Текст книги "Out Of The Blue"
Автор книги: Carina Adams
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Текущая страница: 3 (всего у книги 20 страниц)
Chapter Three
~ Molly ~
I remember lying in my bed as a young teenager, staring at the posters of N SYNC I had lining my walls and pretending I was on tour with them. While other girls my age fantasized about meeting the members of the band, or having Justin Timberlake fall in love with them, my dreams were all about the tour. What would it be like to perform in front of thousands of screaming fans? What would it be like to live on a tour bus, traveling from city to city, seeing the world as only rock stars could?
Never, not once, in all of the escapes from my mundane life, did I imagine tour life would be a blur of yellow lines racing by and faceless fans in the crowd. Or the bright lights of flashing cameras while people tried to take pictures of you doing normal, everyday things – like eating a cheeseburger. And never, ever, did I picture the members of my favorite boy band lounging around in their stained wife beaters and ratty boxers, arguing over whose turn it was on the Xbox.
Yet that was my harsh reality, the life I’d found myself living right now. Glorious, I know. I watched members of ‘Bama Boys—Nate’s band—over the edge of my Kindle, trying to decide if I should be annoyed or fascinated. Right now, I settled on disgusted. Someone, somewhere, was jealous and wished they could swap places with me. I’d gladly do it.
“Have you heard from Mrs. Kelly at all?” Nate, whom I had started referring to as The Ring Leader in my mind, asked as he plopped down on the couch next to me. He dropped his right arm over my thighs in a familiar manner as he leaned over onto my legs. A move that, if the paparazzi could see, would be the next magazine cover.
I fought the urge to push him away and rolled my eyes at his question. He’d been married for only a few months, yes, but I couldn’t figure out if his constant need to refer to Lia as his wife, or Mrs. Kelly was romantic, or a pathetic way to show she belonged to him. Ah, who was I kidding? It was cute.
I shook my head. “Nope. Not since yesterday. You?”
Nate’s tongue messed with his labret, making the little silver ball jump around in his lower lip, a sign that he was lost in thought. “No.” His lips twisted in a scowl. “It would be nice to know what the fuck is going on though.”
I nodded, agreeing completely. Last I’d heard from my newly hired manager, she’d made it to Maine, had somehow convinced Mike to come work for us, and was going to help him tie up a few loose ends before the two of them flew in to join us on tour. I’d believe it when I saw it. I’d known Mike for a long time, and nobody made him do something he didn’t want to do. He’d left the tour right after the wedding, not wanting to be around. I didn’t blame him. I’m sure being in love with someone, and then watching the person marry someone else, was pretty fucking painful.
In the meantime, Lia had forced me off bus two, the bus that I lived on with the married members of the band, and onto bus one. The bus she and Nate, and the single, obnoxious, and loud bandmates inhabited. Lia said that it was strictly a safety measure, that she wouldn’t worry about me if I was on bus one.
That had been early yesterday morning. We’d been on the bus ever since, stopping once last night for dinner at a truck stop before the long ride to wherever we were. Even now, parked behind tonight’s venue, we were stuck on the bus because there wasn’t enough time before the show to go sightseeing, and we couldn’t go backstage until after setup and sound check. After twenty-eight hours of being in purgatory, I’d decided that Lia was punishing me. I’d done something to piss her off, and abandoning me with the boys was her way of ultimate payback.
“Whatchya reading?” Nate, clueless to my frustrations, leaned further into my lap, trying to see the screen of my e-reader.
“What to Expect When You’re Expecting,” I answered honestly without thinking.
He barked out a laugh. “Is there a chapter on immaculate conception in there?” His eyes, a crazy mixture of light blue with dark streaks, moved to mine, “‘Cause with your dry spell, that’s the only way that would have happened.”
I narrowed my eyes and gave him a shove, tempted to tell him I’d left my own Kindle on my bus and that I was using his wife’s, being nosy and looking at the books that she’d downloaded, not the ones I owned. I wouldn’t do that to either of them, though; especially not after all they’d been through. Instead, I gave a standard comeback. “Fuck off.”
The asshole didn’t budge, smirking instead. “Sorry, kid. Just pointing out the obvious.”
Just one more reason to hate living on a bus, or out of a hotel, with a bunch of childish boys. They knew way more about my love life than they should, and they scared away any potential company I attempted to bring back to my room with me. “And whose fault is that?”
Dark eyebrows rose as he pulled back a bit, as if surprised I would blame him. “You sayin’ it’s mine? Being a friend of Nate Kelly cramping your style, babe? ‘Cause the boys don’t seem to have any trouble.”
