Best Friend's Ex Box Set

“Dude, she’s probably already penciled that into our schedules and packed our workout clothes,” Talon said as he patted me on the shoulder. Come to think of it, he was probably right, I thought with a laugh. Still, I wouldn’t mind working out with her. I could definitely get used to seeing her in those yoga pants she’d been wearing last night.

“Owen, you all right, dude?” Talon waved a hand in front of my face, pulling me from my thoughts.

“Hmm?” I looked over at him.

“I was asking you if you planned on eating anything?” I noticed then he was holding a paper plate out to me.

“Oh, yeah. Thanks.” I took the plate from him and moved over to the buffet laid out, piling some fried chicken and mac and cheese onto my plate.

“Might want to get your mind off of Nalia’s ass and into performance mode there, big bro.”

I looked at him a little dumbfounded, and he only laughed. “Dude, I know you. You’re an ass man, and, I'm not saying that I’ve been checking it out, but I won't lie—Nalia’s got a nice one. A real nice one.”

I gave him a punch in the shoulder, and he only laughed.

“Hey, come on, dude. She was wearing yoga pants this morning. It was hard not to notice that booty on her. I'm only human, after all!”

I sighed. “My mind isn’t on Nalia’s ass. Just glad everything is going so smoothly thanks to her,” I said, which wasn’t a total lie.

“Right, sure,” Talon nodded, going for seconds.

A little later, Nalia popped her head into the room. “How’s everyone doing? Need anything?” she asked, looking around the room.

“We’re good. Why don’t you grab something to eat and take a load off? You’ve been running around since this morning,” I said as I nodded at the spread of food. It wasn’t like we were going to eat all of it ourselves, even if Talon was making a decent effort. She tried to object, but we all insisted she take a break.

“Everything is going good and working out ahead of schedule,” I told her, pushing a plate into her hands. “You need to relax a bit and not worry so much. You've done an awesome job as it is.” Finally, she agreed and grabbed some food before our sound check.

Once we headed to the stage, though, she was back at it again, running around to cover any last minute situations. We got through sound check with minimal issues before heading backstage to hang out until practice was scheduled to begin in another hour. The doors opened at seven, and the opening band, a local group, took the stage at eight. We were letting them rehearse on stage first, taking a break before we ran through our set list.

A few of us ventured out to hear them. They were a great opening act and a band I was looking at signing. I caught a glimpse of Nalia running around backstage, taking charge and directing people while they played. She looked sexy as hell when she was being bossy, and I couldn’t help but smile. Yeah, I’d definitely found the right girl for the job.

After the opening band had finished on stage, we invited them to chow down on the buffet in our dressing room and chatted for a bit before heading out to the stage to run through our set list. Things went perfectly, as they had been the whole day, and everyone was completely pumped.

“So, about the after party?” Talon twirled one of his drumsticks as we finished off our encore song. I grinned. Hell yeah, we were having an after-party tonight.

“We can have it back at the penthouse. I can get Nalia to set up catering and drinks—but I swear to God, guys, no girls that even remotely look like they could be underage or like they’ve been walking the streets their whole life.”

“Aye, aye, captain,” Jeremiah nodded as he placed his guitar on its stand. The others nodded their agreement, and we headed backstage to hang out and change before it was show time.

I looked around for Nalia, but couldn’t find her anywhere. Did this woman ever take a break? I was so pumped and ready to go that I wanted to pull her into an empty closet and release some of this pent up excitement.

Finally, she came into our dressing room, looking smoking hot in a mini skirt and a Bleeding Heart tank top that showed off her cleavage rather nicely. She had dark, winged eyeliner around her eyes and red lipstick on with her hair down and wild, like a real rocker chick. She looked so sexy that the other guys paused and took notice of her walking in.

“Helloooo, nurse!” Talon broke up the silence and whistled at her, making her blush as her brown eyes connected with mine. I smiled at her and nodded for her to join me on the black leather couch.

“Opening band is almost done. I already found a bartender for the after party at the penthouse and took care of food for tonight. Need anything else before you guys go on stage?”

I shook my head, smiling at her. “Relax a little. You’ve been working your tail off all day. It’s time to sit back and get ready to enjoy the show, then later the after party,” I told her.

“Seriously, Nalia. You’re a Godsend. Everything has gone off without a hitch,” Jeremiah added, giving her a fist bump. Her cheeks flushed again, but she thanked him for the compliment, then checked her watch as cheers erupted.

“It’s time, guys! Get out there and break a leg!” She nodded to the door as she popped back up out of her seat. All of the guys headed out toward the stage to get ready, but I hung back so I could walk with Nalia. She smiled at me. “What’s wrong? Nervous?”

“Nah,” I shook my head, then tugged her back into a little alcove behind the stage. I pressed my mouth to hers as I rubbed her hips. She giggled but kissed me back, parting her lips for me invitingly. “I did just think of something I need, though,” I told her as I let her go.

“Anything, boss.” she teased looking up at me, about to pull out her smartphone and make whatever call she needed. I leaned in close, letting my lips brush her neck, sending goosebumps racing down her arm.

“I need you, naked and trembling later tonight.”