by Thia Finn
“Exactly what kind of coffee do they put in such a shitty little cup? I can drink this in one damn sip.”
“Yeah, you probably can, but you might want to sip it since it’s very strong.” Ryan took a sip as she suggested and his lips scrunched up. Peri laughed out loud so hard she couldn’t catch her breath. “I tried to tell you it’s really strong!”
“Yeah, but you didn’t say it was going to be strong like drinking motor oil.” He was still trying to swallow the taste from his mouth.
“Here, you big baby, eat some of this crepe. It will take away the strong flavor.” She scooped the delectable goodness of strawberries and a dollop of whipped crème and held it to his lips. He reached out, closing his mouth around the bite and slowly pulled across the tines of the fork as she held it between his closed lips. Peri couldn’t seem to watch anything but the way his lips were wrapped around the fork leaving a little dollop of crème on the corner of his mouth. Her first instinct was to reach over and lick the spot clean, but she forced herself to fight the urge.
“You have a little on your lips still.” She pointed to her own lips mirroring where he was wearing the sweet confection. When his tongue peeked out and caught the milky goodness, Peri sucked in a painfully sharp breath as her panties all but disintegrated at the sight the sexy-as-sin motion. “Uhhhmm.”
“What is there still some more? Can you get it, please?”
“No,” she gasped. “Ahem. I mean, you got it all.” She sputtered her response causing him to give her a puzzled look.
“So, Peri, I’ve been meaning to ask you how Sawyer felt about you coming on this tour with us? I never heard you mention him or any problems with being away so long. I’m assuming he’s good with it? I was surprised when he wasn’t on the tour with us.”
“Well, the truth is, he has no clue where I am. I haven’t heard from him for months now.” Peri paused, she hadn’t talked to anyone about her ex and found it surprisingly difficult to swallow passed the lump in her throat at the mention of him now.
“Peri? What do you mean, you ‘haven’t heard from him in months’?”
She took a deep breath and decided to take a little comfort in knowing that her present company was nursing his own wounded heart, and would probably understand better than anyone else right now. She let out the breath she’d been holding prisoner, and let it all go. “Sawyer decided before the tour that he was going to take a job back in LA. It was a good move for him, but not for me. I have no intentions of ever moving back there. He missed it, apparently more than he loved me.”
“I’m sorry. I didn’t know. Does anyone else know?”
“No, I didn’t know how to talk about it. It’s all good. We’d been growing apart ever since we’d moved. I think we stayed together because we came there together, and it was simply more convenient and less scary than trying to make our way alone.”
“I know you have to be hurt by it. You two were together a while, weren’t you?”
“Yes, for a few years, and I do think we were in love, but somewhere along the way, we stopped. Being in love, that is. I don’t know how or when it happened.” She suddenly felt exposed and vulnerable after her admission, and couldn’t bear to meet Ryan’s probing eyes.
“I’m sorry you’ve had to go through that alone, Peri. We are kind of in the same boat, aren’t we?”
“No, not really. At least there was passion in your lives until you parted. I don’t know if we ever actually had passion. Yes, we loved each other, but it was never that exciting kind of love that you would be willing to fight for like you felt for Krissy.”
“Yeah, look where that got me.” He was the one to look away.
“Aren’t we a sad pair? You loved hard when you were together, and I suppose I’ve never loved hard.” She knew she wanted that kind of love but so far it only seemed like an illusion. She was determined to keep looking.
“That’s enough of our little fucking pity party. Let’s see what’s left of that list.” Peri pulled up the list on the phone.
“Let’s go, Mr. Tourist. I want to see it all.” She grabbed his hand this time, and they took off.
That evening they walked in the hotel, exhausted. The two had spent the day trying to knock off all the places on her list, and once he finally calmed down, it became a game to them. Go there, take a picture for proof, leave. It was a Griswald’s-came-to-Paris vacation. Daylight lasted until late into the evening, giving them every opportunity to see most of the sights.
