Spotlight on Love

by Maxene Novak

  Shane hesitated, his eyes uncertain.

  “Told you,” I muttered under my breath before turning with him to face her. “You sure? Aren’t you exhausted or—”

  “Yeah, a little,” she confessed, her hands fidgeting in front of her. “But…we sleep till the afternoon every day. So technically this is still early for all of us. And…”

  “And you don’t want to be alone yet,” I finished for her, something like elation rising up inside me. I knew she was just like me and hated being alone!

  She made a wry face and nodded.

  I shot a smug smile at Shane. “See? Told you she likes hanging with us.” I turned and walked towards her. “He said I was the only one that got lonely around here.”

  Laughing, she looped her arm through mine and guided me towards her bus’s entrance. Her guard unlocked it and let us in, Shane trailing after us after a short hesitation I knew he’d quickly overcome.

  “God, your bus is so much better than mine,” I muttered, faux pouting as I checked out the kitchen. “Do you actually cook in here?”

  “Not really. I hate cooking. Unless you count microwaving?”

  “Definitely count it.”

  “Oh! Well then, in that case, I cook in here all the time!” She flashed me a smile while sticking her leftovers box in the fridge. “Want something to drink?”

  “Nah. What I’d really like is a full tour of this swank pad.” I circled an index finger in the air to indicate the bus.

  Laughing, she grabbed my hand and slowly began leading us around, showing us the huge bathroom that gave me instant bus bathroom envy, followed by a decent sized bedroom in the back with a long closet stuffed full of clothes. Her grip on my hand was loose, but I was afraid to hold onto her fingers tighter and risk hurting her. She hid so much, it was hard to tell what actually hurt her or not.

  “Typical girl,” I teased her, jerking a thumb at the closet’s borderline overfull contents.

  She chuckled. “Well duh. I am a girl, after all. And we girls got clothing needs.” She turned then stumbled back. “Oh yeah! And look what this does.” She was like a little girl eagerly showing off her toys as she pushed a button to raise a mirror at the back of what had looked like a simple side table. Once the mirror was fully up, she pushed another button and lights turned on all around the mirror. “This is where I get ready for every show. Plus…” She tapped the tablet she’d brought from the front room, and a T.V. turned on behind the mirror. “And this is how I manage to sit still for hours while they fix my hair and face.”

  We shared mutually impressed smiles for a long moment. Then Shane cleared his throat. “So…you said something about wanting to watch a movie?”

  “Oh! Right.” Grinning, she led us to the front of the bus again, stuffing the tablet in my hand on the way. “Jessie, pick something.”

  I pretended to think about it for half a minute, then stuffed the tablet in Shane’s hands. “Tag, you’re it this time. I chose last time.”

  Shane looked down at the tablet like he’d never seen one before. Finally, he found the movie icon and started searching through the movie options. “Wow. You have got a ton of movies on here.”

  “Yeah. I’ve got Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime, HBO, Starz, you name it.” She casually bumped into his arm while leaning in close to see what he was looking at. “Have you watched Westworld yet?”

  Both of us shook our heads.

  “Oh, you’ve gotta see it. It’s about this huge, Old West style theme park full of robots and… I can’t say anything else or I’ll give it all away. But seriously, it’s good.”

  “Works for me,” I said, and we turned to Shane with hopeful looks.

  He shrugged. “If that’s what you two want…” His index finger hovered over the button.

  “Oh! Hang on, let me go put on something comfy.” Sabrina turned towards the back end of the bus.

  I grinned at Shane and waggled my eyebrows. “Hear that? She’s going to put on something comfortable.”

  He rolled his eyes, stretching his legs out across the aisle. “Don’t read nothing into it, Romeo. The last thing this Juliet needs is relationship drama right now.”

  I sank down onto the couch across from him, barely noticing it was the same couch I’d slept on last time. “Who said anything about that?”

