he won’t hold it against me. Garrett won’t give a shit either. Jacob, on the other hand, he’ll pout like a baby. “No problem.”
Someone added champagne to our pizza order. I almost question whether that’s a good idea for Jacob, then remember how annoyed I was when my dad questioned me having a fucking beer at the clubhouse. Jacob’s worked hard. Hasn’t slipped up once. We finished an album for fuck’s sake. We should celebrate.
“To us!” Jacob cheers. “We actually fucking did it!” He slams his glass into mine, spilling liquid everywhere.
“You did good, Jacob.” Mark slaps him on the back. “You each brought your A game. I’m incredibly proud. I think this album’s going to be huge.”
“I’ll toast to that!” Garrett raises his glass.
“Mmm. Pizza and champagne. Almost feels like the early days.” Alvin nudges me. “Well, pizza and cheap beer.”
“What do you mean old days? That’s still your go-to dinner,” Garrett says.
“True.” Alvin grins. “No shame.”
We finish up in the studio and head back to the house.
“You all packed and ready to go?” Alvin asks.
“Fuck yeah.”
“Sweet, let’s grab our shit and haul ass to the airport.”
Jacob and Garrett planned to stay and bum around the city for a while.
Not me. I’ve been away from my girl long enough.
Mallory
“Chaser!” I jump and wave, hoping he can see me over the crush of people.
He scans the crowd and I wave again.
Suddenly he’s pushing and weaving past bodies. I say a quick prayer of thanks that he’s not still limping from his injured foot. Behind him, Alvin raises his arm in hello.
I squeal and laugh when Chaser scoops me up in his arms. “Oh, fuck I missed you,” he says before slanting his mouth over mine.
I throw my arms around his neck and pull him down for a deeper kiss, welcoming him home with everything I have. Breathless, we part and stare at each other. “We cut it close on the ten-day mark this time.”
“We did.” He hugs me again and lifts me for another quick kiss. “But I’m all yours now.”
Alvin’s patiently waiting behind Chaser and once I’m on my feet, I give him a quick hello hug. “Welcome home.”
“Thanks, Mallory. It’s nice to have someone happy to see me.”
Chaser slaps his friend’s shoulder. “Quit whining. I just spent weeks holed up with you and I’m still happy you’re here.”
Alvin cracks a smile, then his expression darkens. “Fuck, I forgot. I don’t have anywhere to go home to.”
“You’ll come home with us,” I answer quickly. “We have plenty of room.”
“Nah, I’ll go stay at a hotel.”
“Bro, come on,” Chaser says. “You’re always welcome at our place.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes,” I insist. “Come on. I want to hear everything about the album.”
Chaser curls his arm around me and kisses my cheek again. “What are you even doing here? I didn’t want you to have to come pick me up.”
“I wanted to surprise you.”
We hit traffic at the worst possible time of the day but finally arrive at the house.
Thankfully, when I planned Chaser’s welcome home dinner, I bought extra steaks in case any of the guys ended up joining us.
Chaser eyes the platter of meat with a smile twitching at the corner of his mouth. “Are you putting me to work already?”
“Yup.” I wave at the patio. “I don’t know how to use the grill. Doug will probably be mad if I set the house on fire.”
“I’ll supervise,” Alvin promises.
I’m busy chopping vegetables for the pasta salad I’m throwing together when Chaser joins me a few minutes later, wrapping his arms around my waist, molding himself to my back. “Thank you for this.”
“What?”
“A nice quiet night home.” He kisses my neck. “Feeding us. Letting Alvin stay here. Just generally being awesome.”
I set my knife down and lean into him. “You don’t have to thank me. I’m so happy you’re home.” I turn and loop my arms around his neck, tipping my head to meet his eyes. “I’m excited for you guys. I can’t wait to hear the new album.”
His gaze darts to the side for a second. “I’m not supposed to say anything to the guys,” he says in a low voice. “But Cutter asked if I’d be interested in contributing more riffs to other artists. Like I did for Mitchell Howard. Maybe doing some songwriting with other people too.”
“Wow.” I pull back, considering what that means for Chaser. “That’s huge.”
“It is,” he agrees. “I hate not talking to Alvin about it.”
Damn, it sucks that Cutter put Chaser in such an awkward