by Selena Kitt
“Vegan.” Tyler shuddered. “Rob’s orders. Says meat makes everyone sluggish. The roadies make the coach go through the drive-thru at McDonalds at least twice a week when we’re on the road.”
“Rob doesn’t know?”
“Nope. And what he doesn’t know won’t hurt him.”
“Do they do it while he’s sleeping or something?”
“They’re on a different coach.” Tyler laughed at my misconceptions about life on the road. Like I was supposed to know what being on a tour bus was like? “We’ve got about ten coaches for the roadies and staff alone.”
“Ten?” I gaped at him.
“But our ride’s pure luxury.” He winked, licking cheese powder off his fingers. Just watching that made me want him. Silly, but true. “I’ll show it to you. You wouldn’t know you were even inside a bus.”
A knock sounded on the door and we both jumped. Tyler got up to answer it, padding over in bare feet, still shirtless, in just his jeans. It was a devastatingly sexy look for him, but he walked around like he had no idea how hot he was. Which just made him even hotter.
“Thanks, Celeste,” he said, taking something from her. I couldn’t see Celeste, though, because Tyler was blocking my line of sight.
“Did you get through to him?” she asked.
“He didn’t pick up. I left a message. I’m sure he’s fine,” he reassured her.
“Well, that makes one of us.” Another sigh. She must sigh a thousand times a day, I thought.
“Hey, I’m gonna take my Katie-girl over to her place to get some clothes,” Tyler said. “Want us to stop by her friend’s? See if he’s just holed up?”
“Would you?” Celeste sounded thrilled at this idea. “I would really love it if you’d do that.”
“Sure, not a problem,” he said. “So, one o’clock—where do you want me to be?”
“I’ll come get you.”
“That works.” He took a step back, swinging the door wider and glancing back to me. “I’m bringing Katie.”
“Hi Katie.” Celeste waved, and I was instantly struck with how pretty—and together—she appeared. She was tall, slim, dark hair pulled back tight, wearing a blazer and skirt combination that had to have cost a fortune. She was even wearing high heels. I’d imagined a frazzled den mother type, someone padded and motherly and clucking. This woman was definitely not that.
“Hi Celeste.” I waved back, my mouth full of Oreos.
“I’ll see you in an hour or so,” Celeste said.
“Okay, thanks.” Tyler closed the door.
“Wow. I can’t wait to see you in this.” He held a black dress up on a hanger as he came back toward me, laying it over the back of the sofa.
“Where did she get it?” I wondered aloud, wiping Oreo crumbs on my jeans so I could touch the silk—holy crow, it was real silk—of the dress. “It’s still got the tags on. Holy shit. How much?”
Three thousand dollars. Three thousand dollars. Where did you even find a three-thousand-dollar dress in Detroit? I gaped at Tyler and he shrugged, but he couldn’t help that little smug smile. He was showing off, all proud, and I knew it.
“This is amazing.” I put my arms around his neck and gave him a big, fat Oreo kiss, tasting Doritos in his mouth. It was a sexy, junk food combination. “You’re amazing. And Celeste? She’s a fucking miracle worker! What the hell?”
“I told you, she’s the tour angel.” His hands moved under my shirt in back, running up my spine. “She can get me anything I want. I could call her up and ask for an octopus, a hot air balloon and seventeen kiwis and she’d do it.”
“Except drugs,” I reminded him with slightly raised eyebrows. “No one’s supposed to give you those.”
“True.” He sighed, dipping his head so he could nibble at my collarbone. “But I’m a bad boy.”
“You get them anyway?”
“I get what I want.” He pulled me in tight, his mouth hot on mine, hands roaming.
“That sounds familiar,” I whispered when we parted, my arms around his neck, my hands in his dirty blonde hair.
“I bet it does.” He chuckled. “You’re a go-for-it kinda girl. I like that.”
“A bad girl needs a bad boy,” I whispered into his ear.
“Then we’re perfect for each other.” His arms tightened around me. Just hearing him say that made me feel kind of woozy all over, like I was swimming in midair. Tyler Cook thought we were perfectly matched. Well, would wonders never cease?
