I shake my head, ashamed of myself. “I didn’t really give her the chance to say anything.”
“Dude, you’re a dumbass,” Alex says, shaking his head. “You need to fix this.”
“How do you suppose I do that?” And yes, I do realize how crazy it is that I’m asking Alex, of all people, for relationship advice, but he does have a twin sister, so maybe he has some insight into the female psyche.
“Grovel. Make a grand gesture. Hell, I don’t know. But it’s going to be a long ass tour if you don’t fix it. I’m not sure how much I’ll be able to take with you making goo-goo eyes at her but not making a move. A chick like that, she won’t stay single for long.”
A growl forms deep in my chest at the thought of Evie with another guy. Not. Gonna. Happen.
“Dude…did you just growl?”
“Shut up,” I say, shoving Alex’s shoulder.
“Seriously, though. I saw the way you two were together. No two people are a better match than you and Evie. You gotta fix it.”
I nod absently, glancing over to where Evie and Tommy were just standing. They’re not there anymore. I look around, eager to catch another glimpse, but she’s gone.
“They probably went into the venue,” Alex says, following my eyes. “Infrared’s sound check is first.”
“Right.”
“So, what are you gonna do?” Alex presses.
“I’m gonna fix it.” Somehow.
“’Atta boy!” Alex says, smiling and slapping my back again. I really hate when he does that. I wrap my arm around his neck and put him in a chokehold as we rejoin the rest of our band.
***
Our sound check goes off without a hitch as we’re all still riding the high of being signed. Our dream has finally come true, and I’m positive we’ll be feeling the effects long after this day has passed.
I sit alone in the greenroom before our set, trying to come up with some grand gesture to get Evie to forgive me for being a moron this morning. I was an idiot. I jumped to conclusions and didn’t even give her a chance to speak. Now, I’m dying to find out what she had wanted to talk to me about. If I’d just shut my mouth for ten seconds…
The door to the greenroom opens, and my eyes dart up.
Evie.
She sees me on the couch and freezes. “I’m sorry; I didn’t realize anyone was in here.” She starts to back out, but I stop her.
“Wait.” Her eyes meet mine, and she raises an eyebrow in question. “Can we talk for a minute?”
She rolls her eyes and crosses her arms over her chest. “I don’t know. Can we? Last time I tried to talk to you, it was a one-way conversation, and I didn’t get to say anything.”
God, I love her sass. But she’s absolutely right to be pissed at me. “I’m sorry about that.”
“Yeah…me, too.” She looks down at the concrete floor, but not before I catch sadness take over her face. It’s like a slap in my face.
I have to fix this.
I take a tentative step towards her, completely unprepared for this moment. I haven’t had time to come up with a grand gesture, so I go with honesty. And maybe I’ll throw in a little groveling. That probably won’t hurt.
“I was scared,” I say finally, breaking the awkward silence. She looks up at me, confusion—and, yes, sadness—in her eyes. “When you showed up at the bus today and wanted to talk, I was scared that you were getting ready to blow me off.”
“So you blew me off first? How mature,” she scoffs.
“You’re right. It wasn’t very mature. I’ve never felt this way about someone before and wasn’t sure what to do with it. I’m still not sure what to do with it. But I do know that whatever I do, I want to do it with you.” Her eyes soften as she relaxes her posture, letting her hands fall to her sides. I eliminate the distance between us and take her hand. “I should have listened to what you had to say. I should have let you speak. I was a jerk, and I’m sorry. I want to listen now, if you still want to talk to me.”
She lets out a breath and squeezes my hand. “I still want to talk to you,” she says, and my entire body relaxes. I tug her over to the couch, and we sit facing each other, her small hand still held tightly in mine, and we talk.
