Cross

by Heather Young-Nichols

  “He came by my bus this morning. We chatted.” She took my hand in hers as we kept walking. “But next time you’re looking for me, text. I’ll answer.”

  “I’ll remember that.” And I was an idiot for not thinking to do that last night.

  Two blocks from the arena we found a little place. Not a chain, but a cozy coffee shop that smelled like freshly ground beans when we walked in. Indie ordered an iced caramel macchiato, meaning she liked her coffee sweet. I’d remember that. I liked a lot of the flavors but really needed the full jolt to get through the day. Black it was.

  Once they called out our names, or the name I’d given them anyway, we claimed a table in the back.

  “So, I really did have a good time at dinner yesterday,” she said after taking a big drink of her coffee. “Though I hoped it might’ve ended differently.”

  “Yeah?” I leaned in toward her.

  “Yeah. My father getting in your face and threatening you wasn’t part of my plan.”

  I chuckled because I felt the same way. “It was interesting at least.”

  “True.” She took two more drinks and glanced around before talking again. “Would you maybe want to do it again, then?”

  “Aren’t we right now?”

  Indie rolled her eyes and grinned. “Not what I meant and you know it.”

  “I definitely want to do it again. You know the schedule might make it tough, though.”

  She nodded, then said, “I’m well aware, but I was thinking… ” She leaned across the table a little, bringing her close enough for me to take in that vanilla again. “Would it be possible for you to get out of the meet and greet tonight?”

  “Probably.”

  “Well, how about a movie on my bus?”

  I couldn’t think of a better way to spend the hours after the show. What would be perfect, though, is a night off. We had one coming up in the near future and that was going to seriously be date night. I was already getting some great ideas. Just had to double check where we’d be when that night came.

  Being on the road made dating hard, if not impossible. Guys who had girlfriends often brought those girls with them, even if for only part of the tour. Those who didn’t have someone typically reveled in the random sex that came with being in a band. I didn’t have the first and didn’t prefer the ladder.

  But Indie… she knew this life. She’d be flexible with early dinners and super late night movies. She was as close to perfect as a woman could get for me.

  I couldn’t stop watching her as she talked about school and her plans for her last year. When she reached across the table and put her hand on mine, so naturally as if we’d done that a hundred times before, my thoughts changed. All I could focus on was the feel of her hand against mine, how soft her skin was compared to my much rougher hand.

  “We better get back,” she said, bringing me out of my head.

  “Oh, right.” I went to stand, but she stopped me.

  “I think there’s one more thing I should mention.” She was blinking and running her upper teeth over her bottom lip like she was nervous about what was to come. “Listen, I know we’re not… together. but”—she pushed her hair back behind her ear—“I wanted to talk about the medic issue.”

  “What?” I gave her a half-smile.

  “Groupies. I know what you guys do after shows. I’ve been around a long time.”

  “I see.”

  “I’m not trying to stop you from doing whatever you want to do. Unless this”—she waved her finger between us—“goes somewhere. I’m just asking that you be extra, extra discreet. My dad will freak if we’re hanging out, then he sees you with random women. It’s really close quarters on tour.”

  Indie was such an amazingly odd woman. She wasn’t demanding I not to see other people. She was just asking I not rub it in her face. I’d hoped she knew I wouldn’t want to be with anyone else while with her, but I’d never said it.

  “Understood,” I said, instead of saying what I should’ve mostly because we didn’t have much time and I thought we shouldn’t be rushed.

  We both got up and dropped our cups in the trash, then began the walk back. Outside the shop, I slid my arm around Indie’s shoulders and without missing a beat, she did the same around my waist. Having her close made me feel like the day was going to be the best one yet.

  In the short time we had, I told her a bit about my family. My parents were still married and had given me a brother and a sister. All of whom lead extremely normal lives. Dad was a teacher. Mom worked at a bank. Totally normal. Then there was me. The tattooed rebel who never intended to go to college and had rarely made curfew in high school.

