of silence, it was becoming quite clear that he had no intention of spilling the beans any time soon. I crossed my arms over my chest and turned to walk away when I heard him begin to speak.

"You need to be more careful."

I twirled back around. "What?"

He stood up and faced me. His dark eyes were scrunched with worry and he had a solemn look on his face. "You need to be careful."

"With what?"

"Duff. He's a great guy and all, but..."

He trailed off and I snorted. "Duff? Why would I need to be careful around him? He's sweet."

I noticed Izzy wince slightly at my words but I ignored it.

"He's great. I love Duff. He's like my brother," Izzy admitted. "It's just that, Jasey said he's perfect for you and...I just don't agree with that."

"She was joking," I pointed out.

Izzy shrugged.

"If this is all you were upset about, then-"

"That's not it."

I stared at him expectantly, waiting for him to say more.

"Am I really just 'okay'?"

I raised an eye brow. "What?"

"Jasey said I was hot and you said 'he's okay'."

I gawked at him. "You were awake through all of that?"

He gulped. "I barely slept that night."

He barely slept?

"Look, Izzy, it's not like I think you're ugly. I didn't mean it like that," I stammered. Shit. This was bad. I wanted to tell Izzy everything. How at the coffee shop he made my heart race, how he made me feel comfortable in an otherwise strange situation, how I preferred black coffee over an espresso con panna.... Instead, my mouth was just making things worse.

"Well, at least I'm not ugly," he snorted sarcastically.

I heaved an exasperated sigh. "Izzy, you're not ugly. You're...just...I...why do you even care?"

His eyes widened and he licked his lips.

"I mean, I'm the merch girl. I sell your band's shirts and hats and bracelets and all that shit, I am scared of flying in your jet, I complain cuz my friend took me on a year long world tour with my favorite band," I said. "Jasey is the groupie. She's the one you should be talking to."

Fuck. Had I really just thrown my dream guy at my best friend?

He nodded slowly, letting my words sink in before smiling at me. "You know what? You're absolutely right. I have no idea why I took it so harshly."

Was he for real or was this just passive aggressive? I knew Izzy. Whether he was angry with me or not, he would never show it.

"Well good. Because I didn't mean it in a rude way."

He patted my shoulder. "Understood."

I watched him pass me and begin to leave the bathroom. Before he turned the corner to head towards the living room, he turned back and smiled. "Duff is a great guy, really. And you two would be great together. He needs some stability in his life."

With that, he was gone.