by Liz Crowe
“Those fuckers are false advertisers. I make a motion that Shaft does not travel across the border to Canada because I will not tolerate a bacon imposter,” he shouts standing to his feet.
“They have regular bacon in Canada too, dumbass,” Henry argues shaking his head. “Sometimes you are too dumb for your own good.”
“Yeah, like the day at…” I start with a giggle as Hunter glares at me.
“That thing is never to be spoken of! Don’t go there, Daisy. Today is not the day. I’m goin’ through bacon withdrawal. Remindin’ me of my pussy drought may be the thing that puts me over the edge.”
“There’s a box hidden behind the apples in the fridge,” I barely get the words out before he dives into the fridge retrieving my stash of microwave bacon.
“Gray, have I told you I love the hell outta your wife?” he says ripping the box open.
“Usually about a hundred times a day, Cunter, but I love her more,” Gray teases, pulling me to him. I smile as he breathes me in.
“We gotta get going,” Aiden says checking his phone. “Twenty seven minutes until we need to meet the crew to set up.”
“Anal Annie’s back in the saddle. Fuck, I miss Cam man,” Hunter says, yanking his plate full of bacon from the microwave. “Let’s go, I can eat ‘n’ ride,” he mumbles through a mouthful of bacon as he flings open the door.
I watch Aiden’s face soften sadly. “I wish she was coming, Daisy. She said no, huh?”
I nod. “I’m sorry Aiden. Give her some time.” He just nods, as we all follow Hunter to the SUV.
Thanks to Aiden’s strict timing on everything we make it to the airport on time. The guys are setting up then running a quick practice of some new songs they have been working on. Chase and I are going to have all afternoon to hang out at the hotel.
“Is everything ready to go for the hotel?” I ask Henry, while we walk to the terminal gates to wait for everyone to exit the plane.
“Yep, it’s all in the back of the ‘Burban. Suites are across the hall from each other so it will be a pie job getting everything settled. This hotel even has a laundry service,” he says almost excitedly.
Two huge suites worked out perfect. Henry, Aiden and Hunter in one, leaving Gray and me to share with Chase. Although, I expect Chase to spend a lot of time with Hunter; he doesn’t exactly know that yet does he? My phone messenger pings as we wait for the doors to open:
Hope u n Chase have fun Sweets.
Cam. I smile as I read, then type my reply.
Could’ve flown up with her, u know. Maybe I should have Aiden get all Dom and make u come.
I wonder what she would say if he had told her to come.
Aiden makin’ me come is a bad idea.
Being around all these guys is killing my brain cells because my mind automatically forces my reply:
That’s never a bad idea, babe. Come up if u want. Call we’ll pick u up, be here all week.
Her reply is short:
Sorry. <3
I send her hearts but I want to send her a kick in the ass. I need to see if there is an app for that. Just as I put my phone away I see Chase sashay through the metal detector. “Would you look at the hunk of man candy escortin’ you around!” she teases. This five foot nothing woman has made a seven foot tall man blush. “Hi Henry, you takin’ care of that gorgeous asshole I’m so fond of?”
“I try, Chase,” he chuckles then takes her bags. “Did you have a nice flight?”
“After lots of booze, it was very nice,” she teases as I hug her.
“We have all afternoon to settle in at the hotel before meeting the guys for the show tonight,” I explain as we walk out to the parking lot.
Once we have everything settled in the rooms, we declare it bikini time. Leaning back, I stretch out against the lounger by the indoor pool in the hotel. Chase is sprawled out next to me while Henry stands in the corner in his usual stance. “So he’s gun shy, huh?” Chase giggles while I retell the story of Hunter’s near anal probing.
Henry tries his best not to, but even he laughs with us when I inform her how Hunter hasn’t even attempted to pick up another woman since. I hear about how Chase has checked in on Camaron. How she’s a complete wreck, even though she tries to lie her way around it. “She really is full of shit,” Chase says. “I mean, she says she’s fine but then when she came by the shop the other day, Luke asked her out and she burst into tears. Didn’t say a word, she just ran out of there. We have to fix this between them, Daisy. She hasn’t even tried to get a job, she doesn’t care about anything. I even tried pushing that Aiden is moving on.”