Oh, here we go. It was an argument we’d had many times, but the pigheaded fool never really listened to my words. “I’ve never threatened to beat up the groupies that the boys bring back.”
“She’s got a point, bro.” Noah, Nate’s little brother and electric guitarist, piped up from his spot on the chair across from us.
Nate sat back, pulling away from me. “It was one guy, one fuckin’ time. He was a total dick and you didn’t really want to go home with him.”
“You’re right. I didn’t want to go home with him. I wanted him to come to the hotel. You were a total clam jam.”
I heard Noah choke on his soda, laughing as Reb, lead guitarist, and Billy, the drummer, suddenly got very quiet, pausing whatever shoot ‘em up game had dominated their day. But I didn’t take my eyes off my friend.
“A what?” he asked cautiously.
“A clam jam,” I clarified. “It’s a…”
“A cockblocker,” Noah practically shouted, his voice filled with humor, before I could explain. “She’s calling you a cock blocker. Which you are.”
“The fuck I am,” Nate argued, his face suddenly serious. “I was protecting you.”
“Of course you were. Because I don’t have enough people trying to do that.” I pushed off the couch and walked to the fridge.
“It’s what friends do, Mols.”
“So, the next time Billy or Rhett meet a girl at the after party, are you going to protect them, too?”
Nate stood, his face dark. “Not even close to being the same thing, and you know it.”
I sighed. “Maybe we should wait ‘til Red gets back. I’m sure she has plenty to say about this.”
“You sayin’ my wife agrees with you?” The disbelief on his face was comical.
“Yeah, that’s exactly what I’m saying, you big oaf!” I slammed my water on the small counter that separated us. “I can protect myself.” A distant memory, from what seemed like another life, one where I’d had to be tough because there was no one to be tough for me, bubbled to the surface of my mind. I hated bringing it up, but the point needed to be made. “If you need a reminder, I’m sure Billy will show you his bridge.”
Billy threw his remote down, lifting his hands into the air in surrender. “Oh, no. This is between you two. Don’t drag me into it.”
“You wanna be that girl?” Nate asked, taking two steps to stand in front of me. “The one who has to knock some asshole’s tooth out because he decides he wants a little more than what you’re willing to give?”
“So not what happened!” Billy objected from the floor, but neither of us paid him any attention. “I was only going in for a kiss. She’s a fuckin’ brute, man.”
I ignored his compliments, because to me, that’s exactly what they were. “No. But I’d like to be the woman who gets to make up her own goddamn mind for a while. I’d like to go to the damn store alone without it causing drama. I’d like to hire and fire my own staff. And if I decide I want to fuck a stranger, I’d like to do it with no interference from you.”
“You”—Nate pointed his index finger at my chest—“the girl who is so far into my business and knows more about what’s going on in my life than I do, is telling me she wants me to stay out of hers?” He forced out a chuckle as his eyes sparkled with either anger or amusement. “That’s hilarious.”
“Oh, whatever!” I snapped like a moody teenager. “I’d say we’re pretty even on the nosy scale, wouldn’t you? You know just as much about me as I do you, apparently even more!”
Nate shook his head once, bracing his fists on his side of the counter. “What in the hell are you so pissed off about?”
I waved my hands in front of him, around the bus. “This!” I growled. “I’m so sick of everyone making my decisions for me!”
“Everyone doesn’t make decisions for you. I did! I fired Tim. He wasn’t doing his job, and you sure as shit weren’t going to handle him. Yeah, I’ve scared a few guys away because they were bad news and I wasn’t going to stand around and wait for someone to hurt my friend. I was thinking about you, because you never think before you do stupid shit. Don’t act like every single thing you do doesn’t affect your career. Because we all know it does! Your career is linked with mine, whether you want to believe it or not.” He leaned over the counter, lowering his head to make better eye contact. “You fired Eli. I didn’t have anything to do with that. You hired Red. Didn’t have anything to do with that, either. Stop acting like you have no control.”
“Ugh!” I smacked the cold tile, annoyed that he was right. I closed my eyes for a quick second, took a deep breath, and did the only thing I could. “You’re right. I’m sorry.”
Nate reeled backward as if I had slapped him, taking two steps away from the island. Then his face crinkled in concern as he glanced around the room at our friends before settling blue eyes back on mine. “What?”
I shrugged, shifting my attention to the water bottle in front of me. “You’re right. I just need to get off this damn bus for a while. I’m being a hag and I’m sorry.”