She tells me why she left the hotel in the middle of the night, how much it would’ve hurt her to say goodbye, and how excited she’d been when Tommy asked her to join the tour. Which, of course, made me feel like an even bigger ass, especially when she admitted how hurt she’d been when I brushed her off earlier. I apologize profusely and don’t even attempt to defend myself. It was a crap move, and I know it. She tells me about all the shots she’s gotten so far, even shows me a few on her camera, and her animation makes me smile.
Best of all, she forgives me.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Evie
The show in Oklahoma City was amazing. Infrared knocked their performance out of the park, as usual, and I was left impressed and proud of the crowd’s response to JACT. They’ve created quite the buzz over the last few weeks of the tour, and unlike many shows where the seats are still relatively empty for the opener, the arena was packed for JACT’s performance.
They’re going to be stars, and I’d bet my car that it won’t be too long before they’re headlining their own shows.
After the show, all four bands—JACT, Infrared Flamingos, 12 Inches Limp, and Challenge Demands—and most of their crews go out to celebrate JACT being signed. They’re all on the same label and have different sounds, so it’s more of a family vibe than a competitive one. The camaraderie between the guys is easy and right away, they make me feel like I belong.
The partying doesn’t go on too late as Infrared is spotted by some fans, and JACT aren’t big drinkers, so it’s not long before we’re cabbing it back to the busses. I haven’t officially moved back onto JACT’s bus, and I don’t want to assume, so when we get out of the cab, I take Joey’s hand and walk towards the Infrared bus.
“Want me to come inside, or wait out here for you?” Joey asks when we get to the door.
I stop walking and face him. “Wait for me?” I ask, hoping he means what I think he means.
One corner of his mouth tips up in a sexy little smirk. “Yeah,” he says, tugging me closer. “I can either wait out here while you get your things or go inside and help you get them.” He leans in and kisses the tip of my nose, making my knees weak. “You’re staying with me tonight. And every other night for the rest of the tour.”
“Don’t I have any say in this?” I tease, leaning into him and pressing my cheek against his chest and moving my hands around his back. His heart is pounding as fast as mine. I’m glad I’m not the only one affected.
He wraps his arms around my shoulders possessively. “Only if you’re saying yes.”
“And if I say no?” I ask, grinning.
“You won’t,” he says confidently, squeezing me tighter in the cocoon of his arms.
“But—”
“Evie,” he interrupts. “Get your damn bags.”
I laugh and pull away, looking up at him. He’s smiling down at me adoringly, and I’m certain my expression matches his. “I’ll be right back,” I say, lifting on my tiptoes to give him a kiss. I spin away from him and quickly board the bus before the temptation of his soft, full lips cause me to say “to hell with my clothes” and beg him to drag me back to his bus.
***
“What’s the one thing you’d like to change about yourself?” My head is resting in the crook of Joey’s arm as I trail a finger over the ridges of his abs, still a little damp with sweat from our earlier activities. The bus cruises down the highway, running over the occasional pot hole, but all-in-all it’s incredibly soothing, much better than what I thought sleeping on a bus would be like. Of course, we haven’t actually done any sleeping yet…
After some really, really delicious make-up sex, we started a game of twenty questions; it quickly turned from harmless questions about favorite foods and colors to philosophical
questions about life.
I love hearing Joey’s answers to the more thought-provoking questions.
I love getting to know him better.
I love—
“Nothing; I wouldn’t change anything. The things in my past—good or bad—turned me into who I am and led me here. If I change even the smallest thing, it might all be different. How about you?”
“I would make my butt smaller.”
He reaches his arms down with both hands and grabs my naked butt, shifting me so I’m lying on top of him. “I like your butt.”
I rest my chin on his chest and look into his brown eyes, sparkling with mischief. “I think it’s too squishy.”
“I think it’s perfect,” he says, raising his eyebrow in a way that dares me to continue.
I roll my eyes and sigh in fake annoyance. As a woman, I should be able to bitch about any part of my body I want to. It doesn’t matter how irrational it may be. It’s in my DNA, dammit.
“Quit being sassy,” he says, lightly smacking my jiggly butt. “Next question.”
