RYAN

ONE MONTH LATER

 

The guys and I have been in the studio all morning laying down a new track Danger’s been writing. It’s a great new sound, but now we have a meeting with Oliver, so we’re heading to the boardroom. We all file in one by one chatting away boisterously as usual. The hairs on my arms spring to attention as I enter the room and I smile knowing that’s a sure fire sign that Tillie is in here. I turn to see her sitting at the table and look at her beautiful face. She really is so ridiculously gorgeous it makes my chest hurt. But as I sit down at the table I take my eyes away from her and look toward Oliver wondering what this meeting is all about.

“So, you’re all probably wondering why I called you guys down here? It’s simple really. I’m letting you know that with your steadily increasing success since being on Jimmy and the release of two songs after that… the last being yesterday… Avalanche has shot to number one in seven countries including the USA.”

My eyes open wide as I look to Danger whose eyes are just as wide as mine. We’ve made it to number two before, but never number one, especially not in seven countries simultaneously.

“Holy fucking shit!” Nate calls out.

Danger and I cheer as Matt and Nate hug it out. I bounce in my seat as sheer jubilation runs right through me.

Number one?

Number one!

Fuck yeah!

I look to Tillie and grin so wide knowing that without her, we wouldn’t be here in this spot right now. She nods to me and bites down on her bottom lip like she’s trying hard not to bounce out of her seat and start jumping around the room with us.

“So what now?” Danger asks.

“I’m thinking a small tour of the USA to keep up the hype,” Oliver announces.

“Jesus Christ, this is happening,” Nate beams.

“It sure is, guys. This, plus when Zaria can fit us in, will only shoot you higher,” Oliver informs.

“So when do we leave?” Matt asks.

“It will only be a short three-week tour, and you will leave as soon as I can organize everything… your own jet, and book in the venues and security.”

“This is fucking awesome, Oliver. Thank you. And thank you, Tillie, we really couldn’t have done this without you,” I say.

She smiles and nods.

“Yeah Tillie, you’re the best,” Danger agrees.

“Yeah, we love you, Till,” Matt says.

“You’re… okay,” Nate digs and everyone groans while Tillie chuckles and Nate grins. I pick up some crumpled paper and throw it at him and everyone laughs.

“Well, I love you guys, too. Thanks for keeping me on,” she says, and I think to myself that in the beginning I tried everything in my power to make her leave. I’m so glad she’s stronger than I gave her credit for.

“It’s pretty much dinner time, so I think we need to stop work for the day. Let’s order in some food and celebrate tonight,” Oliver instructs and we all clap and cheer. Danger pulls out his cell and begins to order our favorite pizza from Joe’s down the road, and I stand up and start to head, I’m guessing, to the roof. We all make it to the hall and I step back to find Tillie as the others chat and laugh making their way to the fire escape.

“Hey,” I say reaching out for her hand.

She links her fingers with mine and presses her side against me as we walk. “I’m so freaking proud of you guys,” she says with a beaming smile from ear to ear that lights up her face like fucking sunshine.

“We might have written and performed the songs, but you put them out there and publicized them, without that we’d be nowhere.”

She shakes her head. “Ry, I just get it to the right people, but if the music wasn’t amazing the people wouldn’t react so well. You guys are the hero in this story.”

“If this is a story does that make you the princess?” I ask.

She rolls her eyes and giggles. “Only if you can be the handsome prince?”

“I’m more the ogre under the bridge type.”

She scoffs. “Pfft, keep telling yourself that, mister. But I don’t believe it for a second.”

I chuckle and we head up the stairs toward the roof where everyone including the guys, Lunar and Oliver, are already congregating. It’s not a big crowd but it’s our little family. I love these people and it’s nice when we’re all together like this.

“I’m gonna get some drinks, I’ll be right back,” Tillie says, and I nod as she heads off toward Lunar.

Taking a look around, I spot Danger standing on his own, looking a little pale and sweating. Seeing as it’s autumn, a gentle breeze is wafting around and the sun is pretty much close to setting in its pinks and oranges. I can’t see how he could be hot. Maybe he’s getting sick? Pursing my lips I stroll over to him and slap his back. He jumps like he was a million miles away and the sudden impact scared the shit out of him.

“Fuck Ry, scare a man half to death why don’t you?” Danger states as he breathes heavily.

Raising my eyebrow as he swipes his forearm over his brow to wipe away the sweat, I huff.

“You okay, dude? You look… sick? Your throat okay?” I ask slightly concerned that maybe his throat is acting up again. After him having surgery on his nodes there was always a chance they could return some day.

He scrunches his eyebrows together and shakes his head slightly. “What? My throat? Shit, no.”

Slightly tensing up, I watch his jittery movements and strange behavior. I have no idea what has him on edge, but it’s starting to freak me out. “What’s up with you?” I blurt out.

