by K. Renee
He hands me the tablet back after he hits the order button and hangs up the phone. “My uncle said he will make sure everything is delivered tonight by eight.” My eyes widen and he just grins at me.
“Your uncle owns that shop?” He shrugs and puts his hand on my thigh before pulling me into his lap.
“Baby, you are in my world now. I know pretty much everyone in this town. The minute you stepped foot in that bar, Seth called me and told me. When he figured out you were pregnant, he told me too. I’ve known.”
I narrow my eyes at him and he doesn’t say anything else.
“If you knew then why didn’t you continue to send your little packages anymore?” He reaches out to me and moves the hair from my neck, pushing it over my shoulder.
“I wanted to see if you’d come to me and tell me first. If you would tell me that I was going to be a dad. Clearly we both are shit at talking to each other.”
I can’t help but laugh at that. “Clearly.”
He messes with his phone a little and I use this time to say something else. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you. I thought of how to tell you, but nothing seemed like it would go over well. You are a rock star and I’m just…” I don’t even know what to call myself. “A club manager.”
“I don’t give a fuck that you worked for Elias in that damn bar. The only thing I wanted was to continue to spend time with you. I’m pretty sure the guys hated me while we were gone. I drank so much every night that I could barely pull my ass out of bed for the shows each night. My writing has become shit and the only thing I thought about was you.”
He tangles his fingers in my hair and pulls my face closer to his. The minute his lips press against mine, it’s like the last seven months didn’t happen. Like Saturday night was just the same as Friday and none of this craziness happened.
Wren pulls my body to straddle his lap and when I do, I press my body against his and the pain reminds me of the reason that we are here right now. I put my fingers to his lips before we can go any further and regret whatever this is.
“I only want to focus on Mason right now.”
He grins, but nods. It’s almost like he knows that more will happen even though I want to deny it. The attraction is still there. If anything, it’s stronger than it was before. All this time I’ve craved him. Wishing that I would grow a pair and find a way to contact him.
“Yeah.”
Before we can move, there is a knock on the door. I stare at him like someone is here to murder me. He stands up with me still in his arms before setting me back on the couch and kisses my forehead before going to the door and checking the peephole to see who is there.
When he opens the door, I hear a man’s voice boom through the front entryway. “Wren! I can’t believe that you’re home and all this baby stuff? You have a kid we don’t know about?” I can hear Wren’s chuckle as he answers the man.
“Yeah, I actually do. He was born early and should be able to come home tomorrow so I wanted to make sure he had everything he would need before I left.” I peek over the couch and see the man in the doorway. He looks similar to Wren, minus the tattoos and piercings.
I try to smooth my hair down the best I can before he spots me. “Ah, is this the girlfriend?” He starts to make his way toward me and I stand up trying not to wince with the slight tweak of my stomach.
“Uncle Barron, this is Jericho. Jericho this is Barron.” He comes right at me and pulls me in for a hug and I have to bite my cheek to keep from whimpering out in pain.
“You’re beautiful. I’m glad you’ve finally moved on from that crazy girl you dated before.” He pulls away and I can’t help but grin at Wren.
“Yeah, but that crazy one is back again because someone outted my identity to the fucking world.”
His uncle just laughs.
“Did you boys really think that you would go your whole career being in the shadows of one of the biggest metal bands?”
Wren doesn’t say anything because he knows it’s true. “They didn’t need to bring Jericho or Mason into it though. Now Jandie has already shown up to the hospital and snuck into Jericho’s room and she even threatened her over the phone.”
He runs his hand over the back of his neck and his uncle puts his hand on his shoulder and squeezes it.
“I don’t know what to tell you other than keep security here while you’re gone. But remember you have your family here. We are all here while you’re on the road and we can help any way we can.” He gives me a look and I just look down at my feet.
I’ve never been one to ask for help because I don’t have anyone. It’s not in my nature. I’ve been alone for far too long to ask anyone else for help. It’s partly the reason I never told Wren about Mason. I was afraid that he would leave just like everyone else in my life except Darious. He was the only constant I’ve had in my life for the last few years.
Another knock sounds behind them and his uncle opens the door for a couple of men that come inside with boxes of stuff. Wren kisses me on the forehead.
“Why don’t you shower while I help these guys with the boxes and furniture.”
I just nod my head in agreement and he presses another kiss to my lips before turning and walking out the door.
Sighing, I look around the room before making my way down the hallway toward the bedrooms. I find a couple of bathrooms, but no towels or anything to use to wash myself, so I head to the master bedroom, or what I think is the master. As soon as I walk into the room, I’m hit with his scent and a room that could only be assumed as his.
Dark furniture and bedding is what fills this room. It’s beautiful in a manly sort of way, but I can tell that he’s never had a woman live here. If he did, there would be more feminine touches. Pictures or artwork spread throughout the house. My fingers glide over the dresser and the bed before I make it to the bathroom that is even more amazing than the best ones I’ve seen in Las Vegas.