“I’m completely worn out.” Peri leaned against the back wall of the elevator beside him. “It was a great day. Thank you so much for indulging me.”
“Actually, I had fun. I don’t think I’ve laughed so damn hard when we tried to speak French to the people and had no clue what we were saying to them.”
“The translator was so easy on my phone when I practiced using it at home. I think the only thing we said correctly was ‘oui’, but with our horrendous accents, even that’s questionable. I’m sure they think, ‘Crazy Americans should not try to speak our language.’” They both laughed again as the door was opening.
Peri’s door was first, and after she located her key he took it and opened her door for her. “So, Peri. I truly enjoyed today. It was fun, and I am glad I spent it with you. Thanks for letting me tag along.” He set down all of the handled bags she had accumulated during the day and returned to the door she was holding open for him.
“Honestly, it was a great day, Ryan. I know I wouldn’t have seen half of the places if you hadn’t been with me. I would have gotten bored with my own company and probably taken a taxi back here for a nap.” He was standing close to her in the doorway, so when he leaned forward and brushed a light kiss across her lips, she had nowhere to move to avoid his touch. Excitement coursed through her body with the brief kiss. They had a great day together and ending it with a brief kiss simply finished it off perfectly in her eyes.
“I’ll see you later then,” he said with a soft, sweet smile that she was pretty sure made her heart skip a beat, then made his way to his room next door.
Peri stood leaning up against the inside of her door with her eyes closed. She remembered the way he felt when he ended up in her bed, all hard-bodied pressed against her back. Unfortunately, he apparently didn’t remember any of it, or else he was too embarrassed to admit it. She had such mixed emotions about letting herself become involved with Ryan. She didn’t want to be his rebound girl, but she was afraid to let this slip away.
His door clicked shut just as he fell back on the bed and he lay staring up at the ceiling. Why did I kiss her? Kissing her had felt natural to say goodnight, or maybe it was a thank you, for sharing the experience of such a beautiful place. Just a little goodbye kiss, what harm was there in it? None, as far as he could tell. She was a beautiful, vibrant woman, and those red lips he’d watched all day long were just too enticing to resist having a small taste.
The exhaustion of the day was taking over and having the luxury of a Jacuzzi tub was not going to be wasted on her. She filled it to the top with steaming hot water and climbed in, setting the jets on full blast. Oh, wow. The water feels fantastic after the damn marathon we ran today. She let her mind drift off until she heard banging on the door to the hallway. The water had cooled from the jets churning the bubbles for who knew how long since she had fallen asleep.
“Damn it!” She jumped up, yelling, “I’ll be there in a second.” I wonder which one it is. Surely these guys can take care of themselves one damn night without me? She wrapped the hotel’s thick terry robe around her and ran to the door.
Through the keyhole, she saw Ryan standing with a pizza box in his hands. She opened the door, leaning against the side and looked him over. He had taken the time to clean up, as well, and had redressed in warmup pants and a soft, worn, AD t-shirt. Her body felt completely relaxed from lounging in the hot, swirling water for so long that she didn’t think she would be able to stand there for long.
“Ryan. W
hat’s going on? Did you lose your room key?” she asked, tugging at the lapels of the robe to ensure they covered the necessities from her unexpected visitor.
“We never really got to eat a meal with all we did today, so I thought maybe you would join me and finish our night with pizza and a cold brew?” He held up the six pack. “You hungry?”
“I am hungry now that you brought that yummy smelling box to my door. Come on in.” She backed out of the doorway and let him slide by her. “Give me a minute to get some real clothes on.” She disappeared to dress as he continued to talk.
“We had such a great time today, I kinda’ didn’t want it to end. We don’t get that much time off to live much like normal people, and you know, veg out on pizza, beer, and foreign-fucking-TV we can’t understand. I wonder if they have Netflix.” He sat the food and drinks on the coffee table and picked up the remote to channel surf for something in English. “Hey, look at this, they do, and we can pick the language. So what will it be: chick-flick, war stories, car chases, gunfights? You name it.”
