One More Time

by Ali Parker

  They were whispering to each other but also winking and waving as fans screamed their names. It was obvious to me that they were trying not to show that they didn’t know what was going on, but I doubted anyone else would be able to tell.

  “Because of all that, and I guess in part because I’m an impatient asshole sometimes, I thought I should share something with all of you.” They quieted down again, hanging on to my every word eagerly. The few fans whose faces I could see were looking at me almost hungrily, crazy curious about what it was I was doing.

  “So if you’ll bear with me for a few minutes, there’s some stuff I need to say.” It was so quiet now that you probably would’ve been able to hear a pin drop. Too bad I didn’t have one on me to test that theory.

  “Here goes.” I’d reached the other end of the stage now, only a couple of yards from the start of the press box. Kelly was sitting farther to the back, and I couldn’t see her.

  “I didn’t always know what kind of man I was. This life, as terrifying and fucking awesome as it can be, can also scramble things sometimes. The way we look at things, even ourselves, can change. When you ostensibly get everything you’ve always wanted, it’s hard to admit sometimes that there’s still something missing. It feels selfish to even think that way.”

  I couldn’t believe I was saying all this for all the world to hear. At the edge of the stage, I could see thousands of phones were raised in my direction, recording this shit for all of time. All I could do was hope like hell it turned out the way I hoped it would.

  On the other hand, if it didn’t, it wouldn’t matter that millions of people could watch it on YouTube because I’d know the real opinion of the only person who’s opinion mattered to me on this one.

  “I’ve enjoyed my life as a rocker. Before you start wondering, no. I’m not about to tell you that I’m leaving the band. I still do love this life, but there’s always been something missing.”

  Moment of truth time.

  “Kelly. Kelly Diamond, would you please come up here?” A burst of static sounded in my ear, my earpiece still in it.

  A voice I didn’t recognize, presumably one of the security guys, said, “Mr. Larsen, are you referring to Ms. Diamond, the reporter? Your PR agent’s sister?”

  I nodded to the disembodied voice, and I knew he’d be able to see it on every monitor in the place with all the cameras keeping me tight in their sights. Within seconds, Kelly appeared in the wings nearest to me, looking flushed and bewildered.

  Motioning for her to join me, I grinned like a maniac as I watched my girl walking toward me. When she reached me, I let the mic fall to my side and hooked my arm around her. “I’m really fucking sweaty, but I’m going to kiss you anyway. That okay with you?”

  Kelly nodded, relaxing against my chest as I pulled her to me. It sent a spark through me to know that even in front of all these people, all these cameras, she still trusted me. She still forgot about everything else as soon as I held her.

  I knew the feeling because it was the same for me. Lowering my lips to hers, everything else disappeared. The stage, the crowd, the rest of the band. None of it was there. It was only Kelly, only her soft lips underneath mine.

  Not able to hold back, I deepened the kiss and groaned into her mouth. Her arms wound around my neck, and she pressed herself closer to me. I forgot where we were and what I supposed to be doing. All I knew suddenly was that I needed her. I needed to get inside her. Now.

  There was a low cough behind me, and Jared’s voice followed it, snapping me back to the reality where I was about to rip Kelly’s clothes off in front of a live crowd of thousands.

  “Guys, uh, I hate to break this up, but we’re all kinda waiting on you here. Also, I don’t think there’s a rating on this show, so you know, we gotta keep the nudity to a minimum.”

  The audience was hooting and hollering, clearly enjoying the show. I realized our misstep and broke the kiss reluctantly, giving Kelly’s lip one last nibble as I released her mouth.

  She giggled, pulling slightly away from me. Her cheeks were bright pink, and her breath was coming fast, but she looked over my shoulder at Jared. “You’re one to talk about nudity.”

  He dipped his chin and chuckled. “I’ve never been more than half naked on stage. You two looked like you were about to go all the fucking way. What’s the hold up, bro?”

  “Nothing,” I grunted, trying to gain control of my raging hard-on before stepping back from Kelly. Jared stayed slightly behind me, giving us our space but still letting me know that he was there for me.

