Beat (Life on Stage 2)

She looks at me funny. “What did I say?”

“You said you could get him to do anything. With your…mouth.”

“By talking his ear off. He’ll do anything to shut me up. What did you think I meant?”

The heat rises in my face. Becca, who is mid-sip, actually spits her drink out all over the place. “Oh my god!” She laughs. “We need a drink and a do-over, ladies.”

Something about the ridiculousness of our conversation and the warmth that Becca radiates makes the stress ease, and all four of us have a good laugh. Along with a shot or two. A little while later, it feels like the four of us have been friends for years. Watching Becca and Alana is like looking in a mirror at Avery and me.

The roar of the audience suddenly grows louder and the endless music quiets. “Sounds like the show is ending. What do you say the four of us go have a girls’ night out?” Alana asks.

“We’re in.” Avery jumps up, leaving me no choice. Not that I would have declined. It’s actually exactly what I need.

The four of us are toasting to our newfound friendship, and one for the road, when Flynn walks in. He takes one look at our new little posse and actually looks a little scared.

Chapter Twenty-Four

Flynn

You don’t need to have ever been in a hurricane to know to run the other way when you see one coming. I walk into the lounge area backstage after the show and four women are smiling, holding up shot glasses in a toast. My sister, Avery, Alana and Lucky.

From the looks of things, it’s not the first toast of the evening. They slam back the clear liquid in their shot glasses, make faces like they just smelled a rotten case of morning breath and turn around to see me.

“Well, well, if it isn’t my favorite brother,” Becca says. Of course, I’m her only brother. But my mother didn’t raise a fool. Now is not the time to point that out.

“Ladies,” I say apprehensively.

Avery stands. “Hi there, Flynn. We’re going to go out dancing.” She motions to the four ladies. “With our new friends. Want to join us?” There’s a gleam in her eye.

“Ummm. Think I’ll pass.”

Alana kisses my cheek. “Good choice.”

Becca takes her purse off the bar. “We were going to find a karaoke bar. But seeing how I’ve had my fill of karaoke lately, we thought we’d try something different.” My sister walks to me, kisses my cheek and then grins. “Did you know my new friends Lucky and Avery own a karaoke bar?”

I shake my head. One by one, they walk out the door. The last to leave is Lucky. “Love your sister. Have a good night.”

It’s almost four in the morning when I hear the hotel room door open and the sound of female giggling. Laney spent the night at Alana’s mom’s house, so there was no reason for Bec to make it an early night. I’m actually glad she had a night out for a change. Although curiosity has kept me awake for the last few hours, seeing as with whom my sister was spending the evening getting acquainted.

The door to my bedroom creaks open slowly. It’s dark, but a shadow comes toward the bed. I push up on my elbows. “Everything okay?”

The voice that answers is not my sister’s. “Can I sleep in here with you tonight?”

“Lucky,” I warn.

“I know you’re mad at me. Yesterday morning, I didn’t…when I went into the bedroom with Dylan, we…”

“I really don’t want to hear about it.”

“We didn’t. I couldn’t. Nothing happened.”

“Why not? You were certainly in the mood when you were with me.”

“I couldn’t…because I felt like I was cheating. On you.”

The bed dips and she crawls into bed with me, slipping under the covers. “We’ll stay dressed. I just want to sleep with you.”

“How much did you drink?”

“Not enough to make me stop thinking about you.”

She rests her head on my chest and releases a loud sigh of contentment. Having her here feels too right to turn her away. I wrap my arm around her shoulder and pull her tight. “Get some sleep.”

The next morning, our bodies are tangled when we wake. I swear it’s like seeing the sunrise for the first time when I watch her eyes flutter open. Fucking beautiful. She smiles and snuggles closer. Yep. I could get used to this…every damn day. Maybe the two of us wouldn’t wake up so early if this was the way we woke up.

“Morning,” she says.

“Sleep good?”

“I did. What time is it?” She arches her back and stretches.

I reach over and swipe my phone from the nightstand. “Eleven.”

“Wow. I haven’t slept this late in years.”

“Me either.”

“Maybe we both get up early because there’s no reason to stay in bed.”

“If I woke up with you next to me every morning, I’d give you a reason to stay in bed.”

She giggles, and the sound makes me feel all warm and fuzzy. It also makes my morning erection harden a little more.

“You know what I was thinking about last night?”

“Me,” I say confidently. The fact that she wound up in my bed might have been the first clue.

She chuckles. “I was thinking it was strange that we kept on pretending we barely knew each other, even after it made sense that we would be friends. I mean, we worked together a few hours a day, yet we never let on that we were even really friends.”

I knew exactly why I did it, but I’m curious to hear her explanation. Unfortunately, a loud knock at my bedroom door interrupts us. “Uncle Sinn.”

Mini–motor mouth is back. “Give me a minute, squirt.”

“Oh, God. I don’t want her to see me in here with you.”

“What? Why?”

“She’s a little girl.”

“So?”

“Do you want her thinking it’s okay to sleep around?”

“Considering she’s never seen me with another woman, my guess is she’d think you were special.”

“That’s sweet. But still. No. Go. I’ll wash up quick. Do you think you can occupy her in the other room so I can sneak out?” She jumps up and runs to the en suite bathroom.

Not exactly the morning I was hoping for after waking up with Lucky wrapped around my body.

Chapter Twenty-Five

Lucky

I slip my key into the door of the penthouse suite, hoping by some miracle I’ll find it empty. No such luck. Duff and the tour manager, Brett, are sitting on the couch in the living room. Dylan is across from them, his feet propped up on the ottoman. He extends his hand for me to come to him and pulls me down for a kiss.

“Have fun last night with Avery?”

“I did. Thank you for flying her in.”

He nods. “We just ordered lunch up, should be here in a little while. Need to finish going through some tour stuff, then I’ll kick these guys out and we can spend the afternoon together.”

“That sounds nice.” I force a smile. “I’m going to take a quick shower.”

I head to the bathroom to attempt to wash the guilt from my body. Only today, it’s not really my body that’s guilty. Flynn and I slept next to each other last night—I’m sure Dylan would not be happy about that if he knew. But nothing happened. Although, the guilt from physical cheating might actually be easier to wash away this morning than the affair I’m having with my heart.