Lilac

Houston Morrow just threatened to murder me, and I wasn’t quite sure whether I believed him or not.

Knowing that was his intent, I didn’t move. My knees were too weak. Sensing this, Houston pulled me close until our hips were pressed together, and I had to tilt my head to look into his eyes.

“Why are you still here, Fawn?”

His warm whisper intensified the ache between my thighs. “I-I don’t know,” I answered truthfully. I wanted to leave, and I wanted to stay. I wanted to see just how bad and terrible Houston Morrow could get.

Slowly, his hands drifted from my waist to the top of my ass, and something like encouragement ripped from my throat. Just a little lower, and I’d be his.

A moment later, we were forced apart by a knock on the door.

“Is everything okay in there?”

Rich.

“Fine,” Houston barked while staring at me. “Braxton was just leaving.”

I was? Oh. Right.

Houston threatened to kill me if I didn’t fall in line and self-preservation told me to writhe all over him like a bitch in heat.

Unbelievable.

I didn’t need any more incentive than that to get the hell out of there. Keeping my gaze off Houston, I left the room, ignoring Rich, who stood there looking confused and concerned. Barry, thankfully, was already waiting outside.

As soon as my ass touched the leather seats inside the SUV, I shifted uncomfortably. The arousal soaking my thong was called The Houston Morrow Effect. It ruined panties and destroyed brain cells.

I had twenty minutes until I was home. Twenty whole minutes until I was alone and could relieve the ache. After that, I’d figure out how I planned to survive a world tour and months of lonely nights spent in close quarters with three men slowly awakening a part of me that I thought was long buried.“You look fabulous.”

Sherri, who’d been waiting for me when I stepped inside my dressing room, stepped aside after admiring her work. I didn’t want to look, but the gasps that came from Griff and Maeko had my eyes flying to the LED mirror in front of me.

I didn’t recognize my reflection. She wasn’t the girl I’d become these past few months. Sherri had hidden all the sleepless nights and endless days spent worrying over this moment.

When it was discovered I’d be filling Calvin’s shoes, everything changed. For the past month, I’ve lived under a microscope. My job, my home—nothing was private anymore.

I’d always feared that I’d do something to trigger this scrutiny—like when Britney flashed her crotch. It turns out I didn’t have to be that drastic. Existing was all it took. Rich promised I’d get used to it, Loren swore I’d hate it forever, and Houston told me to suck it up.

Since tonight was the first show of the Bound & Bellicose tour, I’d taken Houston’s advice. It turns out three months flew by when you didn’t want it to.

The Forum, formerly the Lakers’ arena, was our first stop, and all eighteen thousand seats had been sold. My stomach turned as my hands began to shake. At this very moment, those seats were filling, and it was all I could do not to click my heels and wish I were somewhere else. Or someone else.

“Thanks, Sherri. You’re an artist.” I gave her a smile I didn’t feel, even though she’d truly done an amazing job, and she excused herself.

“Stop it,” Griff ordered once we were alone in my dressing room. “I know that look. You’re an amazing guitarist, Brax. They just don’t know it yet,” she claimed, referring to the stadium full of Bound’s adoring fans. “That’s why you’re going to show them.”

I wanted to believe her, but I ended up rolling my eyes instead. “I love you, Griff, but we both know those people didn’t spend three hundred bucks on tickets to see me. They’re here for them.”

“Oh, but that’s where you’re wrong. They might not have good intentions, but that won’t matter in a couple of hours. You’re going to make those assholes find a heart just so they can eat it.”

My head tilted to the side as I turned over her words. “Are we talking about the crowd or Bound?”

Griffin shrugged while staring at me with unflinching confidence and a lack of remorse. She’d make a great lawyer one day. “Both.” Nudging Maeko with her elbow, she added, “Back me up here, Ko.”

Tapping her clutch, Maeko nodded. “I packed extra panties just for you, Brax.”

I couldn’t help but laugh. It chased away the butterflies. “If you throw them on stage, the guys might get the wrong idea,” I warned her.

“What’s your point?” she countered with a straight face. Griff rolled her eyes before fixing her gaze a little too hard on a spot on the other side of the room.

I adored Maeko, but she would not last an hour, much less an entire night, with any of them. Maeko was too soft and sweet, even for Rich, who was an angel compared to his friends. Besides, I was still hoping my absence would give Griff the courage to make her secret feelings known. Maeko might have been oblivious, but I’d caught on a while ago.