down on the sink. “I’m gonna shoot cum all over your ass after I thoroughly fuck your pussy.”
“You’re so dirty.”
He grins and flashes a cocky wink before stripping off his clothes. “You have no idea.” He cups my cheeks and swoops in for another kiss. “We have a lot of missed time to make up for.”
I promised myself I wouldn’t say anything until we were back in L.A. but the words come out on their own. “And you’re going right back out on the road after the album’s done?”
Silence.
Slowly, I lift my gaze.
“It looks like it,” he says gently. “We have three weeks off around the holidays. I’ll take you anywhere you want to go.”
I swallow hard and nod. “I’d be happy at home with your family.”
“Yeah? You sure about that? They get pretty rowdy around the holidays.”
“Maybe we can visit my dad.” I bite my lip. “I hate thinking of him alone in prison for Christmas…”
“We can do that. Whenever you want.” He strokes his knuckles over my cheek. “And I’m pretty sure someone has a birthday to celebrate.”
“Ugh.” I duck my head. “I don’t want to turn twenty-one.”
“What? Who doesn’t want to turn twenty-one?”
“Twenty’s a nice even number.”
He bursts out laughing. “You can’t stay twenty forever.” His eyes light up. “Oh, that might make a good lyric.” I’m left shaking my head while he races out to the bedroom to write down a few lines.
Chaser
The little blue velvet box I’m carrying inside the chest pocket of my jacket seems to have a pulse of its own. A dozen times while we’re walking the ten minutes down to the falls, I have the urge to drop to my knees and ask her to marry me.
Especially after she came close to admitting she doesn’t want me to go back out on tour. It’s a good time to propose. So she knows I’m not running off on tour to get away from her.
I figure I’ll pop the question during dessert? Maybe hide the ring in her cake? Fuck, that seems lame. Besides, what if she accidentally bites it or chokes on it or something?
All through dinner I keep patting my pocket. Checking to make sure the ring’s still there. Contemplating if this is the right time.
Keep it simple.
Maybe tomorrow, we’ll go somewhere fancier, and I’ll do it then.
After dinner, we pass a booth that sells tickets for boat tours. The big boats that get up close to the majestic falls.
Fuck proposing at dinner, I have a better idea.
“Let’s grab tickets for this,” I suggest.
She barely glances at the brochure I hand her before agreeing. “That sounds like fun.”
I hope she says yes to my proposal as easily.
They hand us thin blue plastic ponchos as we board the boat. One of the guides actually recognizes us and thoroughly shakes my hand.
“Wow. Big fan. I caught your show down in Union. It was so dope.”
“No kidding. You drove all the way down there?”
“Hell yeah, Vicious Vandals with Kickstart? No question. You’re my top two favorite bands of all time.”
“Thank you.” Sometimes, I still feel so new at this, a statement like that is hard to process.
He points to the left. “If you go to the back of the boat, you’ll actually have a better view of the falls when we turn around.” He nods at Mallory. “If it’s too much, you can avoid the spray inside but still have a good view inside too.”
“Thank you.”
His gaze slides to Mallory and back to me. “So are you still friends with Andrew Lane? Like you guys hang out together and stuff?”
“Yeah. Well, we just got off tour and I went home to visit my folks but, we’ll hang out back in L.A.” Andrew’s like lint. I can’t brush him off no matter how hard I try.
“That’s so cool.” He bobs his head up and down. “I hope you guys tour together again.”
I’m saved from answering by the guy’s boss yelling at him to keep the line moving. Mallory and I duck and race for the back of the boat.
The boat hasn’t left yet but a fine coating of mist sticks to us. I help Mallory into her poncho and brush her hair off her already damp cheeks. “You don’t get seasick, do you?”
Her nervous gaze studies the water. “Why? Is it that rough?”
“It might get choppier as we approach the falls.”
“I’ll be fine.”
I slip my poncho on and hold my arms out to show it off to her. “What do you think?”