2
CANNON
Imassaged Piper’s shoulders and up her neck, trying to erase the tension in her muscles. Then someone screamed my name, and I felt her jerk. When she shrugged off my touch, I nearly whimpered.
She muttered something about needing to check on Hymn as she walked off without looking at me. Luckily, I bit back the sound before it could escape, and I watched her put her arms around her best friend. The two hugged before Piper guided Hymn offstage, not even bothering to finish her segment of the concert.
Which meant that I needed to move my ass since Jagger and I were up next. The roadies were already changing out all of Piper’s stuff for ours. Groaning, I pulled out my phone to let my brother-in-law know that our timetable had moved up.
Jags: Already know. Trin texted me. But I’ve been watching you and Piper on live stream for the last ten minutes.
I wasn’t surprised, but that only reinforced that it wasn’t going to go over well for any of us once our parents found out about the show I’d just put on with that dipshit Robbie. I hadn’t liked him from the instant I’d set eyes on him. The asshole had been flashing his cocky grin at Piper left and right, acting like he was some badass because he was her new bass player. He’d only gotten the gig because her last bassist had broken his arm trying to impress his friends with some skateboard trick he’d had no business trying just the week before.
Jagger’s mom and Trinity had scrambled to get a replacement for Piper. Unfortunately for everyone, Robbie was who they’d had to settle for.
But the bastard was history now, or he would be once he hobbled his way out of the stadium. A glance over my shoulder let me know that would probably still be a while. He’d given up on trying to stand on his own and had settled for crawling toward the exit. All while the people up by the fence threw drinks and food at him, yelling at him for ruining Piper’s concert. The few who had been paying attention to anyone other than Piper onstage had witnessed what Robbie had done to poor, sweet Hymn and were telling the others about it loudly enough for me to hear.
David, the head of security, had finally made his way from wherever the hell he’d been during the altercation. Grabbing Robbie by the back of his jeans, he hoisted the bassist up and half carried him the rest of the way out.
I wasn’t a fan of David’s any more than I’d been of Robbie’s. He’d been promoted for this tour, having been the second-in-command the past few years. The other guy had retired after Christmas, though, and David had moved up in rank. But he thought he was too good for the job, and he spent more time staring at Trinity’s, my sister’s, and Piper’s asses to focus on what he should be doing.
Jagger hadn’t noticed it yet, but once he saw the head of security checking out his wife’s ass, I figured David wouldn’t be looking at much except the inside of a coffin. Then Barrick would have to find a new head of security for this tour.
Needing my eyes on Piper, I walked offstage and around the back from the opposite side. Spotting her with Hymn, I jogged over to check on them.
“I tried to ignore it, but he just kept picking all day. It was childish stuff, I know, but it brought back all the times people would torment me when I was a kid. It just got to be too much.” Hymn sniffled, and Piper wrapped her in her arms. “I’m sorry I caused so much trouble. I didn’t want this to happen. Honestly, I just thought it was his way of flirting at first. But then, the longer we were onstage, the more malicious he seemed to get.”
“He’s gone now,” Piper soothed, rubbing her best friend’s back. “You don’t have to worry about him or anyone else ever again. Remember what I told you?”
“Everyone is replaceable but me,” Hymn murmured.
“Exactly.” Piper kissed her cheek. “Charlie is going to take you back to the bus.”
“What about you? You have to get ready for the first charity date.”
Piper’s mouth pressed into a grim line at the reminder. “Don’t worry about me. I’ll just go like this. Whoever won the date will have to deal with me the way I am.”
My gaze ate up the sight of her. Skinny jeans that cupped her ass in a way that made me jealous of the denim. Her T-shirt was one of the new ones that our merch people were selling for the tour, but she’d gotten scissor-happy with it, lending the shirt a bit of her own personal style. The makeup she always wore when she performed was dark, making her eyes and lips pop in her beautiful face. Her long dark hair was down and wildly tousled. My fingers itched to comb through the thick tresses, feel the silky strands skimming over my flesh.
Goddamn, she looked sexy as fuck. Her date was going to have a hard time keeping his hands off her.
I knew, because I was her date.
