Between the Pack

14

Chapter 14

Ollie’s POV

A week later – Final show

Wow.We'd made it. We'd actually made it. I couldn't believe that the final show was here. Claire had smashed her residency in Las Vegas, but as with all good things, everything had to come to an end. Normally, I wouldn't mind a RedEye job coming to an end, but this time it was different. This time, ending the job would mean that I didn't get to see Paisley anymore, and that was crushing.

I'd made it worse though. I should have known better than to give Paisley my cell phone number after sleeping with her, because the endless string of text messages between us had only made my heart sink into my feelings for her.

God, it was almost making me overly emotional to watch Claire perform her last song. I didn't want to get all caught up in the charged atmosphere. Not when there was still work to be done. I sucked in a shaky breath and forced myself to smile, shoving my emotions down. I kept my head held high.

I leaned against the wall, glad to be backstage where no one could see me falling apart. I needed to be right here, by myself…but it seemed like that wasn't going to happen. Someone was here. Someone who seemed to think it okay to sidle up close to me, practically invading my personal space.

I might have asked that person to move away, if it wasn't for the face smiling up at me. The beautiful face that had been on my mind for as long as I could remember now. It almost felt like there hadn't ever been a time when I didn't know her, when she didn't consume just about every inch of my existence.

"Paisley." I grinned down at her, her mere presence taking away the sadness that had gotten all caught up in my chest. "Everything okay?"

She nodded, giving me barely anything back. But she didn't need to say a word for me to really feel her. She kept edging closer to me with every passing second, the heat of her body surging through me. I could tell she wanted something, but I wasn't about to push her. I didn't mind hanging around and waiting for her to be ready to speak. I just wanted her near me. It made the already intense lyrics of Claire's song feel that much more powerful and overwhelming.

Eventually, Paisley leaned her head on my shoulder, which was a sensation I adored so much I never wanted it to end. It allowed me to really imagine what it might be like if Paisley and I ended up together. It could be like this every single day. Me and her. It could be so blissful, so happy. So perfect.

"Hey," Paisley whispered, dragging me from my fantasy the moment Claire's song came to an end. "I want you to know something." She giggled girlishly. "I like you. I mean, I really like you. I really like you. I've been falling for you for a while now." Falling? Did she just say falling? "I want you to know that I want more."

Her words stunned me to the core. I couldn't believe she was so bravely saying that to my face. That was something I wanted to do but hadn't been able to. I hadn't yet found the courage to yet. But here Paisley was, doing it anyway.

It seemed like I didn't need to respond though, Paisley wasn't expecting that. She grabbed me and pulled me down until my lips crashed to hers and we were kissing like there was no tomorrow. There was so much passion coming from me, reflected in me as well. We were like horny teens unable to get enough of one another. This was the sort of kiss that was leading somewhere, but I didn't know where. It didn't even matter where, as long as I was with her.

Oh God, I couldn't get enough of Paisley. I spun her around and pushed her up against the wall to deepen the kiss. I didn't even care about people around us, they might as well have not existed, because all I could think about was her. My hands were all over her body; I wanted to feel every peak, every dip. I wanted to shred the clothes off her body, to brush my fingers everywhere, to experience that intense electrical connection all over again. I wanted to plunge inside her, to make love to this very special woman all over again.

But then she pulled away. She snapped away from me, leaving me cold and alone. Very much alone. All I wanted was to grab on to her, to hold her forever.

But she'd already slipped through my fingers. However, the cheeky smile playing on her lips had me on edge, waiting.

"My room," she called back to me just as she was out of reach. That adorable smile still there, teasing me. "When you get the time, meet me there. Okay?"

