jasper
Present day
I hummed an upbeat tune as I waited to the coffee machine to fill up Hannah’s cup. She was still upstairs sleeping like a baby, and after the night we’d had, I wasn’t surprised in the least.
I hadn’t had that much sex in a long time. Actually, I wasn’t sure I’d had that much sex ever.
Hannah had been insatiable, it was as though she couldn’t get enough of me, she couldn’t get close enough… when we’d finally fallen asleep her body was draped around mine, her hand still gripping my arm tight.
It wasn’t out of the ordinary for her to cuddle in her sleep, or even for us to go at it like rabbits, and I certainly wasn’t complaining, but the intensity in her eyes was definitely something to add to the list of weird behaviour Hannah had been displaying lately.
I sat her cup of coffee next to mine and carried it out of the kitchen and back up the stairs.
I pushed the door open with my foot and smiled.
I’d never quite gotten used to the sight of her in my bed.
Our bed.
She was the only woman to ever sleep here and that just made it all the more special to me.
I chuckled at the memory of her when she’d first moved in. I’d found her looking at a bed catalogue, and when I’d asked her what she was doing, she announced that she wasn’t making a home in a bed that had had ‘a bunch of groupies’ in it.
I’d never seen her so ecstatic when she learned that she was the first and only woman that would be taking up residence here.
The only girlfriends I’d ever had were in my younger days, the days before my best friend became a rock star. The celeb life sure brought with it a lot of sex, but one thing it didn’t often cater for was finding someone to share your life with.
That had all changed the moment I’d met Hannah.
I took the tray over to her side of the bed and wafted the aroma at her.
She wasn’t a morning person, but I’d quickly learned that she could be subdued with a good cup of coffee.
She yawned and rolled over, her eyes opening and closing until they finally opened fully and landed on me. A slow smile spread across her face.
“I brought coffee,” I told her as I swept the hair from her face.
“You know me well,” she answered, her voice sleepy.
“And I got you a doughnut.”
I opened the box that I’d brought up on the tray.
She laughed as I waved them under her nose. “That’s not just ‘a’ doughnut, that’s a whole lot of doughnuts.”
“I didn’t want to be responsible for choosing the wrong flavour.”
“You’re such a smart man.” She pushed up onto her elbow and kissed me on the lips before taking her cup of coffee.
“Where did you get them?”
“I had Creamy Sue’s do a delivery.”
She frowned at me. “But they don’t do deliveries.”
I winked at her. “They did today.”
She laughed as she bit into a doughnut. “You work that celeb status, sister.” She snapped her fingers back and forwards in front of her face. “I don’t know how I’m going to thank you for this.”
“Trust me, BG; you thanked me enough last night.”
She sighed and grinned up at me. “I really did, didn’t I?”
“Shit yes. I’m hard just thinking about it.”
“No you’re not.” She rolled her eyes and took another bite of her doughnut.
“You’re right; I’m not even a little bit hard… I think you broke my dick.”
She coughed, almost choking on her mouthful. “Oh god, can you imagine.” She cackled.
“I’d really rather not.”
I sipped my own coffee as I watched her giggling away to herself.
“What’s on the agenda today, boss?”
I plucked a doughnut from the box and bit into it.
She didn’t answer me, and when I glanced at her she was looking almost through me, her face pale.
“Hannah?” I reached for her hand, mildly panicked. “Are you okay?”
She shook her head as though I’d startled her.
“Sorry, I’m fine, I just felt sick for a minute.”
I deliberately reached for the doughnut she still had gripped tightly. “No more doughnuts for breakfast.”
She laughed, but it didn’t touch her eyes. “I was just a bit dizzy, I’m fine.”
I eyed her carefully. She didn’t look fine to me.
“I think you should see a doctor.”
She laughed – more genuinely this time. “Don’t be ridiculous, there’s nothing wrong with me.”