He exhales, then inhales seeming to take in a deep breath of courage then nods his head. “There’s just something I gotta do.” He turns walking away from me, and I spin watching him march toward Tillie and Lunar who are handing out flutes of champagne to the others. He grabs a glass, takes a long gulp and then taps the glass with his pick gaining everyone’s attention like he’s going to make a speech.

I glance around as we all quieten down and I walk closer. He really looks out of sorts now, I think he might even be shaking slightly. What the fuck?

“Babe, are you okay?” Lunar steps up to him placing her hand on his arm and suddenly he drops to one knee, his head down, his body shaking and his face pale white. We all gasp as Lunar grabs his hand and we all rush closer. “Shit, Danger?” Lunar says bending down running her hand through his sweaty hair.

He slowly looks up as we gather around him in a circle wondering if he’s passing out or having some sort of medical situation that we weren’t aware of when he brings his hand up and in it is a sparkling diamond ring. He smiles and I stand up taller backing away to give them some space as Lunar gasps, her hand rushing from his hair to her mouth in surprise.

No wonder he was sweaty and shaking. Bastard didn’t even tell me!

“Lunar… Annalise. From the moment I first saw you, you brought me back to life. You sparked something inside of me and made me realize I wasn’t truly a man until I met you. And that’s not just because you made my cock work again.” We all laugh remembering the story of how Danger’s cock stopped working after Ella broke his heart. At how he finally got a boner the minute he saw Lunar dancing on stage at the biker bar back in Australia. “I wish I’d told you I loved you from the moment I knew, because you deserve to be told every second how much you’re loved, and I plan to tell you for the rest of your life if you’ll let me. You’ve changed my life in every possible way, in the very best ways. It’s not that I can’t imagine my life without you, it’s that I can’t have a life without you. Candy, you’re my world, and I want it to be your world… always. Marry me?”

I glance at Lunar to see glistening tears streaming down her flushed rosy cheeks. Now she’s shaking too as her bottom lip trembles. She sniffs when she places out her left hand with a smile. “You are my world,” she says.

I glimpse over at Tillie who’s smiling so wide, she catches my eyes and something passes through me. I’m not sure what it is and my stomach twists a little. I’m not certain if it’s butterflies or something else. Tillie starts to head over to me and I look back toward Lunar and Danger.

“So is that a yes?” Danger asks.

Lunar nods her head. “That’s a fucking hell yes,” she replies making me chuckle. That’s such a typical Lunar response as Danger slides the ring on her finger, then jumps up grabbing her dramatically and lifting her up by her ass. Her legs wrap around his waist as they kiss frantically while we all chuckle watching them basically dry hump each other.

Tillie moves in next to me and leans against my side. Warmth floods over me, a comfort of her being near me, but that feeling in my stomach returns and worsens. I feel almost nauseous as I watch Danger and Lunar kissing. Lunar’s hand in the back of Danger’s hair, her ring shining brightly in the rays of the setting sun.

“You okay?” Tillie asks quietly while everyone else is still cheering around us.

Swallowing hard, I ponder that question for a moment. Am I okay? I’m happy Tillie is here, I’m happy for my best friend’s engagement, of course, but it reminds me of when I proposed to Katie. The thought makes a lump catch in my throat and I swallow it hard and sigh.

“I’m okay.”

She gnaws on her bottom lip furiously and simply nods. I’m fairly certain she doesn’t believe me, but she doesn’t push, which is just another thing to add to the list of reasons to why I like her so damn much.

“Pizza’s here!” Matt calls out as Oliver’s cell rings.

“You people eat, celebrate, and have fun. I have to take this and start scheduling. Once you finish your party I should have a tour start date in mind. Enjoy yourselves.” He swipes to answer the call. “Drew, just the guy I want to hear from. Talk to me. Let’s make this happen.” He walks off down the fire escape, back inside the building as Matt brings the umpteen boxes of pizza up and places them on the ground in between us all.

“Right let’s eat, guys,” Matt says opening the boxes and sitting down cross-legged in front of one of the boxes. Nate takes a seat next to him as Danger takes a seat and Lunar sits in between his legs. I sit down and Tillie sits next to me and we form a basic circle with pizza in the middle. It’s our group and I love it.

“So congratulations, guys,” Tillie says smiling wide at Lunar.

“Thanks, I had no idea this was coming,” Lunar replies.

“Neither did I,” I quip.

Danger smirks at me, his pale face back to a more even tone and his sweats have disappeared.

Seems he was merely nervous about the proposal.

“Sorry, Ry. I only got the ring this morning, I didn’t really know I was going to pop the question today. I was going to do something really cheesy and romantic with candles and petals and shit, but when we got the news of the single going to number one, I got excited and thought, fuck, I wanna keep this good thing going. Sorry if it wasn’t romantic enough for you, babe?”

