Anymore

“Really!” Marina growled as the cab pulled up to a crowded mansion. There had to be at least 200 people in the yard alone. Music thumped, vibrating the ground beneath her feet. She glared at her friend.

Ashley’s face twisted into a shy grin before she puckered her lips in a pout. Her hands folded in front of her chest to plead her cause. The short blonde hadn’t gone out in what seemed like forever, and this was supposed to be the party of the month. Some low list celeb throwing them self a house party always made for a fun party.

“You promised!” Ashley whined as her eyelashes fluttered in front of her dark honey eyes. Her long tanned leg began to shake, something that only happened when she was upset.

Marina rolled her eyes as she drew in a deep breath. “Fine, but you’re paying for the cab.” She pulled herself from the car; she didn’t realize how bad it smelled inside the ugly yellow vehicle until the fresh air filled her lungs. She took as many deep breaths as she could get before walking through the yard covered with cigarette smoke.

The closer their feet got to the house the stronger the scent of alcohol got. Ashley burst through the propped open front door while Marina stood on the porch. She ran her hand through her long dark hair. Her body turned away from the door for a moment. It must’ve agreed with her mind in the argument over what she wanted versus what her friend wanted. “Damn it!” She hissed as she turned toward the door. She squeezed in between the heated bodies. Clouds billowed around her. Ashley was gone. Lost in the mix of randoms lurking around her.

Marina couldn’t help but think she didn’t belong here. This wasn’t her scene. Or maybe it was? She couldn’t tell anymore after all the moves she made. This is the second time she lived in LA in the last ten years.

“Hey, Baby.” A hipster cooed as he wiggled his brows over the black framed glasses that stood on the bridge of his nose.

“I don’t think so…” Marina pushed him away and continued further into the house.

In one room she found more bodies; these people were pressed so tight together that she wanted to can them like sardines for a moment. The lights flickered, she couldn’t tell if Ashley stowed away in there or not. She turned away from the dark pressed bodies to a room full of people trying to eat each other’s faces. “Seriously, Ash!” She whispered to herself.

The stairs, on all accounts, seemed like a very, very, bad idea to her stern mindset. Thoughts of fresh air washed over her just before she found a clear view of a sliding glass door. The door led to an open patio which was dimly lit. There was a pool, but it was covered by glass. No one stood on it.

Marina decided to be brave. She walked out into the middle of the pool. The water glistened beneath her feet, lapping at the nonexistent wind below the glass surface. One girl gasped something about the goddess walking on water. Marina smirked before she finished her trek to the other side of the pool.

Just beyond the hedges surrounding the peaceful water was a tall gazebo. It wasn’t lit, unless you count the tiny solar lamps that graced its edges. The smoke seemed to clear as she made her way to the lonely structure.

As she stepped inside, she heard moaning. Just when she thought she found someplace in this maze of a house, someone ruined it. A soft name filled the air. His name pulled from her lips like that left Marina cold, lifeless.

“Adam!”



“I just met you!” Her squeak of a giggle filled the room. His lips parted in a smile she had never seen on another man before. She would be eighteen in one month, and this was her way of celebrating early. A random concert in a rundown plaza that no one cool played at anymore. Until he came along.

“Really?” He rolled his eyes. “Please, tell me this is not how this will end?” He motioned between them, running his finger down her low cut v-neck. His touch sent waves of electricity from her head to her toes and back again.

“How else is it supposed to end?” She bit her lip as his hazel eyes bore into her, touching the edges of her soul.

He leaned closer, so close she could feel his warm, sensual breath on her earlobe before he placed a light kiss there. “Maybe…” His voice filled her body, stirring something in the pit of her stomach. “Like…” His lips found a place just below her ear that brought heat to her cheeks and her legs. “This…”

She mumbled a few incoherent reasons he should stop, but soon, under the pure pleasure of his tantalizing lips, she found herself wrapping her arms around his neck. His lips widened into a grin as he tasted her collarbone.