“Can you wear what you’ve got on?” he asked, pulling back to look at me. “Just until I can take you home, so you can get some clean clothes.”
“Yeah, although I’ll have to go commando.” I smiled at the light that came into his eyes when I said that. “My panties are too dirty to wear again.”
“Can I have them then?”
“Seriously?”
“Something to remind me of you on the road.”
“Sure, they’re yours.” I laughed, trying to pretend I wasn’t feeling slighted by him not asking me to go with him on tour. Just because I would have jumped at the chance didn’t mean I was going to be invited. That was the real stuff of fantasy. “I should have just tossed them on the stage for you with all the other girls’ panties.”
“I could pick yours out of a thousand.” He whispered this into my ear, the heat of his mouth, the press of his hands against my lower back, all making me feel like I was drunk or high or both. Then he said, “By scent alone.”
I think I died a little.
“I wish I didn’t have to do the whole fan club thing.” He licked my earlobe and then nipped at it, making me melt in his arms. “I’d like to fuck you until you’re sore.”
Jesus jumped-up Christ in a sidecar, this man was sex on wheels.
“I AM the Trouble fan club,” I teased. “Or… at least, the Tyler Cook fan club.”
“My one official member.” He chuckled.
“Dude, do you have any idea how many women want you?” I pulled back to look at him, incredulous.
“I don’t care.” He buried his face in my hair, breathing me in. “I just like that you want me.”
Want him? Fuck that. I was starting to need him, to crave him like a drug.
I didn’t know what I was going to do when I had to go home without him tomorrow, home to an empty apartment, an empty life. I’d loved Tyler Cook from afar for years, but now I was falling for him, really and truly falling head-over-heels for very real flesh and hot-blooded man. What in the hell was I going to do about that?
Chapter Five
Meeting with the fan club didn’t take long. There were fifteen girls and three guys, a fairly good microcosm of Trouble’s fans, a mix of teens and older women. All three guys were the young “I want to play guitar to get laid” type—although I wasn’t sure there was any other type when it came to rock stars—and all three of them looked like the cat that ate the canary, surrounded by a flock of excited, buzzing girls. They knew, when Tyler and the rest of Trouble left, they would be the only testosterone left in the room. What did it matter that they all needed a good dose of Proactive? The girls wouldn’t care—their heads would be filled with thoughts of Trouble, from Tyler Cook to Kenny Guardi, Nick Franco and Jon Manatos. And of course, the missing Rob Burns.
“I’m pretty sure he’s with my friend, Sabrina,” I told Celeste, watching Tyler smile and give the bull horns metal sign with both hands for yet another selfie. Celeste and I were in the corner of the room. The casino let them use an empty baccarat room. It wasn’t a popular game in Detroit—too rich for most people’s blood.
“Did you call her?” Celeste looked hopeful.
“Tyler asked me to.” I nodded. “But she didn’t pick up either.”
“Damnit.”
“She’s not an ax murderer,” I assured her. “I promise, she didn’t kidnap him or anything.”
“It’s just not like him. Rob doesn’t… he doesn’t pick girls up on the road. Not like...”
; “Not like Tyler,” I finished for her. “Look, I know I’m just the one he happened to pick out last night. I get it. I’m just Ringo.”
“Ringo?” She looked at me quizzically.
“Happy to be here.”
She laughed.
“Any one of those girls would kill to be you right now,” she pointed out.
“I know it.” I nodded, watching them all crowd Tyler, wanting to touch him, vying for his attention. And he kept smiling over at me. “I got lucky.”
“He might ask you to come with him on the road,” Celeste said quietly.
“Really?” I blinked at her in surprise.
“He’s done it before. Tyler doesn’t like to be alone.” Celeste was watching him like a hawk, like she expected him to do something wild, crazy. “I think he brings girls along like teddy bears. The thing is… do you have a life here?”
“Well, sure...” Okay, I lied. What difference did it make? I’d been lying my whole life, even to myself.
“I mean, you know, a boyfriend? A job? A mortgage?” She ticked off all the things I didn’t have in one breath.