  “About what?” Sabrina asked as she slowly returned, the muscles around her eyes tight like she was trying not to wince, a soft smile hovering on her lips. She grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge and tossed back a handful of pills.

  “About…” She turned to put the water up in the fridge, revealing the word PINK in hot pink sequins across her butt, and I couldn’t resist teasing her. “About holy bling butt!”

  She twisted to look at her butt and snorted. “Crap. Totally forgot about that detail. My mom got me these for Christmas last year. I’ve got another lounge set just like this but without the sequined hiney. Thought I was putting those on instead.” Shrugging, she apparently decided not to care and joined us in the living room. She started to transform the couches again, but this time I couldn’t take it.

  I hopped up. “Hey, why don’t I do that this time?”

  Her eyebrows rose, but she stepped back and waved at the button on the side base. “Just push that button to disengage the lock, then pull the whole end straight out without lifting it.”

  It was awkward as hell, when she’d made it look so easy and simple, but I managed to get the end pulled out into an L shape. I quickly did the same with Shane’s couch before she could, saving her the effort.

  “Good job,” she said with a smile, her eyes dancing like she was teasing me. “I’m making popcorn.”

  “You always have to have popcorn when you watch T.V.?” I asked.

  “Yes,” she said with a firm nod, already sticking a bag into the microwave. “Yes, I do.”

  While the popcorn popped, I pointed at the overhead storage bin above Shane. “Okay if I grab the blankets I found last time?”

  “Ah, that was you?” Grinning, she transferred the popcorn into three bowls, handed us two of them, then got settled in on the middle section of the now U-shaped couch with what was apparently her favorite faux fur blanket, since it was the same one she’d had last time. “Sure, go ahead. And feel free to sleep on my couches again too, if you want to.” She ducked her head, smiling down at her hands now loosely laced together in her lap on top of the blanket. “It’s nice having you two here to hang out with.”

  Shane focused on the tablet, using it to start the show and turn off the overhead lights.

  The first episode began, and it wasn’t long before I heard Sabrina start making little noises of surprise…gasps, grunts, and hisses of empathy for the characters under attack on the screen. They made me grin.

  I started joining in with her, every now and then adding short comments like: “Ooh, that’s gonna leave a mark!” which made her laugh.

  After several minutes of this, Shane sighed loudly. “Watching this with you two is like hanging out with kindergartners.”

  We stared at him for a beat. Then I chucked a piece of popcorn at him. It bounced off his face.

  “Lighten up, old man,” I teased him while Sabrina giggled. Keeping my gaze on him in case he decided to retaliate, I said out the corner of my mouth, “Sorry, just remembered we’re in your bus. I’ll clean that up later.”

  “Don’t bother,” she said. “I have someone clean it for me pretty regularly.” Then she chucked a handful of popcorn at him, gasping when it showered him in kernels. “Hey, I actually threw it hard enough this time to reach! Usually I throw too short.”

  Shane slowly brushed the kernels off his chest. Then he rolled up to his feet, his expression completely blank. I thought for sure he was about to bail on us and was surprised at the disappointment welling up within me at the thought.

  He turned to carefully pick up his bowl, took a step towards the kitchen as if intending to set the bowl on the counter top by my couch
. Then at the last second, he dumped the bowl over my head.

  Sabrina gasped then burst into laughter as Shane grinned down at me. He picked out a kernel from my hair, popped it into his mouth then said, “Hmm, buttery with just a hint of shampoo. Not bad. What do you use?”

  And suddenly I was laughing right along with her while he grinned a satisfied grin and returned to his side of the lounge area to restart the show.

  And this time, he didn’t try to stop us from commentating throughout the episode.

  After the first episode ended, we all agreed we were hooked and had to see more. Even Shane. So we started the second episode.

  But while we started off with the goofy commentating on this episode too, gradually Sabrina became quieter and quieter, settling for just smiling at my comments.

  Then I caught her wincing and rubbing her hands in her lap.

