THE GIRLS HAVe been gone for the last half hour or so getting ready for their karaoke number and I can’t wait to see what they’ve come up with. Leah gets along great with Tessa and Devon and I can see that they’re working on bringing her out of her shell. She still brings her iPad with her to the shows but other than when we go to do the band meetings I don’t see her using it anymore.
As Ty and our manager are finishing slaying Bob Seger’s, We’ve Got Tonight, I see Devon approach the karaoke guy, clearly telling him they’re ready. In an obvious effort to keep her outfit a secret, she’s got a full-length robe covering her from head to toe. Clearly the girls have gone all out and now I’m real fuckin’ curious to see what Leah will be wearing. My money is on something from Grease because chicks love that shit.
When the music starts to play I realize I was wrong about Grease. Instead they’ve gone with the Spice Girls, and my jaw hits the fucking ground when Leah comes out dressed like the sexiest schoolgirl ever. Tessa and Devon are dressed just as sexy, but my attention isn’t on them at all. All I care about is Leah. She’s so fucking sweet that even singing this ridiculous song dressed like a wet fuckin’ dream, she manages to look classy. Her body is in-fuckin-sane, no two ways about it. I haven’t seen this much of it in years, but holy fuck do I want to touch her. I can’t take my eyes off of her strutting her stuff, singing along and laughing with her girls as they vamp it up for the audience. Vaguely, I register Cole and Flynn are both having similar reactions to their women up on the stage, but I can’t even look their way to say anything. She fuckin’ owns me.
By the time Wannabe comes to an end I’m harder than fucking titanium. All three of the girls immediately begin the journey back to where we’re sitting, but Leah walks a little slower than the others. Tipsy, I think, and maybe a little embarrassed to have been on stage. Getting up, I pass Devon and Tessa on the way to my girl. My girl. I trip up for a moment but then shake it off and keep walking.
When I reach her I don’t even hesitate. Like it’s the most natural thing in the world I slide my arm around her waist and pull her into me. Putting two fingers under her chin I tilt her face up so her lips are at the perfect level and I can see her eyes. The desire that I feel for her is echoed in their depths and that’s all the reassurance I need. Covering her mouth with mine, I gently tease her lips with my tongue until she parts them and touches my tongue with hers. I growl low in my throat when she wraps her arms around my neck and kisses me passionately.
She tastes so damn sweet, those pina coladas and her natural flavor combining to make me crazy. This girl could make me embarrass myself in front of a room full of people and I almost couldn’t give less of a shit. The only reason I’m able to pull back is because I don’t want her to be embarrassed. She’s not drunk but she is definitely tipsy and I don’t want her doing anything she would regret later. No, when we get together, I want her one hundred percent sober and sure of the decision. Leah is different and I’m not doing anything to fuck this up.
I watch her face after I stop kissing her, and the look in her eyes when she opens them and stares at me is almost enough to make me forget the reasons why I can’t keep going. She looks sexy as hell, and the little mew she makes with her lips tells me that she wants to keep right on kissing. It’s just about enough to bring me to my knees. Instead of caving in, I drop a quick kiss onto her lips before turning so we’re side by side instead of chest to chest. Keeping my arm around her waist I hold her close to me.
“You did real fuckin’ good babe,” I praise. “Never thought I’d like a Spice Girls song but you just proved me wrong. Guarantee every time I hear that song from now on, it will always make me smile. I’d add it to my playlist but I’d lose pretty much all street cred if I did that shit.”
She laughs softly as she leans further into me. “I’d definitely add that N*SYNC song to mine…if I didn’t already have it. You were soooo sexy.”
I crack the fuck up at that—it’s confirmed now, my girl is totally tipsy. “So you’re saying you liked my JT moves?”
“Gavin,” she says on a sigh. “I loved them! You were even better than the real JT. I would never have guessed you could dance like that. Where the heck did you learn all that?”
Looking down at her, I grin and wiggle my eyebrows so that she knows that I’m joking. Sort of. “Well, first of all, it’s one of our go-to karaoke numbers. We’ve done it at least twenty times. But the real reason I’m so good is because I’m a drummer. Not only does that mean that I do it harder, I do it with rhythm.”
She gasps as her jaw drops to the ground, which makes me panic because I realize that I’ve probably just offended her. Great—too fucking far, Wilde. I’m a fuckin’ idiot.
“Shit, Leah, I’m sorry I—“
Smacking her hand over my mouth, she throws her head back and laughs. She laughs long enough and hard enough that there are tears in her eyes when she looks back at me, and I feel so much better knowing that I didn’t freak her out.