“Well...” I shrugged, glancing down at my now empty left hand. No more ring. No more commitments, real or imaginary.
“Because I’ve seen women drop everything—and I mean everything—to follow us on the road, and when the tour is over, their life… kind of moved on without them.” She looked at me, up and down, like she was appraising me. “I don’t know if it’s worth it, you know?”
“Gotcha.” I gave her the “ok” sign to indicate I understood, but of course, I wasn’t anything like those other women. Because I didn’t have anything to lose, did I?
“And it’s not everything you think it’s going to be.” Celeste looked back at Tyler, a smiling face in the midst of a bunch of goggling, giggling women who had suddenly turned into thirteen-year-old girls. “There’s a lot of traveling, a lot of rushing around, and then a whole lot of waiting. It’s not the glitz and glamour people think it is. It’s a production. Trust me, I know.”
“I believe you.” I did believe her. About all of it, not just about the rigors of a concert tour.
“So, if he does ask you—and I see the way he looks at you, I think he will ask you—just be prepared,” she told me. “Know what you’re giving up, and what you’re walking into.”
“Thanks,” I said, and I meant it. “I really appreciate the advice.”
“I look out for my boys.” She shrugged then gave me a little smile.
“Sounds like they need it.”
“Some of them more than others.” She sighed. Celeste the tour angel, Queen of Sighs.
“Well I’m sure Rob and Sabrina aren’t in any real trouble,” I said again, trying to reassure her. “Bree’s the most sensible, responsible person I know.”
“I just hope he took some of those condoms with him,” she grumbled.
“Bree will make him wear ten of them, don’t worry.” I laughed.
“I sure hope so.” She didn’t sound so convinced.
“Listen, Tyler’s taking me home to get some clean clothes,” I told her. “We’re going to stop by Sabrina’s, see if they’re at her place.”
“Oh, that would be great.” She brightened. “Please call and let me know?”
“Sure,” I agreed amiably. “I’ll have Tyler call you.”
“Thanks.” She gave me a grateful smile.
Tyler had broken away from the crowd and was headed our way. He wrapped his arms around me from behind, kissing my ear, unmindful of all the gaping stares from the women across the room. But I was aware of them. I felt their eyes on me like laser beams, cutting me to bits.
“I need to get out of here,” he murmured, glancing at Celeste. “They wanted to hang all over me like I was a jungle gym or something.”
“Poor boy.” Celeste grinned. “Rob usually takes the brunt of it, doesn’t he?”
“Apparently you don’t know what you’ve got until it’s gone!”
“The three stooges are headed over to Greektown,” Celeste said, and it took me a minute to realize she was talking about the other three members of Trouble. “You guys want to go?”
“Nah.” Tyler slipped an arm over my shoulder. “We’re gonna mosey on over to Canada, eh?”
“Off to the great white north,” I agreed.
“And you’re going to stop by your friend, Sabrina’s?” Celeste reminded us hopefully, looking at Tyler.
“That was the plan,” he agreed.
“Okay. Be good!” She wagged a stern finger, her words directed at Tyler. “I don’t want any international incidents.”
“Boy Scouts honor.” He even did the Boy Scout salute.
“You were never a Boy Scout,” Celeste scoffed.
“No, but I was a Girl Scout,” I piped up.
“Do you still have the uniform?” Tyler grinned at me when I looked over my shoulder at him, appalled. I nudged him in the ribs and he let out a little “oof.”
“Come on, let’s go,” he said.
We said goodbye to Celeste and slipped out together, going back to the room so Tyler could change. He wore a pair of chinos and a white button-down shirt, a navy blazer over that. And Keds. That made me want to laugh but I didn’t. It was somehow a very Tyler look, strangely appealing, kind of haphazardly sexy.
I grabbed the dress—three thousand dollars’ worth of dress—and we headed down to the limo. My apartment wasn’t that far, about a twenty-minute drive, but we stopped by Sabrina’s house first. I wasn’t hopeful. Her car wasn’t even in the driveway. I knocked and knocked, even looked in the front window, but no one answered.
“Where the hell are they?” I wondered aloud.