She snickered at him. “Just so you know, this isn’t a Netflix and chill set-up, so don’t even think about it. And as for the type of movie, I don’t care. You choose,” she said, walking out of the bathroom. She opened the pizza box and stared at all the gooey cheese piled on top of the thick, handmade crust. “What kind did you get? I think this has every damn thing I’ve ever seen possible on a pizza.”
“I didn’t know what you like, so I told them to put everything they had on it, and we could take the crap off we didn’t want.” He surfed through the choices.
“Well, all of that works for me. I love everything on pizza.” She looked up from the pizza and saw the movie he was starting. “Hey, that works, too. I love 50 First Dates. Any movie with Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore together is great in my book.”
Side-by-side the two sat on the floor at the coffee table, laughing along at the movie and enjoying their makeshift picnic supper. By the time it was over, the entire pizza was finished off, and they sat back full and happy.
“That wasn’t so bad,” Ryan admitted to her. “I thought I had seen most of his movies but not that one.”
“Really? I’ve seen that movie a dozen times. I’ve always loved it. What a great story, to love someone so much that you would be willing to do something so thoughtful every single day for them just to be in their life.”
“Yeah, that’s sure as hell not the real world, though.” She could tell he was at the post-breakup skeptical stage, and he was already becoming cynical. She refused to fall into that trap.
“Are you saying you don’t believe in true love, Ryan?” She gave him a surprised look.
“I don’t know anymore. I guess if the right person comes along, sure, but the question is: when do you know you’ve found the right person?” he asked, such raw emotion, obviously afraid to trust his own heart again that it almost broke Peri’s.
She watched the sadness in his eyes and wondered how to answer his question. “I guess we don’t know until it happens.” Not being able to help herself, she put her arms around him hugging him close. She knew she could use a hug, and it seemed from his comments and tone, he did too.
Ryan didn’t hesitate to hug her back. He wondered how she would accept his offer of dinner but the evening had turned out great so far. When he laid on his bed in his room earlier, thinking about what he could do to keep the kiss from causing any weirdness between them, he thought dinner sounded like the perfect idea.
Now here she was, hugging him close and he couldn’t help but feel the hard pebble of her nipples against his chest. She was braless under the sleep shirt she’d dressed in after he showed up unannounced. Between feeling her against his chest and the delicious scent of flowers and vanilla of her body wash or her shampoo, or maybe both, he felt a dazed. He buried his face in the softness of her black hair and breathed in deeply, realizing how much he missed holding the soft, warmth of a real woman.
She let him go when she realized they were lingering, and it was beginning to feel too intimate. She moved up to sit on the couch, picking up the remote to scan for something else to watch. Ryan joined her without saying a word. She decided on some music so they could maybe have a conversation instead.
“So, how do you think the tour is going so far?” Peri needed to get this time back to a platonic level.
“Yeah, I think it’s going great. How could it not, opening for Steel? Sure as hell not like our first tours, let me tell ya.”
The rest of the evening Ryan related stories of touring with AD in the beginning, before 13 Recordings. They lived on hot dogs and slept in a van back then.
The two lounged comfortably on the couch, facing each other, and he had Peri rolling with laughter at some of the situations the guys got themselves into.
“That is so hard to believe KeeMac would do that,” Peri laughingly replied.
Ryan turned and propped his feet on the coffee table. “You think we can find another funny movie?”
She expected him to leave but apparently he wasn’t ready to end their time together. “Sure there’s lots of funny movies on Netflix. How about Hutch. It’s hilarious, too.
Settling in to watch the movie, Ryan lay down on the couch and turned toward the television. Peri was sitting at the other end when he noticed a shiver run through her, her arms shaking a little and goosebumps covered her pale skin.
“Are you freezing over there?” Peri nodded her head. “Come down here and lay down in front of me. There’s no reason I can’t keep you warm.” He could tell Peri was hesitant. “Come on, I don’t bite, you know.” He opened his mouth and chomped his teeth together laughing loudly then patted the couch cushion in front of his body.