It’s got everything you could imagine. Looking around, I fall in love with it. While he’s gone, I am so using this bathroom every day. I wonder if he would mind if I just lived in it…
After about ten minutes of trying to figure out how to turn the damn shower on, I get it working and to the right temperature before stripping down and stepping under the hot water. Every muscle in my body is still sore, so the feeling of the hot water is amazing. I spend far too long just standing under the stream, but it’s probably because I haven’t had a shower in several days unless you call the nurse cleaning my incision with some weird shit that smelled like ass.
The curtain gets pulled back and it scares the crap out of me.
Wren steps into the shower with me and as much as I want to stare at his delicious body, I don’t. Things between us can’t be more than just co-parents. I don’t want anything else, not after everything that has happened in the last seven months. Definitely not if some girl is crazy enough to want to hurt my son or me because of Wren.
I won’t put myself or Mason in danger.
“We just need to put everything together and away. I’ll call the guys and have them come over and help.”
My eyes meet his and I give him a look of uncertainty. The last time they were all together was in the hospital and they were all pissed. The time before that, I was pretty much told to get my claws out of Wren because he was making bad decisions that affected the band.
“Can I go back to my house while they are here? I really don’t want another blame session on how I’m the one who is making you do stupid shit.”
His whole body tenses and I shut my mouth. I never told him about why I left that night and I didn’t let him explain anything to me either. I just ran. I did what I do best when things get scary.
The insane attraction we have to each other is something that I don’t understand, and if I’m honest with myself, it scares the crap out of me. I don’t want something so powerful that it can break me. Just thinking about it makes me itchy and when that happens, I run. I try to get around
Wren even though I haven’t washed my hair or my body, but he stops me. His arms wrap around my shoulders and he pulls me back to his chest, holding me in place.
Chapter 22
Wren
Knowing that Dek said something to her that night making her run is pissing me the fuck off. I keep everything in check and when she tries to leave, I wrap my arms around her and hold her to my body. I’m not letting her walk away when she doesn’t want to talk about this shit. It’s going to have to happen whether she wants to or not.
We are now bound to each other for the rest of our lives. If we don’t figure it out, then it’s going to burn like hell. She’s all I want. I want the three of us to be a family, but I have no idea where her head is right now.
I should be pissed as fuck that she never told me about Mason, but I can’t be. That little boy is a miracle that I won’t ever take for granted and I’m going to do my all to be the best father to him.
“What did Dek say to you that night?”
She turns her head away from me and doesn’t say a word. My left hand slides down her back and she yelps the second my hand hits her ass cheek.
“Wren!” She gives me the stink eye, but I don’t give a shit.
“What did Dek say to you that made you run that night?” I ask again.
“I just told you. He said that I was going to be the one to ruin you because I had some spell on you or whatever.” This time I grab her chin and force her to look at me.
“Why did you run?”
She sighs and her shoulders hunch forward. “I always do. When something scary happens and I don’t know how to deal with it, I just leave. When I found out that Darious and my best friend were sleeping together, I ran to Vegas. I start completely over because it’s easy to just hide from it than deal.” She closes her eyes. “As soon as everything I had worked for started to fall apart in Vegas, and Dek said that shit, I knew that it was time to go again.”
“So running was how you dealt with Elias firing you and finding out you were pregnant?”
She shrugs before answering.
“I didn’t know until I got here. I thought it was the flu or something and then I realized I was late. I had missed two periods, but I thought that it was just because of the stress I was putting myself through. I spent weeks trying to find a job and a new place to live. The stress of everything was more than I could handle too, so I didn’t think anything of it. Plus, I missed you.”
Her eyes snap open when those last few words fall from her mouth.
“You missed me?”
She bites her bottom lip, refusing to answer me.
“I missed you more than you even know. I had to drown myself in booze every night just to get through the sets we played. When I went back to the bus, I drank myself to sleep just so I wouldn’t pick up my phone and call you.”
For the first time ever, I’m being honest with a woman, my woman. She may not agree with me, but she is going to be mine. I won’t rest until I win her over and show her just how fucking good we can be together.
She’s the mother of my son and even if she doesn’t want to admit it, there is something between us. There always will be this pull that brings us together even if she doesn’t want to admit it. I’ll fight for the both of us if I have to.
“How do you know my number?”
I grin at this question. It feels like so long ago that I sent myself her photo from her phone.
“Well, when I had your phone, I kinda did a thing.”
Her brows pull together and she looks confused as all hell.
“What do you mean you ‘kinda did a thing?’ So help me God, you better not have gone through my phone.”
I just continue to grin at her as I grab the shampoo and lather it in my hands before running it through her long dark hair. I wash the soap out as she continues to stew about me having her number.
I already know she’s going to get pissy when she finds out that I saw her photos. I still jack off to it while on the tour bus. It’s the only thing that got me through some nights. Seeing that photo of her reminded me what I was going to get back and let’s just say it kept me from going back to my old ways of fucking anything that looked my way while on tour.
