Wright Rival (Wright)

Somehow, I was Hollin Abbey’s good girl.

14

Hollin

By the time Campbell returned, both of us were decent.

He shot me a look, and I just smirked.

“Sorry about that,” he said. “Looks like we need to get back to the hotel. Thought we wouldn’t be leaving Dallas until tomorrow afternoon, but they have us heading out bright and early for Austin.”

“Sounds good,” I said.

I offered my hand to Piper, which, shockingly, she took. She was in some kind of sex coma. A dopamine-induced high that made her all soft and pliant. I wanted to scoop her up in my arms and carry her right back to bed. This side of her triggered my protective instincts like nothing I’d known in years.

I helped her down the stairs, and we followed the band to an awaiting limo. Campbell told us that the tour bus would meet the band at the hotel at five tomorrow morning. We piled into the limo, and Piper sat, sandwiched between me and Campbell.

Santi had a girl under each arm and was going on about some new sound he’d managed. Yorke kept shooting him shut the fuck up looks. But no one could make Santi be quiet before he was ready. Michael was half-asleep at the other end of the limo. Campbell and Viv were arguing like an old married couple. As per usual.

“How are you feeling?” I asked, slipping an arm around Piper’s waist.

“Sore,” she admitted. She leaned her head against my shoulder. Her eyes were half-lidded, as if she might pass out.

“Too sore?”

“Mmm,” she murmured. Then shook her head.

“Good.”

I tucked her in closer. I liked the way she fitted into my side. I was so enamored with every little move she made that I didn’t even stop to question my behavior. I’d spanked her ass hard enough to bruise. She was shifting all over the place, so it must have hurt, and I didn’t want to let her go without knowing that she would be all right.

I’d done some stuff like this before but never…this. It had always been more of a joke. The girl had seen some porn that she wanted to do and giggled through it. But Piper had been infected with it. It had catapulted through her veins and ripped through her skin. It made her this soft, weightless nymph instead of the proud, stubborn, glaring woman I was used to.

And in the middle of that shift, something had cracked inside me, too. I’d push her as far as she’d let me. But I wanted—no, needed—to be there to hold her and keep her safe once she was broken.

When the limo stopped in front of our hotel, I helped Piper out of the car. Even at an ungodly early hour of the morning, Campbell was looking around, as if anticipating a mob.

“I should probably enter from the back,” he said.

“Shut up,” Viv said, smacking him. “No one is even awake.”

“And we have security,” Michael added.

“Which makes us more suspicious,” Campbell grumbled.

“Go around back,” I told him. “Do what you think is best.”

“All right,” he said, nodding his head. “I guess this is good-bye. Can’t imagine you’ll be awake at five.”

“Fuck no.”

The rest of the band was already heading inside without Campbell. And as much as they acted nonchalant, he was the face of Cosmere. He was the one who got mobbed and stalked. When out for shows, it was safer for him to be cautious.

“You coming?” Piper asked, turning back to look at me as she followed Viv.

“Go on inside with everyone else,” I told her. “I’ll be there in a minute.”

She shrugged and fell into step beside Viv. I watched her go with hungry eyes. What had I gotten myself into?

“So, you’re welcome,” Campbell said with a shit-eating grin when Piper was out of earshot.

“I have to admit, the tour bus was put to good use.”

Campbell snorted. “I bet.”

“Did you even have a call?”

“Yeah, bro. But I didn’t have to be gone as long as I was.”

“Little matchmaker.”

Campbell laughed and rubbed the back of his head. “Yeah. I like to see everyone happy. And she seems to make you happy. Try not to fuck it up until I get back, will you?”

“No promises. I’m kind of a fuckup.”

“No arguments there.”

“When are you coming back?” I asked him.

“Tour ends in about two months. I’m supposed to go to LA, but maybe I’ll swing by Lubbock first.”

“Do that,” I insisted.

“Tell Nora I said bye.”

We hugged, and he returned to the limo to be escorted to a more discreet entrance. I’d miss him when he was gone. But I was glad that he’d made plans to come home. It was better having him in our lives.

I strode inside to find Piper waiting for me. The others had disappeared up the elevator, but she was still here.

“You ready to go to bed?”