“You make me so happy. Never be sorry!”
Letting out the breath that I didn’t even know I was holding, I chuckle as I begin to walk us back to the table where everyone is sitting. “Thank God. I seriously thought I went too far.”
“Nope! We’re good.”
We’re both smiling as we arrive back at the table. Immediately, Devon and Tessa jump up and high five Leah before hugging her.
“We rocked it,” Tessa giggles.
“We so did! We had girl power,” Devon announces.
“Girl power,” they all yell out in unison.
Looking over at Cole and Flynn, I shake my head. These girls are fuckin’ hilarious. Girl power? I don’t even know what that shit is, but it’s funny. I like Leah having friends here on the road with us, and I love how they make her feel good about herself.
After demanding Flynn take pictures of them in their ‘costumes’ and then forcing the girls to pose for a few minutes, Tessa links arms with the girls and announces they’re going to go get one more drink. The three of them trail off to the bar as the three of us laugh at how funny they are. As soon as they’ve walked away, Cole turns my way and nails me with a serious look.
“Dude, you just laid claim to her in front of everyone. Is this shit for real? Cause if it isn’t Gram’s going to tie you up by your fuckin’ nuts and—“
Raising a hand, I cut him off. “No strings necessary. I already talked to Flynn about this earlier when he climbed up my ass. Yes, I like her and yes, this is the real fuckin’ thing. I appreciate that you’re looking out for Leah, but you don’t have to. She’s for me to worry about from here on out.”
Cole gives me a look of approval as he nods his head. “Alright man, that’s cool. She’s quiet as hell but I like her. Devon raves about her.”
“Yeah, those three are thick as thieves these days,” Flynn comments. “How are things going with you and Devon? I see Ian is lying real fuckin’ low. He couldn’t be further across the room if he tried.”
I stare at Cole, interested to see what he’ll say to Flynn. Clearly he hasn’t bothered to tell him that Devon was all but living at his house before the tour started. I’m not sure exactly why Cole is keeping this whole thing under wraps, but it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to jump to the conclusion that his whole no one-on-one relationships rule is at the heart of it.
Cole’s got it bad for Devon and supposedly Ian was going to be the third—but if his behavior is to be believed, Ian isn’t having it. I can tell, hell anyone can tell, that he’s attracted to Devon and Cole, but he won’t do shit. According to Cole, Ian is very hung up on ‘not being gay.’ Whatever the case may be, he missed his chance. I think hell would freeze over before Cole shared his girl, but he isn’t laying claim to her publicly yet.
With a shrug of his shoulders, Cole leans forward and starts picking at the label on his beer. “I don’t know, man. I wanted it to be the three of us but every day he isn’t allowing it to happen.”
Cole pauses as he looks across the room at Devon. “You know how I feel about not doing one-on-one relationships. The anxiety is killing me.”
“Dude, come on,” Flynn says. “This thing with Ian is a non-starter. Anyone with eyes can see you have feelings for Devon—not Ian. Whatever you could have had is gone. He dragged his feet for so long you and Devon have formed your own thing and it could be fuckin’ bigger than anything you might have had with Ian being a part of it. You need to stop this shit. Being with one person won’t kill you. I don’t know why the fuck you’re so hung up on this.”
“He’s right,” I say firmly.
Cole glares at us both as he crosses his arms over his chest defensively. “Yeah? It might not kill you but if something happens to them, it just fucking might. Look at Todd! How’s he moved on without your mother? Oh wait, he hasn’t. If it weren’t for you when she died, he would have died too. Jesus, look at what happened with Gavin’s father. Or wait, how about Tyson’s family? I don’t want that shit!”
Flynn doesn’t say anything right away and neither do I, probably because both of us have our jaws on the damn floor. Cole isn’t what you would call an aggressive person by nature and so his anger is completely out of character.
Before either of us can say anything, Cole smacks a hand on the table. “Fuck, man, I’m sorry. That wasn’t right. I didn’t mean it the way that it sounded. I’m an asshole—“
“Cole,” I interrupt, “Is this all because you’re afraid to commit to one person? Cause if it is, you’ve got to deal with it. This isn’t fair to Devon.”
Leaning forward, Flynn puts a hand on Cole’s shoulder. “Love is a big risk. If something happened to Tessa, I’d be devastated,” he admits. “But I’d rather be with her than stay away because of the possibility the worst could happen. If it did and I wasn’t with her because I’d never taken the chance—it would kill me. You can ask my dad about this and he would say the same thing. Even knowing what he knows now about the pain he felt when she died, he still would have married my mom. If Devon dies tomorrow, what’s going to hurt you the most is knowing you could have had something with her while she was alive if you hadn’t been such a pussy.”