“He isn’t though,” I whisper making her choke on her drink.
“What?” Chase shrieks. “I saw that picture with my own eyes.”
“I know what it looked like, Chase. It was staged to light a fire under her possessive nature; it just didn’t work yet. I’m goin’ to have to try harder is all,” I huff
“Ladies,” Henry calls over. “It’s about time to get ready. I would hate for Aiden to go postal over his schedule being thrown off.”
“Vacation’s over, honey. Time to go keep the groupies off our men,” I tease, nudging her. Chase has the most amazing lily tattoo. The reddish orange lilies span the back of her shoulder, down her back then end curing around her hip on her belly. It had to have taken forever to get done.
“Tiger Lily, huh?” I say pointing at her hip. She blushes and nods as we walk to the elevator.
*****
Two hours later, Henry opens the door to the staging area as Aiden yells, “Ten minutes late, Daisy!”
“Sorry Aiden but I found something in the ‘Burban I needed to bring to Hunter,” Henry calls, as Chase and I walk through the door.
Hunter’s face turns up with a grin as he sees Chase. He stands to his feet, walking over without a word then slams his mouth to hers. Chase pulls back, her hands stroking his cheeks. “I hear you have been in a drought, baby,” she whispers against his lips.
“Aiden?” Hunter asks, not taking his eyes from Chase.
“Twenty six minutes,” Aiden mutters rolling his eyes.
Hunter lifts her into his arms without a word. Then walks back into the little changing room, making Chase giggle, slamming the door behind them with his foot. Gray is sitting on a bar stool drinking a beer, watching my every move. His eyes darken as the rake over my body. The short black dress that I have on has a zipper running from top to bottom that matches my silver open toed heels. Holding up his finger, he spins it gesturing for my usual floor show spin. And, as usual, I get that delicious growl of approval. “Get that ass over here,” Gray’s voice making me melt as always.
Slowly, I walk across the room to him, swinging my hips with every step stopping just out of his reach. “Did you miss me today?” he asks, holding his hand out to me. I nod, brushing my fingertips along his hand, before entwining my fingers with his. Gray pulls me between his thighs where he sits on the stool then presses his lips to mine. His tongue teasing my lips as I slowly open for him. My hands slide up his bare arms to get into his hair as his tongue slowly makes love to my mouth. Gray’s hands run down my sides cupping my behind, pulling me against him so that he can deepen the kiss.
I can hear shouting from the other side of the door. Henry is arguing with someone. “You can’t just fuckin’ walk in here making orders. They fired you! Who do you think you are?” The door flies open making me pull back from Grayson to meet a fuming Henry glaring at Tad and Landon, as they walk into the room as if they owned it.
Tad sits on the stool next to Gray with a huge smile. “How’s it goin’, newlyweds?” he asks cockily.
I can feel Grayson’s grip tighten around me as he pulls my back flush against his chest. “You were terminated with good reason this time Tad. You need to get the fuck out before we involve the police,” Gray bites out venomously.
Landon walks over to Tad’s side with his head bowed. “Landon and I are here to visit our dear friend Daisy. S
he has quite the interesting past with Landon here. It’s rather entertaining.”
“We know all about the videos you have, Tad,” I stammer uncomfortably.
“Well, then you’ll have no problem putting us back to work then. I’d hate for those to get in the wrong hands. Someone could see so much of you Mrs. Cole.” The hate for me dripping off of his every word.
Gray shoves me behind him, getting right up in Tad’s face. “You do it, motherfucker, I’ll make you wish you were dead,” he snaps, turning to Landon. “You. Man, you were her fiancé, she fuckin’ loved you. Then you let this shit go on? You deserve to rot in hell with this bastard for letting him tape you having sex with Daisy.”
A roar echoes through the room, then it all seems to be running in slow motion. Hunter barrels through the room, knocking Tad to the ground, his fist connecting with Tad’s jaw with a loud snap. Tad goes limp, nearly instantly, but Hunter keeps hitting him again and again. The thumping and crashing of Hunter’s fist against Tad’s face mixing with shouting and screaming from Hunter. “Henry!” Aiden shouts. “He’ll kill him. Make him stop!”