I lifted up one hand and waved to her while nodding. I had no idea what she was wanting, what would happen in her room, but I was excited. As soon as she vanished out of sight, I felt my heart skip a few beats. What did all of that mean? The kiss, the comments about liking me, the talk about wanting more…

My God, did this mean that something might actually happen between us in the future? That we could be the couple I kept day dreaming about? What would happen if that was the case? I guess I would leave RedEye to be with her, so I could give her all of me. The other guys might be a little disappointed in me though. And more than that, it meant I would have to have all my shifter time alone, but it would all be worth it if I got to be with Paisley. That was how much she'd gotten under my skin. That was how badly I had fallen for her. I was a mess.

The cheers rocketed through my body, vibrating in my chest. The crowd absolutely loved Claire; she had kicked ass yet again, of course. As the crowd cheered, my brain went in a different direction, to a much darker place I didn't usually like to think of. My past. My ex-wife and everything that had happened. The way she rejected me so cruelly just for who I was. Was I really ready to put my heart on the line again? To risk that pain? I didn't think I would ever want to put myself in that vulnerable place again, but Paisley really did make things different.

Damn it, what was I going to do? It just seemed so freaking scary to give up everything I had and see what else could be out there for me, only to end up a rejected pile of mush on the floor once more.

"I'm done, Ollie!" Claire cried out as she crashed off the stage, exhaustion rolling off her body in waves. "Can you believe it? I'm finished."

"You did a great job, Claire. Seriously. I'm proud of you."

But she wasn't even listening to me anymore. She had her face in her phone and was smiling at a message someone had sent her.

"Hey, I have to go," she called out to me. "I need to see Leon before my parents get in to town. He's going to take me out on a celebration date."

Now this was something I knew nothing about. But I wasn't going to get a chance to ask because she was already gone, out of sight, off on some date. Well, that was up to her. I suppose now that she was done with the tour meant we didn't need to watch her anymore. She could do whatever she wanted. She'd been safe this far, so I had no reason to think otherwise. She was going to be fine.

And anyway, I had more important things to do now. I had to help the team strip down the staging area and to ensure that everything was fine and ready for the next person to come along to perform their own residency.

My cell phone buzzed loudly, snatching my attention away from Claire and everything going on around me. It was a text message from Paisley, reminding me that I needed to meet her in her bedroom as soon as we were done here.

My pulse began to pound all over again. Excitement ricocheted through my body. I was so freaking nervous that I could scream, but at the same time I couldn't wait to find out what the hell was going on with her.

"Hey, Ollie." Sly grabbed my attention with his typical grim expression. "Have you seen Claire? She seems to have skipped out already."

"Uh, yeah, she said she was going out on a date with some guy named Leon." Shit, was I supposed to stop her? "Before her parents arrive."

"Oh, Leon. Okay." Sly's lips stretched into a thin, grim line. "That's her actor boyfriend. I've been keeping an eye on the pair of them while they've been dating and I'm pretty sure she's going to be safe with him. We don't need to worry."

"Oh, right." Guilt flowed through my veins. Sly had his eyes on the prize always. He had been focusing on work and keeping Claire out of trouble, while I'd been way too distracted with everything Paisley. "Yeah, that's good. I'm glad."

Holy shit, if Paisley had me that distracted, it was time for me to think about leaving RedEye. I wasn't doing anything good while I was here.

"Anyway, you ready to start taking the stage down? Daisy has demanded that we help out, and you know we don't want to ignore her."

I had to nod at that one. We were all scared shitless of getting on the wrong side of Daisy because she was terrifying when she was in a mood. If she had requested that we help out, then we had to get to it immediately.

"Yeah, sure, I'm up for helping." My grin was strained, probably because I was thinking about how quickly I could get to Paisley's room. She was going to wait for me, but I didn't know for how long. I didn't know if I would have a cutoff point. What if she fell asleep and I never got a chance to find out what she wanted to say to me? She could ship out early in the morning, and that would be it.

No, I thought desperately to myself. No way, that can't happen.

I was utterly determined to make this work out for me. I would work my ass off to get this done quickly, to make sure I got to see Paisley tonight.

