MARSHA TOOK ONE look at my face when I returned with the sandwiches and put a closed sign on the Dragons’ merch booth.
"But Lucky said to stay here," Sky protested, her brow furrowed as she followed us through the narrow but ornate lobby of the mid nineteenth century venue.
"We're just going to our room at the hotel next door to have some girl talk. Everyone is busy at the pre-show meet and greet anyway." Mars gave me another concerned side glance after we exited the building. "You gonna make it to somewhere private or do we need to do this intervention right here on the sidewalk?"
"I can make it," I replied, but apparently I looked a little dicey.
"So stoic." Marsha grabbed my hand and held it tight as we ducked into the small, elegantly appointed lobby of the Nine Zero Hotel. "It's gonna be ok, bestie." She pressed the elevator call button. "Thick and thin. You and me. Whatever it is, we've got this." She had a key and knew the way to our room without pausing to look at the directional signs. Two clues that hinted at where she and the Welshman had gotten it on earlier. If I hadn't been so off kilter by what I had overheard at sound check I might have pressed her for details.
"Ok, bestie. Stop staring into space and freaking Sky and me out. Talk to us." Marsha opened the door and led me into the room. I sank down beside her as she dropped onto the foot of the bed closest to the door.
"It's not really a big deal." I lied, my body leaning into Sky as she took a seat on the other side of me.
"Uh-uh." Marsha made a rejection buzzer sound, and I caught Sky's amused smile out of the corner of my eye. "Try again, this time remembering that we've been friends since the third grade."
"I think maybe Lucky has feelings for me."
"I would say yeah." She glanced across me to Sky. "What do you say big sis?"
"He likes Raven." Her brow scrunched. "Like a boyfriend does a girlfriend. He wants to kiss you, to sleep with you in the same bed. Didn't he tell you?"
"Yes, he did. But not really like a boyfriend. Just as...you know...to feel good for a while."
"Good clarification," Marsha mused as Sky mulled that information over. "So what's changed, honey?"
"Nothing, except that I overheard Lucky and Alec talking about me."
"They're best friends," Sky announced. "Since they were little, like you two."
"And what else?" Marsha prompted me.
"Lucky seems to be concerned that I might be playing him given all the RFC stuff."
"Pretty logical assumption. Surprising, though that his thinking brain is overruling the more action oriented one downstairs."
"Alec doesn't seem to believe the upstairs one will win out."
"What about you, Raven?"
"I can barely look at him without wanting him, Mars."
"Yeah." She snorted. "That's pretty obvious. But what are you going to do about it?"
"I don’t know. I'm scared. It feels too soon after Ivan to risk getting into bed with someone like him. Someone who could easily crush me."
"My brother would never hurt you," Sky said, her sapphire eyes shining confidently.
"Sometimes we hurt people without meaning to," I explained.
"Not if you talk to them. Not if you tell them the truth."
She might be right. But that's what I had to decide. Could I risk being completely vulnerable? Could I trust him with the truth? Yes, he was by far the hottest guy I'd ever met, but I knew there was more to him than that. Sleeping with him, even if it were only one night could be dangerous.
"YOU LOOK REALLY pretty." Sky gave me an encouraging smile as we knocked on the dressing room door. Rocky opened it. The Welshman was shirtless and struggling to hold up his half buttoned pants. Sky's gaze dropped to her feet, her pale cheeks turning crimson.
"Hey, love." Rocky gave her a hasty peck on her rosy cheek missing the signs that seemed obvious to me. Sky had definite feelings for him. I followed her inside. The guys were all in various states of undress, but there was only one my eyes sought. One that when I found him and his gaze hit mine made my cheeks flush as warmly as Sky's. I decided in that moment that control was only an illusion when emotions got involved. At this point, as it seemed with Sky and Rocky, as it was with me and Lucky, the heart chooses for you. I think mine had chosen on the bus when he revealed just enough of who he was, the kind of man whose sister believed with absolute assurance would never hurt a girl.
"Hey." I waved lamely, and he watched me with cautious eyes as I crossed directly to him, ignoring the others. “Sky said it would be alright if I came with her." I wasn't here to be the center of attention. I wasn't here to put on a show. I was just here as a girl wearing her heart out in the open, hoping she wasn't making a huge mistake.
"Why are you here?" He finished tying the laces on his leather pants and straightened to look me. I tried not to stare at the way his muscles flexed when he moved. He had wanted to be a dancer. I could see that in his sexy style for instance, the thin strip of black leather he had looped once tightly around his neck like a scarf leaving the silver capped ends to dangle loosely over his chest. "The merch booth?" he prompted. "Who's watching it?"
"Marsha." I made a self-deprecating noise and gave myself a mental slap. "Sorry. My brain goes a little mushy when your shirt is off."
"I noticed that, love." His cocky grin appeared.
"I prefer Angel if I get to pick. I haven’t heard you use that one on anyone else."
His eyes darkened. “That one is all yours." The possessive growl in his voice gave me a shiver.
"Right. Whew." I fanned myself. It felt hot in the room or maybe it was just me and the risk I was taking. "You asked why I was here. Two things. Just me." I ran a finger down my chest hoping I looked as good in the sleek, shimmery silver slip that clung to my tits and ass as his appreciative gaze seemed to imply. I flicked my finger at him. "And you." Every sinewy muscle in his delectable body seemed to tighten. "After the show. Let’s spend the night together. No games. No RFC. I’ll be honest, I'm into you, and I'm willing to take a chance on you. Sky says you won’t hurt me. I hope she’s right."