My palms are sweaty as I grip the wheel. What the hell was I thinking? I never should have agreed to dinner. It was those brown eyes that captivated me. That and it really would be nice to get an inside look at what it’s like being on the road. Logan can try to convince me all she wants, but the reality of the situation is that she really has no clue. This will be a first for her as well. She does have the advantage of being married to the lead singer; me, I’m just the tagalong best friend.
I’ve read the tabloid headlines. Do I want to live the life of a rock star? Do I want to be engrossed in that world? I know because of my association with Logan that I will be a little bit regardless, but being on tour with the band and hanging out with my best friend at her house with the band members is two totally different things. This is not an easy decision to make.
Cole taps his brakes and hits his turn signal. It’s not until we’re in the lot that I realize we’re at a Subway. I can’t help but grin. The famous Cole Hampton rolling up in a Subway to order dinner. It’s so hard to see them as normal, everyday people, but I have to admit they don’t live the catered life you think of when you think rock star.
Cole appears at my door and pulls it open. Reaching out, he offers me his hand. Hesitantly, I place my hand in his and he helps me from the car.
“This place looks dead tonight, and they’re cool.”
“Cool?” I ask.
“Yeah. Me and the guys come here a lot. The staff is used to us and they respect our privacy. They don’t tweet it out and ask for pictures. They let us be . . . normal.”
“That’s good that you have that here, close to home.”
“Yeah, it’s rough on the road.”
Before I can reply, his hand is on the small of my back and he’s leading me inside.
“Hey, Mr. Hampton,” a teenage boy behind the counter greets us.
“Tommy, enough with the Mr. Hampton. That’s my dad. Just Cole, my man.” He holds out a fist and the kid, with a blush on his face, connects his to Cole’s.
“Go ahead and order, sweets.” His deep timbre causes me to shiver.
“Uh, I’ll take . . . um, a six-inch turkey on wheat,” I stumble through my order. After I tell him what I want, Cole suggests I find us a table. I look around the empty room and then back at Cole. He simply grins and winks. “Here.” I hand him some money.
“Not happening, babe. We’ve had this talk and we can have it again, but it’s going to be the same outcome. Besides, I asked you here. My treat. Now, find us a spot and settle in, because I’ve got to educate you about life on the road.”
Not wanting to make a scene—not to mention it would be pointless because Cole is not the type to give in on this kind of thing—I politely thank him and grab our drinks. I pick a table at the very back of the restaurant. Hopefully, it stays slow, but if not, this should give us some semblance of privacy.
“I’m an open book,” Cole says, sliding into the booth across from me. He passes me my sandwich and a bag of chips.
“Thank you.”
He nods as he takes the first bite—if that’s what you want to call it. He looks like a chipmunk.
“I don’t really know where to start,” I confess. “Maybe you can just tell me about what goes on. What’s a normal day like?”
“It’s really just us guys hanging out. None of us have ever brought a girl on tour, so it’s going to be different this time. We all love Logan like a sister, and she makes Kace happy, but it’s just going to be different.”
“She’s going to cramp your style,” I tease him.
His grin lights up his face, and I find myself wanting to make him smile like this more often. He really is easy on the eyes.
“No, she will not cramp our style. We don’t bring girls on the bus, which is a rule we’ve all had. None of us wants to hear one of the others getting their rocks off.”
I choke on my water. “Well, okay then.”
“Being on the road is more than just singing a few songs and getting laid. This is a shorter tour, so it’s jam-packed with back-to-back concerts in different cities. We have radio spots, and I think there’s even a television appearance on the books.”
“So, why exactly do you need me?”
“Logan’s pregnant.” He says it like I should know from just those two words.
“And? Women have been having babies for a while now.” I smirk.
“Ha ha, smartass. Dealing with schedules, the label, venues—it can all get pretty stressful. We talked about it, and none of us want all that pressure on Logan. We figured we would hire someone to split the duties, take some of the pressure off.”
“I’m a teacher. Not sure how my education and experience will benefit the band.”
He shrugs. “Kace is a planner, always has been. Sounds like he expects this to be a permanent thing. Once the baby gets older, I assume they’ll hire someone to replace you and let you tutor.”