“Do you still want this to end?” He whispered against her burning flesh. She couldn’t speak anymore; she pulled his thin, pale pink lips to meet her lush red mouth.

He escaped her lips, traveling to the spot below her ear; he pulled his name from her lips.”

“Adam!”



“Sorry!” Marina mumbled before she turned away, not wanting to see his face or the face of his lover. If she saw those hazel eyes again, it would be the end of her.

She had to get out! There was no doubt in her mind. Ashley had to be somewhere close, and if she wasn’t then Marina decided to risk going home alone in the skimpy navy blue dress her friend talked her into. This was a mistake.

Marina made it to the hedges, but she didn’t make it to the brighter lightening of the pool. Someone grabbed her arm, forcing her to turn around. Her eyes automatically flew to the ground. ‘Please,’ she thought, ’don’t let it be…’

A finger slid underneath her chin. The electricity started before she even laid eyes on him. “Don’t…” she whispered before his finger brought her icy blue eyes to the hazel heaven of his own.

Though the color was still stunning, he did not look pleased to see her. His forehead pulled together as he squinted. He leaned toward her. She only felt her heart race like that twice before.

“Please?” She whispered. It formed on his lips. She could see him preparing to say whatever spiel he was about to deliver, but he didn’t. His hand dropped from her face, her body growing cold from the loss of his touch, without saying word. Those eyes just overtook her.



Billions of things ran through his mind as he heard the familiar voice. Even over the fame whore of the week’s moaning, he knew distinctly who that soft voice belonged to. She ran…

It was the first time she’d ever run from him while he was awake. She always ran. He was sick of it. Why? Did she have to come to this house?

Adam dropped the girl he was holding upright in her drunken position and did the one thing he was never able to do before. He went after her. Marina occupied many of his thoughts. Each time he saw her he wanted to melt into her, he wanted to keep her. He didn’t know what she wanted from him.

The singer wiped the palms of his hands on his grey jeans before he grabbed her arm, pulling her toward him. Her closeness felt so right, but he didn’t want to feel right. He wanted to feel angry.



Adam fell next to her, trying his best not to land on her long hair. She pulled it to the side before she moved closer to him, resting her head on his chest. Her fingers traced small shapes over the space where he heart was and down his stomach. He laughed, shaking her body as he did.

“You can’t be ready again!” He grinned as her eyes glimmered. Her smeared red lips met his own, speeding up his heart-rate. “You’re going to kill me, you know.” He laughed as she playfully hit his arm, but there was something else in those shimmering eyes. She turned away, still tracing his skin.

He put his finger just under her chin forcing her to look into his eyes. “Why don’t you come on tour with us? I know we only play dive bars right now, but still…” His words trailed off. He hoped she understood that he meant he wanted her with him. Adam Levine was not ready to let go of this perfect creature he just got his hands on.

“We’ll talk about it in the morning.” She promised.

He pushed a loose strand of hair behind her ear, kissed her forehead, and nodded. “Okay, let’s sleep on it then.”

He dozed off as she drew circles over his heart. When his eyes opened and his arms stretched out in the morning…

Marina was gone.



“You shouldn’t be here,” Adam said as he stepped around her. He waved at someone on the other side of the pool while ignoring the drunk girl chasing after him. Marina was stunned. There was a coldness in his voice that she never heard before. It shanked her soul.

“I didn’t want to be here…” She trailed off as her eyes found something else to look at. Anything but him, his eyes, his body, might distract the distaste that grew in the pit of her stomach.

“Why?” His smile was forced as he held opened the gate that led from the pool to the gazebo.

“I’m not just some party girl. I don’t want to wake up in the morning with pictures of me in the paper, and I certainly can’t face a walk of shame.” She shrugged as her words fell from her list with casual ease. He could tell though, they were practiced.

He shook his head while the frown that swept across his features deepened. “Yeah, we both know you never liked being there the morning after.”

