He loves me.
He shrugs and takes the beer DJ offers him and wanders over to hang out with the other guys standing near the grill.
There are a few things I know for certain in this life, and one of them is men can always be found near the grill.
Gary is grilling, the other guys are in chairs or standing around, sipping beers from the bottle and laughing. Eric is holding a sweet little boy, around two years old, making faces at him and grinning.
The world-famous rock band Nash is just a bunch of normal people.
“I’m glad you’re here.” Lori smiles.
“Thanks for having me,” I respond and glance around her lush backyard. “You have a lovely home.”
It’s true. The pool is kidney-shaped and large, with an attached hot tub at one end. The entire space is covered in cobblestone, with a huge outdoor fireplace at one end, surrounded with plush furniture. A large child’s play area with swings, a slide, and a tree house take up another corner. The patio we’re sitting on, twice the square footage of my apartment, is covered and also furnished with comfortable and colorful chairs and tables. The guys and the grill are about twenty feet away, also on the patio.
“Thank you,” Lori responds with a smile. “We don’t get to spend much time here, so when we’re home, we enjoy having everyone over.”
“I can’t believe how big Maddox has gotten,” Cher comments, pointing to the little boy on Eric’s lap.
“I know, he’s growing like a weed,” Lori agrees. “That’s our son, Maddox,” she tells me.
“He’s adorable.”
“I want to talk to you guys about something,” Leo begins, and everyone frowns at him.
“Don’t tell me you’re thinking of taking on another leg of tour dates right now.” Lori scowls, her voice hard. “In case you didn’t notice, I’m about to give birth.”
“No.” Leo shakes his head and glances at me, then at his guys. “In fact, I’d like to talk to you guys about cutting back on touring.”
“Thank God,” Gary mutters and runs his fingers through his hair.
“Why?’ Jake asks and takes a swig of his beer.
“I don’t want to quit,” Leo clarifies. “I’m thinking about just cutting our touring down to a few months a year, and the rest of the year working on albums, writing, working with other artists, stuff like that.”
The guys all exchange glances. Cher and Lori are literally holding their breath, tightly holding hands.
“That’s not a bad idea,” DJ responds. “We’re not twenty-two anymore.”
“We can do special appearances now and then, awards shows, shit like that,” Eric agrees.
“I can play with my kids,” Gary adds and exhales. “Honestly, I’m ready to slow it down a bit.”
“I need all of us to be on the same page.” Leo stuffs his hands in his pockets, his face worried. “You guys are my family. We do this together or not at all.”
I didn’t think I could love him any more than I already did, and then he goes and says stuff like that. I understand family.
All eyes turn to Jake, and he shrugs. “Yeah, slowing down might be good. We’d be able to record more often.”
“Maybe you’ll settle down,” Gary suggests, but Jake smirks.
“Let’s not go crazy.”
“One more thing,” Leo adds as Gary flips steaks on the grill. “I’m relocating to Seattle permanently. I don’t expect DJ and Gary to follow, but I want to let you know.”
Silence. After a few seconds, everyone starts to laugh, including Lori and Cher.
“What the fuck is so funny?” Leo demands.
“We had bets on how long you’d last in that horrible house of yours,” Cher informs him as she wipes tears from the corners of her eyes. “I lost the bet a year ago.”
“Everyone hates your house?” I ask in surprise.
“Oh, honey, it’s awful.” Lori rolls her eyes, and I smile at her.
“I know. I’m thankful he’s selling it.”
“I bought it for the view,” Leo reminds us all and then laughs with everyone else. “Yeah, it’s horrible.”
“I wouldn’t mind moving to Seattle,” Cher murmurs, her big brown eyes watching DJ.
“We can look into it,” he agrees.
“I hate LA. Please, God, tell me we can move, too,” Lori begs her handsome husband.
“You hate LA?” he asks, surprised.
“Yes! Let’s move before Maddox starts school and we don’t want to uproot him.”
