Chapter Twenty-One
Owen
Nalia looked completely mortified at her brother’s behavior, but I didn’t mind. In fact, I liked that someone was so protective of her and cared about her like her brother did.
I couldn't blame him. After all, if I had a sister and knew she was going to be on a bus for three months with someone like Talon, hell, I'd be upset, too. It was only natural for him to feel the way he did, especially after all the damning garbage he'd probably read about us in tabloids and gossip mags.
I cared about her, too, and felt a duty to protect her out on the road. Hell, if I were only running the record company, there’s a solid chance I’d be doing everything in my power to get Nalia to go out with me on a more serious level. But with the band going on tour, it just wasn’t a good idea. Such things would have to wait until after the tour.
But with these four months of madness ahead of us, who could say what might happen between Nalia and me over the next few months? Who could predict where things might be between us at the end of the tour? All we could do was live for the moment and take each day as it came for the time being.
“I’m so, so sorry about that,” Nalia apologized. She swallowed hard, her cheeks crimson with embarrassment as she walked back over to me. “He’s just really protective of me. He always has been, ever since we were little kids.”
I wanted to ask her why. I wanted to know if there was a reason Jackson was that way—if it was just him being her older brother or if there was something more that gave him a motive to be extra protective of her. Perhaps something from their past, from growing up… But I didn’t want to pry, either. It wasn't my place to ask questions about that kind of stuff. Not at this stage, anyway.
“It’s okay. Really. I get where he is coming from,” I told her. “I mean, I know it's pretty different, but you know how protective I am of Talon. So, like I said, I do get where he's coming from, and I respect him for it.” Her expression eased some, though her cheeks still were a little red. “Come on, let’s get the rest of this stuff loaded up and on the road. Guys, bus!” I whistled at them.
The others piled into the bus and headed toward the lounge area in the back. Nalia hung at the front, but I nodded for her to go back and hang out with them. I was staying up front in one of the booths to get some work done that I needed to knock out before the next day.
The guys were already powering up the PlayStation and the TV and were most likely chowing down on the food and drinks the caterer supplied. As long as they didn't get too wasted and trash anything back there, I didn't really care how they passed the time. And, of course, as long as none them harassed Nalia, I was happy.
I opened up my laptop, doing my best to ignore them. I still had a business to run and tons of emails waiting for me to respond. For a brief moment, I wondered if I'd still have started this record company if I'd have known just how crazy a workload it would be. Still, I was proud of myself for what I had accomplished, and in the end, that made all of the hard work worth it.
I had a few contracts to read through, marketing plans to approve, and who knew what else would come up while I was out of the office. I was glad that this bus had a mobile office on it. Even with Nalia's assistance, there was still a lot of work I would need to get done while on the road.
“Nalia, you have to hear this story about our last tour,” Talon started, but I did my best not to pay them any attention and focus on my work.
“Oh my God, no, he didn’t!” Nalia giggled, and my ears perked.
He wasn’t telling her anything I had done, was he? I wracked my brain trying to remember if I had done anything dumb or stupid on the last tour, but that had been over five years ago. I mean, of course there had probably been a few incidents, and perhaps more than just a few groupies, but that had been a different time.
Besides, I'm sure anything I’d done hadn't been anything over-the-top crazy. I frowned, but persevered on, rereading the same email I had been reading a minute ago and looking over marketing material for one of our new bands.
“Ewww, that’s disgusting!” Nalia squealed, and the guys broke out into laughter. I stopped and looked in their direction, but I couldn’t see them behind the curtain, aside from Nalia’s legs next to Talon’s. Talon was making weird sounds, no doubt imitating something of a sexual nature.
I sighed. No, forget them, just focus on this work, I told myself. I had too much I had to get done to get distracted. I got through a few more emails when I heard Nalia giggle again right along with Talon.
“Don’t! I’m ticklish!” Nalia squealed in uncontrollable giggles, and when I glanced back, I saw her legs flailing with Talon’s looking like he was leaned over her. The little shit was flirting with her; I just knew it. I clenched my jaw, staring at my laptop screen as their giggling continued. Finally, I slammed it shut, stomping toward the back of the bus.
When I pulled the curtain back, just as I thought, Talon was leaned over Nalia tickling her sides, a big stupid grin on his face. Everyone froze and looked up at me as I glared at him.
“Do you think you could take it down a notch or two? Some of us actually have shit to do, and I can’t concentrate with you being loud back here like that,” I said, not masking my annoyance with him. He sat up, frowning at me. Nalia adjusted herself, sitting up straight.
“Dude, take a chill pill, Owe. Come on, we were just having a little fun. And, I thought you were going on tour to get out of the office, not bring all of that boring-ass shit with you. Come on, man, don't you wanna have a good time, like the old days?”
“I still have to run a record company whether I'm on tour or not, and considering that record company is funding this tour, you shouldn’t give me shit about it.”
“Yeah, well, maybe I wouldn’t if you’d get that stick out of your ass.” He flashed me a shit-eating grin that made me want to throttle him as the other guys snickered at his comment.
“You know, maybe if I didn’t have to deal with all of your shit on top of everything else, I wouldn’t have a 'stick up my ass,' as you so eloquently put it. Shit, man, it’s always just fun and games with you since you’ve got your big brother to clean up all your damn messes and bail you out every time things go pear-shaped—which they always fucking do with you.”
His smile faded in an instant. I knew I shouldn’t have said that but I was pissed off, even though I knew I didn’t really have a legit reason to be. Maybe I didn’t like the fact that while I was busy working and keeping everything on track, he was back here goofing off and, above all else, hitting on Nalia.
“Owen, not cool, dude,” Jeremiah shook his head at me. I sighed and turned to go back to the front. “Seriously.”
“Whatever, just keep it the fuck down. I have to work.” I flung the curtain back and headed back toward the booth I’d been sitting in. Footsteps followed behind me, and I fully expected Talon to be on my ass. Instead, when I spun around to tell him I was sorry, I bumped into Nalia. The bus turned, and she fell against my chest before righting herself.
“You okay?” she asked.
“Yeah, I’m fine. Look, I just have a lot of stuff to do while they’re all having their fun, and to be honest, it's really frustrating.”
She offered me a sympathetic smile. “Let me help you with it. Maybe we can get it done quicker together.”
I didn’t want to make her work right now; I wanted her to get to relax some. But truth be told, I wanted her there with me, and I really could use some help, too, even if I didn’t want to admit it.
“Maybe. I guess I do have some phone calls that need to be made. You could help me with that while I get through these emails and marketing proofs.”
“Sure thing, boss.” She winked and scooted into the other side of the booth. At that moment, I wanted more than anything to kiss her. Not just for being helpful, but for how sexy and cute she was. But we weren’t alone, and I really did have a ton of work to do.