Cole says nothing even as Flynn and I continue staring at him for at least another ten seconds. Before either of us can say anything else, Tyson takes a seat across the table and glares at all of us.
“What the hell is happening here ladies? I’m sure there’s a tampon dispenser in the bathroom if one of you got your period,” he jokes. “It’s like a fuckin’ funeral parlor back here all of a sudden. What the fuck?”
Tyson is the toughest and crassest amongst us, but he’s a master at diffusing tension. All three of us burst out laughing, and the mood returns to normal.
“Alright, this is more like it,” he praises. “Anyway, as un-fuckin’-real as it is, I didn’t kick everyone’s ass at karaoke tonight. John and the crew say tonight’s victory goes to the girls.”
Speaking of the girls they’re back. As soon as Leah sits down next to me I slide my arm around her shoulders and pull her close to me. I can’t help the shit-eating grin on my face when she leans into me. This girl has me eating from the palm of her hand and she doesn’t even realize it yet.
“Well girls, I hope you’re proud of yourselves,” Tyson says in a dejected voice. “Tonight I’ll be going back to my hotel room knowing that I’m no longer the karaoke king. You robbed me of my title.”
Almost as if it was planned all three of the girls jump up and start squealing and high-fiving each other while we all look on. Again there’s talk of whatever the hell girl power is, and then Devon is lifting up her glass for a toast. The next thing I know the three of them are toasting…and toasting…and toasting, until their drinks are completely empty. After finishing the last of their drinks, all three girls sit back down. It’s adorably obvious they’re all pretty tipsy at this point, and I laugh out loud when Leah hits the edge of her seat instead of the middle and starts to slide off. Reaching out I quickly save her from falling before lifting her up and seating her on my lap. Leaning her head against my shoulder, she lets out a sigh.
“I think being around you makes me uncoordinated,” she murmurs. “You’re bad luck for my ability to stay off the floor.”
“I think you just need to stay right with me, babe. I’ve got you,” I assure her.
She giggles as Flynn abruptly jumps up out of his chair and grabs Tessa. “Alright we’re leaving. See you tomorrow!”
He all but carries her out in a flash, barely stopping long enough to tell their driver it’s time to bring the car up. Tessa doesn’t have time to do anything but wave at us over her shoulder because Flynn is moving at top speed. It’s obvious he’s anxious to get Tessa back to the hotel room, and I mentally give him a thumbs up for finding the girl he feels for so deeply. Flynn’s leaving causes Jerry to look back at me and I give him the nod it’s time to go.
When I bring my attention back to Leah, I let out a quiet laugh. While I was watching Flynn and Tessa leave, she straight up managed to nod off on me.
Looking over at Devon I ask, “Hey, do you know where her clothes are?”
“Not to worry,” she says with a wink, “I’ll grab them and bring them back with me, same as I’ll be doing with Tessa’s. My girls are forgetful,” she laughs.
Thankful that I don’t have to worry about finding her stuff I rub Leah’s back and say, “Babe, it’s time to go.”
Opening her eyes she leans her head back and gives me a smile. “Sorry. The endorphins from being a Spice Girl wore off at the same time all of the pina coladas caught up with me. I decided to close my eyes for a minute.”
“Saw that, babe. Let’s get to the car and get back to the hotel so you can go to sleep for the night.”
Standing up, she stretches her arms out and yawns, and instantly all the blood in my head rushes right down to my cock. Holy fuckin’ hell she looks goddamn amazing. Her tight little stomach is bared in the shirt to begin with and the stretch she’s doing just made her tits push up and out of the shirt even more.
Grabbing her by the hand I start walking fast to get the hell out of this bowling alley before I make a fool out of myself like a teenage boy having his first wet dream. Once we’re in the back of the SUV, I pull her up against me.
“I had so much fun,” she says in a drowsy sounding voice.
“I’m glad, babe. I had fun too.”
“Haven’t had that much fun in years,” she sighs. “Actually, maybe not ever. Thank you.”
“Me either,” I admit. “I’m so glad you’re here.”
There’s no answer, which tells me that she’s asleep. Leaning my head back, I relax as we’re driven back to the hotel. It’s interesting to me how having her close like this feels so good. She fits into me like she’s made to be here, and as the streetlights go by, I allow myself to wonder if maybe she is. Flynn swears Tessa is his destiny. I wonder if such a thing actually exists, or if it’s just wishful thinking.