“I guess we’re all moving to Seattle and becoming boring suburbanites,” Gary mutters.
“Speak for yourself, man. I’m no suburbanite.” Eric holds his hands up and shakes his head.
“Says the man with a baby on his knee,” DJ quips.
“You’re a dick,” Eric throws back at him.
“Dick!” Maddox yells with a wide smile.
“Ah hell,” Lori mutters. “Stop teaching my kid all the swear words.”
“His uncles are all musicians,” Leo reminds her. “It’s inevitable that he has a potty mouth.”
“But does it have to be as a toddler?”
“Dick!” Maddox yells again and claps his chubby little hands.
“My kid is going to be the one who has detention every day after school because he cusses in class,” Lori complains, earning smirks from the guys.
“How long have you been married?” I ask Cher.
“Ten years,” she replies and laughs at my surprised look. “Or, in rock band years, fifty.”
“Good for you guys.” I feel hope spring. These women have made their relationships work with their famous husbands. Maybe it won’t be that hard.
Maybe I’ll be twenty-five again tomorrow.
“Not easy,” Cher concedes and watches her husband with happy eyes. “But worth it. It’ll be so nice to have him home more. Maybe we’ll actually have a baby.”
“No kids?” I ask.
She shakes her head no, and her eyes soften. “I can’t have kids,” she confides, her voice low. “But we want to adopt.”
“I’ve told you before, I’ll be a surrogate for you,” Lori reminds her. “I seem to be a baby-making machine.”
“You’re crazy.” Cher laughs.
“Better yet”—Lori takes a crying Maddox from Eric—“you can have this one. He’s slightly used, but he has his cute moments.”
“How about you, Sam? Do you want kids?” Cher asks, and it suddenly feels like everyone, including the guys and little baby Maddox, have gone quiet, waiting for my response.
“Uh, no, I don’t really want kids of my own. My brother and his wife have one and another on the way, and I have extended family with kids. I like being the fabulous aunt, and then sending them back home hopped up on sugar and rated-R movies.”
Leo’s eyes are trained on mine, his face calm and relaxed, but I can’t read him. Finally, he smiles softly at me.
“Sam is a really great aunt,” he murmurs. “But we’re on the same page when it comes to kids.”
“Well, then, there’s no need to have sex,” Lori comments, and bites her lip as she tries not to laugh.
“True,” I agree and nod thoughtfully. “It’s a good thing he’s horrible in bed.”
Leo’s eyebrows climb into his messy hairline, and all the guys laugh, doubled over.
“Oh man, I knew it!” Eric points at him and then slaps his knee.
“Is that so?” Leo asks me, sets his beer down on a table, and saunters over to me.
I shrug and clench my lips together, fighting laughter.
“I think”—he grips my hand and pulls me to my feet, then bends and lifts me onto his shoulders—“you deserve to be punished for that.”
“Oh shit, Leo do not throw me in the pool! I don’t have any other clothes with me!”
“Too late!”
And suddenly I’m flying through the air and into the warm water with a loud splash. I kick my way to the surface, sputtering and pushing m
y hair out of my face, glaring up at the impossibly handsome man laughing down at me.
“You’re an ass!” I hiss at him.
“Ass!” Maddox repeats, earning more laughter.
“Here, I’ll pull you out.” Leo squats by the side of the pool and offers me his hand. I reach up and take it, plant my foot on the side of the pool, and yank him into the water with me, much to the delight of our audience.
Before I can turn around, I’m yanked under, and then tugged back to the surface so I can catch my breath.
Leo’s face is inches from my own, his hair wet and pressed to his scalp. Water is dripping down his face, off the piercings in his ear and eyebrow, his plain black tee clinging to his shoulders.
“God, you’re sexy,” I whisper, and his eyes grow hot with lust.
He yanks me to him and kisses me hard, thoroughly, his arms holding me to him tightly and his hands pressed to my sides. He pushes me against the side of the pool and devours me with his lips, and all I can do is hold on for dear life.