  I drew some of his fearless energy that always seemed to drip from him when we got on stage, desperately needing it for what I had to do next. Christ, this was much harder than it’d looked like when he did it.

  Lifting the mic back to my lips, I gave the crowd an unapologetic shrug as I ran a hand through my hair. “I’m not sorry about that, but let’s get back to business, shall we?”

  They yelled their agreement, some still wolf-whistling and cheering. I waited for them to calm down, clearing my throat into the mic. “In this one case, I won’t be as cool as my brother because I didn’t have time to get a ring yet, but I wanted to do this anyway.”

  The silence from before returned in an instant, heavy anticipation settling over the crowd. I kept the mic to my lips, sinking to my knees and reaching for Kelly’s hand with my free one. I heard Jared gasp behind me, “No fucking way.”

  I ignored him, keeping all my focus on Kelly. Her eyes were wider than saucers, disbelief shining through cautious optimism and a touch of “what the fuck are you doing?”. My lips raised at the corners, my eyes only on hers.

  “What do you say, Kelly Diamond. Will you marry me?”

  The crowd erupted at my question, security now circling the stage as the energy levels rose and people started surging forward. The audience was going wild, but neither Kelly nor I moved a muscle. Our gazes were locked, our fingers entwined.

  The only thing that mattered to me in that moment was Kelly’s answer. Even if I had to get trampled to hear it, I wasn’t fucking moving until I got it. I’d make sure the security got Kelly somewhere safe, of course. She could call me with her answer, but I wasn’t moving until I had it.

  In the back of my mind, I became aware that the crowd was chanting now. It was a steady, deafening chorus.

  “SAY YES! SAY YES! SAY YES!”

  Kelly tugged at my hand, and I stood in front of her, my heart in my hands as I waited for her response. She threw her arms around me, pulling me closer to her. “Yes. I can’t believe you did this, but yes. A million times yes.”

  “Yes?”

  She grinned, and it lit up my being. “Yes!”

  My arms wrapped around her waist, and I lifted her off her feet, spinning her around. Her soft hands found my cheeks, and she lowered her lips to mine, kissing me so hard and so deeply that my breath left me.

  I clung to her, knowing that as long as she was there, I had everything in the world that I was always too afraid to even hope for. Kelly’s lips parted beneath mine, and I kissed her with every fucking thing I had.

  Epilogue

  Kelly

  Three months later

  It was late March, and we were back in Los Angeles. Finally. The tour was over, a whirlwind of private planes and expensive champagne that I couldn’t drink, fancy hotel rooms and insane crowds. It went better than anyone had expected, and Destitute was rocking the charts worldwide.

  The fact that both Larsens were now officially off the market had brought out the female fans by the hordes, and toward the end, even Nick was wary of stepping out of the hotel. It was kind of funny, actually. But he didn’t think so.

  I looked around the empty room, trying to imagine what it was going to look like when it was done. “Do you think we should paint it taupe or gray?”

  Caleb’s brow scrunched up. “Gray or what?”

  “Taupe.” I laughed, showing him the swatches of paint colors I was holding. He
grabbed my wrist and tugged me closer. My tiny baby bump nudged at his hard stomach.

  “Whatever you want.” His arms came around me, and he rested his head on my shoulder and pressed a kiss to my neck.

  “You can’t keep saying that,” I complained, swatting his arm.

  I could feel him smile against my neck. “Everything I’ve read said that I’d better keep saying just that.”

  “Then stop reading,” I joked, peering down at the swatches I was holding. “But I think gray. What do you think?”

  “Gray it is,” Caleb agreed. Sighing, I smiled and released him. He’d been absolutely amazing since I’d told him that I was pregnant and even more so since we’d gotten engaged. My ring caught on the sunlight dancing in through the window, and the sight took my breath away for a second.

  We’d gotten around to getting me a ring while we’d been in France. Intricate and delicate woven threads of platinum surrounded a brilliant cut diamond. The threads were designed to look almost like leaves that the stone was nestled in. I loved it.

