“What the fuck?” The deep voice wasn’t Warren’s.
I popped open one eye, then the other.
Six feet of delicious bassist stood in front of me. Felix Hendrix, or Lix, stared at me, mouth agape. His long blond hair was drenched in sweat. After a full rehearsal or concert, Lix always took a shower, a ritual of his I knew well.
“Hey, Lix,” I said with a little smile, acting as if everything was normal, like this was an everyday occurrence. Yeah, I just lurked in the back of my estranged husband’s tour bus all the time.
“Addy!” he cried out.
“Sh.” I rushed to him, putting a hand over his mouth. His eyes widened. “Be quiet.” His tongue darted out and licked my palm. Yanking my hand back, I wiped it on my jeans. Lix’s nickname suited him. He played the bass like a devil on crack, and he had the longest tongue I’d ever seen. And from what I’d overheard while touring with Wild Minds, he knew how to use it.
He squinted down at me. “Warren’s going to shit a brick when he sees you. Does he know you’re here?” he whisper-yelled.
“Of course he doesn’t know I’m here. I don’t want to see him, at least not right now. I need you to get me off this bus.” Thankfully, no one else had wandered back to the bunks yet. All the noise was contained in the front of the bus. The rest of the band usually did a couple rounds of shots after coming offstage. It sounded as if the drinking was just beginning. It also sounded like they weren’t alone. Several distinctly female voices cooed and cackled.
Lix’s lips pressed together. By the mulish look on his face, I could tell he was reluctant to help me.
“Fucking hell, dude. What’s taking you so long?” A head peered through the curtain. It was Derren, the bearded drummer. He eyed me up and down. “Oh, sorry, man, I didn’t know you had company. I’ll leave you alone.” In the dim lighting, he didn’t recognize me. He started to pull back and then paused. I could almost see the wheels turning in his mind as he re-examined me. “The chick looks a lot like Addy. You should give her to Warren when you’re done. It’s like he’s been on the rag for the last three and half years. You’d think that bitch had surgically removed his testicles and replaced them with a vagina.”
Well, I guess I knew how Derren really felt about me now.
Lix scowled. “Look closer, asshole. It is Addy.”
“No shit?” Derren stepped through the curtain, letting it fall closed behind him. Derren was the shortest member of the band. Usually he had the best sense of humor. But based on the way his green eyes glared at me, he saw nothing funny in the situation.
“Keep it down. She doesn’t want anyone to know she’s here,” Lix said loudly.
This was turning into some sort of tragic comedy. I couldn’t tell if I wanted to laugh or melt into the floor.
“Why the fuck is she here then?” Derren asked, eyes fixed on me.
Lix opened his mouth. I did too. But before either of us could speak, someone else decided to join the party.
“Lix. Derren!” I recognized Ash’s voice. Wild Minds’ lead guitarist, Lily’s arch nemesis and my brother-in-law was right outside the curtain. “Come check this out, this chick can put both her legs behind her head. Holy shit! She’s not wearing any underwear.”
“We’ll be out in a minute,” Lix called.
“What are you two fuckers doing back here anyway?” Ash came barreling through the curtain. My breath caught. Tall at six-foot-four, with dark hair shaved closely to his head and laughing blue eyes, he was Warren’s identical twin. Lily and I could always tell them apart. All the joy left his face when he saw me. “War!” he yelled.
My breath came back in full force. Suddenly I was on the verge of hyperventilating. Not Warren. Anyone but Warren, I prayed.
But then Warren appeared and I cursed ever being born.
“What’s going on?” Warren said, looking at each of his band mates. Then his gaze settled on me.
Time stretched and slowed.
It was as if it were just the two of us in the cramped space. He watched me through narrowed eyes. Mine were wide. Like deer-in-the-headlights huge.
War’s hair was longer. He’d grown out the shaved sides. It brushed just below his ears. I used to love running my fingers through it, especially when he was on top of me, moving deep inside of me. Both his arms were covered in colorful full-sleeve tattoos. Flames, dragons and even a busty mermaid wound up his biceps into his T-shirt. I knew those tattoos well, having traced every one with my fingertips. More tattoos peeked out of his collar. His whole chest and back were a mess of ink. Once upon a time, on the inside of his forearm, my name was tattooed.
I wondered if he still had it.
I used to like to watch his arms when we were making love. How they flexed with every thrust. Sometimes I’d inch my head over and lick the loopy cursive where my name was sprawled. Heat rushed to my face at the memory.
Warren’s eyes darkened and his lip curled. “Get out.”
“Aw, c’mon, War,” Lix whined. “I need to take a shower.”
“Get the fuck out,” Warren bellowed. His hand tightened around the neck of the beer bottle he held.
“Listen, War.” Ash touched Warren’s arm. “Let’s all go into the living room and talk. We can catch up, yeah? Find out what Addy’s doing here.”
Warren made a growly noise in his throat. His arm came up, dislodging Ash’s hold. In one swift motion, he threw the beer bottle, sending it crashing and breaking on the wall right above Derren’s shoulder.
I yelped and jumped. My heart started a manic dance. I knew Warren would never hurt me. Well, physically at least. Emotionally it was anyone’s game. It still didn’t mean I enjoyed his little temper-tantrum displays.
“What the fuck, man?” Derren wiped beer from his shirt.
“I said get out.”
Derren and Lix filed out. “Asshole,” Lix muttered under his breath, purposely ramming into War’s shoulder. Warren didn’t budge. His icy-blue gaze was solely fixed on me, burning and intense.
“I’ll be right outside if you need something,” Ash told him. He wiped at the back of his neck as if he wanted to say something more. But then he vacated the area too.
Awesome. I was alone with my husband. King of the assholes.