“Yeah, or thrown in a river somewhere,” Jax added.
“I’m not going to be,” I said. “But I am dating Crow.”
“No!” Polly’s mouth drew into a firm line.
“Yes,” I responded. “He’s going to talk to you when we hit Paris. I know you have your doubts about this relationship, but we’re serious. Isn’t it better to have everything out in the open?”
She didn’t say yes, but she didn’t say no, either. She just gave me a strange look.
I’d work on her. I’d work hard. By the time we got to Paris, she’d be ready to agree.
“Come on. Surely, you don’t want to spend all your time watching over me when you could be with Damo. It must suck for him. No dude wants to play second fiddle to their girlfriend’s cousin. They want the hot sex.” That might not have been the best thing to say to get Polly onboard. “And the other stuff. The sweet talk and the snuggling and spending time together not having sex...”
“I’m with Fay,” Jax said. “It’s ridiculous to be so protective of her. Crow might have faults, but he’s no worse than Damo.”
The look on Polly’s face was priceless. She glared at him so hard, she must’ve strained her eye muscles.
“Damo’s a control freak. No pun intended. And he’s way too bossy,” Jax said. “Even if he is hot.”
“And he’s heaps better than Miles,” I said. “Miles was the worst kind of jerk. Crazy and controlling and full of petty jealousy. Crow is nothing like that. He just likes keeping to himself.”
I said that, but I wondered if there was more to it than that. He’d said as much, but my faith in him was unshakable.
“She’s got you there,” Jax said. “Not only was Miles a jerk on a personal level, he let his jerkiness interfere with the band. We’d be screwed now if it weren’t for Fay and my fast thinking.”
He shot me a self-satisfied grin.
“No one has actually told me what the problem is with dating Crow,” I said. “Everyone keeps saying to stay away from him, but he’s a good guy. He’s not a player like Elijah. He’s not going to run around and cheat on me. He’s not going to lie. Those are very important qualities in a man.”
I folded my arms, but my gaze went to the room service menu. I’d been too stressed about facing Polly to eat the whole morning, and now that that was over, I was starving.
Polly relaxed a little. “He’s got a darkness in him.”
“Yeah, well, that’s just part of being human. It’s not a violent darkness or anything like that. There’s some sadness in his past, and I think I can cure that.”
Jax sighed. “You can’t cure people, Fay. That’s a myth. You have to accept them.”
He might say that, but I knew I could make Crow forget that past sorrow. I made him smile and laugh. Not many people were capable of that.
“All this philosophical talk can wait for another day,” Polly said. “Since you’re back, we have rehearsal to do.”
Jax and I both huffed.
“And you said Damo was a control freak,” I said to him, glancing over at Polly.
“They’re an evil couple,” he replied. “If they weren’t in music, they’d probably run a sweatshop or something. Not even a regular sweatshop, but the kind that the other sweatshop owners think overworks their staff.”
I grinned at him. “Yep, they’d be the definition of evil sweatshop owners.”
“Fay, you’re the one who wants to play the big crowds like the Freaks,” Polly said. “You don’t get to do that sitting around having love life chats with Jax. So, are you serious or not?”
I stood up. Of course I was serious. Well, mostly serious.
Despite my complaints, my heart buzzed. I’d gotten over the hard part with Polly, and it hadn’t been too bad at all. By the time Crow talked to her tomorrow, she’d have become accustomed to the idea. Jax had really helped, bringing Miles into it. Why hadn’t I thought of that argument? It was something Polly couldn’t disagree with.
“Can we eat before rehearsal?” I asked. “My belly is about to collapse in on itself with starvation.”
“Burgers?” Polly said.
“Burgers,” I agreed.
Chapter 17
I SLEPT MOST OF THE way to Paris on the train. A late night of rehearsals and an early morning start weren’t my idea of fun. But soon we’d get to the hotel, and I’d see Crow again. This would be the start of our life as an official couple. Maybe we needed to buy matching rings or something to celebrate that. I liked that idea.
