I began to laugh, but Reid pushed past me quickly and muttered, “I guess you can sleep back here tonight.”
“What?” I followed after him, careful not to get too close, because there was no way I was touching him, not after a simple smile and laugh rendered me speechless. “Like in your room?”
Once we were back in his room, with the light on, Reid turned around and raised his eyebrows. “I wouldn’t want to be selfish.”
“I… well, okay,” I said nervously.
Sleeping in the same room as Reid King? It was like he actually grew a heart overnight or something. What is it with him tonight? Is it a sort of high from the killer show he did earlier? Was he too exhausted from singing his heart out to be mean?
“You can have the bed,” he said as he snagged a pillow to throw on the ground.
I pulled back instantly. “Absolutely not!”
Reid paused beside the bed and looked up at me out of the corner of his eye. “Why?”
“You need more rest than me! You just performed for hours. I don’t even know how you’re not a zombie.” I stomped my foot. “I’m not sleeping on the bed. And don’t argue with me. I’ll go to the front of the bus and sleep in between Kent and Rod if I have to.”
Reid shook his head and then jumped into the bed with a soft thump, his dark locks bouncing on top of his head. “Suit yourself. Make yourself comfortable on the floor, or risk waking up cuddled between Kent and Rod. Doesn’t bother me any.” Then he reached over and turned the lamp off beside the table and didn’t say another word to me. Constant whiplash—that was what it was like to be around Reid King.
I weighed my options carefully but knew I’d rather sleep in here on the floor than out there with either the musk of sex or cuddled between two men that were old enough to be my father. I was too afraid to sleep on a bunk, knowing very well that if Finn had sex on the couch, he more than likely did that kind of stuff in the bunks, too. So, I slowly walked over to the small area between the bed and the wall and lay down with my lone pillow.
My back was aching within fiv
e minutes of being on the floor. I had never imagined a tour bus floor being comfortable, but then again, I never even knew that a room like this could exist on a bus. Shifting to my right side, I tried to fluff the pillow in an attempt to make it seem like I was on an actual bed, but—surprise—that didn’t work. I huffed through my mouth as I shifted to the other side, bringing my legs up to my chest to curl into a little ball. He could have at least spared me a blanket.
I lay on the floor for a few more minutes, pouting while cursing Finn for spreading chlamydia on my purple blanket, and then my mind drifted to Reid. The room was quiet, and the only thing I could hear was his breathing. It was calm and steady, but it did the complete opposite to my body. Nerves were bubbling up inside of me. Every time I heard his soft intake of breath, my heart would skip a beat. I’m in Reid King’s bedroom, on his tour bus, sleeping on his floor. How did I get in this position, and how was I not puking from the astronomical number of butterflies in my stomach? I felt like we’d danced over an invisible line tonight. I stepped one little toe over that line, and then I was shoved back so far I couldn’t even see it in the distance. I didn’t know what came over me. It was like I didn’t see Reid King as the King of Music. I saw him as something else entirely. An old friend? I wasn’t sure. But lying here on his floor as he slept above on a bed caused my heart to fly in my chest.
There was no way I was getting any freaking sleep, but I closed my eyes anyway and prayed to God that we’d be staying in a hotel soon, because these nervous jitters were for the birds.
Chapter Nine
Reid
My nana would be so disappointed in me. I propped myself up on one arm and peered down at the girl sleeping on my floor. I was acting like the complete opposite of the gentleman Nana taught me to be. Obviously, I was no knight in shining armor. I made Brooklyn sleep on the floor. The floor. This girl, with her quiet beauty and bolstering laugh, was sleeping on the floor because I was an ass.
I knew exactly why I shut down toward the end of the night. Brooklyn dug into me, and I wasn’t okay with that. Not for one fucking second. I let a small, tiny piece of wall crack off from my hard exterior because I became too distracted. I wouldn’t lie, though; it was nice being diverted and preoccupied after listening to the voicemail. My vice. My favorite torturing ruse. All of the what-ifs and guilt that clouded my vision were gone last night. It was comforting shutting everything off for a second.
I continued to stare down at her unmoving body, my gaze going to the same spot it went last night: that little dip in between her collarbone and shoulder. It was flawless except for the few freckles that spotted the creamy skin. I clenched my teeth and moved my attention elsewhere. No. Do not even think about going there. Angelina’s voice carried throughout my head with the heartbreaking words that spilled out of her mouth. I would never, ever get so deeply involved with another woman for the rest of my life. And looking down at Brooklyn, I could sense a small part of me going a little bit past the attraction that I clearly had for her. I learned that much after last night when I stared at her from across the room. It was as if I truly saw her for the first time. My anger and betrayal at the record label for giving me a “teacher” went to the back burner when it was just her and me, alone. It was a terrifying thought that being alone with her could take away such thoughts. It was almost mind-boggling that I let some of my walls down—it came out of nowhere. I glanced down at her motionless face again. How did she do it? How did Brooklyn have the power to make me forget? How did being alone with her make me forget about reality?
Slowly, I crawled out of bed and adjusted my black sweats on my hips. I went to move the blanket on top of Brooklyn lying on the floor, knowing very well that was what any gentleman would do, but then I stopped myself. I shook my head harshly and put my cold and demeaning armor back on and walked out the door before I did something that I’d regret later.
I don’t care if she’s cold.
I don’t care if she’s uncomfortable on the hard floor.
My feelings were officially off.
After doing my business in the bathroom, realizing that we were on the road again, I walked out past Jackson asleep in his bunk with his wild, ginger hair standing up in several different directions. He was snoring so loud it sounded as if he were actually sawing logs. Then I moved quietly into the living area and walked right over to Finn and smacked him on the head. He jolted awake almost instantly, his drool laying on the naked woman’s back where they were lying, still as naked as the day they were born.
“What the fuck,” he grumbled, looking up at me with half an eyelid peeled open.
“You’re a fucking idiot, Finn.”
“Huh. Why?” he asked, laying his head back down and wincing.
“Because you brought home a stray, and Brooklyn walked in on you two passed out on her blanket.”
Finn turned to look at me again with his bloodshot eyes. I could see the wheels turning in his head as he replayed the night through.