Hard Freak

My heart pounded but I had to have my say.

“Yeah, and if anything happens to you, I’m the one who’ll have to face your mother. I wanted you on this tour, and I promised her I’d look after you. I have to make sure you’re okay.”

“What? You think I’m going to do something stupid, like get knocked up?”

“No, I think you’re going to do something stupid like get your heart broken. You don’t know Crow.”

That was all she had. That I didn’t know him.

“You don’t know him. You’ve hardly spoken to him. He’s a good guy, and you’re judging him based on nothing.”

“He has shadows. I can’t explain it, but there are things not right with him.”

My body grew tense. So tense I might snap. I didn’t want to rile Polly up any more than she was, but I couldn’t let her say things like that about Crow. It was so damn judgmental.

“Because he’s quiet and keeps to himself? That’s not abnormal, it’s just the kind of guy he is. He doesn’t need to pounce around like Damo and Elijah, proving what a big man he is.”

Polly sighed. “It’s more than that. Even Damo thinks there are secrets in Crow’s past.”

I resisted saying that I didn’t give a fig about Damo’s opinion.

“Does he know what they are? Does anyone? It’s all tour rumors and bullshit. He’s one of the sweetest guys I’ve ever met. He wouldn’t hurt a fly. So, get off his case and get off mine. This is all becoming a bore.”

She raked her hands through her hair. “How do I get you to understand? He’s not the man for you. You need someone more your own age and... I don’t know. Just not Crow.”

“There’s nothing for me to understand. You don’t make sense.”

I huffed and sat back on the bed. Polly sat herself down on the sofa. We both folded our arms.

“I’m spending the night here,” I said.

“Oh, no, you’re not.”

“Try to stop me.”

I considered picking her up and throwing her out the door, but I wasn’t sure if I was capable of that. Instead, I sat on the bed and glowered at her. She glowered back. The two of us would’ve sat like that all night if Damo hadn’t knocked on my door.

“Polly, you there?” he asked.

She got up and opened the door. Damo came into my room.

“I found her in Crow’s bed. Naked. She says Crow didn’t know.”

Damo faced me. I waited for another lecture, but the corners of his mouth twitched like he wanted to laugh but not in front of Polly. That twitching made me want to laugh, too. This might be as embarrassing as hell, but it was kind of funny too. I must’ve looked like such an idiot when Polly walked into that room.

“What am I going to do with her?” Polly asked Damo.

Damo shrugged. “She’s old enough to make up her own mind. Just let her be.”

Yes! Damo was on my side. I bet he’d had too much of Polly interfering in my life instead of being all lovey-dovey with him.

But then he turned to me. “Just, maybe, take it a bit easy. It could give a man a real fright walking into his room and finding someone in his bed. And what if he’d picked up some chick at the bar?”

“What? Is some bitch chatting him up?” I got up and grabbed my jacket.

Damo caught my arm. “I was speaking hypothetically. He and Jax are sitting in a corner talking drums.”

I sat back down.

Then Fartstard, the tour manager, turned up. Was the entire tour going to end up in my room? And damn Polly poured the whole story out to him. She could shut her cake hole instead of letting everyone know what I’d done. I’d never hear the end of this. Being naked in someone’s bed leading to hot, all-night sex was one thing. Being naked in someone’s bed and being dragged out by your cousin was a whole other matter. An embarrassing one.

I sighed.

“Tell him,” Polly said to Fartstard. “Tell Damo we can’t let Fay do as she likes.”

Polly had her hands on her hips and her chest out in fight mode. Poor Damo.

“Can you all get out of my room now?” I said. “I need to sleep.”

“I’m staying here,” Polly said.