“That girl has no chance with me. None.” He scoops me off my feet. “Not as long as you’re in my bed. Which is where I want you right now. You need to rest and feel better.”
“You need to put me back on my feet,” I demand. “I can walk out of here under my own power. I’m perfectly fine now.”
“Sorry. I can’t do that.”
“Yes, you can. It’ll look bad if Carmine and the other execs think I need babying for an upset tummy.” I pout at him, all pleading eyes. “Puh-lease.”
“Shut up and take your undivided attention like a good girl.”
I gasp. “Unbelievable.”
He smirks and carries me out of the bathroom. “I’m going to take you back to the bus and get Sam to give you the once over. He’ll at least want to give you some electrolytes after that exorcist level spew. You need to be in top shape if we’re going to survive the fun and festivities of a Maddox/Love wedding.”
“It’s going to be next level.” I shake my head. It always is with his crowd.
“It’s all fun and games.” He grins down at me. “Until—”
“Don’t finish that.” I adjust my arms around his neck, giving into the sweetness of him playing the gentleman. My favorite Maddox and his two... No, there are three older brothers now.
It’s a lot to get used to. Finding out that their mom had another child who had been raised by a Hawthorne was a headfuck after twelve months with that psycho Alec Hawthorne targeting them. And he’s still on the loose.
It’s been total pandemonium, but somehow Riot handles it. “It’s going to be a nice wedding. A peaceful, drama-free celebration of two of our favorite people. That’s all.”
He grows serious. “Let’s hope.”
6
Kelsey
No one is on the bus when Riot carries me inside. He slides me down his body until my boots touch the floor. His big hands cup my ass and hold me close while he stares down at me.
He swallows. It’s like he has something to say. But then he doesn’t. Just keeps staring at me.
My heart beats strong and steady.Ri-ot. Ri-ot. Ri-ot.He mixes me up inside, and he doesn’t have a clue that I would trade everything for a future with him. One in which I’m more than his band manager slash fuck buddy. Telling him that, though, that’s something I do not have the guts to do. It would kill me if he rejected me. It would change everything. There would be no coming back from that.
“What?” I finally ask.
“There’s something I want...” His head drops closer to mine. “No, I have to say it. Kelsey—”
We’re interrupted by the security team knocking on the bus door before they enter.
“Should have seen this coming.” Riot chuckles, his hands moving to my hip, his fingers tapping.
“It won’t take long,” I tell him. When the boys first became famous and were assigned a security team, it took time to get used to them always being nearby.
The conversations they’ve overheard and intimate moments they’ve stumbled onto number in the dozens. But they’re tactful. Nothing they overhear ever goes anywhere. And my guys are safe, which is all that matters.
The two guards talk to one of the other teams via their radio. “Checking now.”
They take one look at us, the scant inches between us, before checking the interior of the bus for anything suspicious.
Riot is tapping on his phone. “Sam will be here in a minute. The party’s been moved to the hotel. We’re all going to hang around until it’s time to take Neil to rehab.”
“I hope it sticks.” I hate watching my friend destroy himself.
“It will.” Riot’s hold on me tightens. “We’re all going to be back together by the time we’re ready to record the next album. You’ll see.”
“You’re right.” Neil is strong. He’ll kick the drugs and find a way to fight his demons. “So we should head over to the hotel.”