Strong arms yanked me against a hard chest before I realized that he’d moved. “I’m sorry, too.” Nate mumbled against my hair. “Love you, kid.”
“Love you.” I pushed him away, embarrassed. The guys had seen me at my worst, though, so I didn’t know why it bothered me now.
Nate grabbed my hand as I turned away, pulling me back toward him. “You tell your manager the problems you have with me, get her to work on them, too.” Giving me a little wink, he smirked. “And I’ll try to back off.”
It was my turn to be surprised. “So you’re gonna help a friend out and let me hook up with some random stranger tonight?” I asked, half joking. “You’re not gonna swoop in and scare the guys away?”
“No, he isn’t. That’s my job.”
The deep voice caused everyone to turn toward the door at once. Before I could react, the guys were off the floor and the room exploded in what sounded like hundreds of greetings for our old friend. All I could do was stare.
Mike Carson was even more handsome than I remembered. He had that rough and rugged “don’t fuck with me” look that drove all the girls on the tour nuts. A few inches taller, and much wider than Nate, it was easy to see that he hadn’t spent the last few months laying around in his boxers playing video games. His hair was shorter and darker than it was the last time I saw him, and for a minute, I wondered if it was possible for someone to go gray in such a short amount of time.
“What in the hell happened to your hair?” Reb asked, reaching out to give Mike a noogie.
Mike batted the hand away. “Fuck off, man.” Then he smiled, and I got the quick glimpse of healthy white teeth and the dimples that transformed his face, taking at least ten years off. Mr. Sullen himself hardly ever smiled like that, but when he did, it did things to my lady bits I could never admit. “Cort thought that I needed a change, so I dyed it.”
Noah laughed. “Yeah, better to do it now, old man. That way, you can hide your age for a few more years.”
“You actually dyed your hair? Isn’t that shit what women do? They need a change so they dye and chop their hair like it’ll magically transform their lives. Fuck, you go away for a little while and come back all metro?” Rhett demanded, appalled.
“Hell, man, I’d do whatever the fuck that little piece asked me to do. Whenever she asked me to do it. Maybe then, she’d let me watch when she and her girlfriend got busy.” Billy spoke up, being…well, being Billy.
Mike held up a middle finger, but his eyes turned to me, ignoring all of them. “Mols.” He nodded and then offered a small, close-mouthed smile. Motioning me toward him, he growled, “Move assholes,” to the band. Once I got through, he put his hand on my lower back and guided me toward the door, down the stairs, and out into the sun.
“Where are we going?”
“To our trailer to get you ready for the show.”
Just like that, Mike was back. And he was in charge. I shouldn’t have been happy about it, but I was.
Chapter Four
~ Mike ~
It’s funny how quickly you can get back into a routine. I’d only been back on the job for—I glanced down at my wrist before sliding my eyes quickly back to Mols—three hours, but it felt like I’d never left. Well, with some minor changes.
I stood on the side of the stage, just outside of view, watching as Molly shook her ass and sang her heart out for the sold-out venue. If I’d still been working for Nate, I’d be down at the front of the stage, surveying the crowd, or walking around out back to make sure that everyone was where they were supposed to be. It felt weird to know that I didn’t have to worry about any of that now. My only concern was the woman out there performing, and making sure that she got from venue to bus and back to the next venue safely.
I was a goddamn babysitter. The thought struck me suddenly and I shook my head¸ annoyed at myself. I needed to relax and enjoy the tour. I didn’t need any of the bullshit that came with the responsibility of being more than a glorified nanny. I deserved a few months of stress-free peace and quiet. But that didn’t keep me from scanning the crowd every few seconds.
Someone stopped next to me, and I knew it was Lee before I glanced at her. I gave her a quick nod of acknowledgment before I turned back to the show. We watched our girl in silence a few minutes before she lightly touched my arm. “She seem off to you?”
I nodded. Molly hadn’t been acting like her usual self since I’d gotten back. “Yeah. I was going to ask you about it later.”
“Nate’s worried.”
I turned my attention to the woman beside me, waiting for an explanation.
Lia pursed her lips in concentration, not meeting my gaze. “He wanted to pull her from a couple of shows, give people a chance to latch on to another news story.”
I narrowed my eyes at Lee. “And why in the hell didn’t you do it?”
She met my glare, arching an eyebrow in attitude. “Because it would have been the dumbest thing to do. She would have looked guilty, like she was trying to hide.”