“Adam!”

His shoulders tensed at the use of his name. He turned to face her once again before he stepped through the gate she wouldn’t. “This time…” he trailed off as his eyes bore into her. “I’m the one saying no.”

Her whole body felt like ice. She crossed her arms over her chest, blinking away the tears. Messed up was a huge understatement when it came to the last time she saw him, but he didn’t understand. Marina was not this girl; not the girl he could parade around these parties, not the girl he could cheat on the first chance he got, and certainly not the girl that would be slandered in the gossip rags just because he was famous.

Each step he took broke her heart a little more. They may have only had those two nights together, but Marina couldn’t deny this gnawing ache for him in her core. She managed to run after him in the black strappy stilettos Ashley talked her into wearing. “Wait!” She half yelled as she grabbed his arm. Everyone surrounding the pool turned toward her voice.

“What do you want?” Adam watched her while his exasperated question hung in the air.

“I want something I can’t have,” she whispered. She leaned closer to his ear as he slid the glass door open, loud music coursed through the air.

“What’s that?” He paused for just that moment. No emotion crossed his face, but it lurked behind his eyes. He was ready to run the moment she said the wrong thing. She twisted her fingers in his shirt.

“I want you without the fame.” She was afraid to release his shirt, to look away from that gaze that held her.

“This is my dream. I won’t let it go for some woman who is going to run without any more explanation than a stupid piece of paper!” His eyes changed from emotional to angry as hell.



“Promise me!” He stared into her eyes. Those blue eyes that were crazy for him that wanted nothing more than this moment while he wanted the world.

“I will be here this time,” she smiled, slipping her lanky fingers beneath his shirt. She dug her fingertips into his hips sending waves of desire through him.

“Did you know I looked for you? I mean, last time…” His hands cupped her face. He wanted to drown in her eyes.

“No,” she whispered in his ear.

Soon there was nothing between them. Their close were scattered around the floor. His bare skin created a fire over her skin. She vaguely remembered telling him coming back to his room was a mistake, the cab ride… How could this be a mistake?

His hands roamed her body while her lips tried to keep his mouth against them. It wasn’t long before he found that familiar friend just below her ear. He peeled his name from her lips slowly, grinning with each sigh that left her.

She pushed him over so she could be above him. “It’s not fair,” she pouted. “You know exactly how to drive me crazy…”

He smirked. “I happen to like it that way.”

She started with his ear, moved to his neck, collarbone, the left side of his chest then the right. He just smiled as she tasted his body until she came to his hip. She sank her teeth into the fleshy part of his hip while the fire ignited in his eyes. He pulled her to his lips before rolling her on her back.

She smirked through their heated kiss. He pulled back for just a second to look into her eyes. “I like it this way!” She laughed.

He moved with her until they could barely keep going. She moved her hair as he fell beside her, pulling her closer to him. She rested her head on his chest, rubbing the familiar circles over his heart. “Please don’t be gone in the morning.” He whispered before the rhythmic breathing set into his chest.

Adam woke up to the sound of crinkling. He stretched over the empty part of the bed before he pulled the cream colored hotel stationary from the pillow case where she laid.





“You don’t understand,” Marina protested.

“No! “ Adam growled. “I understand just fine. One minute you’re there with me, and the next, after you promised not to, you vanish.” He stepped back from her, shaking his head. “I know this might sound ironic coming from me, but I don’t want to be just another fuck.”

He turned into the strobe lights.

She followed him.

Adam deserved better than her, Marina knew that, but he didn’t understand. She needed to get out, but she couldn’t. Something inside her knew she had to make her mistakes toward him right again.

She ran into the room behind him. The lights blinded her. Bodies of randoms grinded against her. Sweat dripped from some of those people. Alcohol burned her nose. The room seemed to get bigger, but she managed to fight her way through it.