Henry pulls Hunter off, shoving him against the wall. Hunter is kicking wildly trying to get back at Tad. “Let me go, Henry, I’ll kill that Motherfucker. What the hell did Daisy do to anyone to deserve this shit? Let me go!”
Landon kneels over Tad, worry etched all over his face. “Tad? Are you alright? Say something…” he asks sweetly.
“Are you fuckin’ kiddin’ me?” I scream, shoving away from Gray and Aiden. “After everything that he did you’re going to sit here and worry that he is okay? Get a goddamn grip, Landon! You’re so weak. I can’t believe I didn’t see it before.” Grabbing my hand, Gray tries to calm me down but right now, it doesn’t do a whole lot of good. “You promised me things, Landon, all the while you were sneaking around behind my back with him,” I shout pointing to Tad who is starting to groan in pain.
“Actually, I was sneakin’ around behind his back with you. Tad caught me then used the videos against me,” he murmurs as Tad’s eyes open. “I was never supposed to take another woman without him. I had to have you though, Daisy. I nearly destroyed three years with Tad for a shot with you.”
“I wasn’t enough for you though, Landon,” I whisper.
“No,” he says, shaking his head sadly. “You weren’t. I wished so many times that you could be, but I always found myself going back to Tad. I need to give over the control. I needed you both so badly. I could never choose between the two of you. I still fucking want you, Daisy.”
“You did though, Landon,” Gray says angrily. “By doing this, you did choose.”
“You don’t know everything. Although, I doubt it matters anymore. I don’t have anything to make her want to stay with me now.”
Landon doesn’t say another word. He lifts Tad to his feet, wraps an arm around him. We all watch as they walk out of the room.
“Alright, now that that’s over, we have a show to do in seven minutes,” Aiden says, exhaling loudly. “Hopefully without any more drama.”
I kiss Gray’s cheek then walk over to where Henry is whispering something to Hunter. Leaning up on my toes, I kiss Hunter’s cheek. “Has Gray’s wife told you she’s loves the hell outta his best friends?” I ask. A smile spreads across his face, as I lean into kiss his cheek again. “You really are a good guy. Thank you,” I whisper then walk over and kiss Gray’s lips. “I love you. See you stage left.” With that, I grab Chase’s hand and leave the room before I do something totally girly like cry.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Two Blurred Lines
The concert goes off without a hitch making Aiden a very happy man. Chase drags Hunter off, to God only knows where, as soon as he hits the edge of the stage with no objections. With Henry and Aiden heading to a bar to unwind, it leaves me alone with Gray in our hotel suite. Of course, he barely gets the door locked before pulling the zipper of my dress down exposing nothing but skin. “I stared at you all night in this dress, baby. If I’d known there was nothing under it…”
“Well now that you know, what’re you gonna do about it?” I ask. His hands slide back up grabbing my breasts, his fingers rolling my nipples into hard points.
“Ow, damn,” I groan when he leans down sucking one into his mouth.
“That hurt?”
“I’m fine. Just be gentle, baby,” I whisper when he lifts me into his arms walking us down the hall to our temporary bedroom for almost an entire week.
*****
Three days later, we are sitting at a diner we have declared as the only place we will eat in this damn town. It has a breakfast bar with unlimited amounts of bacon; so Hunter pouts like a baby if we even suggest somewhere else. Chase is leaving tomorrow morning to go back to Vegas. According to her, Cam has agreed to go out with Luke on a date tomorrow night and she is determined to be there for that.
“You realize that shit cannot happen right?” she says picking at her eggs. “We can’t let her date anyone! She belongs with Aiden.”
“You know, maybe this will be a good thing,” I whisper so that Aiden can’t hear me. “She realizes no one is like Aiden… I mean, the only reason she said yes is because of the pictures we send of him at the meet ‘n’ greets,” I say with a grin. Ever since we left Vegas, I’ve been tormenting Cam with picture messages showing Aiden with groupies. She is a total mess. According to Luke, she was at the shop when she got one while helping him with inventory and snapped a pen in half. Of course, Luke knows that her heart belongs to Aiden but that doesn’t mean he is any less blind to the fact that she’s a gorgeous, sorta single woman who is right under his nose. I mean he is a man after all.