I shook my head, irritated. “Maybe that’s what she needed. It sure as shit would get her away from that.” I tipped my chin toward the front row, where stage lights were bright enough to show the angry faces of some of the ticket holders. “You think going out there to perform in front of people like that is going to help her?”
“It may not seem like the best idea, but women are vicious. If they smell fear, they’ll tear her apart. They might not like her, they may think the worst, but I’ll be damned if in the end they don’t respect her. I’m not letting her hide. I intend on having her seen, with me especially, as often as possible.”
My head snapped toward her, feelings of worry about her, feelings I shouldn’t have, hitting my gut. “You?”
“Yes, me!” Lee snapped. “They all want to say she’s fucking my husband behind my back, then I’m going to show them that there is one woman in the world who still trusts her.”
“Not a good idea.”
She put a hand on her hip and gave me a death glare. “And why the hell not?”
Responses like, “Because I agreed to do this believing you weren’t going to be around,” or “Because I can’t protect both of you, and you aren’t my focus right now,” were on the tip of my tongue when Molly finished her song, giving me a distraction. I watched as she smiled and laughed, playing her part, telling everyone how great it was to be here, and thanking them for their support. When she launched into another song, I took a deep breath and turned back toward Lee.
“You’re too close to this whole mess, Red.” I didn’t miss the flash of surprise in her eyes when I used the nickname that everyone else had for her. “You’re not seeing this like a manager, you’re seeing it like a big sister would. Your job is to do what’s best for her, not protect her. That’s why you hired me, remember?” I paused for a quick second, hoping she would see my point. “You put yourself in unnecessary photo ops with her, start being around her all the time, it’s going to look like you’re jealous. Or like you’re monitoring her. You’re not going to stop the rumors that way, you’re only going to make them worse.”
Understanding crossed her features. “I never thought of it that way.”
Nate wrapped his arms around her waist, coming out of nowhere and pulling her against him before I could respond. He held one fist out to me, giving me a smile. “I’m glad you’re back, Carson. I missed ya.”
I held my own fist up, bumping his in the familiar way we’d always done it, and offered him a small smile of my own. “Can’t say the same, Kelly.”
“Lying sack of shit.” He let go of his wife, only to grab her cheeks and kiss her before turning and running onto the stage, just in time for Molly to introduce him and the crowd to go nuts. “Hello, Michigan!” he yelled as soon as one of the roadies handed him a mic.
“Where are we going from here?” I had the schedule on my phone in my pocket, but I knew Lee would know it by heart.
“Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio,” she answered without missing a beat.
“How far of a drive is that?”
She shrugged. “Three and a half hours, maybe. Four with traffic. I figured if we left the party by midnight, everyone would be able to settle into the hotel and still get plenty of rest. We’re there tonight and then after the show tomorrow night, too.”
“We’re not going to the party.”
“We’re not?”
I almost laughed at the surprise in her voice. “You are. Mols and I aren’t.” I moved my eyes back to the stage, watching the pair perform a song I’d seen a hundred times before, but all I could focus on this time was Molly. She looked defeated. “I’m grabbing one of the Suburbans and we’re going straight to the hotel.”
Lee sighed, nodding slowly. “That actually is a really good idea. She needs to rest.” Someone backstage called to her, and Lee held up a finger to make them wait. “I’ll text you the address. Shit! I… I, um…” Glancing away from me, she fidgeted. “You’re…” She cleared her throat.
“Oh, for Christ’s sake, spit it out.”
Green eyes moved back to mine. “I only booked you one room. They’re suites, so you each have your own bedroom, but I didn’t want you to be surprised when you got there.”
I rolled my eyes, stepping close to her. “Lee, I’m supposed to share a room with her. Even when we’re in a Podunk little town and all you can book is a broom closet with two singles. Book it. I’m not letting her out of my site for the next five months.”
Lee only smirked. “Yeah, I think you’re going to have some trouble with that.”
“Oh, I plan on it, kid.” She shot me a sympathetic look and then hurried over to talk to whomever was calling to her.
Not a minute later, Mols came strutting off stage, grinning at me as I handed her a giant cool blue Gatorade and a dry towel. “Christ, I missed you!” She paused long enough to twist off the orange cap and down a large gulp. Wiping her mouth with the back of her hand, she sighed. “Timmy never brought me anything to drink. Sometimes Nate would hand me what was left of his beer, but that’s about it.” I put my hand on the small of her back, meeting a section of bare skin, and pushed a little to get her moving. “I can’t believe you remembered!” She twisted around so she could see me over her shoulder. “Thanks.”
