Cheri shot a glance at Dev on the stage noodling around on Quinn’s guitar and then looked away, the heaviness in her stomach congealing into a tight knot.

Five days. Five frigging days since the night at the strip club, and she’d barely seen Dev alone for more than a minute or two at a time.

She beat her fists into her thighs. Cheri hated these feelings, despised the hurt and anger. Worse, she hated that Dev’s behavior affected her more than it should have. She’d known him a long time. It wasn’t as if they hadn’t gone long stretches without talking before. It was ridiculous for her to feel this way.

But Dev hadn’t so much as given her a glance since that night. Each time she’d seen him, he was preoccupied with either sound check, or the new songs that the band was putting together, or even the latest crisis with Quinn’s favorite guitar, which had cracked its neck when some venue crew member had dropped the instrument when he pulled it from its road case.

All legit stuff. He was just busy, that was all.

Too busy for you.

After being so close to him, so intimate, Dev’s indifference cut as sharply as a blade. She could sit and take it, or she could do something about it.

Screw it.

She wasn’t going to let Dev Lachlan get away with ignoring her. If he wanted to stop their lessons or pretend like the other night didn’t happen, he’d have to man up and say it to her face. Her hands shook as she tugged out her phone and tapped out a message.

And waited for his reply.

And waited some more.

She stared at her phone, but only her own words blinked back at her forlornly.

Hey, you. My lessons are falling way behind. Only a week or so left on tour and at this rate, I’m barely going to squeak by with a C- :o)

She shoved her phone back in her pocket and focused on work. The next couple hours flew by in a haze and the next thing she knew, the guys were pouring off stage, all smiles.

She was standing at the stairs that led off the stage as their feet pounded on the metal steps. Dev looked her way and their gaze caught.

She hadn’t been this close to him in five days, but now he was less than an arm’s length away. It was now or never.

“Hey, can I talk to you about a blog post I was thinking of doing?” she asked with a bright smile.

He nodded, his face tightly inscrutable, and she led him off to an empty dressing room at the end of the hall. Her hands had begun to shake and she started to have second thoughts. What was she thinking, forcing this conversation? It could only end badly for her, couldn’t it?

Dev closed the door behind him and she wheeled around. He gazed at her with such a look of innocence, as if he had no clue about the emotions churning through her. And why would he? Dev hadn’t so much as looked at her to see the pent up frustration of the past days coming to a head.

Suddenly her mouth was dry and the words she wanted to say stuck in her throat. She tried to speak, but all that came out was a dry squeak.

“Bug?” he said with concern in his eyes.

Bug.

Now she was back to being Bug. That called the anger and frustration back tenfold and, this time, the words spilled past her lips.

“Did I do it wrong?” she asked, despite her abject humiliation.

His brows caved into a frown. “What do you mean?”

“When I…when we were together.” She swallowed hard and shrugged helplessly. “Was it that bad that you don’t want to talk to me anymore?”

Dev winced and his eyes filled with something that looked like pity.

A hot flush crept up her cheeks as he eyed her with utter dismay. He shook his head and then raked his dark hair with one hand.

“Bug--”

“Cheri. My fucking name is Cheri,” she said defiantly.

“Yeah, Cheri, look, I’m sorry--”

Cheri’s stomach thudded toward the floor as all hope drained away.

Here it was, the “it was fun while it lasted speech”, where he’d declare she was a nice girl and all but—

“It’s my fault. I’ve been…preoccupied. I don’t know how else to explain it. I had some things to work out.”

“Like what?” she demanded, still feeling the heat of her anger. She stepped in so close that she could feel his minty breath on her face. She looked up into his needy eyes and cocked her head in confusion.

“Like how I can want you so much,” he said simply, his voice all grit.

“Y-you do?” Her heart fluttered as the ember of hope glowed in her chest.

“Yes,” he said through gritted teeth, “in fact, it’s been hard to think of anything else.”

Cheri’s hands balled at her side.

“Don’t you play with me, Dev Lachlan,” she snapped. “You haven’t had a word to say to me in five days. What the hell is that about? I--”

With one sweep of his arm, Dev tugged her solidly against him and caught her gaze, disarming her with its burning intensity. And just as quickly, he slanted his mouth over hers in a greedy kiss, bruising her lips, slaying her questions and setting her aflame. His chest was like a brick wall against her soft breasts and her nipples peaked at the pressure.

He pulled away, though the heat between them still smoldered.

“Now,” he said, “can you shut up and listen to me for a second?”

Cheri nodded, slicking her tingling lips with her tongue.

“We’ve known each other a long time. And I had to think some things through. I’m sorry if it looked like I wasn’t paying attention to you. Believe me, the only thing I paid attention to was trying not to molest you or let your brother see how I was feeling. I’ve been nearly useless to the band this past week. If I didn’t get up there and sing every night, they might as well have sent me home.”