Polly nudged me awake when we hit the outskirts of the city.
“You’ll be nice when Crow talks to you, won’t you?” I asked her. “Don’t mess with him.”
She just smiled. It was pretty much a given that she’d approve of our relationship now, but that didn’t mean she wouldn’t toy with him. Polly liked to do that sometimes, but I wasn’t sure if Crow would stand up to her teasing.
“It seems very formal,” she said. “Like he’s asking for your hand.”
“He wants things all above board and out in the open, that’s all.”
I stared out the window. So far, there was nothing especially Parisian about the city. I guessed cities were all the same on the outskirts.
“He doesn’t want to look like a creeper, especially considering how young Fay is,” Jax said.
He didn’t need to remind Polly of things like that. I was plenty old enough to date Crow. The way these guys acted, you’d think I was still underage.
I kicked Jax. He tried to dodge, but I got his ankle hard enough to make him grimace.
“More like, he doesn’t want to cause trouble on the tour,” I said. “You know what Damo’s like.”
Then, to emotionally kick Jax on top of the actual kick, I added, “Wow, everyone’s going to be paired on this tour. Damo and Polly, Elijah and Rose, Matt and Fiona, and... oh, wait, then there’s you, Jax. All alone.”
He looked like he wanted to kick me back. I tucked my feet under the seat just to be on the safe side.
“I’m fine,” he said. “I can take care of myself.”
I chuckled. “Yeah, you can.” And I did a jerking-off hand gesture. “That’s Jax ‘taking care of himself’. But there’s Fartstard. He’s single. Go for it, Jax. You’d make an awesome couple. Except for his conniving, double-crossing ways.”
Jax screwed up his face. I didn’t blame him. I still had to make that bastard pay for ratting me out to Polly. Even if everything worked out fine in the end, he’d betrayed my trust.
“Good thing he did,” Polly said.
I shrugged that off. I didn’t want to open that discussion again, not with things starting to work out.
I stared out the window as the train got closer.
“Paris. It’s the city of love,” I said.
“It’s the city of working our asses off onstage,” Polly said. “But it’ll be nice to get a chance to look around a bit.”
“And eat French food,” Jax added.
“The only French food Polly will eat is French fries, I bet,” I said with a grin.
“I have an Eiffel Tower view from my room,” Polly said. “I’ll be able to see it from my bed.”
“Me too?” I asked. That would be the greatest. I’d be able to take the most jealousy-inspiring selfies for my Instagram.
Polly gave me a fake pout. “Oh, sorry, no. We have the luxury suite.”
Polly always got the luxury suite. Mainly because of Damo.
It didn’t take long until we had to gather our things to get off the train. Fartstard met us at the station to take us to the hotel.
“We can’t be too careful after that incident at the festival,” he said.
I hoped Polly wouldn’t notice what he’d said, but she turned to him. “What incident?”
Fartstard nodded at me. How did he even know about that? Only Crow and Elijah knew, and neither of them would talk. Sure they wouldn’t.
“I heard from the festival organizer that this littl
e Firecracker got in some trouble.”
I wanted to punch him for saying that. He made it sound like my fault. I hadn’t gotten into trouble. Trouble had found me.
“It was nothing,” I said. “Some creep came on a bit strong, but I got away from him, and then Crow and Elijah sorted him out.”
“Fay...” Polly stopped walking and looked at me.
“Seriously, Polly, it was no biggie. It could happen anywhere. If I’d stayed at home, even. Guys like that are everywhere.”
Hell, the last thing I wanted was her getting some idea that hanging out with Crow was a bad idea. I balled up my hands into fists, wanting to slam one of those fists right into Fartstard’s pudgy pudding face. He could’ve kept his mouth shut, but nope, he had to blurt it all out.
“I don’t like this,” Polly said. “I don’t like it one bit.”
“Well, you can’t change the world,” I told her. “If you’d been there with me, if we’d been playing the festival or whatever, it would’ve been the same. It wasn’t like I encouraged the bastard at all.”
