The Rocker Who Cherishes Me (The Rocker 8)

Harper had convinced Shane not to quit, because no matter what he did he was always going to be Shane Stevenson. Which meant that women were always going to hate her. She wasn’t going to let him give up something that was such a big part of who he was just because some psycho had tried to scare them.

Things on the OtherWorld bus were less strained the next few days. With Linc outing his relationship with Rhett, the men were all a little nicer around the Trance lead singer. If Linc hadn’t admitted to being with the rocker I never would have said a word. Rhett was my friend, possibly my best friend, and I would never spill his secrets.

To my surprise, Wroth even sat down and had a beer with him one night after a concert. I’d heard them talking and Wroth had actually been laughing as I’d passed the Trance/Alchemy bus. I wasn’t sure how to take that, since only a few days before, Wroth had been threatening to murder the man.

Devlin was particularly more good natured in the days that followed. Natalie was moving forward quickly with our bet, while I was taking my time. I was trying to ease back into the old relationship Wroth and I had had before letting things progress toward the revenge that I was still unsure if I wanted or not.

Wroth wasn’t making my indecision any easier with the way he’d been acting lately. He was more laid back now, less strained. He laughed more than I’d ever heard him laugh before and spoke often, joining in on conversations he wouldn’t have normally participated in. He was sweeter, more affectionate too, finding excuses to touch me in small, intimate ways that made me feel special and desired without feeling like he was trying to push or rush me. Little things like pushing my hair out of my eyes, or simply holding my hand while we all watched something on TV one afternoon.

Even when we had been in a relationship the year before, he’d never been one for public displays of affection, not even ones that were that small. Wroth was too private, too reserved for that kind of thing. So what was different now? What had changed with him?

Could all his rigidness have been because of his time in the marines? Had it closed him off that much?

I didn’t know, but I had to admit that I liked this new side of Wroth. He was more approachable. The only real problem I had with it was that it was so easy to fall deeper for the man. I didn’t want to love him more than I already did. It was so consuming as it was, any more and I knew I wouldn’t walk away from him breaking my heart with my sanity intact a second time.

Today was an off day. There would be no traveling until the next morning, no concerts—no craziness. All the parents were taking their kids out to explore the local sights and I got a day of relaxing. There was only one thing I wanted to do, so I popped a bag of popcorn and fixed myself a big glass of iced tea before sitting down to watch my favorite movie of all time.

The tornado was just picking up Dorothy’s house when I heard him moving around in the back of the bus. Most of everyone else had already left to do their own thing for the day, but Wroth had still been asleep. I’d debated whether or not to stick around in case he got up before anyone else came back, but had vetoed that idea almost as soon as it had entered my mind. I didn’t want to avoid him. I wanted more time with him to soak up this new, softer side of him. As for the bet, I would play that by ear. It wasn’t like I would be losing anything if I didn’t win the bet with Natalie. Working her job for a week while she went on vacation wasn’t going to be so bad. If I didn’t win.

Wroth was still blinking sleep out of his eyes when he entered the living room. When he saw me sitting on the couch, his eyes brightened and he was smiling when he sat down beside me, scooping up a giant handful of my popcorn. “Morning, sweetheart.”

“Morning,” I murmured, cuddling against him just a little.

Espresso eyes went to the flat screen and he shook his head when he instantly realized what I was watching. “Really? Didn’t we just watch this last night?”

“We didn’t. But I watched it with Mia and the twins.” I took a sip of my tea, remembering how much the three kids had enjoyed watching The Wizard of Oz with me. “Luca likes the Tin Man, but especially likes the flying monkeys. Lyric was more into the Lion. And Mia wants her parents to buy her a dog that is just like Toto.”

He chuckled. “Sounds like that little dude. I don’t know how Jesse and Layla keep up with him and his brother.”

I didn’t either. I’d barely been able to keep up with them the night before and I’d had Kenzie’s help. Felicity had taken Neveah, Cannon, and Jagger to a different bus since they had been ready for bed. By the time Jesse and Layla had shown up to take their twins, I’d been ready for my own bed and had fallen asleep almost instantly.

“When this goes off let’s watch The Great and Powerful Oz,” Wroth suggested, digging his hand into my bowl of popcorn again.

My eyes widened in surprise. “Really?” I knew my voice broadcasted my skepticism but I couldn’t help it. Wroth hated James Franco movies. That he not only wanted to watch one, but had gone so far as to actually suggest it surprised me.

“Really. Franco isn’t as hard to stomach in that movie as he is in his others. And I like watching Mila Kunis turn into the ugly green witch.” Another handful of popcorn was crammed into his mouth stopping any further conversation for the moment and I shrugged.

For the next four hours we watched both movies and I was content for what felt like the first time in a lifetime. Wroth sat beside me the entire time, alternating between watching the movies and watching me. One strong arm wrapped around my shoulders as I hid my face and cried—like I always did—as Dorothy said goodbye to the Scarecrow.

It felt like old times, and for a little while I could pretend that nothing had changed between us.

When The Great and Powerful Oz went off, Wroth stood and pulled me to my feet. “Let’s go out.” He didn’t give me time to protest before he was linking our fingers together and leading me off the bus.

It was a nice day out, not terribly hot and the sun was shining down on us. We walked through the parking lot where all seven of the buses were parked in and hailed a cab not far from the gates. For over an hour we just rode around, talking and laughing in a way we’d never done before. The driver kept shooting us glances in his rearview mirror, smiling from time to time, but never interrupting us. Eventually Wroth had the driver drop us off at a small little Italian restaurant. I hadn’t had more than the two bowls of popcorn that we had shared during our movies so I was starving by the time we were seated.