Finally, he pulls back and grins down at me, panting. “You’re gonna pay for that remark.”
“Gladly,” I agree and laugh as he splashes me.
“Food’s ready, moron,” Gary calls down to Leo. “Lori, do you have clothes for Sam?”
“Uh, probably not, Gary,” I respond as Lori laughs and I pull myself out of the pool. “I don’t know if you noticed, but Lori and I couldn’t be more different.”
“You could go naked,” Eric offers with a grin.
Leo smacks him upside the head. “Shut the fuck up.”
“Fuck up!” Maddox agrees.
“I’m gonna kill all of you,” Lori growls.
***
“You know, I have to tell you.” Lori leads me through the house to the master bedroom so I can borrow a T-shirt and pair of yoga pants. “I was so proud of the way you handled Melissa the other day.”
“I heard about that!” Cher nods. “Most people don’t stand up to her.”
“How do you guys deal with always being in the tabloids?” I ask them without thinking.
“You know about being in the tabloids,” Lori remarks.
“Yeah, but I’m getting the feeling it’s different with rock stars than actors.”
“The guys told Melissa that we are never to be included in publicity stuff,” Cher confides as Lori tosses me clothes to change into.
“Really?”
“Yep,” Lori agrees. “No family photos are to be released. Melissa knows better.”
“She just wanted the scoop on getting the first photos out there of Leo and his new flame.”
“First flame,” Lori adds. “I don’t think that Leo’s ever been photographed with a woman.”
“Never?” I frown in disbelief. “That’s hard to believe. I’m sure he’s had girlfriends.”
“I don’t know.” Cher shrugs. “But if he did, he never took them out. He’s a really private guy.”
“We’re lucky.” Lori nods. “Our guys are all about the music and the fans. The rest of it is all frills, and they don’t really play into it too much. They play the publicity game when they have to, but…” She shrugs.
“I like that,” I mutter thoughtfully.
“I thought you might.” Lori grins. “Leo’s the best. He’ll have your back.”
We join the guys back on the patio, already eating and talking about music and bands and who has what single coming out when.
I sit quietly, nibbling on salad and steak, soaking it all in. These guys are just so…normal. And kind.
“What are you thinking?” Leo whispers into my ear and offers me a bite of his steak.
“I like them,” I whisper back, and he smiles widely.
“I’m glad.” He kisses my forehead and goes back to eating his dinner and chatting with his band, and it occurs to me, I just made friends who don’t give a shit who my brother is or what family I come from.
Imagine that.
***
“So tired.” I yawn and lean back in the seat of Leo’s car as we drive back to the ugly Malibu house from Lori and Gary’s late that night. We stayed much later than I expected we would, chatting and laughing. The guys also got a little work done, talking song selection for the next album.
“I think you’ve won over the band.” He links his fingers and mine, and I trace the ink on his hand.
“It was the sex remark.” I smirk.
“They’ll never forget that,” he agrees and glares at me. “You’ll be punished for that.”
“You already punished me, babe. Hence, the clothes that don’t belong to me.” I point to Lori’s purple tee and smirk.
“Are you wearing her underwear, too?” he asks.
“I’m not wearing any underwear at all,” I respond and yawn again.
Leo pulls into his driveway and parks in the garage, and before I can open my door, he’s pulling me to my feet and lifting me in his arms.
“I can walk,” I murmur and link my arms around his neck, bury my face next to his skin and breathe him in. “But this is nice.”
“You’re tired.”
“I don’t know why,” I murmur and enjoy the way he effortlessly carries me through his horrible house to the staircase. “Uh, I might need to walk up this weird staircase.”
“You’re fine.” He kisses my forehead and carries me to the bedroom. “Do you need to use the restroom?”
I nod, and he takes me into the master bath, sets me gently on my feet and leaves me alone to do my thing. When I return to the bedroom, he’s turned the bed down and is standing on the balcony, stripped down to just his short, black boxer-briefs.
