and Lauren, his face cold as he wraps a protective arm around me. “Why is she crying?”
I pat his chest before he can get all vengeful and protective. “I’m fine. I just swallowed wrong and started choking. I’m okay, though.” I’m still coughing a little, the tickle in my throat feeling like it might never go away.
Jonathan and Brendan come into the room, talking loudly and laughing. Gabby and Lauren, distracted by their arrival, leave me to Colt, who still looks concerned. Standing from the stool, I wrap my arms around him and press up on my toes to give him a kiss. “I’m fine. I promise.”
“Good,” he murmurs against my lips. “Can’t have anything happening to you.”
“Did you want to show her the studio?” Brendan calls from the other side of the room, and I pull away from Colt, looking past him at his brother, then back at Colt.
A sexy smile lifts Colt’s lips. “Wanna go see where we’re going to be recording your newest songs?”
And just like that, all thought of having to explain our elopement vanishes as we head down the hall to Brendan’s studio.
Chapter Thirty-One
Colt
By the time we get home again, Alexis is sleepy and relaxed. Lauren offered us a spare bedroom at their place so we wouldn’t get home so late, but after exchanging a glance, we’d both declined.
It’s been a stressful evening, between our argument in the car to navigating the potential landmines of explaining our relationship—which went surprisingly well, at least on my end—and the best place for us right now is home. Alone. Together.
I know I’d feel inhibited in my brother’s house, especially after the way they were ragging on me about interrupting them having sex. With my luck, they’d all think it was hilarious to do the same to me, despite the fact that I only did it to them when they were boning backstage before a show. Which both of my brothers have a penchant for.
Although, now that I’m with Alexis, I can’t say I blame them. Still. There’s a time and a place. And you can’t get mad at your assistant for doing their job.
They’d just be interrupting Alexis and me out of spite. And with tonight being our first declaration of love? I’m not willing to risk them fucking anything up for me.
I’ve proven over and over that I’m perfectly capable of fucking things up on my own. And with everything going pretty right for the first time in way too long, I’ll be damned if I let anyone else fuck something up for me when I’ve managed not to so far.
“What are you thinking about?” Alexis asks softly, her head resting against the seat back and her eyes sparkling under the streetlamp in the parking lot.
I give her a soft smile, pick up her hand, and brush a kiss across her knuckles. “You. How happy I am that you’re with me, even if none of this is going how either of us intended. I think what we have is good. And I want to see how far this’ll go.”
She straightens, leaning in and placing a kiss on my mouth, her lips soft and pliant against mine. “Me too,” she whispers, her breath fanning over my face.
“Let’s go inside,” I whisper back.
She smiles her sweet, beautiful smile and pulls away, popping the door open and climbing out before I can even move.
With a laugh that’s pure joy, I climb out of the car too, locking it as I catch up to her, tangling my hand with hers as the wind flirts with her hair. It’s soft tonight. She used some of my non-crunchy styling cream, giving her a sweeter, relaxed look rather than the edgier vibe she goes with for performances.
And as much as I love her sharp edges and hard planes, I love this sweet, soft side too. It’s a privilege to get to see all of the facets of her that she keeps carefully curated and hidden from public consumption.
No one has ever trusted me with all of their hidden parts before. And I’m going to do my damnedest to deserve it.
I answer my phone without looking at the caller ID, expecting Alexis’s voice on the other end when I pick it up and say, “Hey, babe.” She’s at another meeting with Delores. Apparently there’s another label interested in her, and she’s agreed to take a meeting with them. When she told me about it, I had to grind my teeth in frustration and paste on