A fact that she didn’t know yet, and she wouldn’t until later. But when she realized I’d won the auction for the first date of the Feed the Music fundraiser, Piper wasn’t going to be happy. In the last five years, I’d tried to show her I wasn’t the same dickhead I’d been when we were kids. For a little while, she’d started to soften toward me, but she couldn’t bring herself to trust me fully.
Not that I could blame her.
I’d done some shit I was ashamed of, and only a saint could actually forgive me. Piper was made for sin, not sainthood. Something I was all too thankful for, but I still yearned for her trust.
I wanted to show her how much I’d changed. The guy who had once made it his life’s mission to make her cry no longer existed. He had been a stupid, entitled little boy.
The man I wanted to be for her would never allow her to shed another tear.
I just needed the chance to show her.
When I found out what her favorite charity, Feed the Music, had asked her to do for their new fundraiser, I’d nearly exploded. I’d even tried to find a way to get Piper out of it. The thought of her going out with anyone, let alone twelve different people, had made me crazy.
Until I realized that it offered me the perfect opportunity to show her just how much I’d changed.
It was a win-win for everyone, really. A charity that did amazing things would get the funds they needed to continue their great work, and I would get time alone with Piper without her being able to avoid me.
It was definitely money well spent.
Charlie came over and tucked Hymn’s arm through his. Speaking softly to her, he guided her away. Piper watched them, the muscle in her left cheek working as she got lost in thought. Once they were out of sight, I nudged her with my shoulder. “Don’t worry about her. She’s a strong chick. If nothing else, I’ve learned that much about her over our summer tours.”
Piper blew out a heavy sigh but nodded. “I know. It’s not her that I’m all that worried about.”
“What, then?” I would do whatever it took to make it easier on her. I just needed her to tell me what it was so I could fix it.
“Do you know how hard it was to get Robbie on such short notice?” she grumbled, pushing her thick dark hair back from her face. “I have maybe two choices at this point. My dad, who is in Australia right now with Mom on her tour.” She grimaced. “Or my brother.”
I didn’t like either of those options. Her dad would be pissed as hell if he had to leave her mom, which would make him the equivalent of an angry bear. Something none of us wanted to have to deal with. Plus, Piper had wanted to show her parents that she could do the whole tour thing on her own for once. For the past four summers, they had been right there with us, supervising everything. But she was nineteen now, and she was ready to do this without them.
Not only that, but it would make getting closer to Piper even harder than it already was, those twelve dates I’d already paid for or not. As for her brother, Asher was even less of a fan of me than her dad was. But if I had to choose, Asher would be the lesser of the two evils, especially with Hymn around. He turned into an entirely different person whenever she was in his vicinity, and I would use that to my advantage if I had to.
“Asher is working on his own project for the next three weeks, though,” she said, pressing her thumb and index finger into her eyes. “I guess I’m going to have to call my dad.”
Turning her to face me, I carefully pushed her hand away and started massaging above her eyes, knowing she was fighting a headache. The little whine that left her made my dick hard. Her head fell back onto her shoulders, and she began to sway. I tucked her against me before going back to rubbing at her head. But it only lasted thirty seconds before she stiffened and pulled away.
Swallowing my disappointment, I stuffed my hands into my jeans pockets. “Don’t call your dad. We can work around Asher’s schedule. I’ll step in as your bass player until he can join the tour.”
Her dark eyes widened. “Are you serious?”
I shrugged. “It makes sense. I know the songs, and I’m already here.”
“Yeah, but—”
“I’m not just a pretty face with a kick-ass voice,” I reminded her with a smirk. “Shane Stevenson is my godfather, for fuck’s sake. He taught me how to play as soon as I was strong enough to hold a bass guitar. I might not be as good as him, but I won’t embarrass you, Pipes.”
“Are you sure?” she asked hesitantly. “I don’t want to put you out. You have your own shows to do. It’s going to take a lot out of you if you do mine and then yours.”
“I can handle it,” I told her with a shrug. “Come on, Pipes. Do you really want to call Liam?”
“No,” she said with a huff.
“Then it’s settled. You and Trinity can figure out Asher’s schedule, and I’ll step in until he can join us.” Someone called my name, and I gave her a wink before I left her to see what the roadie needed. “I gotchu, sugar.”