Lunar leans back into him shaking her head. “You know me well enough to know I’m not really the candles and petals type anyway. Take me for a ride on a hog, tie me to your bed and spank my ass, then drop to your knees and tell me you love me, that’s how this woman likes it.”

I smirk shaking my head as Danger groans and raises his eyebrow. “Yeah, I should’ve guessed.” He leans in closer to her ear. “The tying up and spanking comes later, I promise.”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa… we can still hear you, guys!” Matt chuckles as I shake my head and Tillie giggles. Nate frowns and shifts uncomfortably.

“And ah… I live with you, so I don’t want to know what’s going on in my house, thanks. Hearing it is one thing, but knowing what’s actually happening… yeah, just shut your mouth, Danger,” I joke and they both laugh. I smile at Tillie even though my stomach is still twisting and I have this uneasy feeling developing.

 

***

 

After spending the next three hours eating, drinking and generally hanging out with my adopted family, we decide the autumn air is a little too chilly and we need to head back inside. Danger and I grab the empty boxes as the girls take the glasses and the twins grab the empty champagne bottles and we all head back inside. We chat and laugh while heading down toward the boardroom where we know Oliver will be.

We all file into the room after depositing the trash in the kitchen while Oliver focuses hard on the screen of his notebook.

“Hope you didn’t want any pizza, we were trying to save you some but Matty the garbage guts ate your slices,” Tillie quips.

Matt smirks at her and nods like he knows it’s the truth.

“Sorry, what?” Oliver asks looking up at us and rubbing his temple. His eyes are slightly red like he’s been focusing far too hard on his screen and he looks tired. He works too hard.

“Oliver you need to go home. Come back tomorrow, the tour can wait one more day,” Tillie offers resting her hand on his shoulder. She really is so caring of others.

He looks back to his notebook seeming to ignore her, clicks on something, takes a deep breath, smiles and then closes the lid as he sits back in the seat and relaxes his posture. “I’m done.”

“Great, you need a good night’s rest. Maybe even have tomorrow off and come back the day after with a refreshed head.”

He smiles at her tilting his head. “You’re kind, Tillie, but no. I mean I’m done organizing. The tour is all set up. We leave in two days.”

We all look at each other and gawk. “Two days?” Danger asks, and Oliver nods.

“Yes, we need to strike while the iron is hot. Your publicity right now is high. Tickets will skyrocket. Your songs will push up the charts. We need to do this now. Sure, there’s less time to publicize the tour, but we can work on that right, Tillie?”

She takes in a deep breath looking slightly frazzled but she nods and swallows hard. “Yeah, we can do it.”

“It’s settled then. But for now everyone should go home, have some rest and we will discuss all the ins and outs tomorrow.”

We all look around frozen to the spot like we’re deer stuck in head lights. Today has been one shock after the other—the number one song, the engagement, a pop-up tour—what’s next?

“Well go on… get out of here,” Oliver snaps, and we all jump slightly and nod rushing out the door.

“Two days, Tillie. Is that possible?” Danger asks.

“Yeah, I’ll work some PR magic. Don’t worry, it will happen and it will be great!”

“Okay, as long as you’re sure? Ry, you coming home?” Danger asks, and I turn to look at Tillie, even though my stomach was funny earlier it’s settled slightly now, and I want to give Lunar and Danger some time, they just got engaged, I hope Tillie is okay with what I’m about to suggest.

“I might go to Tillie’s tonight if she’s okay with that?” I ask glancing at her.

She smiles wide lacing her fingers with mine and nods. “Of course.”

“Thanks, man, I wanna give Lunar all the romance she deserves.” Danger grins widely and wrinkles up his nose.

“You mean the spanking and whipping she wants?” Tillie chimes in.

Danger nods matter-of-factly and shrugs. “You call it bondage, I call it romance. Potato, potahto.”

We all chuckle as Lunar walks over linking her arm with Danger’s. “What’s so funny?” she asks.

“Nothing, Candy. Ry’s gonna spend the night at Tillie’s so you wanna head home?” Danger asks.

“Yeah, can we stop off at that place on Wilks and Third on the way home?”

Danger raises an eyebrow. “What place?”

Lunar’s cheeks start to turn a slight shade of pink. “You know, the place?” She raises her eyebrows high and nudges his side.

“Oooh, yeah that place. Yes… yes, we can. See ya, guys,” Danger says turning them as they scurry off laughing to themselves about their wild night they’re going to have together.

I chuckle shaking my head as I turn to Tillie who’s furrowing her brows and slumping. “You okay?” I ask.

“Just trying to think of what the hell is on the corner of Wilks and Third.”

“A porn shop… dildos, bondage equipment, edibles… everything they’re into,” I reply.

She swallows hard, her cheeks redden and I smirk as she looks away from me seeming slightly embarrassed or aroused. I’m not sure which one, but either way she looks sexy as fuck.

“C’mon, let’s get you home.” I take her hand tighter and lead her away to head for the car.