I know that it was Darious or whatever that tool’s name is that she is looking at in the photo, but I ignore the jealousy that comes with that. Once I come back from the next leg of the tour, I’m going to get my own set of photos that I can take with me everywhere I go.
After I wash my hair, followed by her body and mine, the water has long gone cold and I shut it off, grabbing a towel to dry Jericho off before drying myself.
I lead her toward the closet and grab her a pair of sweats and an Arduous Murder shirt for her to wear and I pull on a pair of gym shorts. Walking over to the bed, I grab my phone and send the guys a message telling them to get their asses over here to help me put Mason’s things together so he can come home tomorrow.
Once I get responses from them all, I lead Jericho to the room that I think would be best for Mason. It’s one of the only empty rooms still and is easily accessible from the master. As soon as I open the door, Jericho puts her hand to her mouth as she looks around the room.
“What do you think, babe?”
The walls are a light grey color already, so I’m lucking out on having to paint. Plus, I don’t want to paint the room and put him in it with the smell still lingering.
“This room is perfect.”
She walks through the room, running her fingers along almost every surface. I’ve noticed that she does that when she is looking at things, it never fails. Even in her hospital bed, she did it to everything she could touch.
“Good. I’m going to grab the boxes for the crib and start putting them together while I wait for the guys. Do you want to get his bedding and clothes all washed and stuff.”
She nods her head and I wrap my arm around her neck, pulling her face to mine. I kiss her softly and she moans. She still wants me like I want her.
“Wren,” she murmurs against my lips, but I don’t say anything.
I grab the back of her neck and deepen the kiss because I know I won’t be getting another chance like this. She’ll go back to being distant and will have her hands full once Mason comes home and I’m back on the road.
Home. They are both going to be home.
I kiss her deeply and her hands grip my triceps. The kiss feels like it goes on and on, but never feels long enough. I never thought that I could want someone the way that I want her. That night in the club, I knew there was something different about her and I’m glad as fuck that I made the move. Glad that I got her in my bed and now in my life permanently.
The doorbell interrupts us and I groan. Those fuckers have the worst timing. I grab Jericho’s hand and drag her to the door with me. These guys have to get used to her being my life and I won’t let any of them accuse her of doing shit. She wasn’t the one who went after me. I did all the pursuing and I was the one that got her fired. Sure she didn’t say no, but I knew it would only piss off Elias by fucking her in his club when I knew he wanted her too.
Opening the door, Dek is standing closest to us. He gives Jericho a dirty look before moving past her and inside the house. Enver gives her a sad smile and pats my shoulder before coming in and Graham stands there for a second watching us.
“So is this going to happen?” he asks, motioning between us.
Jericho looks over at me with wide eyes and I just wink at her.
“Yeah, it is.”
Her mouth drops open and she stares at me in shock, unsure of what to do or say. Instead, I just pull her to me gently and press a kiss to the top of her head.
Graham doesn’t say anything else, he just nods and walks past me. Jericho turns to me and elbows me in the side as I shut the door.
“Are you insane?” she whisper-yells at me.
“Yeah probably.” I grin at her.
She rolls her eyes before huffing off to where everything is
stacked in piles. She heads straight for a few bags and starts unloading things while I walk over to the crib boxes and tell the guys where to put them.
We spend the next five hours putting everything together while drinking beers and eating pizza that Jericho ordered.
Enver grabs his guitar from my office and takes a seat next to me. I listen to the chords he strums and lyrics start coming to me. It’s been months since I’ve written anything remotely usable for the band and I can’t help but start singing.
“One minute things are one way and the next everything is fucked up. We don't want to miss the next thing, but here we are in the rearview mirror. Watching all our dreams float away, never to stay. I just want to stay.”
The guys all look at me and I just shrug my shoulders. “Where the fuck did that come from?” Graham asks with his mouth hanging wide open.
“Apparently it’s been waiting on me to get that girl in the other room back.”
Enver grins at that and starts to play it again while Dek starts typing a bunch of things down on his phone.
“Keep going,” Graham says when Enver gets back to the spot I stopped.
“I gave you everything. All of me, but I was left with nothing. One night was all it took, you caught me with a hook and now you’re setting me free. I never want to leave. I never want to leave your side. Don’t say goodbye.”
I let Enver play a few solo chords before I sing some more.
“Don’t set me free; I need you to breathe. I need you now more than ever and I won’t stop until I get you back. Be with me, I’ll be all you ever need. Take a chance with me. Take a chance with me.”
Every word burns at my soul as it flows through me without having to put much effort into it. The only thing I can think of as the words continue to spill is Jericho. She is the one that I want to hear this song even if it never amounts to nothing more than this right here.
“Up all night, we had a fight you left the same day. Without a fight, I watched you walk away. I never should have let you go, but my pride got in the way. I want you to stay. On the road, all the faces that passed didn’t matter at all. All thoughts of you were what I got drunk to. Even though you weren’t there, your ghost haunted me. You still haunt me.”