It was Ray who swallowed and looked up at Zavier, at his husband.
Mish didn’t look away from David. She did let go of Zavier’s hand. “It’s going to be fine.”
“But he’s right,” Ray said.
“Zavier’s always right,” Dom said.
At this, the man rolled his eyes. “I am not, and you fucking know it.”
Mish looked up at him. “Wait, can we quote you on that?” That broke the odd tension in the room.
Zavier waved the comment away. “Are we done? Because I’d like to try out that nice pool I saw.”
David nodded. “Yeah. We’re on the same page. Pass anything weird along to me.” He stood and stepped closer to Marcella. “Would you let the crew and all know to be on the lookout for anything strange?”
She sipped her coffee, then spoke. “Already on my to-do list.”
Man, it was nice having everyone with him rather than second-guessing him. Then again, this team actually cared about each other.
“That’s it, then,” he said to no one in particular.
“Good.” Mish climbed to her feet, grabbed the laptop, and handed it to him. “You got swim trunks in your luggage?”
He did. A last-minute addition, since he generally didn’t go swimming. But he thought lounging in a hot tub while on the tour would be needed after sleeping on a bus and working odd hours. “Yeah.”
“Oh good,” she purred. “’Cause we’re all going swimming.”
Marcella was backing away. “I’ve got calls I need to make.”
“All means all.” That came from Ray. “You always say we should relax on our rest days.” His grin was sly.
Marcella looked up at the ceiling. “Fine. Because you’ll bug me if I say no.”
“If you honestly don’t want to swim with us,” Zavier said, “we won’t make you.”
“I know. You guys are good about boundaries. I’ll meet you there in ten or fifteen.”
Ray nodded. “David?”
The twinkle in Mish’s eyes told him he wasn’t going to get out of the group swim unless he had an objection—and he didn’t.
“I’ll be there with bells on.” He paused. “Figuratively.”
Zavier’s lips twitched, and David knew that expression as well. He didn’t even come close to asking if he had bells. Because if anyone in this group did, it was Zavier Demos.
Chapter Thirteen
By the time Mish made it poolside, Ray was splashing around in the water, his inked arms shining in the sunlight. Zavier was standing near the edge, sunglasses on, shirt off, exposing his own set of tattoos. None of the other members of their extended group were there.
Zav had that smile he only got around Ray. A deep friendship, one that would abide the years, he had once told her in a guarded moment. That’s why he’d married Ray.
That expression deepened to something far more devilish when Ray splashed water at him. She couldn’t hear what Zavier said or what Ray did in response, but the way Ray tossed his head, even while treading water, was pure sass.
Zavier dropped his glasses on a nearby lounger, then plunged into the pool. Ray yelped and tried to swim away. No such luck. They ended up in a tangle of limbs and pushing and laughing, until they’d both dunked each other under the water.
Those two. She wasn’t sure who’d rescued whom in that pair.
Mish strolled to the shaded bar and ordered a tonic and lime. No alcohol yet. She wanted to take a dip, plus the conversation earlier had her unsettled and aching in her heart.
All those emails and comments. The photos. Her hair. Her ring in someone else’s hands. She shivered, opened a tab on her room, and took the drink to the edge of the bar where she could sit in the shade, yet still watch the antics of her bandmates.
Dom and Adrian were the next to appear, and lord, did the eyes of the pool crowd follow them. They were a sight. Dom, wiry and muscular from dancing around with his guitar, sans his stage makeup but with all his ink on display. Adrian stood several inches taller, broad in the shoulders and chest. He stripped off the T-shirt he’d been wearing.
“Lord,” a woman at the table next to Mish’s said. “Will you look at that?”
Mish chuckled and the other woman smiled.
“I mean, there’s quite the view at the moment.” She waved her hand to encompass Mish’s other band members. “But the arms on that one...”
They were something, Mish had to admit. Especially when Adrian scooped up Dom to mock protests, and dropped him into the pool.
“Aaaaaaand taken.” The woman sighed and sipped her white wine. “Of course.”
If the woman had been a fan of the band, she’d have known that already. “Very taken, yeah.”
“Lucky them.”
That was true. Both couples were lucky.
The next person to arrive was Marcella, in a colorful one-piece suit of reds and oranges covered in a white sheer flowing wrap. She headed for the bar and then, with a glass of rosé in her hand, joined Mish. “Your man keeping you waiting?”
The woman at the other table raised an eyebrow, but Mish ignored her. “I’m not sure he’s my man.”
“Bullshit.” Marcella sat down next to her, then sighed in contentment. “I so needed this.”
“What, the pool or the wine?”
“Both.” There was a flash of a grin, then it settled to weariness. “They look happy.” Marcella nodded at the pool. Adrian had jumped in at some point, and all four men were acting more like rowdy teens.
“They need that, too. Helps Adrian to feel like part of the whole.”
Marcella sipped her wine. “Mish, doll. Sometimes I think you’re the glue that holds this whole damn band together.”
Mish couldn’t say anything, because her throat was suddenly too dry. She picked up the tonic and let the cold fizzy liquid ease some of that out. Truth was, they held her together. The band. The music. Adrian and Marcella.