I stand and watch him, his back to me, leaning on the railing and staring into the blackness, most likely listening to the ocean. Even his back is gorgeous, smooth and bare of tattoos, except at the very tops of his shoulders, where his sleeves end.
I wonder why he never got any ink on his back.
As if he can sense me, he turns and grins and comes in through the glass door.
“You okay?” I ask and tilt my head to the side. There’s something in his eyes that looks sad.
He nods and crosses to me, lifts me back into his arms and kisses me softly.
“The bed is only a few feet away,” I remind him.
“I like having you in my arms.”
I brush his hair back with my fingers as he moves us to the bed and lies next to me, pulling me to him.
“You’re not trying to seduce me.” It’s not a question.
“I want to hold you.”
“I was just kidding when I said you were bad in bed,” I remind him and pull myself up onto my elbows.
He smirks and pushes my hair back behind my ear and then laughs, a full belly laugh. “I can’t believe you said that.”
I grin and shrug. “It was funny.”
“You’re funny.” He kisses me and tucks me to his side, my head on his chest. “You should sleep.”
“Okay,” I agree but just lie quietly and listen to him breathe. I can almost hear the wheels turning in his head. “Are you going to tell me?” I ask quietly.
He stiffens beneath me. “Tell you what?”
“What’s on your mind?” I frown but don’t look up at him.
He sighs and relaxes. “It was a busy day.”
“True. Full of job rejections and being thrown in pools.”
He pushes me to my back and gazes down at me while running his knuckles down my cheek. “And you telling me you love me,” he whispers.
I take his face in my hands and kiss him softly. “I do love you,” I whisper.
“I’ll never get tired of hearing you say that, you know.”
“Good.” I smile. “I’ll remind you often, in case you forget.”
“I don’t think that’s something I’ll forget.” He kisses my forehead and pulls me against him again as I yawn. “Sleep now, sunshine.”
“Will you sleep, too?” I ask as my eyes fall.
“S
oon,” he whispers, and I feel him smile against my forehead as he kisses me there. “I’ll sleep soon.”
Chapter Nineteen
~Leo~
“What do you have going on today?” I ask Sam as I pour her some juice and dump some sugar in my coffee in her kitchen.
“I have an interview today and two early next week. I didn’t hear anything from anyone for weeks, and now I have a bunch of interviews.” She shrugs and purses her pretty pink lips. “Weird.”
“You’ll be great.”
She smiles softly and my gut clenches, the way it always does when she looks at me like that. Like she trusts me. Like she loves me. We’ve been back in Seattle for a few days, and I still can’t believe she’s mine.
She’s mine.
“What are you doing today?” she asks, and I do my best to keep my face totally straight. She has an uncanny ability to read me, and this is a secret.
“I have some errands to run.” I take a sip of coffee and swallow it over the jumble of nerves in my stomach. “I might meet with a real estate agent.”
“Fun.” She grins. “So you’re gonna move out of Meg’s place?”
“Yeah, she might as well sell it. Her neighbors figured out who I am and the guy next door always wants to chitchat with me when I get home.” I frown and then laugh. “I don’t think I’m a town house kind of guy.”
“Probably not,” she agrees and chuckles. “At least it’s a guy who appreciates music and not some annoying young girl.”
“Oh, there are those, too. Thank God Will installed the alarm system.”
“Seriously?” Her eyes go round, and then she starts to laugh. “That’s hilarious!”
“Sure it is.” I scowl at her.
“It is,” she insists and shakes her head. “Well, then you need a house.”
“Yeah,” I agree and rinse out my mug, set it in the dishwasher and grab my wallet and keys. “I better go.”
“Okay.” She smiles and stands to hug me, wraps her strong arms around my middle and presses a kiss to my sternum. “Have a good day.”
“You, too, baby.” I tip her head back and kiss her slowly, rubbing my lips over hers and nibbling the side of her mouth until she smiles. “I’d better go before I pull you back to your bed and fuck you raw,” I growl, smiling smugly when her bright blue eyes dilate with lust.
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