by L A Cotton
“What’ll it be?” Letty asked me as she waved to the bartender.
“Just a soda please.”
“No way. You just performed with Levi freakin’ Hunter and you killed it. This deserves a drink. I’m talking straight up liquor.”
“I’m not twenty-one.”
“The same rules don’t apply here as they do out there in the real world.”
“You’re saying this isn’t real?” I half-teased, because it sure as hell didn’t feel real. It felt like a dream. One I would surely wake up from any second.
“What’ll it be, ladies?” The bartender asked.
“Two Cherry Pies, please. Extra cherries.”
His eyes lingered on Letty’s ample cleavage. When he disappeared to make our drinks, I leaned in close and said, “I think you have an admirer.”
“I think he admires my boobs.” She chuckled. “Having fun yet?”
“I am feelin’ so many things right now I don’t even know where to start.”
“Feeling is good. Soak it up, Eva. That’s all we can do. Live each moment and make memories.” Letty gave me an easy smile before hopping up onto a stool and looking out over the crowd.
I liked Letty. I liked her a lot. It was a relief to have her in my corner. But even though having her by my side made me feel at ease, she wasn’t Molly.
My chest tightened and I knew I needed a minute to catch my breath. “Hey,” I said, “do you know where the restroom is?”
“Sure,” Letty replied, pointing toward a neon sign hanging over a dark archway. “You want me to come with you?”
It would have been easy to say yes, to let her hold my hand and babysit me. But she was right, I had to embrace my newfound life. “No, I’m good. Wait for me here though?”
“You got it.”
The second I got up and started moving, I felt Travis follow. Stopping, I turned around and said, “I’m only goin’ to the bathroom.” His brows furrowed and I clarified, “You can’t follow me in there.”
How was I supposed to catch my breath with him always two steps behind me?
“Didn’t plan on it.” The faintest of smiles broke his serious expression. “I’ll wait right outside.”
“Am I not safe here?” The words just poured out. It wasn’t that I objected to having a bodyguard, I didn’t, but I didn’t exactly understand how these things worked either.
“You’re perfectly safe, Ms. Walk... Eva.” Travis’s expression softened. “But I’m still coming with you.”
“Because it’s your job?”
He nodded. “And because your safety is my number one priority.”
“Well, okay then, I guess. Thank you.” I didn’t know what I was thanking him for, but our exchange settled some of the nervous energy bouncing around my stomach.
I found the restroom without difficulty. After washing my hands and checking myself in the mirror, I slipped into the hallway connecting the restrooms to the main room, grinding to a halt when I saw Rafe and Riley at the smaller bar. She was laughing at something he said. Jealousy burned through me which was ridiculous. Rafe wasn’t mine and they were only talking. But I couldn’t deny it hurt seeing him with her. Just another thing I’d underestimated when I agreed to come on tour with the band. There would be girls, lots of them if the news stories were anything to go by. Levi and Hudson seemed to live the playboy life more than Rafe and Damon, but I wasn’t a fool. I knew there would be other girls.
Girls who weren’t me.
Knowing it and seeing it were two different things though.
“Eva, is there a problem?” I sensed Travis inch closer, but I couldn’t make myself move. Riley was touching Rafe. Her hand was rested casually on his arm, as if it belonged there.
As if she belonged there with him.
“I... uh, what?” Forcing myself to meet his concerned gaze, I smiled. “No, I’m fine. Thank you for waitin’.”
He gave me a sharp nod before stepping aside to let me pass. I made a beeline for Letty and my sugary drink. It was only supposed to be one, but after seeing Rafe and Riley, something told me I was going to need a couple more if I was going to survive the rest of the night.
“Eva, baby, come dance with me.” Hudson crooked his finger, a wicked glint in his eye as he prowled toward me.
“Oh, hell no,” I said, backing up. Letty cackled beside me, making no effort to protect me from the Black Hearts drummer.
“One dance,” he drawled. “You’ve been sitting here like Debbie Downer all night.”
