“She’s only here for two days,” Brad says. “We play tomorrow, so tonight is our only chance to be alone. Sorry, guys, fiancée trumps friends.”
“What else is new?” Garrett grumbles.
Brad gets in his face. “You got something you want to say to me?”
“No, man. Do what you have to do.”
“Damn right I will.” Brad gathers their stuff, and they head back to the hotel.
“She’s no good for him,” Garrett says, watching them walk away.
“He loves her,” Bria says. “Give him a break. Being apart is hard on them.”
“Then maybe she should have come with us.”
“Katie isn’t like that. She’s not going to give up her job and follow us around, and she shouldn’t have to.”
“Then maybe she should find another line of work,” Garrett says. “One that gives her the flexibility to do shit like this.”
Liam catches my eye. I know exactly what he’s thinking.
“Not everyone wants to live this kind of life,” Crew says.
“She should have thought it through before dating someone in a rock band. This is only the beginning. Who knows what will happen next. US tour? International? What will they do then?”
“That’s for them to figure out,” Bria says. “Not everyone is lucky enough to work with the person they love.”
Crew leans over and kisses her. I reach for my phone and snap a picture. I show it to Bria. “I love it,” she says and holds out a hand. “How about I take one of you and Liam?”
“Okay.”
Liam stands next to me.
“Closer,” Bria says. “So I can’t see the people behind you.”
He closes the gap between us and puts his arm around my waist. His hand lands on my hip. His thumb gently rubs back and forth across my bare skin. Electrified waves pulse through me.
“I think I got a good one,” Bria says.
Neither of us moves.
She holds out my phone. “Want to see them? The last one is a keeper.”
Liam jerks away, and I take the phone and check out the photos. We’re both smiling in the first two, he blinked in the third, but the fourth picture is the one that captures my attention. Liam’s head is turned, and he’s looking at me. My eyes are closed, and my lip is between my teeth. If I didn’t know the two people in this picture, I’d say they were a couple.
I pick up my towel and wrap it around my waist. “I feel like I’m getting burned. I’m going to go back and get in a few hours of work.”
I told a lie. Two of them actually. One, my skin is not in the least bit red; and two, I’m almost positive I won’t be able to draw a damn thing. On my way back, I tell myself I won’t look at the picture on my phone again, but who am I kidding? That would just be another lie.
Chapter Nineteen
Liam
Watching Ella dance is making me hard. She doesn’t seem to give a shit who sees her. Half the time, her eyes are closed. The way she moves is so carefree. I envy that about her.
Ella seems to be the perfect specimen of a woman. Strong. Independent. Resilient. From what she’s told me about her past, she had the ideal childhood. She’s the polar opposite of any girl I’ve ever been with. Not that I’m with her. And not that I want to be. If I’m being honest, I do want to be, but I can’t. If I ever showed my true colors around her, that would be it. She’d be gone. Then what would I do? Go back to being the douchebag who can’t pull together a decent song if my life depended on it?
Even while we’ve been touring, I’ve managed to score two new songs. This afternoon when I came back from the beach, I started working on a third. Shit is flowing out of me like musical diarrhea.
I can’t stop watching as she and Bria dance and laugh. Usually at a club, the only thing I care about is how much whiskey is in my glass, but I couldn’t care less about that right now. Who needs alcohol when she provides a better buzz than I can get from liquor?
I’m not much of a dancer—never have been—but I’m acting like I know what I’m doing. Garrett and Crew are much better at this than I am. Crew spins Bria around like he’s Fred fucking Astaire. I wish I could do that shit.
“Oh, yeah,” Garrett drawls. “I think I see my next conquest.”