  I sat up and scooted up my section of the couch closer to her. “Your hands hurting?”

  She made a face and swallowed hard. “Among a hundred other body parts.”

  “Here, let me see them.”

  Her eyebrows rose, but she held out her hands, wincing in the process.

  I began to rub her hands, careful not to use much pressure, focusing on the palms first, then the backs of her hands, saving her fingers for last.

  “Oh God, that is so…nice,” Sabrina breathed out, her eyes drifting closed and her head falling back against the sofa. I caught myself staring at her, massaging her individual fingers by touch alone, unable to look away from the vision she made with her lips parted. “Guess I should have paid for a masseuse to come along on this tour.”

  “How bad is the pain?” I heard myself murmuring.

  “In my hands? Better. Everywhere else…”

  “Everywhere else?”

  One corner of her lips tightened in a half frown. “My knees are throbbing. My shoulders are aching. And my feet feel like they’ve been dipped in acid.”

  There were two of us here equally capable of helping give her a few minutes of relief at least. I looked at Shane, his eyes intense like he couldn’t decide whether to jump up and run or just sit there and eat us up with his eyes.

  I caught his gaze and jerked my head meaningfully in the direction of Sabrina’s feet, which were only inches away from him. All he had to do was lean forward and reach out.

  He frowned, his throat working as he swallowed hard. Slowly his hand drifted out toward her. But then he stopped, his hand hovering over her bare feet peeking out from beneath her faux fur blanket.

  He needed a push.

  “So the pain’s how bad?” I asked. “Like on a scale of one to ten, ten being kill me now bad…?”

  “Um, sevenish? Sometimes it spikes up to eight.”

  “Is it always like that for you?” Shane muttered, his eyes narrowing.

  “No. When I wake up, it’s a lot better. More like a two. But it starts climbing throughout the day. Night time after the shows is the worst.”

  Shane and I shared a look of horror.

  “How do you stand being on stage and the meet and greets afterwards?” Shane asked.

  She shrugged one shoulder. “It’s my job to get through it. The fans are counting on us. I can’t bail and let them down.”

  “Are you taking something for the pain?” I asked.

  “Ibuprofen. But I took some when we got back after dinner.”

  Shane made a grunting sound of disapproval. “You should be taking something stronger.”

  Her chin jutted out. “That’s what my doctor says. But I can’t.”

  “Because of the tour and being around fans?” I asked.

  “No. Because the stuff my doctor wants to prescribe is addictive and screws people up.” She hesitated then muttered, “And I can’t turn out like my mom.”

  “What happened to your mom?” I asked.

  “Rehab. Lots and lots of rehab,” she said on a sigh.

  “So, you’re just enduring all this pain every day with nothing but some over-the-counter meds to help?” Shane asked.

  She nodded.

  Shane’s gaze dropped to her feet. He stared at them for a minute, then muttered, “Okay if I rub your feet?”

  Her eyelashes fluttered, like she was half asleep and struggling to wake up. Her head rolled on the couch in his direction till her gaze collided with his and held. After a few seconds, she nodded, still watching him.

  He held her gaze, his eyes narrowing with intensity and something a whole lot warmer than before. “Where does it hurt the most?”

  “My ankles. The base of my toes. And the arches of my feet.”

  He took one of her feet in both of his hands, starting at the ankle, mimicking me and using the pads of his thumbs to gently rub the tendons.

  And slowly but surely, she appeared to melt into the couch.

  When he shifted down to the arch of her foot, she gasped and froze. So did we.

  “Too hard?” Shane asked.

  She shook her head, a slow smile curving her lips. “Ticklish.”

  I had to swallow back a laugh as I moved to her other hand.

  After a few minutes, she made a purring sound in her throat, then tried to cover it by clearing her throat. I grinned, taking the opportunity of her closed eyes to openly stare at her. God, she was beautiful.

  I glanced over at Shane and caught him staring at her too. He didn’t seem to notice me watching him.