“I have no—”
He reached me, pressing a single finger against my lips, stealing me of both my breath and my argument. “One dance, Angel. Let’s go.” Hudson curled his hand around mine and yanked me toward the dance floor.
“It’ll go a lot easier if you don’t resist,” Letty yelled after me.
People smiled and laughed at us as Hudson pulled me right into the center of the dance floor. “Don’t tell me a country girl as hot as you can’t dance?” He cocked a brow.
“You’re drunk,” I remarked, letting him twirl me around the floor.
“It’s a party, you’re supposed to get drunk.” Hudson beamed at me and I couldn’t deny it was hard to stay mad at him. His excitement was infectious.
Just then, the music switched gears, the latest P!nk track blasting into the club. “Show me what you’ve got, Angel,” he shouted over the music, rolling and popping his hips in a way I would never have imagined.
“You’ve got moves,” I replied, fighting a smile.
“You haven’t seen anything yet.” Hudson closed the space between us, hooking his arm around my waist and pulling me flush to his chest. My body was pliant in his hold as he swayed and jerked us to the beat. “He’s watching you know.” Hudson’s warmth breath tickled my ear. He flattened his hand against my back as he swung us around so that I could see who he was talking about.
Rafe.
My breath caught.
His eyes were narrowed, intensity rolling off him as he watched one of his best friends dance with me. It was almost impossible to figure out what he was thinking; his expression clouded with so much emotion I felt a little winded.
“He’s not fooling anyone,” Hudson went on. “But the question is, what you gonna do about it?”
I reared back, startled. “You’re lovin’ this, aren’t you?”
“Loving it? Rafe’s been nothing but a miserable fuck since Camdena.”
He had?
But that didn’t make any sense.
“And what about you?” I asked, desperate to deflect the attention from me to him. I needed to clear my head, process what he was saying.
What he was implying.
I risked peeking over at Rafe again, but he was gone.
“What the fuck is that supposed to mean?” Hudson growled the words, but I saw the amusement in his eyes. Everything was a game to him. But what I couldn’t quite figure out was if it was real or a front.
“Nothin’.” My brow quirked suggestively but I kept my lips pressed together.
Hudson accepted my silence, refocusing his efforts on moving me around the dance floor like a rag doll. It was completely over the top, but by the time we were done, my sides hurt from laughing and I hadn’t felt so alive in a really long time.
“Someone looks like they had fun out there,” Damon said as I accepted a much-needed bottle of water from him.
“Best time of her life,” Hudson winked at me before chugging down his beer.
I glanced around looking for the Hunter brothers. I spied Levi in the middle of a group of people, his hands moving maniacally as he told them something.
“Looking for someone?”
My eyes slowly lifted to Damon’s. “No.”
“If you say so.”
“I do,” I said defiantly, hopping up onto a stool and switching my water for a cocktail. Letty was busy flirting with the bartender from earlier. Riley and Alistair were entertaining a group of industry looking people.
I couldn’t help but notice if she sat any closer to him, she’d be in his lap. I snickered.
First Alistair. Then Rafe. And now Alistair again. Maybe Letty was right. Maybe Riley was only interested in working her way up the ladder.
“What’s funny?” Damon asked, nursing his drink.
“This... everythin’.” I let out a weary sigh. I’d only had a couple of drinks, but I felt the effects swimming in my veins. Or maybe it was the aftereffects of dancing with Hudson. Either way, I felt kind of weightless. Drifting in my own body.
“You’re drunk.”
“Am not,” I grinned, spinning the stool, my head rolling on my shoulders.
Okay, so maybe I was a little tipsy.
Damon pulled out his cell phone and texted someone. The next thing I knew, Travis appeared. “Time to go, Eva.” Damon doubled in front of my eyes and I blinked, grinning like an idiot.
“You look funny.”
“Shit, how many did she drink?” Letty was here now.
“Two, maybe three. But she had a ton of water.”
“She’s not used to it.”
“I am riiiight here you know? I can hear you.” My words sounded slurred.