  Thinking back on Caleb’s proposal, both the public one at that show and the one in Paris once he had the ring when it’d only been the two of us and the glowing lights of the Eiffel Tower at midnight, brought a similarly bright glow to my heart.

  I’d never been more surprised or overwhelmed in my life than I’d been up on that stage when he’d dropped to his knee. And I hadn’t been the only one blindsided. Everyone had been taken by surprise, and the move had sent tongues wagging in the industry.

  Some people were even convinced that it was just another publicity stunt, same as they thought when Jared proposed to Alicia. We let them think what they wanted. Alicia had issued an official statement from the band saying that they were ecstatic about Caleb’s impending nuptials, though I personally thought she was the only ecstatic one.

  Maybe Jared too. He seemed genuinely happy for his brother, and the two had been getting along much better since it’d happened. The other guys had welcomed me into the fold as much as they had with Alicia, and while Matt was thrilled for both brothers, Nick and Dom were more reserved.

  Dom, however, had surprised me when he’d found out about the pregnancy. He’d ordered a bunch of prenatal vitamins and made sure that the hotels, dressing rooms, and planes were stocked with healthy goodies. When I’d asked about it, he’d grunted something about every baby deserving the best possible start and left it at that.

  Jared and Caleb both thought that it was just his hunt for perfection. They claimed he was the same with every new song, nurturing to the point of nausea, but Alicia and I were puzzled.

  We’d managed to hide the pregnancy from the fans so far, but with my now fast-growing bump, I didn’t think we’d be able to keep it to ourselves for much longer. Alicia was already working on the official statement.

  She was super excited, assuring us that she would handle all the fan reactions. I didn’t quite know what she meant by that, but she also assured me that she’d had non-disclosure and privacy agreements sent to the hospital and that everything would be fine.

  Whatever. I trusted my sister. She was good at her job. Whatever she was anticipating, she had it covered.

  Caleb drew me from my thoughts by planting his hands on my ass and pulling me close again. My breasts pushed up against his rock-solid chest, and a surge of desire shot through me. The pregnancy hormones were one thing I hadn’t been prepared for.

  I’d heard of them, of course, but I hadn’t expected it to be as intense as it was. Once my morning sickness passed, I became like a sex demon. I was even more insatiable now than I had been with him before, and that was saying a lot. Caleb adored it, always rising to the occasion and insisting that he’d stay at home to be my sex slave.

  I couldn’t say that I complained about his offer. What I wasn’t about to do though, was to have sex in the baby room. It didn’t have any baby stuff in it yet, but it was the principle of the matter.

  “Not here, babe,” I mumbled, nuzzling Caleb’s neck.

  His fingers skated to the waistband of my pants, and my arousal levels skyrocketed. “Why not?”

  “It’s the baby’s room,” I reminded him. It used to be one of his empty guest rooms, but soon, it would be a nursery.

  “Eventually, it’ll find out how it was made,” he muttered, drawing my earlobe between his teeth. I shuddered in his arms, every part of me was so damn sensitive at the moment that it was hard to focus when Caleb set his mind on this. “Besides, if it’s a boy, he’ll be doing the exact same thing in this very room as soon as our asses leave the house.”

  “Caleb,” I protested. “Why do you have to say stuff like that?”

  He lifted one shoulder, raising his head to look into my eyes. “Because it’s true. Maybe if I can tease him about beating him to doing it in his room, it’ll put him off. I’m trying to do our son a service here. Those teenage girls are dangerous.”

  I laughed, shaking my head at him. “What if it’s not a boy? What if it’s a girl?”

  Caleb shook with silent laughter, tugging at the bun I’d thrown my hair into earlier. “Then she’s never allowed a boy in here, and we’ll never tell her a thing about sex. She’ll live forever thinking a stork dropped her off.”

  “Double standards much?” I smiled, taking the chance to escape from his arms before he stoked the flames of desire any more. I really wanted to get some of these choices about the room made today.