Adam was going up the stairs. Damn it! She pushed after him. He walked up two flights of stairs before he continued down a dark hallway. It looked as if no one was allowed in this part of the house, but she couldn’t just stop now.

“Please!” She yelled. “Listen to me! For once!”

He turned to look at her before he went inside one of the many rooms off the hall. The light from the room flooded the darkness. She ran toward it, only to find him pouring himself a glass of gin.

“I’m listening,” he stated. That coldness seeped from his tone again.

“The year after that first night with you, I had a son with another man.” Adam’s shoulders tensed as she spoke, but he did not turn toward her. “The relationship was a mistake, but my little boy was the world to me.”

“Was…?” Adam stuttered.

“Yeah, was.” She found herself watching the black carpet beneath her shoes. “He got out of the babysitter’s house that last night we spent together. I couldn’t stay here when she called and told me…” Marina sighed. “Forget it! I shouldn’t be giving you this sob story now. Not here. Some dumb reporter is probably listening preparing to write every word wrong.” Tears swelled in her eyes.

She turned to leave. This was a mistake. Adam made everything seem better, but her life wasn’t better. She couldn’t get over her son.

Before she took her second step toward the door his arms wrapped around her waist. He buried his face in her hair, drinking in the scent of vanilla. “I was so angry,” he whispered. “I practically begged you to stay, and you just left. With a stupid ’I’m sorry.’ What was I supposed to think?”

She leaned into his embrace and shook her head. He had every right in the world to be angry, but she had her reasons. And they were damn good reasons.

“I’m sorry,” he whispered in her ear before he released her.

She turned toward him, but he already turned his back to her again. What kind of game was he playing? “For what?”

“For being so angry.” He shrugged. “You should probably go. I mean, you have a family.” He gulped something else from his personal minibar.

“Why do you keep pushing me away?” She sobbed. The tears finally falling. Marina had no one left. Her parents disowned her when her son was born. His father was just a deadbeat who wouldn’t claim his kid. Her little boy…that car…

She had no one left, except the man before her.

“I can’t…” he trailed off as he turned to face her again. “I can’t do this with you anymore. When I wake up in the morning to an empty bed, I want to be sure no one was there the night before.”

“Adam!” She turned her teary eyes on him. “I am so sick of pretending that I don’t love you; I can’t do it anymore. Those people down stairs, I hate them all! Then, there’s you.”

Without another thought he caught her lips. Electricity flowed through her veins making every inch of her body glow with fire. She wove her fingers in his hair, pulling him closer.

She pulled away. Pain filled his features, but she shook her head. “Promise me, Adam, that those vultures won’t affect us!”

He moved, planting little kisses along her cheek until he got to her ear. “No one will affect us, unless you disappear again.”

Marina smiled. “I won’t disappear anymore.”

He pulled her over to the bed, covered in burgundy sheets. “Whose room is this?” She asked.

“Mine,” he whispered. He pulled her onto his bed, and held her tightly. He wouldn’t give her the chance to run without a goodbye this time. He stared at her as she snuggled into him.

“I’m not going to sleep this time.” He laughed as she began rubbing circles over his chest.

“I don’t want you too.” She kissed his perfect mouth.



Adam stretched as he woke up, the morning sun streaming in through the window. Something wasn’t right. His bed was empty. He sighed.

“Not again!” He growled to himself, closing his eyes to the brightness. The other side of his mattress shifted. Someone curled next to him, pressing soft kisses on his cheek.

“Sorry,” her melodic voice whispered. “I had to go attempt to brush my teeth.”

He opened his eyes. Those perfect blue ice eyes stared back at him, her hair was all over the place, but he didn’t notice anything except the smile on her plump lips.

“You stayed…” he whispered.

“Anymore, remember?” She laughed. “I promise seems like a bad thing to say since I’ve broken one already.”

He smiled, pulling her in for a kiss. “Anymore.” His breath tickled her mouth as he whispered the word through their kiss. She pulled away staring at him. “Anymore sounds like the perfect word.”