  And was it my imagination, or was there a growing bulge in the front of his jeans?

  I knew it. He was into her just as much as I was. Which would probably explain why neither of us had bothered to hook up with any groupies on this tour. They just couldn’t compare to Sabrina.

  I was starting to wonder if any woman alive could.

  I glanced back at Sabrina, and now it was my turn to be caught. She was watching me with half opened, heavy lids. And her gaze…there was something so magnetic about it, like one of those chocolate lava cakes, all melted and pulling me in for a taste.

  I leaned forward an increment at a time, giving her all the chance in the world to stop me or even lean away.

  Instead, her free hand slid up to wrap around the back of my neck and pull me in the final few inches until our lips met.

  Her lips quickly parted beneath mine, opening for me, the tip of her tongue darting out to just barely touch mine. It was all the invitation I needed, and I let go of her hand so I could bury my hands in all that thick hair. We slanted our heads, searching for that perfect angle as the kiss deepened and all the blood rushed straight to my dick. God, she had me shaking like a teenager again!

  Suddenly we heard someone clear their throat and the creak of the couch. I tore my mouth away from her and looked up to find Shane on his feet and headed for the exit.

  Damn. That wasn’t my intention at all.

  CHAPTER 8

  Sabrina

  One minute I was in agony and trying so hard to hide the pain that I thought I would go insane from the effort of holding it all in.

  The next thing I knew, I had not one but two seriously hot guys massaging my hands and feet, and it was all I could do not to moan from the sweet relief. I didn’t know if they were just that talented, or if any amateur masseuse would have had the same effect. All I knew was that their hands were bringing me more pain relief than an entire bottle of ibuprofen ever could have.

  And after being in pain for so long, I needed more of this moment, of their hands on me, taking away the pain, making me feel alive instead of slowly dying a little more with every passing hour.

  I needed more of them.

  Then I saw this look on Jessie’s face as he stared down at my hands, like a scientist right on the verge of figuring out the answer to a long-worked problem. And then he looked me in the eye, and I knew with every cell in my body that he wanted to kiss me. And that I didn’t just want him to; I needed him to.

  But he was moving in too slowly. And I needed to feel his mouth on me now.

  So I
pulled him in faster, diving headlong into our first kiss, and it was instantly so right and so perfect that I never wanted it to end.

  But then suddenly Jessie pulled away, leaving me gasping and confused, my mind fogged with need for more.

  Then I saw Shane near the exit, realized why Jessie had stopped kissing me, and a wave of disappointment that bordered on panic swamped me.

  “Wait!” I shoved the blanket off me, pulled myself up to my feet, and managed somehow to walk over to him on unsteady legs. My leg muscles were tight as usual, a nightly occurrence that always left me a little off balance.

  Shane caught my elbow to keep me steady, his eyebrows pinched, his gaze darker than I’d ever seen it before as he scowled down at me. But I could see the truth in his eyes. He wasn’t angry. He was hurt.

  I didn’t think twice. I threw my arms around his neck and kissed him.

  He froze for two seconds, then his hands slid around my waist, holding me flush against him as our tongues collided. And it was everything I’d secretly hoped and feared a kiss might be with Shane…both mind wrecking and potentially soul shattering. I couldn’t get close enough to him, and I pressed against him harder, wishing my body could literally melt into his.

  I had fought this urge so long, but no longer.

  When he finally lifted his head for air, we just stood there for a minute, and I realized every part of me was shaking with need.

  His confused gaze once again searched my eyes for some hidden answer I didn’t know the question to. His body was tense and unyielding against mine. As if he were still fighting whatever this was between us.

  As if he were trying to find the will to leave.

  “Don’t go,” I heard myself whisper to him. Later I would wonder where in the world I’d gotten the courage to say this.

  “But you and him…” He jerked his chin in Jessie’s direction. “You…want him.”

  I licked my lips, swallowed hard, found one last bit of courage, and whispered, “I want you both.”