She slid down the couch and settled down in front to him, spooning against his front. Ryan wrapped her in his arms to warm her up with his body heat. “Now that’s better. We can both be comfortable this way.”
Peri wasn’t sure how comfortable she was going to be with him pressed against her from head-to-toe, but she loved the warmth and contact. She was secretly kind of a cuddle junkie but had gotten used to missing it since Sawyer had never been very affectionate.
Ryan reveled in the feeling of holding this gorgeous woman this close, despite having to fight the salacious thoughts simmering in his mind, but he would do it for her.
Peri woke wrapped in his arms when the sun peeked through the curtains of the suite, the intense morning sunshine falling directly across her face. Ryan was snoring lightly in her ear. At some point during the night, she had rolled over and buried her face in his shoulder. Now, she leaned back and studied his face as he slept, taking her time to get her fill of his gorgeous features. His face was simply beautiful with perfect male characteristics. And paired with his charming, sensitive personality and flawless body, this guy was sure to be the total package for some lucky woman.
She finally got the nerve to trace the tattoo sticking out from his t-shirt sleeve. Even though she had more than enough of her own, tracing his painted skin felt so right to her. He stirred and peeked down at her.
“See something you like?”
“I was just admiring all the work you’ve had done. At least, what I can see of it.”
“You can see more of it if you want,” he joked, all while knowing he would be willing to remove a few clothes from them both right now.
“Hey, don’t push your luck, buster. I let you sleep with me last night.” She laughed as she pushed herself up to a seated position.
“Hmm. Somehow I don’t think this actually counted as sleeping together.” Sitting up, he put his feet on the plush carpet.
“Sure it does. We slept all night, didn’t we?”
“You’re damn right we did. That’s exactly what we did. Probably the best night’s sleep I’ve had since we left home.” He stared straight ahead as if something had suddenly occurred to him. Glancing back at her, he asked, “Does this mean you’re gonna send me out there to do the fuc
king walk-of-shame back to my room?” Peri jumped up, laughing out loud at his comment.
“No way. You don’t have last night’s makeup smeared all over your face, or a tight ass party dress all askew or six–inch, fuck-me heels and the blisters to match.” Peri got up and pranced across the room to the door mimicking a drunken walk on those heels.
She swung the door open to continue her charade and came face-to-face with Chandler and KeeMac standing there ready to knock. They both stared passed her into the room and then back at Peri with surprised but knowing looks crossing their faces. Ryan got to the door quickly. “This is not how it looks. We fell asleep watching a damn movie.”
“Hey, hey, who are we to judge?” Chandler replied.
“Yeah, but really, nothing happened.” Peri tried to make it sound as innocent as possible.
“It’s all good, Peri. We were stopping to see if you wanted to go to find some fucking breakfast, but we can see you’re otherwise occupied,” KeeMac said, with a suggestive smirk on his face.
“We are not ‘otherwise occupied!” Peri air quoted them. “Let me get some other clothes on and we can go. At least, I want to go. I can’t speak for Ryan, of course.”
“Who am I to turn down KeeMac buying me a great fucking breakfast?” Ryan clapped his lead singer on the shoulder and led him out the door, presumably down to Ryan’s room so he could freshen up.
When the door closed behind the two men, Chandler turned to look at Peri. “Is there something going on here we need to know about Peri?”
“No, take my word for it. Not a damn thing.” Peri whirled around and dug in her suitcase for clothes.
The concert hall they played that night in Paris was huge, just as big as the others had been. When Steel drew a crowd, it was a sold out. They only played Europe every few years, so the audiences were thrilled to get to be a part of the crowd.
Peri gathered AD in the guys’ dressing room before show time. “As you know, we get one more night at the hotel, but tonight after Steel’s show there will be an after-party at a club rented out especially for this event with Steel. The press is all over this concert and the bands, and they’ll be on the streets, too. You will need to be on your best behavior for the cameras at all times. The last thing you’ll want put out on social media is anything negative. We are getting great reviews of the tour, and nothing negative has made the news. Let’s try to keep it that way.”