“What is this? Are you really upset I wore it?” My hand went to my neck as he shook his head and scowled.
“No, I gave it to you because I knew it’d look good on you. I’m upset because I feel like I’m getting mixed signals.”
I crossed my arms.
“What are you talking about?”
His eyes rolled towards the dark ceiling.
“We ended things, officially. You moved on, and I’m trying to, right? You’ve got your perfect little family and I’m… enjoying anyone who wants to enjoy me.”
I flinched as he tried to politely say he was whoring around.
“But then you two are fighting all the time and you just up and decide to tour, knowing that it’s going to piss him off. And then this,” he motioned to the necklace. “What are you doing?”
“Everything alright?” Tate’s voice from behind Ronny caused my mouth to open and close without answering either of them. Ronny turned and raised an eyebrow at him. He stuck his thumb out and pointed to me with it.
“She tell you where she got that necklace?”
Tate was confused, obviously. He shook his head. Ronny smirked. I could almost hear his thoughts.
Of course, she didn’t.
“I gave that to her when I was still dating Tierney. It was like a promise thing. I don’t know. Anyways, it’s weird seeing her with it on now that…” I watched him swallow and nod. “Things are different.” He gave me one last tight smile before brushing past Tate and leaving the backstage to keep working on loading in. My eyes flew to my husband.
He blinked and licked his lips.
“Why didn’t you say something?”
“I don’t know. Because it was uncomfortable.”
“And this isn’t?” he pointed out. I looked away and he sighed. “You know, I would really love it if I didn’t have to hear things from other people.” Before I could protest, he hurried away, leaving me feeling like a total ass.
Loading in was finished and we grabbed a few beers at the bar before everything opened. Things were awkward at best. Especially when I sat down and Tate took my seat to the right, and Ronny the one to the left. What was he doing?I pretended like it didn’t bother me. I knew if I reacted to it, both men would see it and overanalyze it.
“I’m officially proposing tonight. At the party, I think,” Cash proudly announced. We all whooped and said our congratulations. He was beaming. “I was nervous for a bit, but I think it’s time. I don’t want to leave on tour without doing it.”
“Oh God, don’t be like that,” Ronny teased. “She’ll be here when you get back. It’s only a few months.”
“Oh, it’s nothing like that,” Cash explained. “I just don’t want to be in charge of the ring that whole time. I’m always afraid I’m going to lose it. I need the pressure off me.” We all roared with laughter and congratulated him again.
“It’s official then, huh? You’re getting hitched. Soon you’ll be like these two goofs.” Dallas pointed to Tate and me. I raised my eyebrows. Tate put his arm around me.
“You make it sound like that’s a bad thing,” Tate chuckled. “I love being married.”
My heart fluttered at his words.I did too.
“No, not that. Audrey’s good for you. I’ll stand right up there with you if you want. I’m talking about kids.” He took a swig of his third beer and turned to Cash. “Love, marriage, baby carriage. And it’ll be easier since she’s not on the road like we are. You’ll come back, knock her up, then head out with us on tour.”
“Fuck off,” Cash said. “First, we aren’t planning for kids any time soon. Secondly, there’s nothing wrong with that anyways.”
“It’s harder. That’s a fact. Look at these two,” he tilted his bottle at us. “They lost their shit over having to leave their infant daughter behind. And they’ve only got one.”
“Well for now,” Tate said. My eyes shot up to him in a panic. Tate realized what said. “Shit.”
“What’s that mean?” Ronny asked. His voice was almost a snarl. Tate was originally apologetic for letting his thought slip, but Ronny’s reaction sent him straight to jealous mode.
“What do you think it means? We’re married. I haven’t used a condom in months,” he lied. I sighed. And just like that, the pissing contest was back. “Skin to skin. It’s only a matter of time before I get mywifepregnant.”
