“Me?” What had he ever done to her before a tour? They hadn’t even spoken before touring until this one.
Sure, they argued plenty when they were on the buses, but pre- and post-tour, they hardly saw each other. Usually, communication came through her assistant or Hans or Linx. Sometimes Knox, but with him, it was iffy as to whether the message would come through correctly.
“It’s routine, I guess.” She took a small sip, as though she were testing the temperature. Seeing if it was to her liking.
“ThatIput you on edge?”
“Pre-tour.” She nodded. “You usually get a little annoyed with me as soon as we head out, and I am always worried it’s because…”
That wasn’t the best place for her to stop speaking. Not when she was about to get to the meat of the matter.
“Because of what?” he asked.
She didn’t seem to be able to meet his gaze. “Because I’m me.”
Oh.
Well, fuck.
“When we argued before, it wasn’t because you were you.” Though she could’ve left some of the sass out of her comments toward him. But that wasn’t the point tonight. “It was becauseI’mme. And I was a dick about a lot of shit. I don’t want to be that guy anymore. I want to be the guy the band deserves.” He looked up from the carpet and said sincerely, “That you deserve.”
“No, I get it.” She nodded. “We were both itching to fight. Sometimes I’d sit up and think about what our first round would be about. Prepare myself so it didn’t shock me when it happened. I’d buy myself a little treat if I was right about who would toss the first volley.”
“I’m that predictable, huh?” The truth was, if he really thought about it, he’d done similarly. Not to the extreme of making it a whole routine with a cup of tea… but yeah…
“There’s nothing predictable about either of us.” She blew at the steam, lifted the mug to her lips, and sipped.
That motion of her lips wrapping around the lip of the cup made him suddenly wish they were in the kitchen or the shower or she was in bed with him—
“I’ve been thinking about what you said.” She glanced up. Met his gaze head-on.
“Which time?” Because he’d said a lot of stuff over the years.
“When you mentioned that if I’m ready to be in, then you’re ready to give me your…” She glanced pointedly at his crotch.
“Yeah. I probably wasn’t thinking that through.”
“No.” She nodded, even though the word didn’t match the movement. “You were right. We should wait until we’re both ready to make a commitment to each other beyond just going at it.”
He nodded, hating that of everything to be right about, this was the one that had stuck.
“I think I want to do that.” She nodded. Sipped again at her tea.
“You want my dick?”
“No. I mean,yes. But no. I want us to, you know, try. See where we go. Have dinner, not because I live here or for the counter after-party, but because we want to spend time together. Figure out how to do this life we’re linked in together.”
“I always want to spend time with you.” At least now that they weren’t at each other’s throats every second of the day.
She let out a breath through her nose. “So, what’s next?”
“I’m pretty sure we’re gonna go at it.” Well, that was the truth. At least, if he had any say in the matter.
“C’mon. Be serious.” She ran her hands through her hair, pulling it to the side and draping it there.
“Well, I think we do our best talking when we’re naked. Don’t you?” He said this with a huge scoop of misplaced humor. Adorably misplaced humor.
“Serious for a second?” she asked.
