A chuckle slips out of me, causing a small smile to grace her lips as well. “But you’re just such a petite little thing. How can people not think you’re cute?”
“Have you seen this face?” she asks, pulling the iciest scowl in her arsenal.
I pretend to shiver. “Terrifying. Please, put it away.”
“You’re an ass.”
“But like, a cute ass, right?”
“You’re an idiot,” she says, turning as if she’s going to walk away.
I grab her wrist lightly, pulling her closer to me, though not all the way into my arms like I want. “You all set for tonight?” I ask, trying to force my mind onto the task at hand. We didn’t bust our asses for twenty-three concerts just to lose our concentration and drop the ball on the final one.
She gives me a quick nod, though I can see the worry has crept back into her eyes. “Yeah, just a few last-minute details. You?”
“Same. Just a little…distracted.”
“Your mom?” she asks.
“Yeah,” I say. “I’m also still thinking about our conversation from before. What if it was Trent?” I ask, knowing I’m going to feel guilty if I don’t tell her I’m at least considering it could be him.
“It could be. I’ve accepted that possibility this whole time.”
I drop my head but lift it again when I feel her small hand on my shoulder.
“It doesn’t change the fact that I didn’t do my job,” she says softly. “Yeah, it’s a lot harder to protect someone when there is a mole inside, but my team should be able to ferret him out, even if it’s Trent. Hell, especially if it’s Trent. He’s such an idiot.”
A laugh bursts out of me, and as I take in Kelsey’s face, I can’t stop the ache in my chest, the one I know is my love for her exploding through me. The fact that she can make me laugh evenwith so many things weighing down on me blows my mind. She’s my lighthouse, showing me the way through any storm and rocky patch of water.
“All we can do is our best at this point,” Kelsey says with a shrug.
“When did you get so wise?” I tease.
“I’ve always been wise, Puff. You’ve just never been smart enough to see it.”
“Nah, I always knew how amazing you were. I just never had the opportunity to tell you.”
“We’re going to be late,” Kelsey says.
“Let’s do this, then,” I say before pulling open the door to the room for our last security meeting of the tour.
Chapter thirty-six
Kelsey
“Didyoujustseethat?” I ask Carter as we stand in the security room together during the final sound check.
We finished up the final team meeting about an hour ago, and everyone’s nerves are fried. Tonight is a big deal, and we can’t let anything go wrong. We’re also coordinating with four separate security teams here with their A-list clients tonight.
“See what?” Carter asks, his eyes scanning the four screens in front of us.
“I swear the camera to Jaxon’s dressing room just flickered.”
Without pausing, Carter presses the button on his comms. “Weston, do you have eyes on Steele?”
I appreciate the faith he has in me, not even questioning whether I may be seeing something or if I’m overreacting—he just takes the necessary steps to confirm the client is safe.
“Weston? Confirm Steele is in his dressing room,” Carter says again after a second passes with no response.