I’m surprised at his candid answers. Not only that, but he seems to understand Kacen. “That’s jumping the gun a little, don’t you think?”
“Maybe, maybe not. I know Kacen will refuse to travel without either of them.” He studies me for a few minutes, as if he needs to gather his thoughts. “The guys and I have always said if one of us wants out, then we’re all done. It’s something we started together, and it’s something we will end together. I see you as Kacen’s way of making sure his family has the best of what it needs. Logan gets her best friend, and their kid gets a good teacher—when the time comes, of course.”
“I guess I can see that. It’s just hard to believe he would be thinking so far ahead.”
“Like I said, Kacen is a planner. He’s not like the rest of us. He never was about hooking up and living the lifestyle to the stereotype that it is. He’s always just wanted to find that one person who gets him and have a family. He found that with Logan, and he won’t stop until he gives her and this baby the world.”
His words shouldn’t surprise me, and they don’t really. I know this about my best friend’s husband. He loves her fiercely. He’s why I’ve changed my ways. I don’t see the point in wasting my time with guys where I see no future; I want what Logan and Kacen have. That’s why I must avoid Cole’s advances. Well, that and the fact that I’m afraid it will be awkward as hell, and who wants to deal with that?
“And what about you, Tristan and Gavin? Do you live up to the stereotype?” I settle back against my seat, prepared for him to backpedal his way out of answering.
“We do.” He nods. “Women throw themselves at you for doing what you love. We’re all three single and unattached, so we take advantage of what’s offered. None of us give them false hope that it will ever be more. We never do repeats and yes, before you ask, we have run off an assistant or two.”
“I appreciate your honesty. I’m a little surprised, actually.”
“Don’t be. With me, what you see is what you get. I have nothing to hide. I’m not ashamed of how I’ve lived my life to this point. I’m living every man’s fantasy.”
“You’re really okay with that? A different girl in each city, never having an emotional connection?”
“Oh, sweetheart, it’s emotional. Trust me.”
“You know what I mean.” I want to tell him that I’ve thought in extreme detail more than once how “emotional” things could be between us.
“I don’t think I do,” he admits.
“Someone to wake up to every day. Someone to lie next to at night. That one person who knows you inside and out, your crutch through life.”
“I have the guys, and I have my family.”
“Yeah, but the intimacy isn’t there.” My cheeks heat as I think of how to get my point across in a way that he might understand. “I want to know that when I fall apart at a man’s touch, that he’s also going to be the one there to catch me when I fall in life, not just in the bedroom. I want a lover and a best friend.”
I watch as he thinks about what I’ve just said. “It’s not something I’ve ever wanted or thought about, really. When I was younger, it wasn’t on my radar because, like most teenage boys, I thought with my cock. Once we signed with the label and released the first album, we kind of blew up overnight. Women were all over us, and I never looked back.”
“That must be lonely.”
“Nah, the variety keeps it interesting.” He wags his eyebrows at me, and I can’t stop the laughter from falling from my lips.
“Okay, funny man, you know that’s not happening. Tell me more about being on the road.” We spend the next two hours sitting in the back booth of Subway, talking about life on tour. Cole is open and honest, just as he said he would be. To my surprise, life on the road is not just one big party.
“Umm, Mr. Hampton—I mean Cole. We’re closing now,” Tommy says from beside us.
This causes me to look at my watch. “It’s late. Sorry for overstaying our welcome.” I smile at Tommy.
He blushes. “No, you didn’t, it’s just time to close.”
“Thanks, man. See you next time.” Cole stands, reaching out for me. This is starting to become a habit, one that I refuse to admit I enjoy. He walks me to my car. “Thanks for eating with me. I hope you take the job.” He tucks a loose piece of hair behind my ear. “It will be good for Logan to have you around.”
He says it will be good for Logan, but the heat in his eyes tells me that he’s not over the idea of the two of us taking a roll in his satin sheets. “I’ll think about it. Thank you for taking the time to answer my questions.”
“Drive safe, sweets.” He opens my door and waits for me to settle in before closing it and tapping twice on the hood.
Slowly, I back out of the lot. In the rearview mirror, I see that he watches me drive away.