One More Time - Ali Parker Page 0,54

either of us were going to walk for the rest of the week, but we kept going. If I’d thought that we’d gotten to know each other’s bodies and needs well in the past few months, those few hours proved me wrong.

Good sex had never been bad, but fuck me, that was phenomenal. I was relatively certain that people in the next state had heard us going at it, but I didn’t care.

Later that day, after tearing myself away from Kelly still naked in my hotel room. I headed to band practice. At this stage, we had the show down pat, but that didn’t stop us from having practices on the days that we didn’t have to perform.

After practice, Nick and Matt disappeared pretty quickly, and Dominic was chatting to one of the production managers. Jared sauntered over to me as I was securing my guitar in its case and waited for me to finish before he started talking.

“You look strangely happy today, bro. You start taking drugs or something?” His tone was light and teasing.

I flipped him off but couldn’t stop the corners of my mouth from lifting into a smirk. “I’m on a natural high. Spending the morning in bed and just about every other surface of the hotel room will do that for you.”

“Touché.” Curiosity sparked in his eyes, but it was quickly followed by knowing. “Your wrists must be killing you. Unless of course, you weren’t in bed by yourself.”

“You’re hilarious,” I told him dryly. “I wasn’t by myself. I was with Kelly, actually.”

Jared grinned and raised his fist for a bump. “Glad to hear you’ve pulled your head out of your stubborn ass. All is well with you two now?”

“I think so,” I said. Then my chest rattled on a deep sigh. “She has this idea though, but I’m not sure it’s a good one.”

Jared’s eyes widened humorously, the corners of his lips raised. “It takes a big man to bend over for a strap on. It’s not really my thing—”

“Fuck off,” I snapped. “It’s not that.”

Jared rubbed his hands together and nodded. “Okay, let me venture another guess.”

“She wants me to call Elizabeth,” I interrupted before I had to listen to any more of his disturbing guesses. Jared’s face fell. That was the last thing he’d been expecting.

His reaction was exactly as I might’ve thought it would be. His back tensed, his shoulders stiffened, and both of his dark brows lifted. Any humor that’d been in his eyes evaporated. “Let me get this straight. Kelly, the girl you’re currently with, wants you to call your ex-fiancée? Why the fuck would she want you to do that?”

I explained Kelly’s reasoning, and by the end, Jared didn’t look any more convinced than I was feeling. “I’m not sure it’s a great idea either. Feels to me like it could open a giant can of worms, especially while we’re here. But hey, I’m glad you’re done pushing Kelly away because of it.”

“It’s not love or anything,” I warned him. “So don’t go spewing around anything like that. This is just us exploring what this can be. That’s it.”

Jared threw his hands out in mock surrender. “I get it. I get it. You’re done with love. It’s for fools. It never lasts. Blah blah blah. Of course it’s not that.”

“I mean it, Jared. The last thing I need on this tour is a lot of pressure from a new relationship. Kelly understands that. Don’t be a dick.” With Kelly being Alicia’s sister, I was sure Jared was going to hear all about this from Kelly’s point of view later. I needed to make sure that he understood where we were and what we were doing before either he or Alicia felt the need to interfere.

“Message received. It’s not love, no pressure. I got it. Chill out.”

“Jared,” I started, my voice already deeper in warning.

Taking a step closer to me, he put his hand on my shoulder and clasped it tight. “All jokes aside, I’m happy for you. I like Kelly. She’s fun. I think you’re in for one hell of a ride with that one.”

Chapter 22

Kelly

Caleb was a freaking beast in the sack. Now that we were out of L.A., away from all the pressures of everyday life and had cleared the air between us, the man was on a mission. Except for a couple of hours that he’d gone to band practice the day after we’d made up, he’d kept me naked and in his bed, mostly