Whoa. Being drunk was weird. The room was spinning and my skin was vibrating in the best kind of way.
“I’ll take her to the car,” Travis said.
“I’m coming,” Letty grabbed my hand.
“Actually, Letty, I might need your help with that.” Damon pointed over to where Levi was. He looked funny too, his body shimmering and splitting into two.
“Fine, Travis can take Eva to the car and we’ll round up the guys.”
“There’s still a big crowd out front.”
“Then we’d better hope they don’t see us,” Damon grimaced before checking his cell. “Take care of her. Rafe will meet you at the car.”
“Rafe, but I—”
“Go with Travis,” Letty said, brushing the hair from my face. “We’ll be right behind you.”
Travis pressed his hand against the small of my back and started guiding me across the room. “How are you holding up?” he asked.
“I don’t feel so good,” I admitted, the small amount of liquor from the night sloshing in the pit of my stomach. That had escalated quickly.
“Nothing some water and a good night’s sleep won’t cure. Come on.” No one paid us much attention as we slipped out of the back entrance. There were two more bodyguards waiting.
And Rafe.
Gosh, he looked so good in his usual dark jeans and tight-fitting t-shirt. He took one look at me and strode over. “What happened?” he asked Travis.
Not me.
My bodyguard.
“She drank a little too much.”
“Three drinks. I had three measly drinks.” I shrugged out of his hold but jerked too forcefully almost losing my balance.
“Easy there.” Rafe caught me, his hands planting on my hips, steadying me. My eyes fluttered closed, his touch burning through me like wildfire. “The others?”
“Damon and Letty are rounding up Levi and Hudson as we speak.”
My body melted into Rafe’s side as he and Travis continued talking. The weightlessness I’d felt earlier began to shift, making my limbs heavy and my eyes sleepy.
“Come on,” Rafe murmured, guiding me into one of the SUVs. He climbed in after me. “You need a bottle of water?”
“I... I think I’m okay.” I sank into the plush leather seats. “Where were you?” The words spilled from my lips. “Earlier,” I added at Rafe’s confused expression. “I was dancing with Hudson and you were watchin’ me... I mean us... you were watchin’ us and then you were gone.”
Like before, a little voice whispered. But I swallowed the words. I’d already said too much. Silence enveloped us. Rafe didn’t answer and I drifted further into oblivion. His sudden cussing yanked me back into consciousness.
“Fuck, where are they?” he grumbled, checking his cell phone.
“We’ve got a group of Die Hearts heading this way,” Travis said from upfront. “We need to leave, now. Before we’re swarmed.”
“Shit, yeah. Okay.” His fingers flew across the screen, his hair falling over his eyes. I wanted to crawl forward and brush it away, to see his gray eyes I loved so much. But I could barely move.
“They’re going to follow us in the other car as soon as it’s clear for them to leave,” Rafe told Travis. The passenger door swung open and another bodyguard climbed in and then we were moving, tires screeching, car lurching forward.
I pressed a hand to my stomach, deep breathing. “Here.” A bottle of water appeared under my nose, a tattooed arm holding it.
“Thanks,” I said, aware that we were now all alone, thanks to Travis rolling up the partition.
The water was cool as it sluiced down my throat. But it was nothing compared to the way Rafe watched me from across the SUV.
“Why do you hate me so much?”
“Hate you?” he sounded stunned. “I don’t hate you, Eva.”
“But you don’t want me here?”
“I don’t.”
I was glad to be drunk. It numbed the pain I knew I would have otherwise felt at his honesty.
“Then I’m sorry to disappoint you.”
Rafe shifted forward, his knees brushing mine. “You danced with Hudson, why?”
“Because he asked me. Because although he’s a pain in the ass, he makes me laugh.” Rafe’s lips thinned and I was sure I caught a flash of jealousy in his murky eyes. “Riley wants you,” I blurted out.
“Riley?”
“I saw the two of you talkin’. I might be a small-town girl, but I know how a girl looks at a guy when she wants somethin’.”
