“Late. My flight got canceled twice.”
“Chaser didn’t say you were coming to visit.”
I raise an eyebrow. “Is that your excuse for bringing a girl over for him?”
He flicks his gaze toward Chaser. “Just fucking with you, bro. I didn’t think you’d get so pissed.”
Chaser shrugs. “Now you know.”
Still unsettled from last night, I can’t stomach the lukewarm food and end up pushing my plate away.
“You want me to grab you something else?” Chaser asks.
“No, it all looked pretty bad.”
“You pregnant?” Andrew asks.
Chaser closes his eyes and inhales a long, slow breath. I rest my hand over his in an attempt to keep him from blowing up.
“Not that I know of, Andrew.” I force a sweet smile. “But if I am, I promise you’ll be the first to know.”
Next to me, Chaser chuckles.
“Cool. Can I be the godfather?”
“No,” Chaser answers without looking up from his plate.
“Why not?”
“Probably because you keep trying to get him to cheat on Mallory.” Alvin taps his cheek. “I mean off the top of my head, that’s my first guess.”
“Nah, her man’s passed with flying colors. She should be thanking me. Right, Mallory?”
“Oh, absolutely, Andrew. Thank you so much.”
He grins, either oblivious to the sarcasm or willfully ignoring it.
How the hell did this strange and childish man manage to become so successful?
“Guys!” Peter stops at the end of our table. “I need a word with you. Now.”
Chaser leans over and kisses my cheek. “Hotel tonight. Let’s try to check in early.”
I’m too excited about not sleeping on the bus to question whether we have the money for a hotel. “Okay.”
He kisses my forehead. “Go pack up your stuff. I’ll meet you outside the bus as soon as we’re done.”
“What’d Pammy say when you told her you were coming to visit?” Andrew asks after the guys leave.
“Not much.” I shrug and keep pushing the food around on my plate.
Andrew’s big, tattooed hand comes into my field of vision, pushing my plate aside. He drops an apple on the table in its place.
“Where’d you find that?” Actual fruit had been absent from the buffet.
“I swiped it from the front desk at our hotel.” He lifts his chin. “You can have it. My apology apple.”
This is why it’s hard to stay mad at Andrew for long. I pick up a knife and slice the apple in half, then quarters. “I’ll share.”
He scoops up one of the slices and chomps down. “Rest is yours,” he mumbles around the mouthful.
“Thanks.” I glance around the dining room but all the servers seem to be afraid to approach our section. Can’t blame them.
“What’s wrong?” Andrew asks.
“I was going to ask if they had any peanut butter.”
He stands and slaps the table. “Be right back.”
I nibble on one of the apple slices and search the room, hoping Peter isn’t yelling at the guys over something stupid.
“Here you go.” A heavy tub lands on the table in front of me.
“What the?” I scan the industrial label on the side. Extra Creamy Peanut Butter. “Oh my God! Where did you steal that from?”
“I borrowed it from the kitchen.” Andrew grins and hands me another apple.
I can’t stop laughing. “Thank you.”
A seriously annoyed man in an apron walks up behind Andrew and taps him on the shoulder. “Excuse me, sir. You can’t just—”
“Shhh.” Andrew places one finger over his mouth and reaches into his pocket, pulling out a fistful of crumpled money and shoves it at the man. “Go. Just go, dude.”
Still laughing, I shake my head and peel the lid off the container. “You’re nuts.” I take a clean spoon and scoop out a hefty amount of peanut butter and drop it into an empty bowl.
“Thank you, sir.” Andrew sticks the cover on the tub and pushes it over to the man in the apron. “That’ll be all.”
The man leaves, grumbling all the way.
“That’s so sweet, Andrew. Can’t wait until Chaser hears. Maybe he’ll actually blow your brains out this time,” Kyle yells across the room.
Andrew raises his hand and flips him off, without taking his eyes off me.
Ignoring Kyle, I spread some peanut butter on one of the apple slices and hand it to Andrew. I prepare another one and offer it to Vinnie.
“Thanks, hon.”
“Do you ever,” Andrew stops and swipes his tongue over his fingers, “Like, let Chaser lick stuff off your body?”
I close my eyes and sigh.
“What? It’s just a question.”
I point my butter knife at him. “You had to ruin the nice thing you did.”
“That’s his modus operandi,” Vinnie says. “In case you haven’t noticed.”
“Oh, I noticed.”
“It’s a tricky thing,” Andrew continues. “You have to make sure you get it all; otherwise, you have food smeared in places that get uncomfortable. And it’s all sticky.”
“Thanks for the tip.”
“Ah-ha! That means you’ve never tried it.”
I finish eating and grab a cup of coffee before heading outside to the bus. Andrew catches up to me, slinging his arm around my shoulders and steering me toward his band’s bus.