David. That thought rose unbidden, and her heart flipped. David, who’d been both gentle and fierce in bed. Who’d let her lead, and also had her back. David loved her voice. He’d left Marly with her—because he’d be coming back.
“I care about ’em. And you.” She blew Marcella a kiss.
And got a grin in return. “I know.” Marcella nodded at the bar. “And there’s your dude.”
Heat rose to her cheeks. She was certain the woman at the other table was checking out David’s very fine ass in the swim trunks that clung to his hips. No shirt. She shivered a little. His arms weren’t Adrian’s, but they were built and perfect and she knew the strength in them.
Her dude.
When David turned, bottle of beer in hand, his sunglasses hid his eyes, but his smile was as warm and bright as the summer sky above. He picked his way around tables. “I guess I’m late to the party.” He took a seat next her, one that was—thankfully—away from the woman at the other table.
“I see your bandmates have already tried the pool.” He took a sip from the bottle, then set it down on the table.
“Mmm. You missed Adrian tossing Dom in.”
“Poor dude.” David laughed. “He didn’t stand a chance, did he?”
Marcella was the one to wave away the words and answer. “Eh, Dom loves being manhandled by that man.”
Mish nearly choked on her tonic water. What she said was true and not a great secret, but she’d never heard Marcella comment like that before about any of them.
David was laughing, but silently.
“Oh, come on.” Marcella gestured at the couple still bobbing around in the pool.
“It’s not that...” Mish stopped, put her glass down, turned to Marcella, then gave her a gentle punch in the arm. “You’re comfortable around us now, huh?”
Marcella leaned her head back. “No idea what you mean, Mish Sullivan.�
�
This time, David’s chuckle was audible.
“Don’t you start.” Mish leveled a look at him. “Or I’ll throw you in the pool, too.”
He crossed his arms. “I’d like to see you try.”
Oh, it was so on. She sprang on him, and luck was with her, because he must not have anticipated her moving that fast. She got him over her shoulder in a fireman’s carry before he croaked out a curse.
They weren’t that far from the pool. Only took a couple of steps to cross the distance.
“Mish.” David sounded both exasperated and amused. “Don’t do something you’ll regret!”
The boys were cheering from the pool, egging her on.
“Don’t think I’m gonna regret this.” She pitched him forward into the pool, but he caught her arms as he fell, his grin wicked, and there was no way she could pull back from his weight taking them both into the cold water of the swimming pool.
Her laugh and his mixed during that fall until there was only the crash of water, then silence when she dropped below the blue surface until she burst forth into the air.
Before they’d hit, David had let go. She had no issues coming up for air. Neither did he—though he’d lost his sunglasses somewhere in the pool. His teeth flashed in the sunlight, dark eyes crinkled with joy and laughter.
Her heart tried to leap from her chest from the sight and the sound.
There was a splash behind her and a streak of red-orange, then Marcella’s dark head broke the surface. They were all here and hers. Her family, her shield against the world and all the fears in her heart. Her strength to move forward, to perform and play and sing the words and music Ray crafted.
She didn’t even care if there were photographs. She floated over to David and pulled him into an embrace, one he slid into easily, as if their bodies already knew each other.
They did. He laid a hand on her shoulder and his smile was brilliant. “No regrets?”
“None,” she said. They treaded water together, lazily rotating in the process. “Thank you.”
A flash of confusion. “For what?”
“For being here.” This wasn’t his job. This was friendship. And trust. She flicked her gaze over David’s shoulder and found Zavier hanging on to the pool’s edge, chatting with Marcella and Ray.
David turned and followed her focus. “You once told me I should ask Zavier about friendship.”
“I did. You should.”
His expression was thoughtful, but after a moment, it turned devilish. “Later, I think.” Then he dunked her under the water.
Well, she deserved that. When she surfaced again, she splashed him, which turned into an all-out water fight between them all, until they were laughing too hard.
Ray held up his hands. “I’m turning into a prune. I gotta get out.”
They all did then, but not before David dove to the bottom of the pool to collect his sunglasses. After drying out a little and collecting their things, the whole lot of them ended up back by the table Mish had claimed before. The woman from earlier had gone, but new guests had arrived, and everyone seemed to eye their group.
She glanced at David and yeah, he’d already scoped out the other guests. “I’m guessing there will be pictures up of all of that by tomorrow.”
Adrian snorted. “A photo of Mish launching you into the pool was posted about a minute and a half after you two hit the water.”
She’d figured that would happen. “Let me guess, ‘Boy Toy Toss’?”
“Oh, nothing so clever.” Adrian made no move to grab his phone. She’d left hers up in her room. David frowned.
She poked him. “You’re not upset, are you?”
His expression lightened. “God, no. Just contemplating ‘Boy Toy’ at my age.” A falter in his expression gave away that there was more. She cocked her head. “I wonder how well that’s going to go over.”
She didn’t have to ask with who. Her fucking damn stalker.
He caught her hand in his and gave it a squeeze. “This afternoon was some of the most fun I’ve had in years. It’s...” He glanced around at the rest of their group. “I’m usually alone. Not part of the group.”