He didn’t flinch, didn’t show an ounce of emotion. I don’t know how he did it. Rafe had been so different in Camdena. Warm and tactile and gentle. He’d been everything I never knew I needed. But sitting here, even with the liquor swimming in my veins distorting things, it still felt like I was sitting opposite a different person.
Like my Rafe had been nothing more than a fantasy.
Rafe
Eva looked so fucking cute. A sleeping angel sprawled out across the seat. I’d noticed her crashing when she was chewing me out about Riley. That shit would have been funny if it was anyone but Eva confronting me about it.
Fucking Riley.
I didn’t like Riley and I certainly didn’t want her. But Eva had noticed us talking, watched us talking, if her assessment of the situation was anything to go by. Her jealousy shouldn’t have satisfied me as much as it did, but it made my heart fucking soar knowing that even after how I’d ghosted her, she still cared.
There hadn’t been any chance to tell Eva I got weird vibes from Riley too, or that the band’s new assistant had made me feel as uncomfortable as shit when she’d laid her hand on my arm as if we were old friends.
Or worse.
Lovers.
She had to be almost a decade my senior, maybe a couple years younger than that. Either way, it seemed skeezy that she was making it obvious I could have her if I wanted her. In fact, there were so many things wrong with that picture I didn’t know where to start. But three stood out like huge fucking neon warning signs.
One: I was ninety-nine percent sure she was banging Alistair.
Two: She was our PA, and that shit was off-limits.
Three: I was completely and utterly hung up on Eva still.
There was no use denying it. Damon knew. Hudson knew. Even Letty suspected something. It didn’t change anything—it couldn’t—but at least I could admit it for what it was.
I cared for Eva.
I’d never stopped.
My eyes traced the planes of Eva’s face, moving down over the soft curves of her body. Her chest rose and fell with deep breaths, hinting at what was underneath. I didn’t need a visual reminder though. I remembered how she felt. How soft her skin was and how good it felt having her pressed up against me. Shit. I needed t
o get a grip. Running a hand through my hair, I let out an exasperated breath. Eva was my own personal version of hell, taunting me with everything I wanted and could never have.
I knew how good she tasted, how perfectly she fit against my body. I knew the little sounds she made when she came undone. I knew how addictive her touch was. How badly I’d burned for her that weekend of the Talent Showdown final.
But none of that mattered, because Eva was off-limits. A complication the band didn’t need. Not now. Not ever.
“No... no,” she cried in her sleep. “Cody, don’t leave me. Don’t go.”
Cody? My spine straightened. Who the fuck was Cody?
I held my breath, waiting for more, but Eva didn’t cry out again. Instead, she nestled into the seat, sighing softly. The partition lowered and Fenton, my bodyguard, stuck his head through the gap, “We’re almost at the hotel.”
“Thanks, man.”
“How is she?” His eyes flicked past me to the sleeping girl opposite.
“She’ll live.”
He gave me a sharp nod. It didn’t surprise me that Eva had already won over the bodyguards. The band was a handful to protect, but someone like Eva was a dream. Unassuming, humble, and so fucking beautiful it hurt.
Two minutes later, the SUV rolled to a stop and Travis and Fenton climbed out. The back door swung open and Eva’s bodyguard peered inside. “We need to wake her,” he said.
“Help me get her out,” I said, cutting him off.
Travis’s brow rose in question, but I ignored him, scooping Eva’s ragdoll frame off the seat. Travis reached in to help me and between the two of us we got her out the SUV in one piece.
“I’ll carry her...”
“Let me.” The words tumbled out before I could stop them. Fenton had already gone ahead leaving just Travis. He glanced at Eva cradled in his arms and then looked at me.
“Should I be worried?”
“No, but I’d appreciate it if you kept this to yourself.”
He gave me a stiff nod before gently placing Eva in my arms. I should have just let him take her, but I didn’t want to let go, not yet. Not when being in the SUV with her, just the two of us, had been the first time in weeks I felt like I could breathe.