“Remembering the other night has me aching, twenty-four seven.”

Dev said, as he took her hand and pulled it between his legs where she traced the outline of his hard cock.

“This—this is for you. Only you. I’ve never felt like this, all the fucking time, for anyone. Just you.”

His eyes begged for her understanding, but confusion and doubt still assailed her. “So what does that mean to you, Dev? What does that mean for us?”

“Damned if I know. That’s what I’ve been thinking about. But I have to be very, very sure, because you are my best friend’s sister, and as much as I want you, I don’t want anything to come between me and Rory.”

“Is that what you think will happen?”

“He does hang the moon on you, Cheri. I don’t know how he would react if he found us together. For all I know, he could haul out a shotgun and drag us to a justice of the peace.”

“Well, that wouldn’t work,” laughed Cheri.

“It wouldn’t?”

“No. Usually, there are blood tests and permits. Can take days.”

“I don’t know if that would matter to Rory, him being armed and dangerous.”

Cheri laughed at the ridiculous images Dev was stirring in her mind. She tried to imagine Rory holding a gun. But she couldn’t get past how she scared him when she was little by jumping out from behind the couch and firing a water pistol at him.

“Stop now,” said Cheri with a grin. “Rory would most likely hurt himself with a gun than anyone else.”

“Still the problem remains,” said Dev in a low voice staring at her intently. “He and I are like brothers. It would kill me to lose that, and I think it would kill him too.”

She knew he was right. Dev had been a safe space for Rory growing up. Whenever Rory had gotten a beating, he’d pedal over to Dev’s and, while they never talked about it, Dev had been there. To shoot hoops with, or make him a frozen pizza. A lifeline…something to show Rory that someone outside their miserable little house cared about him.

It was part of the reason she loved him. He was a good man and an even better friend.

“I know it’s wrong and we’ve got to work through some things, but I just…” She shrugged helplessly and slid her arms around his waist. “I just want you.”

He swallowed a groan and pressed his lips to hers, devouring them like a starving man.

“Cheri, Cheri,” he whispered as his mouth moved over the tender skin of her throat. He found the back of her ear and nibbled, sending shivers of delight through her body. She moaned.

“Oh god, Dev.”

“You’re so hot, Cheri, so fucking hot.”

He cupped her breasts with his hands and stroked the delicate peaks through her bra and shirt. They hardened under his touch, and Cheri whimpered.

“What are we doing?” she whispered.

“Whatever we want to,” he growled, right before he pulled up her t-shirt and pressed his face between her breasts. He rocked his hips against her, his erection straining against the fabric of his jeans as he licked and nibbled her creamy breasts.

“Not enough,” he whispered. “Not nearly.”

He turned and locked the door and then turned back, his face a mask of need.

He reached out and worked the top button of her jeans open, pulling them down to pool around her feet. She stood before him with only her panties stretched across her hips. Dev stared at her as if she was the last woman on earth, and she shuddered with the weight of his desire.

He reached out for the small chair that sat at the dressing table and pulled it toward him. Cheri stared, wide-eyed, not knowing what to expect.

He pulled Cheri forward by her wrist.

“Bend over,” he rasped. “Hold on to the chair. Good. Now spread your legs. Yes.”

He stood behind her now and her heart was hammering so loud, she could hear it reverberating in her head.

“You are so fucking beautiful,” he said, “every inch of you. God, I love your ass.”

He bent over her neck, giving her flesh quick nips that made her quiver, while he rubbed, and then sharply pinched her bottom.

“A little pain with your pleasure, babe,” he whispered hotly into her ear. “Not much. No. Just enough to make you, ah, yeah,” he said with satisfaction as she arched her back when he pinched her bottom again. “Yes. I love this view, your pretty pink lips wet and glistening.”

The dirty talk drove her need into overdrive. Her pulse thrummed as he kissed and nibbled along her spine. At the same time he reached around and delved past her panties into her soft folds, finding her clit to stroke it, his fingers slick with her wetness.

“Your scent is driving me crazy,” he continued. “All I want to do is to dive into you, but I can’t, I can’t. Do you know why?”

“No,” she whimpered.

“Because now I know how fucking tight you are. Last time, when you came on my hand, I nearly came right along with you because of that feeling…that tight little pussy gripping me like a fist. So I know you aren’t ready for me, not yet. But I’m going to make you ready. Do you want me to make you ready, Cheri?”

“Yes.”

She wanted to say more but she was beyond words. Everything he did made her body clench and want to roll her hips, but he was holding her so tight around her waist, she couldn’t move.

He reached for her hair and then wound it around his wrist, pulling her head back gently.