I hadn’t been to blame, and now it might ruin everything. Damn Fartstard. I would totally get him for this. Maybe itching powder in his jocks, except then I’d have to go near them, and ick, no.
We arrived at the hotel. It sure was a fancy place, like a palace. The lobby took my breath away. We’d stayed in some fancy hotels, but his was so much lusher than any of them. It had those fancy French chairs and all kinds of chic Parisian touches.
I bet it had an awesome breakfast buffet, too.
I went up to my room, and wow, it was perfect, even if I didn’t have an Eiffel Tower view. It had a sweet little balcony overlooking the street, with a nice cushy chair next to it. I opened the doors and stepped outside, hoping to see someone in a striped top carrying a baguette under their arm. Maybe with a beret on their head.
The bed looked like it’d be a dream to sleep in, too.
I’d just finished looking around when Polly called me. “Do you want to be here for this?” she asked.
“The talk with Crow? Hell yeah. Are we meeting in your room because you have the view?”
“Of course. Damo will be here too.”
God, this was like introducing the new man to my parents. The whole thing was totally cringeworthy. Polly could’ve just said it was all fine with her, but I she took secret delight in doing this to me.
I touched up my makeup before heading to Polly’s room. I wanted to look pretty for Crow. I ran my fingers through my hair, giving it a bit more body, too. Then I headed down the hallway to Polly’s room.
Crow was just getting out of the elevator. I walked toward him, but something stopped me. I’d never been shy before in my life, ever. It was an unknown emotion for me, but when I saw him suddenly like that, a tremor ran through my body. He was a fine-looking man, and he was mine. But was he mine enough to make a hug in the hotel hallway appropriate?
Instead, I grinned, then averted my eyes.
Yikes. My face heated. I had to be going bright red. What was happening to me? This wasn’t me.
In the short distance to Polly’s room, we never exchanged a word. But as we waited for Polly to open the door, he reached out and wrapped his hand around mine. The warmth from his hand spread through my body. With my hand in his, nothing could go wrong. I smiled up at him.
I walked in and went straight to the window, dragging Crow with me.
“Amazing. It’s like something from a movie. I’m so taking photos in your room for my Instagram,” I said. “The public need to see me here. It’s so Paris.”
Damo laughed. “Sure. Do you want us to get one of the lighting guys in for your photo shoot?”
“Damo! Don’t encourage her. It’s our room,” Polly said. “She’ll do it.”
“Hey,” I said. “It’s not about me. It’s about my Instagram followers.”
Crow and I sat down on the sofa. I crossed my legs.
“So, we’re gathered here today,” I said. “Gathered to do what? Give a stamp of approval to Crow dating Fay? So, get out the stamp and stamp me up.”
Polly sat in the chair beside me. “Not so fast. We need to have some rules around this relationship.”
I studied my nails. If she said no sex, I’d die. I didn’t want my sex life up for discussion. Surely, she wouldn’t say that.
“Okay, hit me,” I said.
“Firstly, nothing is going to interfere with the tour,” she said. “Music first and the love stuff second.”
Crow nodded.
That seemed reasonable, on the surface. But it could be a trap.
“Wait. I need more details. I’m not agreeing unless I know what I’m in for. This rehearsing 18 hours a day is not on. I need a life too.”
Polly looked at Damo, and he nodded. They’d discussed this beforehand. That made my neck prickle, the thought of Damo and Polly sitting around discussing me like that.
“You get to have a life. Just not too much of a life,” she said. “We’re on tour. This is work.”
“We have a rest day today,” he said. “Make the most of it.”
“You get a few hours before sound check every day, too,” Polly added. “Maybe more if you get up early.”
“And after shows,” I said.
“Not too late,” Polly said. She leaned forward, staring at my face. “You don’t want to get bags under your eyes.”
“Screw you, Polly. I can use concealer.”
Crow sat back with his arms folded and his mouth twitching. Did this amuse him? This wasn’t funny. The more Polly talked, the more I wanted to die.