Aiden sits down at the table slamming his phone down. “If she fuckin’ thinks she can date some guy then I’m going to show her a thing or two. Daisy, I’ll fuck him up if he does my girl.”
Our eyes dart to Aiden’s, “How did you know?” I ask.
“She sent me a text. We’ve been talkin’ some. So, when I asked her why she didn’t come with Chase that was the response. She’s helpin’ out someone named Luke at his tattoo parlor, or some shit, then they’re goin’ out for dinner tomorrow.”
Chase laughs, “Aiden, he’s my brother. “Cam is pissed about you moving on. Luke said she’s jealous as hell but won’t act on it. He won’t take advantage of the situation. Cam’s yours, we all know that.”
“Everyone ‘cept Cam,” he huffs.
Hunter sits beside me with a plate overflowing with bacon, making me roll my eyes. “That is so nasty. You don’t eat anything other than meat, unless you count the occasional french fry,” I wrinkle up my nose as my stomach rolls.
Grabbing a piece of bacon, Hunter shoves it under my nose. “Babe, nothin’ better than sinkin’ your teeth into some juicy delicious…” The smell hitting my nostrils makes my stomach lurch. Shoving around Hunter I run for the bathroom. Ignoring Gray’s shouting, I dive into the stall throwing up what little I have eaten.
One of his strong hands is holding my hair up, while the other strokes my back. “Are you alright, Daisy?” Gray asks concerned. I try to answer but my stomach lurches again, tears stinging my eyes. My chest heaving as I try to catch my breath. Once I am sure there is nothing left in my stomach to lose, I try standing to my feet. I wobble, making Gray grab me by the waist. “Shit baby,” he says, sitting me on the sink where he takes a wet paper towel to my face. “We’re going back to the hotel now. You need to go to bed.”
I shake my head. “No, I’m fine now, really. I think the diner food just doesn’t sit well with me. Maybe I need to lay off it for a few days is all,” I say, shakily standing on my feet. “Just give me a minute, I’ll be back out once I rinse my mouth out.” He kisses my forehead then walks out of the bathroom heading back to the table.
I splash cold water over my face, my eyes meeting the mirror. I know I’m not catching a bug I don’t look sick or pale. I just look flushed. “Thought you could use this.” I turn to se
e Chase standing in the door way with my bag.
“Thanks.” Grabbing my bag from her I pull out my toothbrush and toothpaste.
“So. You better now?” she asks watching me brush my teeth in the mirror.
I nod. “Yeah. I’m good, just greasy ass diner food and all,” I mutter then spit.
“Honey, we’ve been eatin’ this shit all week. You even longer. How long have you been on tour with the guys?” she asks crossing her arms over her chest.
“Um, six weeks maybe?” I shrug then shove my stuff back into my bag. “Why?”
She eyes me up then shakes her head, “No reason.”
Without another word, we walk back out to the table where everyone is finishing up their food. I sit down between Gray and Hunter as everyone eyes me cautiously. “What?” I shout. “I have been eating like shit for weeks, I was bound to have it kick my ass eventually. Stop looking at me like I’ve got the plague. I’m fine!”
“Holy shit!” Hunter says with a laugh. “Is it that special time?”
“Fuck you,” I choke out, my eyes burning as I push back tears.
“Damn you’re emotional,” he says patting my arm. “Sorry babe. Just fuckin’ with ya,” Hunter says sweetly.
“I’m fine,” I reply, looking at Chase who looks as sick as I felt earlier.
“Hey, how ‘bout we go shopping today, Daisy?” she blurts. “We can meet the guys later before the show.”
“I don’t think you should, baby,” Gray says, squeezing my hand. “You should go rest since you aren’t feeling well. You’ve been off the last couple days.”
My mind is whirling as it all adds up in my head. Six weeks on tour, no ‘special time’. I’m emotional, puking, and fuck me six weeks? That would mean I’m over three weeks late. “Um… No I’m fine. I think that Chase has a great idea. She has to leave soon to go back to Vegas and we need some more girl time.” Leaning into him, I press my lips to his cheek. “We’ll just leave from here and take a cab,” I say, shooing Chase up from her chair before any of the guys have an opportunity to argue. “Love you.” I sing out, blowing kisses to Gray then hurry Chase out the door.