Sly's phone beeped. He glanced down at the screen and furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. I wanted to ask what was going on, but I didn't want to get too caught up in anything. Not when I had a big clock hanging over my head.

"Hey, what's that smell?" Sly suddenly asked, sniffing the air. "I know that smell. It smells like Paisley has been here. Has she been here?"

"Uh, yeah." What the hell? Did Sly know her that well? I knew there had been something between them, but I didn't like the idea that it was more intense than what I shared with Paisley. "She was, but she's gone."

I felt a little sick to my stomach. I was afraid that I'd been living in a fantasy. Was it possible that I had misheard what Paisley said to me? That I heard what I wanted to hear and she was really trying to get rid of me?

Something was going on. Something was definitely going on.

"Anyway." Sly patted me on the shoulder. "Come on, let's get on with it. Let's get this stage all done so we can move on with our night."

Wait, did he have something planned tonight as well? What was in the air with everyone? I guess because it was our last night in Vegas and we were all thinking about what our next move was going to be. We had all been so consumed in what was going on here while we were in it, but now it was done.

Maybe I wasn't the only one thinking about giving up RedEye for greener pastures. That was interesting. Real interesting. Maybe I should spend time trying to figure out what everyone else was up to.

I headed into the auditorium behind Sly, my head spinning. There was so much to think about, so much on my mind, throwing myself in to physical labor was probably for the best.

* * *

It seemed to take forever,but finally we managed to get the stage area cleared out. Unfortunately, it seemed like Daisy wasn't quite done with us yet. She waved us all over to chat with her like it was a freaking school assembly or something. It was absolutely ridiculous, especially when I had somewhere much more important that I needed to be.

"Hey, everyone." She glanced around at us all. "Where's Vinnie? Oh, never mind, you can just pass the message on for me later. I wanted to say thank you."

Whoa, now that was unexpected. Daisy hadn't talked to us without yelling for what felt like weeks. She had seemed to grow more up tight every single day. But I suppose now that the show was done and we’d kept it all together, so she could be happy for us. It made quite a nice change.

“We’ve all worked hard together and really made this work. It’s good.” Fucking hell, Daisy was even smiling. “You are a team that I will definitely be hiring again next time we have anything scheduled. Now, Claire has had a lot of offers, and I don’t know exactly which one she will be taking, but I'm sure we can work together."

I shot Sly a slightly confused look, but he simply smiled back as if this was absolutely fine. If that was okay with him, then so be it. The way my mind was at the moment, I wouldn't need to be under Daisy's wild regime again.

"Anyway, thank you again. I'm sure you all have other places you would much rather be than here. So, I will see you later on."

Most people took off immediately, off to their respective plans, but I found myself unable to move right away. Even though I was dying to get to Paisley's room, I just couldn't quite make myself go.

"Where is Vinnie?" Jake asked, hitting the nail on the head for me. Our friend was here with us as we were clearing out the stage, but he'd taken off at some point before we could hear what Daisy had to say. I wasn’t sure why, but that had me on edge. I felt a little out of touch. Like I was missing something incredibly important. "Did anyone see him leave? I can't remember now."

"I think he was sorting out the lighting." Sly shrugged, not as bothered as the rest of us. "I'm sure he's either still up there or he's headed back to his hotel room. Which I think I might do as well. It's been a long night."

He mock saluted before taking off, leaving only Jake and me behind. I opened my mouth a little, about to confess all and maybe even ask for his advice, but before I could say a word, his phone beeped and he turned away from me, concentration filling his expression. Everyone seemed to have something else going on, something keeping their attention. It was weird. I desperately wanted to know what it was, but I didn't feel like I had the right to ask.

Maybe that was because I was keeping my own secrets. I was trying to keep Paisley all to myself.

I ended up turning away from Jake and practically sneaking out of the room because I couldn't let my nerves keep me away from Paisley any longer. I would never forgive myself if I didn't find out what she wanted to say to me.