Chapter 18
“WHAT’S UP?” I ASKED Crow.
He was the one who had wanted to talk to Polly, but I’d ended up doing all the talking. What was up with that?
Crow glanced at Damo and the two of them grinned, but this was our together time we were talking about. I needed to protect that.
“Are you going to make a color-coded schedule of your time off?” he asked. His eyes sparkled with amusement.
Even though he was joking, I could see the merit in the idea.
“Well, that would be a grand idea. Then I could plan ahead. How about it, Polly?”
Polly shrugged. “Do you think I have time for that?”
I nodded. “Yeah, I think you do. I need to be able to plan ahead. Otherwise, you can spring surprise rehearsals on me at any minute. If we have set times, then it’s easier for everyone. Jax, too. We need work/life balance, here.”
“I’m with Fay,” Damo said. “I’d like to plan ahead too.”
Polly tsked and looked away. “Anyway, the next rule,” she said.
“Do you have to call them rules? It sounds like I’m 12 years old and need a curfew. Please, do not say I have to have a curfew.”
Polly grinned. Jeez, now she’d want to give me a curfew just to torture me. “No curfew, but you have to turn up ready to play.”
“I always do.”
“And no sneaking around.”
Wasn’t that the whole point of this meeting? So I didn’t have to? More like, the point was Polly stretching out her torment for as long as possible.
I plastered on a big grin. I’d fix that. I had things to do today.
“I think we’ve covered enough, and I’m sure you and Damo want to be alone to enjoy your day off.” I winked at Damo, and he grinned. “So, Crow and I will get out of your hair so we can see some of the fine sights of this city. It’s stupid to be in Paris and sit around talking about nonsense.”
I stood up, ready to leave. I thought Polly would have more to say, but she didn’t try to stop me.
“Be careful,” was all she said. “This city is notorious for pickpockets.”
“Yeah, it’s notorious for beheadings, too, but I’m not worried.”
Wow, that had been so easy.
“So, we’re official,” I said to Crow after we left Polly’s room. “We need to do something to commemorate.”
He grinned. “
Maybe.”
“Maybe?”
But I left it at that. He didn’t seem too overjoyed by the idea. Maybe it’d been a stupid thing to say. Something high school kids did, not adults. But I would love to have something to remember today by. I guessed things would be different dating a guy like Crow. He wasn’t like the other guys I’d dated, that was for sure.
“Let’s explore the city,” I said. “We have so much to do, and the weather’s so perfect. We can walk for miles and see everything.”
“Didn’t we do that in Amsterdam?” he said with a laugh.
“We’ll do it in every city. Isn’t it fun? Walking around a new city, exploring all those new sights, smelling all those new smells, eating all that new food.”
“It’s fun when it’s with you,” he said.
My heart jumped. It was fun with Crow too. We fit together so well.
We headed out, stopping to poke around in little vintage shops. I wanted Crow to try on a psychedelic shirt from the ’70s, but he shook his head.
“Come on. It’s so you,” I said.
He laughed. “Does it come in black?”
Then I found a street market and bought a red beret. It worked perfectly with my outfit.
We explored old churches and little art galleries. We walked until my feet hurt.
“We have to see Notre Dame,” I said. “It’s the most important.”
“What about the Louvre?” he asked.
“Nah, those big art galleries leave me a bit cold. Too many people. You can’t even see the paintings. I’d rather go to small places.”
We got to the cathedral looming by the river. I wasn’t really a tourist type of person, but when I went inside, it took my breath away.
“This place is amazing,” I whispered. It seemed like the sort of place for whispering.
“What now?” I asked Crow after we left the church.
“Lunch.”
Now that he mentioned it, I was pretty hungry myself. We wandered around until we found a cafe. It was all Frenchy, with checked tablecloths and whitewashed walls. The exact kind of place where you’d imagine eating lunch in Paris. As soon as I saw it, I knew I had to eat there. It was perfect.
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