  We slipped into the arena without many of the fans outside noticing. Most of them were looking for Kissing Cinder anyway. Inside, I maneuvered us into a corner in the hopes of giving her a proper good-bye this time. The opposite of what we’d had the night before.

  “So after the show, I’ll meet you back here?” I asked, leaning an arm on the wall and boxing her in.

  “No,” she said. “Come to my bus. Less obvious that way. And after your show. Not after Kissing Cinder. If you can manage it.”

  “I’ll be there,” I said quietly.

  Then her gaze went from me to something next to me. I turned to see what had caught her attention. Fucking Drink. And he was glaring at Indie, which was pissing me off.

  “I’ll… uh… see you later,” she said, dipping under my arm and scurrying out the door.

  What the fuck was going on between those two?

  Chapter Nineteen

  Indie

  The more space I put between Eric Drinkswine and myself, the better. I didn’t know what that asshole’s problem was, but I didn’t want to be around him or his problem. My time would be better spent doing what I do best. Taking pictures.

  But damn Eric for interrupting what I thought for sure would’ve been Cross’ and my first kiss. Asshole.

  Eric wasn’t just that annoying asshole who treated girls like they were disposable. Something about him made me uneasy… unsafe. I’d never felt anything like it before and was going to do my best to avoid being alone with him or even be in a group with him. Just be with him in any way.

  Instead, I stopped in at my bus, grabbed my camera, and headed out to discover a new city.

  “Where are you running off to?” Eric said as he slid in front of me as soon as I stepped back off the bus. I had to stop short to keep from slamming into him.

  “Why do you care?”

  “I don’t.” He stepped closer so I had to look up to see him.

  The guy was huge. Bigger than the rest of the band members. And he knew how to use his size to intimidate.

  “Well, I’m going to go then.”

  He didn’t let me get one step away before he grabbed my arm. “Hang on,” he said as he squeezed harder.

  That was going to bruise.

  “Let go of me.” I glared at him and hoped he wouldn’t hear the erratic way my heart thumped against my chest.

  “Why were you taking pictures of my bus this morning?”

  “I wasn’t.” I pulled against his crushing grip. Shit. I couldn’t get loose.

  He raised an eyebrow and closed his fist around my arm even more. “I saw you.”

  I frantically searched the area to see if anyone else was around to help if I needed it or even witness what was happening. Unfortunately, there was no one. We were alone. No one could come to my rescue.

  “What you saw was me testing my camera,” I said through clenched teeth. Then I gave my arm as hard a pull as I could, putting my body weight behind it. He was caught off-guard and my arms slipped through his fingers. “As I’ve said before, I have no interest in taking pictures of you or talking to you or being near you. Just leave me alone.”

  “I find most of that hard to believe.”

  “You would.”

  Eric smirked at me, then snatched my camera, jerking me forward with it because the strap was ar
ound my neck. I pushed against him to get away but couldn’t catch my footing. He was bigger, stronger, and meaner.

  “Let me go!” I struggled against him, then dropped my weight toward the ground to slip out from underneath the strap. I was free. “Give me back my camera.”

  “In a minute.” Eric pushed farther into my space. I stumbled away from him until my back hit the bus. “I’m telling you for the last time, mind your own fucking business and make sure every last picture you have of me is gone. If you don’t… ” He didn’t finish his sentence but tipped his hand so that my camera slid off and shattered to the ground.

  Then he just walked away.

  I stood there with my hand pressed against my chest, my hands vibrating with the adrenaline pumping through my veins. Anger, fear, and revenge trembled through me. Wanting to punch Eric in the throat wasn’t going to do me much good if I kept standing there out in the open. I’d have to get a ladder just to reach his throat anyway.