“Welcome to Twisted Wishes,” Zavier murmured. He was a table away, but of course David heard. They all had.
“We’re kind of a strange land,” Ray said. He ran a hand through his wet locks. “And tumultuous, but we’re fun.”
David’s fingers tightened around Mish’s and she wasn’t sure if the thrumming was her pulse or his. His dark eyes were steady when they met Ray’s. “Thanks for inviting me.”
And that was the moment, Mish realized, when David finally accepted them.
* * *
Dinner that evening was apparently what Ray liked to call “busting out of jail.” David learned that this particular tradition had started during their fateful tour as Five Asylum’s opening act. That had been the tour where Ray’d nearly died.
After he’d returned from the hospital, they’d desperately needed to get out of the hotel where they’d been holed up for days—so the band had walked out, no holds barred, to have dinner at a swank restaurant.
That night had turned into a reoccurring event where all of Twisted Wishes dressed up and headed out on the town, as if they owned the world.
They weren’t even the biggest act in the States, and the band knew that, but Marcella chimed in that they’d gained a lot of respect from that defiant act years ago now, and it was as much of a treat for any fans they met as it was for the band.
This time, Adrian, Marcella, and David were coming with them.
David was taken aback. “You mean, you just...show up at a place?” He’d sputtered that, much to his chagrin, when they’d told him about their plans at the poolside bar.
“Yes, exactly.” Zavier’s smile was wicked, and David realized he was being teased. Zav seemed to get a kick out of doing that to his friends, which was both heartwarming and fucking annoying.
“I don’t suppose I could talk you all out of it?” David asked.
“Nope.” That from Ray. “Not a chance in the world.”
So they were heading back to their rooms to shower off the chlorine and put on their Twisted Wishes best, which for David was going to be...trying. “I have no fucking clue what to wear,” he muttered. “God, you people.”
He’d hadn’t thought much beyond “security guard for a rock band” when he’d packed. So denim. Black T-shirts. The usual. He had one button-down, but that was at the bottom of his laundry bag.
Mish slid a hand up his spine that set every nerve of his on fire. “Need my help?”
He started at her touch and tamped the sudden shock of desire down. “Yeah, maybe.” If anyone could pull together an outfit for him out of his sorry wardrobe, it was Mish. Though it might prove too much for even her.
Dom chuckled from the rear of the elevator. “Careful, or she’ll have you in smoky eyes and lipstick.”
David laughed at that. Might be interesting to see what he looked like in makeup now. But no. “Not really my thing.”
“That’s fine.” Mish stroked his back again. “I’m sure we can find something.”
When the elevator reached his floor, he and Marcella exited for their rooms. A half hour later, David was surprised to find Mish at his door. For some reason, he’d figured she’d take longer than that to shower and dress, but no. She strode in on red boots that made his mouth water, and a black-and-white dress that clung to every one of her curves. Her hair was down, and she carried a clutch purse in one hand and what looked like a mini tackle box in the other.
His gaze lingered on the box. “What’s that?”
“Makeup.” He met her gaze, a trickle of fear slipping through his mind. She stuck out her tongue at him. “For me, not you, doofus.”
Heat to his cheeks. It only dawn
ed on him now that she wasn’t wearing any makeup. “Oh.”
She chuckled and bumped past him. “Come on, hot stuff. I’ve seen you naked, now show me your clothes.”
He did, and a mere two minutes later, she was rolling her eyes. “Really? I saw you in a button-down the first day! That whole outfit would be perfect for tonight.”
David cringed. “It’s in my dirty laundry bag. I don’t have any other button-downs.”
“Damn it, David!” But she was laughing.
He held up his hands. “I’m security! You guys said there wouldn’t be any fancy dress parties.” He lowered his hands and sank to the bed. “Jeans and tees. That’s what you have to work with.”
She looked him up and down, and that was all the more sexy in that dress with those boots and from that height. “Oh no, it isn’t.” She whipped out her phone. “As I recall, you and Dom are the same height. And your basic body build isn’t that different.”
Fucking hell. He tried to argue. “I’m broader in the shoulders. And I’m not gonna look good at all in Domino Grinder’s gear.”
“But you’ll look stunning in Dominic Bradley’s.” Those warm eyes pinned him to where he sat. “Do you trust me?”
“Yeah. Yeah, I do.” Of course he did. She’d thrown him into a pool. They’d lain in bed together. Fucked.
“Good.” She dropped her focus to her phone and started tapping away on it. A moment later, she bounced on her toes. “I’ll be right back.” Then she was gone.
David sat down on the bed and sorted through his emotions. This was—fucking amazing. He was going to dinner with Twisted Wishes, not as a security guard, but as a friend. Part of their inner group. And, most likely, he was going to do it in some of Dom’s clothes.
Mish returned with an entire garment bag. “I grabbed a few options.” And by few, she meant several button-down shirts, some ties, a few vests...and suspenders.
David boggled at the choices. “He travels with all this?” He fingered the shirts, all good quality and colors that would work with David’s skin tone.
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