“Fine. But I’m giving you the day off, and I expect you to stay in bed and do nothing but watch shitty TV and eat the rest of these doughnuts.”
“If you insist.”
* * *
“Where’s Han?” Charlotte quizzed as I climbed into the back of the tinted-out car alone.
“I’m forcing her to stay in bed for the day.”
“Is she sick?” Charlotte quizzed, looking increasingly worried.
“I’m not sure… she just seems a bit… off.”
“She’s probably on her period,” Parker offered helpfully. “They get a little weird during shark week.”
Charlotte whacked him on the arm.
“Nope.” I shook my head at him. “I can safely say that is not the case.”
“Too much information,” Charlotte groaned as I chuckled.
“She’ll be fine, I think she’s just tired. I told her we could manage without her today.”
“Let’s go, Sammy!” Park called out.
Sammy was driving us today, and he’d be acting as our bodyguard. We called him ‘our’ bodyguard, but in reality, in a situation like this, he was only here for Charlotte most of the time.
Parker and I could usually handle ourselves, but if Park thought Charlotte was at risk then he was a liability.
Just like that first night.
It was just easier to take Sammy or one of the guys with us everywhere these days.
The fans had stepped up the crazy since Exit Strategy had become a thing, and we were rarely able to slide under the radar entirely anymore.
Today we were headed to the most popular radio station in town, for a live-on-air interview and to perform an acoustic version of one of our songs.
We had an entire security team meeting us for this one.
This interview had been advertised on air for about two weeks, letting the fans know that we would be coming in today, so they were going to be out in force.
The studio was providing security too, but they didn’t know what they were in for.
It was going to be madness.
I was actually glad that Hannah was giving it a miss. She never dealt particularly well with hoards of female fans throwing themselves at us.
I chuckled to myself at the thought of her shooting daggers at the women calling my name.
“There’s a queue right around the corner.” Charlotte pointed out the end of the line, nearly a whole block away from the studio.
“It’s going to be a long day,” Park mumbled as he peered out the window.
“Get those fan smiles ready boys,” Sammy called from the front seat.
We pulled up to the front of the building, and the car stopped right as the screaming started.
“Welcome to loopy-ville,” I announced as I swung my door open.
* * *
I yawned as I opened the door and stepped inside.
To say it had been a long day would have been an understatement.
I’d signed things until I couldn’t move my fingers and smiled for pictures until my jaw felt like it might have been locked in that position forever.
I still couldn’t believe the influence that music could have over people.
So many of those fans were crying – tears of absolute joy streaming down their faces. I’d heard about how our music had changed their lives, got them through a break-up or a death. One woman had even sworn that one of our tracks had stopped her from committing suicide.
As absolutely mental as this life was, moments like that, moments when you felt like you were really touching people’s lives, they made it all worth it.
I thought about calling out to Han, but instead decided that I should just creep up and check on her. If she was sleeping I didn’t want to wake her.
I climbed up the stairs and thought about how much I’d wished she was there today after all.
She would have hated eighty-five percent of the women that were there, but the other fifteen percent she would have loved.
I couldn’t wait to tell her about the mother and daughter who were the only survivors in an accident that had taken the lives of the rest of their family last year. The VIP passes we’d given them for our show next month in no way made up for what they’d lost, but it had certainly made them smile.
I pushed the door open to our bedroom and peeked inside.
She wasn’t in the bed and the TV was switched off.
I strolled into the room, heading for our ensuite bathroom.
She wasn’t in there either.
“Hannah?” I called out. “You hiding from me, barbie girl?”
I chuckled as I headed back into the bedroom, looking for the note she was bound to have left me.
I spotted a sheet of paper on her pillow and smirked.
Hide and seek, baby.
My step faltered as my eyes landed on the pink box sitting next to it.
Dread flooded through my system.
Something isn’t right.
“Hannah?!” I called again, my voice rising in panic.
The house was eerily silent around me.
I picked up the sheet of paper and my whole world fell out from underneath me.