  So I pulled myself together and picked up the main pieces of my camera and took it back onto the bus. At the same time, my phone started ringing. But I was trying to hold back tears and didn’t really feel like talking to anyone. Tears of anger and of sadness threatened to fall. How dare he break my camera? My dad would probably just replace it, but that wasn’t the point. Then again when my dad found out about this, I really wouldn’t have wanted to be Eric Drinkswine, but that asshole deserved anything he got.

  My phone rang again.

  “Ugh, what?” I answered without looking at the ID.

  “Wow. Life on the road tougher than I thought?” Bellamy’s voice rang out in my ear.

  “Sorry,” I said as I paced off my anger.

  “Maybe you should take a break and come stay with me.”

  “I haven’t even been gone very long.”

  “Does it matter?” Silence was the answer to that offer. “Well, what or who has your panties tied in knots?”

  “Just one of the idiots in Courting Chaos.”

  “Oh, which one? Let me grab some popcorn.”

  I laughed at my best friend, one of the few people who could make me laugh when I was utterly pissed off. It actually made me feel better almost immediately. Still angry but not so agitated.

  “So what’s up?” I asked to get them away from the topic of Eric Drinkswine.

  “I was just calling with a Maggie update. Turns out her mom has to send her a bunch of documents, but then she should get to come home.”

  “But she doesn’t want to, right?”

  Bellamy was quiet for a minute, then said, “I don’t think she wants to leave certain things behind. But she wants to see her grandma.”

  “You mean certain people.” We giggled like we were back in the dorm. “I really want to meet this hot Irishman who’s so quickly caught our girl’s heart.”

  “Same.”

  We only chatted a couple of extra minutes, then she had to go to work. It was hard staying up with your friends when you were on tour. Especially with time changes and crazy schedules.

  Now I needed to go find my dad and tell him I needed a new camera.

  Chapter Twenty

  Cross

  Whatever Drink’s issue with Indie was… I knew I didn’t like it. I also hated the fucking idea of him being in her space at all and I needed to get to the bottom of what he was up to.

  My choices were to go to Drink and ask or go to Indie. But it was unlikely he’d tell me much of anything, considering how withdrawn from us he’d become. No. I needed to talk to Indie. And I was going to do it right now.

  I left my bus and went over to hers, but she didn’t answer. So I went to check the venue. When I reached for the door handle, someone else did, too. A small, soft hand landed on top of mine. Luck was actually on my side.

  “Indie,” I said, but her name came out as a sigh of relief.

  She smiled up at me, her blonde hair like a halo in the sun, but something about her face was off. Still beautiful. Still smiling, yet somehow different. “Hey. Sorry. I was just going to talk to my dad.”

  “Actually, you’re who I was looking for.” I pulled my hand, which brought hers with mine, and didn’t let go.

  “Yeah?”

  “Got a minute?”

  “Sure,” she said and sighed.

  The sound of her voice put me on edge. Made me want to wrap my arms around her and create a protective cover between her and whatever had made her sound like that.

  We moved to the side, where the gathering fans wouldn’t see us and we’d be out of the way. I wanted to take a moment to kiss her instead of talking about Drink, but I needed answers as to what had her clearly upset.

  “What’s up?” she asked.

  My entire body was tight, like I’d put on a suit that was too small this morning. I did, but it was a skin suit and the only one I owned. I kept opening and closing my free fist as a way to use up some of my energy and loosen my fingers.

  “What’s wrong?” I asked.

  “Your fucking bandmate.”

  Shit. I’d wanted to ask her about Drink but didn’t expect him to be her current problem as well.

  “What’s going on with you and Drink?” I blurted out. It was now or never.

  “What do you mean?”

  “Did you two…?” I let the question trail off because I didn’t want to say it out loud. The idea of Drink and Indie together made me want to puke. His hands on her, sliding all the places I’d been thinking about—couldn’t get that thought out of my head fast enough.

  “No. That’s disgusting. I already told you I find him repulsive.”

