“I mean, with them.” I cock my chin toward the front of the bus. “I just want to be able to hold your hand, kiss you whenever I feel like it, have you next to me all the time.”
“Then let’s tell them.” She brushes her lips against mine. “In Boston, when we’re all together.”
Before we can disappear completely into each other, footsteps approach and we spring apart like teenagers caught in a laundry room. Sadie bites her lip to hide a smile. I run a hand through my hair before I follow her out.
About an hour outside of Boston, we park at a truck stop so everyone can stretch their legs and grab food. I’m leaning against the bus with Hayden when Quinn and Mikey walk out of the store.
Quinn has an iced coffee. Mikey has four plastic bags filled with snacks and the expression of a man whose world is collapsing and expanding simultaneously.
“Quinn,” Mikey’s voice is calm, his attempt at acting casual. “I paid for your coffee, because I am not only a grown ass man, I’m a gentleman.”
She peeks at him over her straw. “Michael, you also bought yourself three tubs of gummy worms, two bags of sour patch kids, and a jumbo bag of cheese curls, so I stand firm on my belief that you are a man child.”
“These are essential nutrients for my drummer spirit animal.”
She laughs, shaking her head. “Whatever.”
Mikey visibly glitches. She bumps his shoulder as she passes, and flashes him a smile. “Thanks for the coffee.”
Mikey sways like she hit him with emotional artillery fire.
Hayden mutters, “He’s doomed.”
“Completely,” I agree. And damn if that doesn’t make me grin.
When we climb back on the bus, Sadie sits beside me, close enough for our knees to touch, our shoulders to brush, our fingers to twine beneath a shared blanket like two kids hiding a secret.
She falls asleep against me. My chin rests on her hair. Everything in me settles. I don’t know what the hell I’m doing or how this works on a tour, especially with the cameras and fans and pressure and chaos. But I know this, when she leans into me, I don’t want to move. When she laughs, it fills the leaky holes of my heart. And when she looks at me, really looks at me, it’s like she sees every part of who I could be, not just who I’ve been.
And for the first time in a very long time, I’m okay with all of it. I want to be that man for her. Not the legend, not the lead guitarist, not the screwup. Just, hers.
Chapter Thirty-Two
Sadie
Here’s To Us
Halestorm
Boston always feels like old stories. Brick and harbor wind and clattering trolleys and corners that smell like history. By the time the bus rolls into the hotel’s private garage, the sun is dipping low, turning the city gold.
Quinn hops off beside me, slinging her bag over her shoulder. She’s electric, happy to have seen me, excited for her friends, blissfully unaware that she’s left a trail of chaos behind her on the bus. Which, honestly, is very on-brand for her.
“Text me,” I say, pulling her into a tight hug.
“Feel free to share my number with Michael,” she whispers.
I bite back a grin and glance over. Sure enough, Mikey stands stiffly by the bus door, watching her like she’s both a threat and a challenge he hasn’t yet named.
“Have fun with your friends.” I give her one last squeeze.
She pulls back with a wicked smile. “Oh, I will. But I’ll miss you, and your weird family drama.”
I snort. “It’s not drama.”
“It’s absolutely drama,” she drawls with an impish grin.
“Come back and join us anytime.” I smirk. “I have a feeling there’s someone here that wouldn’t mind that at all.”