  God knew there was a lot of work to be done on this house before the baby came. We’d only been back from the tour for a couple of days, but all my stuff was already here. Caleb insisted on my moving in immediately, and I couldn’t have been happier about it.

  I couldn’t wait to unpack all my stuff and make this my home too. Our home. Already, his stark, empty bachelor pad was becoming warm and cozy. He’d told me the night before that he thought he’d left the house as an empty canvas for me on purpose, even though he hadn’t known it at the time.

  He was loving seeing it taking shape and helping me unpack, getting settled. I’d been afraid that he was going to get nervous at this very obvious manifestation of all the changes in his life and his official departure from the single life, but he’d surprised me in his enthusiasm over everything.

  Over and over again, he told me that the baby and I were the best thing that’d ever happened to him. He smiled at me, drawing me back into his arms.

  “It’s not double standards. It’s expected from fathers of daughters. I’m only conforming for once in my life. Besides, if you’d let us find out the gender of the baby, we could stop having these hypothetical arguments.”

  Though I still didn’t want to know the gender, he had a point. Not knowing was making everything more complicated, from the mundane to the important stuff to our preferred names. We had to make every list twice.

  “What, so you can start rigging your shotgun if it’s a girl?” I teased him, running my fingertips up and down the sculpted muscles in his back.

  “Exactly,” he murmured, closing his eyes as I continued to scratch his back. “Speaking of shotguns, did your boss break out one on you when you told her?”

  Shaking my head, I thought about Hannah’s reaction. It’d been much worse than her breaking out a shotgun. It’d been disappointment and resignation. “Nope. She told me that she’d been waiting for me to resign since the news of our engagement broke.”

  Caleb’s eyes popped open, darkening with concern. “You know I’d support your decision if you wanted to stay, right?”

  “Right.” There was no doubt in my mind about that, but the decision I’d made was the right one. “But I’m okay with this, really. More than okay, actually. I want to be able to work from home when the baby is born, and I’m looking forward to revitalizing my blog. I’ve started playing with ideas on how to do it, and I think it’s going to be great.”

  His shoulders relaxed as he leaned forward to kiss my forehead. “And in the meantime, it’ll give us time to plan the we
dding.”

  “Another perk of resigning now,” I agreed. Since Jared decided before he and Alicia had even gotten engaged that the band would be taking a bit of a break after the tour, Caleb and I were both going to be working from home for the foreseeable future. I couldn’t think of any better way to kick off our life together as a family.

  “You given it any more thought?”

  “The wedding? No. I’ve been too wrapped up in my resignation and moving and stuff. You?”

  His beautiful lips curled into a huge grin. “Just one thought.”

  “Oh yeah?” I asked him, circling his waist in my arms and pushing myself up close to him. “What’s that?”

  “I think we should wait until Jared’s wedding, see what he does, and then for once, do something even bigger and grander than the great and theatrical Jared Larsen.”

  “Oh boy.” I laughed. “Sounds like a plan to me.”

  “I knew you’d get it.” He chuckled, then cupped my cheek and kissed me hard. Immediately, my body responded to him and his obvious desires.

  I could blame the pregnancy for my raging hormones, but Caleb was almost as bad as I was. Molding my body to his, I kissed him back. My hands had a mind of their own, dropping to the hem of his T-shirt and skirting underneath to trace the lines on his abs.

  He moaned softly and ran his hands up and down my sides, cupping my tender breasts through my shirt. My nipples jumped to attention, as they nearly always were nowadays, and Caleb’s thumb brushed over one. A low chuckle escaped when he felt how hard they already were.

  “I thought you said not here,” he murmured between kisses, holding me close to him.

  “Don’t care anymore,” I replied, a little breathless already. My body was aching for his, my chest pressing tightly against him, and I reached up and looped my arms around his shoulders to push myself closer to him.

  “Hmmm, you will.” His hands dropped to the backs of my thighs, and he lifted me up against his stomach. I nearly cried with relief when I felt him already hard against my core, as needy as I was. “Better take this back to our bedroom.”