It wasn’t that big of a deal. “You need to stay hydrated and that’s one helluva workout you do on stage.” She tried to veer right, headed to what I assumed to be the room where everyone gathered after the show, but I steered her to the left toward the parking lot. “Hungry?”
“Famished.” The words came out in a confused rush. I knew from experience that Molly never ate before a concert. She was too nervous and didn’t want to throw up.
“Good. We’ll go grab something.”
“But you’re missing Nate’s show.”
It was a humid night, but nothing could compare to how warm it was under the lights on stage, and she shivered a little bit as we pushed through the back door into the parking lot. My eyes scanned the open area that had been reserved just for us, but all I saw was the crew, milling around and smoking as they relaxed for a little bit before they had to break down the set. It wasn’t anything glorious, and it was usually hard to get into, but I’d seen quite a few fans sneak past security to ambush Nate in lots just like this one.
I moved my hand from her back, wrapping my fingers around her bicep as I pulled her away from our bus and toward the cars. Opening the passenger door for her, I practically shoved her up into the seat, pulling the seatbelt across her, and clicking the lock into place before I slammed the door and hurried around the front to climb into the driver’s seat.
“Uh, where are we going?” she finally asked as I was waved through the flimsy security barricade and merged into traffic on the busy street.
“To get food.”
I felt her eyes on me. “You’re missing Nate’s show.”
“Your point?”
“Didn’t you want to see it?”
“Were you planning on going back out?”
“No, but you always watch his shows.”
I felt the smirk. “Because I had to. I’ve seen it a thousand times, kiddo. Now I only have eyes for you. Unless you’re on that stage, I could give two shits what’s happening on it.”
I flipped on my blinker as we approached the golden arches, and pulled into a busy drive-in lane, stopping behind a Wrangler full of teenage boys. Molly lowered the Gatorade and gave me a concerned look. “What are we doing?”
“We’re not going inside with you looking like that.” I motioned to her skimpy stage outfit. No way I could contain the situation by myself. “What do you want?”
She snorted. “I can’t eat McDonald’s food.” When I didn’t respond, she held up the almost empty bottle. “Do you know how many calories I just drank? Eli would have a heart attack if he knew I’d consumed the whole bottle, let alone was coming here.”
We moved ahead a car length, just enough to see the menu. “Good thing you fired Eli then, huh?”
Molly laughed once. “Ha. You’re right, I did. Good point.” She nodded, leaning over me to read the menu. “I’ll take an Asian salad with grilled chicken.”
We sat in silence as we waited for the line to creep forward. When it was finally my turn to order, I asked for two Big Mac’s, a small fry, and two sweet teas. Then I pulled up to the window and passed the woman a twenty.
“Um, you forgot my food.”
“You can’t come to McDonald’s and get a fucking salad.”
She crossed her arms over her chest as we pulled up to the last window. “I can, too! What the fuck am I supposed to eat?”
The kid working the food window handed me the drinks first, and I slid each into the cup holders between Molly and me. Then I put the bag he gave me on the center console before I merged back into traffic. We’d made it about a mile down the road when I plucked a boxed sandwich out of the bag and shoved it into her hands.
“Do you know how many calories are in this? Probably more than I’m supposed to consume in an entire day.”
I unwrapped my own meal and took a chunk out of the burger. “Do you know how many calories you just burned on stage?”
“Mikey,” she scolded, “I know it’s hard for you to understand, but this body sells tickets to my shows. Not as many as Nate’s does, but it does sell some. This”—she motioned her hand up and down, indicating her body—“doesn’t look like this naturally. It takes hours of torture every day. If I eat shit like this, I’m going have to torture myself even longer.”
I took another bite, looking over as we stopped at a red light. “That body doesn’t sell as many tickets as you think it does.”
“Fuck off,” she snapped before I could finish.
“You’re practically skin and bones. Woman, you need to put some meat on your bones.” She’d been dropping weight steadily all spring, but the change from just two months ago was dramatic. She must have lost at least twenty pounds—weight she didn’t have to lose. “Now eat.”
She glared at me before sighing and picking up the burger that was practically bigger than she was. I tried not to smile when I heard the moan she made after she bit into it, and bit my bottom lip to keep her from seeing it. Reaching for the radio, I found a top 40 station and cranked the tunes as I popped the last bite of my burger into my mouth and reached for the fries.
