He grabs my hands, and his thumbs trail along my skin. “We don’t have to do anything you’re not happy with, Ria. I’m not the forcing type, okay, babe? We can sit this out. I can wait as long as it takes.”
Nodding, I smile. “Thank you.”
The others climb up on the bus, and the driver closes the doors.
“Everyone here?” Oliver asks.
“Yep,” Tillie replies.
“Let’s roll,” Oliver says as everyone takes their seats.
Nate wraps his arm around my neck, pulling my head onto his shoulder. “Don’t stress, Ria.”
Feeling at ease with his words, I lean into his side.
I know Nate won’t pressure me into anything I don’t want, and I think as long as I can lessen the tension with Lunar, I have no doubt this little tour is going to be quite comfortable indeed.
***
It’s night, and the bus is on its way to Dallas.
We’re all tucked away in our beds, the curtains are drawn, and I’m cuddled into Nate as he doodles on a notepad attached to the top bunk awkwardly above us.
“So today went well,” I whisper.
“Sure did. You and Danger were getting along quite well.”
“Yeah, it seems like we’re actually going to be good friends, I think.”
“Mmm…” An intoxicated moan echoes from the bed across from us, and we both look over, even though our curtain is closed. Heavy breathing follows, then more deep moaning. I purse my lips, looking up at Nate, who’s trying to hold back his laughter, when the unmistakable sound of skin slapping against skin, followed by two sets of moans, echoes through the back of the bus. Clenching my eyes shut at the sexy sounds coming fromDanger and Lunar’s bunk, I risk opening my eyes again to glance at Nate, who is chewing on his bottom lip with an unmistakable look of lust in his eyes.
I can tell he’s thinking about sex—sex with me.
But I can’t.
I can’t have others hear me like that.
How embarrassing.
I run my hand up his chest and look into his eyes. “I’m sorry.”
He smiles, grabs my hand, and gently squeezes it. “You have nothing to be sorry for, baby.”
“Oh, God…yes,” Lunar calls out, making me cringe.
Nate flares his nostrils as I tense completely, then he sweetly leans in, kissing my head, and goes back to doodling on his notepad above the bed, drawing doves and clown fish. I cuddle in closer to his side, doing my best to tune out Danger and Lunar riding out their orgasms and Ryan and Tillie giggling above us.
Even with the awkward tension swirling about, I can’t help but enjoy this time with Nate.
Chapter Seventeen
NATE
Four Weeks Later
We’ve been on the promo tour for four weeks. Not being able to touch Ria sexually is driving me insane, but I understand she’s shy about having sex in front of others when not acting, and I totally get it. This is Ria, not Zaria, the actress.
Hey, I’ve gone half a year without sex before. What’s two months? I can do this, especially if it helps our we-are-not-a-couple façade for the public. So far, we’ve done really well. No one suspects a thing. If anything, they suspect Danger and Ria are having a fling behind Lunar’s back.
