“Move,” Brian says before I can answer Cori, tossing his bag in the back.
“I want to drive.” I look at him, and I hate that I can’t see his eyes.
“You can drive when I’m not here,” he says, but I hold my ground, “which will be in eighty-five days when you get home.”
“Brian, just get in. I’m sure I can get us to the lobby without anything happening.”
“Kellie.” One word, teeth crushed together. “Move.”
“You might as well move over. This stand-off isn’t going to go your way no matter how long you stand your ground,” Cori says, leaning forward and whispering.
“She’s right, babe.” He smirks with the nickname, and I glare at him.
Cori now looks up at Brian. “If there is anything she hates more in this life, it’s being called babe.”
“You are so lucky I don’t want to go to jail,” I hiss at him as I move over, “or that the keys are not in the ignition because I would leave without you.” He gets in, hiding his smile of victory.
“Good to know, babe.” He says it again, and I look over and punch his arm.
“That’s considered assault.” He looks at me. “I could press charges.”
“Wait there,” I say, grabbing my bootie and starting to tug it off so I can hit him with it.
“I can’t have you being arrested,” Cori says from the back, laughing when Brian peels away from our room. “No one has time for that.” Then she looks at Brian. “Don’t poke the bear.”
He doesn’t answer; he just throws his head back and laughs. “How is this? I call you babe when you don’t listen.”
“How about this,” I counter, “you call me babe again, and you can sleep with one eye open.”
“You’re cute when you’re angry.” I don’t know what shocks me more, the fact that he admitted I’m cute, or the fact that I’m almost as giddy as a teenager with hearts in her eyes. I don’t have time to reply because the cart comes to a stop and he gets out. Grabbing his bag, he heads into the lobby.
“Did I just witness foreplay?” Cori whispers as we get out of the cart. “I mean, I don’t know about you, but his voice just made my knees weak.”
“Shut up, Cori,” I hiss at her. Walking into the lobby, I see him standing beside the car talking to the driver. The back door to the car is open, so I just duck my head and get into the town car. Cori follows me into the back seat, and the door closes behind her. “It’s day five, and this is happening. How are we going to survive?” she says under her breath, and I think the same thing.
Except I don’t have time to think because we arrive at the venue, and I’m ushered into the back with Cori on one side and Brian on the other.
He keeps his hand on my lower back as he walks almost like his body can cover me if anything happens. The sound guy, Jerry, meets me at the stairs. “Hey, Jerry,” I say, smiling at him. He’s already wearing his headset as he hands me my ear plugs and the mic.
“Here you go, gorgeous.” He smiles at me, and my knees don’t get weak nor do his words leave me breathless, but the other dork calls me cute and all my senses go into overdrive. I walk out to the middle of the stage and look out at the empty venue. Workers are busy setting everything up, so the only one sitting down watching is Brian. I try to zone him out as I run through the set list. We make a couple of changes when I hear the feedback in my ears. When I hand Jerry the microphone, I walk off the stage, and Cori leads me to my dressing room.
I’m a little in shock when I walk in and it looks like I’m in someone’s house and not backstage in a venue with cement walls. Heavy white drapes cover the walls. White couches line the room with low white tables decorated with vases of white roses. A huge white vanity has white light bulbs all around the mirror. A table set up across the room has drinks and snacks on it. “It smells like a flower shop in here,” Brian says and then sneezes four times in a row.
“Did you know there is a theory that says if you sneeze six times in a row, it’s like a mild orgasm?” Cori says, sitting on one of the white couches. We both turn to look at her in shock, and she just raises her eyebrows. “What?” She crosses her legs. “You’ve never wondered about it?”
“Not for one minute in my whole life,” Brian says, and I walk to the door. “I can just imagine what your Google search looks like.”