It only took her a few minutes to demolish it. “Where are we going?” she asked, as if just realizing for the first time that we weren’t headed back to the venue.
“We’re on the way to Ohio.”
“Ohio?” she squeaked, grabbing the door handle dramatically and staring out the window. “Why?”
“Because that’s where the next show is. We’re going to meet everyone in the morning.”
I moved my eyes to her as she whirled her body toward mine. “What?” The tone was cool, full of warning. “You kidnapped me?”
I chuckled. “Sweetheart, you came willingly.”
“What about the party?”
“There’ll be more; it’s a long fucking tour.”
“Did Nate make you do this? Goddamn fucking asshole. This is all because I told him I was going to get laid tonight, isn’t it?” She growled.
I choked on the sip of sweet tea I’d just taken. “Uh…” I shook my head slightly, not sure how in the hell I was supposed to respond. Or if I was supposed respond.
“He fucking promised.” She slammed one of her tiny fists into the dashboard. “He said he’d stop interfering.”
“You’re right,” I told her sarcastically. “This was all some giant ploy to keep you from getting head tonight.”
“Cock sucking clam jam.” That did cause me to spit out my tea, all over the windshield.
“What?” I asked, coughing. She didn’t hear me though, flailing her arms out and cussing out my best friend in colorful terms I’d rarely, if ever, heard.
She reached down to the floor and then threw herself back against the seat. “I don’t even have my fucking phone, so I can’t call him. Which means I don’t have my wallet, so I have no money, no ID. And these shoes are fucking cutting into my toes!”
I waited a couple of beats, just to make sure she was done. “You can take off your shoes—it’s a long drive. You don’t need money, ‘cause you’re with me. And if you really want to call him, you can use my phone. But,” I added when she held out her palm expectantly, “he has no idea that you aren’t waiting for him backstage. I made an executive decision, one your manager agreed on, and pulled you out so I could get you to the hotel early and you could get some rest. You’ve been stuck on that bus, and I thought you’d want some freedom for a little while.”
She didn’t answer, but she did pull her hand away.
“I didn’t realize you were meeting someone at the party. Sorry.”
She sighed and turned her back to me. “I wasn’t meeting anyone. I was hoping to meet someone and pull him back to the bus for a few hours.”
My grip tightened on the steering wheel. Fucking hell. This girl was hell-bent on self-destruction. “Tim let you do that?”
I saw her shrug in my peripheral. “He didn’t have a problem with it. He was young, knew what it was like to need some freedoms. Nate seemed to always be there, though, stopping anything before it got to that point.” She sighed again. “He promised he wouldn’t do it anymore.”
I chewed on the side of my bottom lip, contemplating how I should answer. “That’s because he knew you’d have me.” It was my turn to sigh. “Listen, Molls, the next few months, you and I are going to be together non-stop. I’ll be living on your bus, sleeping in your hotel room, sharing every meal. Sex is just going to have to wait until we have breaks.”
She let out an annoyed groan.
“I know it sounds horrible, but just think of it this way—if I’m with you nonstop, that means you’re with me twenty-four/seven, which means I’m not fucking anyone, either. So let’s try to make the best of it, yeah?”
A few miles of silence passed between us, and my fingers had just lessened their white-knuckle grip when she angled her body toward me. “They have sex all the time.” Her voice was sad, and I assumed she meant the boys. I was about to explain that it didn’t matter, they were only a stepping stone to the star, someone being used, and I didn’t have to worry that someone would hurt them, when she continued. “You’re on the goddamn honeymoon tour, Mikey. They think they hide it well, but they’re fucking like rabbits. Every single chance they get. Or at least they were.”
My heart seized, realizing she was talking about Nate and Lia. It wasn’t like I hadn’t known that. Fuck, I’d lived with them on a bus all last summer. A bus with really thin walls, where everyone in the bunks could hear exactly what they were doing in their bedroom. They were married now, and one perk to having that ring on your finger was knowing who you were going home with at the end of the night. But the knowledge that Lee would be screaming his name for the rest of her life, and not mine, still got to me.
Then I realized what Molly had said. “Were?”
She nodded, her fingers fidgeting with the bottom of her halter top. “I think having me around all the time is a problem. The tabloids won’t let this ridiculous affair idea go, and it makes me wonder if it’s causing issues for them. I think Lia hired you to get me out of their way.”
I hated how sad she sounded, but forced myself to laugh at that ridiculousness. “Brat, I can promise you that is not the case. She’s worried about you. And if anything, it’s worse to have me around than you.”