“Fucking like bunnies somewhere,” Tyler assured me, an arm around my shoulder as the limo driver made his way to my house.
“Have you ever seen bunnies fuck?” I snorted. “It’s over in two seconds.”
“I stand by my original statement.”
I laughed.
I was a little afraid to have Tyler in my apartment. It was a giant mess, but he didn’t seem to notice or care about the empty pizza boxes and beer bottles in the kitchen or the clothes strewn all over my bedroom.
“Should I put on the dress?” I hung it over my closet door, frowning at it.
“It’s only two.” Tyler glanced at my alarm clock. He was lying on my bed, hands behind his head. “Our reservations are at seven. What can we do until then?”
“Hmm.” I tapped my chin, like I was thinking about it. “I wonder...”
“Come here.” He jerked his head, motioning me over, and I climbed into my bed with Tyler Cook already in it. How many girls could say they’d had Tyler Cook in their bed? Okay, maybe it was a high number, after all, but it wasn’t in the millions or anything. And there were definitely millions who wanted him.
I snuggled up, resting my head on his chest, listening to the steady drumbeat of his heart. He put his arms around me and stroked my hair. I was sleepy, but I knew, if I closed my eyes, I’d fall asleep in his arms, and I was too afraid I would wake up and realize it was all a dream.
“Let’s see, we’ve got fucking, eating, smoking, drinking, gambling—not necessarily in that order,” Tyler ticked them off on his fingers. “We could watch TV or play video games. I’m sure there has to be a thousand more mindless pursuits we could engage in.”
“Probably,” I agreed. “Although only half of them are legal.”
“That’s always an issue.” He snorted. “So, if you could do anything right now, what would you do?”
“This.”
“Okay, besides this.”
“This.”
“Okay, let’s say this is your last day on earth, but you can’t leave the city and you can’t stay here in your apartment.” He was tracing with his finger again, this time on my upper arm, making me shiver. “Where would you go?”
“The zoo.” It came out without even thinking. “I’d go set all the animals free.”
>
“Wouldn’t you be afraid of being eaten by a lion or mauled by a bear?”
“It’s my last day on earth, what do I care?” I shrugged. “It would be worth it, if I could set them free for a while. I was already dead anyway, right? I mean, eaten by a tiger. Is there a better way to go?”
“In my sleep, preferably,” Tyler snorted. He traced something again and again on my skin. I couldn’t find any discernible pattern to it, but it made me shiver. I liked it.
“Chicken.” I nudged him, smiling. “You gotta look death in the face, give it the finger and tell the reaper to come bring it.”
He laughed.
“You are so fucking awesome.” He kissed the top of my head. “Okay, the zoo it is. Get dressed, let’s go.”
“What?” I lifted my head to frown at him. “The zoo? It’s the middle of winter.”
“Are they open?”
“Well… yeah.” They were open, but I doubted there would be many people there. Maybe that was a good thing. Although the prospect of walking around the zoo in the cold wasn’t appealing. But being with Tyler, anywhere, was. So, there was that.
“Good!” He sat up, pushing at me. “Go get dressed, woman! We have places to go, animals to free!”
“You’re crazy,” I said, but I was laughing. “I can’t wear a three-thousand-dollar dress to the zoo!”
“True.” He nodded, sitting on the edge of my bed as I got up. “Wear something else. We’ll come back here so you can get dressed before dinner. Is the zoo far?”
“No.” I shook my head. “Right around the corner, actually.”
“Perfect.” Tyler’s eyes lit up when I pulled my Trouble t-shirt off and started rummaging through my drawers for a clean one. “Damn girl. You are fine.”
“Great is more like it.” I stuck my tongue out at him.
“No arguments from me.”
I put long johns on under my jeans and Tyler laughed at me, but I wore a bra, an undershirt, a t-shirt and a sweater too. That was before I put on my boots and got my long, wool winter coat from the closet.
“Are you sure you don’t need some more clothes on?” he asked, cracking up.
“You’re going to thank me for these.” I pulled a navy-blue hat and a pair of matching gloves out of a box in the top of my hall closet. “Baby, it’s cold outside.”