“You pick,” I tell him, yawning as I rest my cheek on his chest and wiggle around to get comfortable. The wiggling seems to excite a certain part of his body, and I grin.
“Who’s your person? The one person you can go to about anything?”
“My momma,” I answer without having to think, my Texas twang loud and proud. “I didn’t have too many girlfriends growing up. Girls either thought I was weird simply because I was different, tried to use me to get to my brothers, or both. I learned not to trust many people.”
He lifts his head to kiss the top of mine, and as he does, his abs contract. I lick one. Tastes salty from his sweat, but also a little sweet.
“What about you? Who’s your person?”
“Like you have to ask?”
“Alex.”
“Yep. There’s nothing wrong with Trevor or Chase, and there are certain things I’d go to them for rather than Alex, but he’s my number one.”
“I get it. It’s how I feel about my brothers. There are things I’d ask them, but then there are things a girl just needs another girl for, you know?”
“Is Alex the girl in this scenario?”
I laugh. “I don’t even know what you’re talking about.”
“Me either; I’m tired.”
“We can go to sleep,” I say.
I try to roll off him but he holds me still. “One more question, then sleep.”
I smile, glad he’s enjoying our conversation as much as I am. I wrack my sleepy brain, trying to come up with a good question to end the night. I’ve got it. “If you could do anything in the world, anywhere in the world, what would it be and where?”
He meets my eyes. “This. This right here. With you.”
Sigh.
I stretch myself up and press my lips to his. This man.
I can’t even.
I’m falling…
“What about you?” Joey asks, breaking our kiss.
“This,” I answer and kiss him again. “This.” Kiss. “This” Kiss. “So much this.”
I’ve fallen…
Chapter Twenty-Five
Joey
We rock straight through Kansas City, Denver, and Albuquerque. Today we’re in Phoenix, and tomorrow starts a four-day stop in Vegas. We’re doing our sound check, and Evie is moving around the stage taking pictures.
My life right now…absolutely unbelievable. I’ve got my best friends, my drums, and my girl. Yeah, I said it. My girl.
Evie is everything I never knew I wanted.
She’s sweet, sexy, funny, witty, beautiful…everything I’d been raised to believe I’d never have.
And she’s mine.
Okay, so it’s only been ten days. But with the exception of the morning I woke up alone in Dallas and the ride to Oklahoma City, it’s been an amazing ten days. The best ten days of my life.
Is it possible to meet the one—my soulmate—and know it in just ten days?
Damn, I sound like a chick.
As I told Evie, usually I’d go to Alex when I need to talk, but something tells me this isn’t exactly his specialty—self-proclaimed bachelor and all.
My mind wandering, I miss a beat and Chase notices, narrowing his gaze at me. He raises an eyebrow, silently asking if everything’s good. I nod in response. Hell, yeah, everything is good.
I could talk to Chase. He’s never said anything, but I think he had something going on with a girl back home. He was always disappearing and giving vague excuses for his whereabouts. He’s always been a pretty private person, but considering how close we all are, it’s unusual for there to be any big secrets. Whatever Chase has been hiding must be pretty big since he’s completely closed lip about it.
Yeah, maybe I’ll talk to Chase about Evie after sound check.
***
“What’s up, man?” Chase asks. We’re due on stage in two hours, so Chase and I headed back to the bus while Trevor and Alex went in search of some decent take out. “Everything okay?”
“Yeah, everything is fine. Great, even.” I take a seat at the small table in the kitchenette while Chase grabs us a couple bottles of water from the fridge.
“You were distracted earlier,” he points out, handing me a bottle. He’s concerned, and rightly so, since I never make mistakes. I’m not perfect—that’s for damn sure—but I’ve never let anything get between me and my music, and therefore, I hardly ever screw up. Especially during sound check. We always play “Wanted,” and I could do the beats for that song in my sleep.
“It’s Evie,” I tell him.