“Look at you,” he rasped. “I feel your pussy quivering against my hand. I can’t stand how much you want me. You’re killing me, Cheri, sweet Cheri.”

He kissed her throat again, angling his head to send a long lick down the front of her slender throat.

“So tasty.”

His wet tongue made another long slide, this time down her back, making her shake.

“Please, Dev,” she begged, though she wasn’t sure what she was begging for.

“Oh, I’ll please you. That’s job one,” he said. His tongue met the crack of her ass and licked there as well. Cheri was ready to explode, to crawl out of her skin because each thing he did felt better than the last. She never knew such pleasure was possible, and her initial discomfort over bending over the chair was replaced by unstoppable, quaking lust. She reveled in each lash of his tongue, every tug of her hair. She was suspended in pleasure, her mind floating from one sensation to the next.

“Perfect,” he murmured, though Cheri was so beyond herself she barely heard his words. Something entered her, just a little bit, then more, and Cheri realized it was his finger, questing inside her folds, dragging along her heated flesh. Then he drew it out again, and she whimpered at the loss of that sweet delight, but it came back again, fuller.

“I have two fingers in you, babe. So indescribably soft,” he said. “But see how tight you are? You’re gripping two fingers like a vise. Ride my fingers, baby, ride them like you’d ride my cock.”

Cheri needed no encouragement. Dev stopped holding her waist. Instead, he held his fingers inside her and his other hand was working the folds around her clit. His bulge was pressed against her, and each time she rocked back she felt that thick cock against her ass.

She couldn’t take it. She bucked, riding his fingers, her pussy pulsing with pleasure and need. She climbed higher, his fingers filling her, coaxing her. She heard the zip of his fly and Dev groaned as her hips stilled, waiting for him. His breathing was rapid as he draped his body across her back. The head of his cock was so broad and so thick, she gasped as he pressed it against her.

“Yes, please, I--”

A loud chirping sound echoed through the room and they both stilled.

Dev’s phone.

He moved to silence it, but then hers followed, both phones ringing at once.

“God damned son of a bitch,” he groaned as he stared down at his screen.

“What,” she said as she pulled on her jeans. Her phone buzzed again with a text message and she yanked it out of her pocket.

Bus one now!

It was from Rory.

“What is this?” said Cheri.

Dev knelt and hurriedly helped her with her sneakers.

“Fucking Bill cleaned out our bank account,” he gritted through his teeth. Fury rolled off him in waves as they hurried out of the venue and toward the buses idling in the parking lot.

Dev and Cheri mounted the steps of the bus to find grim-faced Rory, Connor, Quinn and Mac sitting at the table. They were so embroiling in the drama that no one even questioned where they’d been.

“What happened?” said Dev.

“A staffer complained about not getting his direct deposit today,” said Rory, “and then Gina mentioned something too, so I looked into it and found goose eggs in the band’s account.”

“And Bill?”

“Gone,” spit Rory. “Everything of his gone from the bus. Someone in security said he took a taxi during the show.”

“Fuck,” said Dev.

“How could he do this to us?” said Mac.

“What the hell do we do now?” said Connor.

“We’re going to get some fucking help, that’s what we’re going to do,” said Dev. “Cheri, it’s time you put those accounting skills of yours to use. See what you can find out about what he did. Check the other accounts, hell, check our personal ones too, and see what the fuck he did.”

“You don’t have to bother about our personal accounts,” said Rory. “The fucker hadn’t paid us since before the tour.”

“What?” said Dev. “Why the hell didn’t you tell me?”

“He was good at the bullshit, told me the money was held in escrow and shit. It wasn’t until you got all that stuff for Cheri did I realize that you were the only one of us getting paid. But when I asked him about it, he gave me some more bullshit, told me I’d get my money today. And now he’s gone.”

“The signs were there,” said Mac, “and we fucking ignored them.”

“Yeah,” said Rory. “Gina complained about the per diems today, said she’s been talking to him all along about it.”

“And he was so fucking cheap about everything,” said Connor. “Just getting as much money together before he split.”

Cheri stood with her back to the wall of the bus, feeling like shit. She had heard the complaints, the grousing about Bill, but her head was so full of Dev, that she couldn’t put two and two together. Maybe if she didn’t put all her energy into him, she would have seen how fucked up Bill was, and sounded the alarm.

She looked to Dev, her heart squeezing at the devastation on his face. No matter that it wasn’t his fault any more than it was hers, he was going to blame himself. Believing he’d missed all the signs and hadn’t protected the band as their front man was going to kill him.

Hell, a blow like this could even kill the band as a whole.

But the part that had her stomach churning even worse was that it just might kill any chance she had of ever being with him again.

God damn you, Bill.