  “How am I supposed to know if your repulsion is because of how he acted after a hookup or not?”

  “It’s not,” she answered angrily as she dropped my hand. “Are we done?”

  I pulled her closer to me and asked, “Then what’s the problem? And what’d he do to upset you today?”

  “Your friend’s a dick.”

  I snorted. “First, he’s not my friend. Second, he is a dick. But why is he even more of a dick to you?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “Come on,” I prodded.

  She threw her arms up in the air. “I really don’t know, Cross. But I can tell you it’s getting worse and I have to tell my dad something that he’s not going to like very much. Actually, he’s going to be pissed and is going to cause problems for Eric. You said you’d talk to him, yet he’s still being an asshole.”

  My stomach tightened. Fucking Drink. “Wait, what’d he do? What do you have to tell your dad?”

  “He broke my camera,” she snapped, her eyes glistening like she might cry, but Indie pulled it back, swallowed hard, and shook her head. “I don’t want to tell my dad he did it, but I have to tell him I need a new camera. He’ll want to know why and I don’t lie to my father.”

  I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, then blew it out slowly, exhaling some of the rage I was feeling much like a dragon releasing his fire breath. What she described sounded like something he’d do, but I still hadn’t gotten to the why. Grabbing Indie’s arm gently, I pulled her with me even more out of sight. We all wanted Drink gone at this point, but it should’ve been on our terms and the best way to do that would be for us to find someone to replace him first. Then I came up with a solution.

  “How about I replace your camera?” I offered. “We can go shopping or I can give you the cash. I’m sorry he did that.”

  “You want to replace it so my dad doesn’t know, right?”

  “I just want to make it right for you,” I said honestly. But yeah, I didn’t want Vince to know just yet either. “We are working on the situation with him. It would help me out if we were able to replace him before shit breaks loose. If you still want to tell your dad about it, I understand. I wouldn’t beg you not to. I’m just asking for a little time. Either way, though, I want to make this right for you.”

  She raised an eyebrow at me, then ran a finger over her bottom lip, hopefully w
hile considering my offer.

  “OK. But you’re buying me an even nicer camera than the one he broke.”

  I chuckled. “Absolutely. Whatever you want.”

  “Oh, and maybe you could get Eric to keep his hands off me. That’s not something my dad will let go and next time, I might stab him.”

  I snapped my head back and my nostrils flared. The dragon rage was back. He’d touched her? How? When? Murderous rage swirled inside me, heat burning my face. “He put his hands on you? Fuck, Indie. Tell me.”

  “He grabbed my arm. It’s fine, but if he does it again, I’m ripping off his balls. It’s going to bruise.” She rubbed at her right biceps, which must’ve been where he’d touched her.

  “Not if I do it first.” And I meant that. “I’m going to talk to him and make sure he understands just how off-limits you are and try figure out what his problem is.”

  “You do that.”

  The way she was standing there looking up at me, her chest rising and falling rapidly, made Eric Drinkswine the last thing on my mind.

  “You know,” I began, “two times we’ve gone out and two times we’ve been interrupted when it came time to say good-bye.” I moved into her personal space so that her breasts were brushing my chest. It wasn’t much, but I felt it all the way to my cock.

  “This is true.” Indie slid her hand up my chest, then down my arms until she could hold my hands. “We’re alone now.”

  I didn’t need any more encouragement.

  I released one of her hands to reach up and cup her face. And when my lips touched hers electricity shot through my body. Indie reacted, pushing onto her toes and against me. She wrapped her arms around my neck; mine snaked around her waist and I lifted. She was so small, holding her up wasn’t an issue. In fact, I preferred it. Having her against me… that was like being covered with the most comfortable blanket imaginable. I ran my hand up her back to tangle in her hair at the back of her neck.

  This was even better than I thought it’d be.

  Her tongue slid against mine, nothing timid in Indie Cinderstone. This was the kind of kiss I could get lost in.