“Something wrong?” he asks, looking more concerned. Maybe I shouldn’t have taken this to him, considering the way he and Trevor reacted to the idea of the Evie and me back in Dallas. Even though they had our best interests in mind, it still burnt a little.
“No, everything is perfect.”
His eyebrows pull together with his confusion. “You’re kind of confusing me.”
“Is there such thing as too perfect?”
“What do you mean?”
I let out a sigh and shake my head. “I don’t know what I mean. Things with Evie are great. I think she might be the one, you know? She’s everything I could possibly want in a woman. I’m pretty sure I’m in love with her.”
“Love? Seriously?” Chase sits on the bench seat across from me and rests his elbows on the table.
“Yeah. I mean, I don’t know. I’ve never felt this way about someone before. And it’s quick. Isn’t it too soon? We’ve known each other a little more than a week.”
Chase is quiet as he looks at me, and I can tell he’s processing. After a few moments of the deafening silence, he speaks. “Yeah, it hasn’t been long,” he says, and I feel a heaviness in my chest. Maybe Chase wasn’t the best person to talk to, always so damn logical. “But in that time you’ve spent almost all day every day with each other…more than two hundred hours. Even factoring in sleep, that’s still a lot of hours together. It would probably be the equivalent to several regular dates. I mean you’ve spent a lot of that time getting to know one another and doing what you both love, so it’s not like you’re completely focused on each other and not doing your own thing. You’re still doing that stuff, too. Considering all that, I don’t think it’s too soon.”
“Really?” I ask, surprised he’s agreeing with me.
“Yeah, man. What? Do you want me to argue with you?”
“Hell, no! I’m just surprised is all.”
“The heart wants what the heart wants,” he says wistfully, and if I’m not mistaken, I see a trace of sadness cross his features. “So it’s only been a few days…what’s time anyway?”
Something tells me he’s not thinking about me and Evie anymore.
“Everything okay with you, bro?”
Chase smiles. “Yeah, I’m good. Just happy for you. Evie is a cool chick. Don’t let her slip away. I think you’re right. She might be the one. The way you guys are toget
her…” He shakes his head and stands from the table. “I’m going to lay down for a bit. Wake me when the food gets here.”
I nod, knowing I won’t have to wake him since a.) I don’t think he’s going to sleep, and b.) Alex is loud enough to wake the dead. He doesn’t do anything quietly. “Thanks for the talk,” I tell him, watching as he retreats to his bunk. He waves his hand over his shoulder and disappears behind the curtain.
I slide the water bottle back and forth between my hands and think about what he said. He’s right; we may have only met ten days ago, but we’ve spent almost every moment of those ten days together. People who date usually only see each other for a few hours at a time. We’re on a crash course, moving at an accelerated pace, due to our unique situation.
All I know is that I want to be with Evie today, tomorrow, and always.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Evie
The last few cities pass by in a blur…I can’t even tell you what I saw in Kansas City, Denver, Albuquerque, and Phoenix aside from the inside of arenas and the back bedroom of JACT’s bus.
Things with Joey have been nothing short of epic ever since we had that talk in Oklahoma, and I. Am. In. Love. Truly, madly, deeply in love. A sane person would say it’s too soon for all that, but what about Joey and I screams sane? Nothing, that’s what.
He’s my soulmate.
He’s my wildflower, and I’m his.
I’ve bonded with his bandmates and, along with the other bands on tour, we’re all one big, happy family.
Life couldn’t possibly get any better than this.
I’m currently getting ready in the gigantic bathroom of the band’s suite at the MGM Grand. We’re spending a few days in Vegas, and I insisted on seeing something other than the arena or bedroom while we’re here. Joey reluctantly agreed, not that it had been a hard sell since he’d do just about anything to make me happy. After the show tonight, we plan to hit the strip.
Like I said, life couldn’t be better.
Wildflowers (JACT 2.5) Page 9