More of Us ( A Love You More Rock Star Romance #3) - Laura Pavlov Page 0,9

She smiled up at me, her breaths coming fast and hard, and my chest squeezed.

Yep. I was exactly where I needed to be right now.

After I got out of the shower, I towel dried my hair and brushed it away from my face. It felt good to be clean, even if the water was ice cold. I slipped on a pair of shorts and a tank top and slathered my skin in lotion before applying more bug spray.

“Everyone’s outside playing soccer. And did I mention there’s tequila involved?” Jessica called out from the doorway.

I laughed. “Okay. I’ll be right out.”

“See you out there,” she said before walking away.

I looked to see if we had any reception so I could check my emails. I wanted to make sure I didn’t miss anything from the AAMC, the place I’d submitted my medical school apps, and our Wi-Fi was shoddy, so I checked often. So far, so good. It looked like my application was complete, and I was good for now. I sent Dad a quick text to tell him I loved him. I texted him every other day as promised to let him know I was doing okay.

A new text from Cruz popped up. It had been another week. He’d stuck to the plan to text weekly and not daily over the last few weeks, which was very un-Cruz of him. Patience had never been his strong suit. He’d finished his thirty days in rehab and was back on tour with Exiled. I was impressed he’d completed the program, but I kept our texts very much on the surface. He tried to take things deeper, but I didn’t want to go there. He surprised me by respecting my wishes and not pushing.

Cruz ~ Hey. How are you? What did you build today? How’s Rosa?

I sucked in a breath. Almost like I could feel him right here with me. There was a dull ache in my chest that hadn’t left since the day I’d come to Honduras.

I dropped to sit on Jessica’s lower bunk and leaned my back against the wall.

Me ~ Rosa’s great. We only have one more day to finish our work for the Martinez family, so I’ll be sad to say goodbye. We completed their hygiene station today. I’ll send you a pic. It looks great. How are you? How’s the band? Lennon? Adam? Are you still doing the MMA training now that you’re on the road?

I had so many questions for him. I shouldn’t ask. I shouldn’t care. But I did. And I said we could be friends for now. And friends care about one another, right? Right.

Cruz ~ Lennon’s still an asshole but he’s doing great. He and Bailey are nauseatingly in love most of the time. You would love seeing him like this. Adam is good. Tory has been traveling with us, so that’s cool. Yes, I’m training a lot. Five days a week. We brought our trainer, Gio, on tour, so everyone is working out now. LOL. I started another class and should graduate in December.

I swiped at the tear running down my cheek. I was proud of him. But it hadn’t been that long. He needed time to get himself together and so did I. But it was so easy to fall back into needing him. And wanting him. I wouldn’t allow myself to go there. I closed my eyes and remembered how it felt to wake up on that hotel room floor. After I’d been unconscious for hours.

Hours.

I could have died.

And Cruz was right there, in the next room. No. I needed to stay strong.

Me ~ That’s amazing, Cruz. I’m happy for you. For all of you. How’s your mom doing?

Cruz ~ She’s doing really well. She does yoga every day and she seems a lot happier. My dad is holding up their divorce, of course he doesn’t want to make it easy on her. He’s still an asshole.

Me ~ He really is. He’s put her through a lot. Please give her my best.

Cruz ~ Your dad is really missing you. I was in town a couple days ago, and I