I kissed her again to cut her off, easing my hips up against her, letting her feel how much I wanted her. “Please, Nalia. I don’t care—just promise me. I just want to spend some time with you. You're the only thing I want to focus on after the show tonight.”
She smiled up at me, once more with that hesitant look in her eyes. “Okay. I promise. I’m all yours tonight,” she whispered back.
Once more, I joined my lips to hers, happy despite her hesitance. I didn't want to give her any reason whatsoever to doubt me later. I brushed a stray lock of hair behind her ear as I studied her, wondering what was going on behind those beautiful eyes of hers. Her cheeks flushed a little as my fingertips brushed her skin, and she looked down, pulling away from me.
“I should get back to work,” she said before I could pull her back to me. “I’ve got a few more things need to take care of before you guys hit the stage.”
“Umm, okay.” I was left a little speechless as I watched her go. Something was off, and to tell the truth, it had seemed to be off for days. I didn’t feel like she was being completely upfront with me about something, and it wasn't sitting right. Maybe she was protecting herself. If so, that was a good thing, right? She didn’t want to get too attached. After all, we had both agreed on that being one of the conditions.
I had assured her I didn’t want to become too attached to her, either. Or, so I thought. Lately, I’d caught myself wondering what life would be like with Nalia. And watching her walk out of the room with that look on her face had me thinking about other things.
Not just sex with her, but settling down, having someone close, someone I could be with for...well, forever. The idea of it was kind of scary to think about but also very comforting at the same time. And as scary as it was, I could honestly say I didn't want anyone else, just her. No one had ever made me think about those things. Until now, at least.
I was still in a daze when the guys came into the room to grab something to eat. I tried to get my mind off of her as they arrived.
“Doing all right?” Talon asked, grabbing a plate of food.
“Yeah, just thinking about the show,” I lied.
“I’m sure it’s going to be great. We totally killed it in rehearsal, so, I imagine it's gonna be just as kick-ass when we actually hit the stage.” He patted my shoulder then sat down next to me. “Not going to eat, bro?”
“I will in a bit.” I looked over at the food, not feeling too hungry.
“Too busy thinking about Nalia?” he whispered so the others didn’t hear him. I only shrugged. He could read me better than anyone. “For what it’s worth, I think you two are good for each other. Just don’t fuck things up while we’re on tour,” Talon winked.
I sure as hell didn’t plan to, and that was the truth.
I left without eating much, then went and changed for the show, and finally headed out of the dressing room while the opening band was playing to check them out. The crowd was huge, thrumming with energy. It brought a smile to my face and lifted my mood as thoughts of Nalia began fading into the back of my mind. It was getting close to show time, and I needed to get in the right mindset to perform.
The opening band finished, and we high-fived them as they came off stage, having a couple beers with them while the crew set up the stage for us. When it was time for Bleeding Heart to take the stage, we converged into our usual huddle, putting hands into the middle like we were on a football team before shouting “Bleeding Heart” to pump us up. It was a little juvenile, but it had been our routine since our first live gig.
When we ran out on stage, the crowd erupted in a thunderous roar of cheers and applause. As the wave of sound hit me, an electric rush flooded through me. Every time I stepped on stage, it was still surreal to see people cheering for us, even after all the years we’d performed. It never got old. Never. It always felt like it had the very first time.
“How’s everyone doing tonight?” I shouted into the microphone. The crowd roared in response, and my smile grew. “Are you ready to do this? Are you ready to rock this place down to its foundations, tear every brick out, and burn it to the ground?”
Even louder cheers came in response, and I nodded at Talon. He slammed on the drums and headed straight into our first song, and I watched the crowd morph into a sea of swaying bodies as I began to sing.
I got lost in the musi
c, forgetting everything else at that moment. For that brief segment of time, everything was perfect. Absolutely perfect.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Nalia
The guys came off the stage steaming from the heat of their performance and covered in sweat. I ushered them into the dressing room to freshen up before their meet and greet. Once again, they had pulled off a killer set. The crowd had been so fanatical that they had played three encores before finally leaving the stage.
Owen grinned at me as he passed and blew me a kiss, causing those stupid, silly butterflies in my stomach to swarm in a frenzy. Before I could even realize what I was doing, I gave him a flirty wink in response.
I waited outside of the dressing room for them and watched all the fans that had won a backstage meet and greet as they headed for the area set up for them. I tried to stop myself, but I couldn’t keep from eyeing them up and down.
A lot of them were women, and almost all of those women were dressed rather revealingly in halter tops, micro-minis, and clothing that revealed more of their bodies than most swimsuits would have. There were midriffs showing at every turn, plenty of cleavage, legs exposed almost all the way up to the point where you could see panties, and of course, pierced belly buttons and tattoos. To say that I wasn’t thrilled about these girls possibly throwing themselves all over Owen was an understatement.
Relax. They’re just fans, and he already said he wanted to spend the night with you. Talon and the other guys will be all over these groupies. Not Owen. He's not like that, and he's only got eyes for you. He's said it himself more times than you can count, Nalia. So, just breathe. You don't have anything to worry about.
It was easy enough to tell myself all of that, but when the guys came out, and I saw panties and bras go flying and girls begging to have their tits and asses signed, it was much harder to swallow my own advice.
This is how a rock band tour goes. Owen warned you that this is how it would be, and Talon has told you plenty of stories about the crazy things fans did on previous tours, I reminded myself.