did know why. And it was all my fucking fault. The least I could do, I suppose, was buy him the time to finally right the wrongs we made.
“Fine.”
My gut twisted painfully the moment I heard myself agree. I knew without this shit going left that I was making a huge mistake. I just hoped Braxton would be able to forgive us a second time. Unquestionably, it would be more than we deserved.
“On one condition,” I added the moment he relaxed.
He was eyeing me warily now. “What’s that?”
“You back off. Unless she initiates, you don’t touch her. Not until you tell her about Emily.”
“No.”
It was funny how he wasted no time thinking about his answer when doing the right thing still made him hesitate. “Cool. Then I will.”
I turned to do exactly that when he shoved me into the side of the bus. My reflexes were quicker than his, though, so I elbowed him in the nose, making him back off a step as he gripped it and swore. I was planning to blow off some steam between Braxton’s legs, but this worked too, at least for the moment.
Turning to face my best friend fully, I waited patiently in case he wanted more. I could see the temptation in his eyes, but he didn’t act on it.
Because Rich was in the wrong, and he knew it.
Scoffing at the irony of how well his last name fit, I shook my head. Jericho’s need to be noble, if not all that candid, was the reason we were in this mess.
“Braxton isn’t stupid,” he warned me. “She’ll notice.”
“Not my problem.”
Baby fawn noticing his distance if he backed off could be avoided if he just told her the truth. Rich, still as blind as a bat in a cave, stared at me as he waited for me to relent. When I didn’t, he wordlessly turned away from the bus, and I watched him go until he disappeared into the dark.
He didn’t realize it now, and considering how stupid he was being, maybe he never would, but I was doing this for him too. When Braxton inevitably finds out, she’d know he’d at least felt guilty about lying to her. He’d have a minuscule chance at earning her forgiveness rather than none at all.
After boarding the bus, I noticed the mess Braxton and Houston had made was cleaned up, and they were nowhere to be found. They weren’t in their bunks either, so I pushed inside the bedroom and found them in the middle of round two.
Undressing until there wasn’t a stitch left and not caring one goddamn bit, I tapped Houston on his shoulder, interrupting him mid-stroke. When he looked over his shoulder and scowled, I stared back at him impassively.
“Move.”
He stared at me long enough to make me consider knocking him out cold. I only refrained because I knew Braxton wouldn’t find us fighting over her cunt endearing. Apparently drawing the same conclusion, Houston lifted off Braxton after pressing a kiss to her lips. She looked a little dazed and out of it, but by the time I slipped on a condom and took Houston’s place between her legs, her gaze had cleared enough to notice me.
“Loren?”
Pussy warm and sopping wet, I slid right in with a groan. “Yeah, baby, it’s me.” My hips began to move, stroking her slowly as we kissed. “I missed you.”
Widening her legs to make room for me, she whispered, “I missed you too.”
My grandmother had always warned me to appreciate the tortoise because I’d be up against the hare one day.
The days were flying by faster than I liked, and the last thing I expected when we ditched the bus for good was that I’d miss it. The cities as we made our way through Canada became a blur. Montréal had been fun. Toronto, where we’d ditched the bus and said goodbye to the crew, was even better. After only one night in Edmonton, however, we were boarding a flight to Vancouver.
The SUV we rode from the hotel to the private hanger pulled to a stop, and we all climbed out. People were waiting to load our bags onto the plane, so Houston, Loren, Jericho and I immediately climbed the steps leading up to the plane.
Xavier and Dani had already arrived and boarded and were the only ones still traveling with us since they were Bound’s manager and assistant, respectively. The road crew had been booked on commercial flights and would be meeting us at the venues