The Bosun: A Military Romance (Love is Blind Book 3)

by Harlow Layne

“I just am.” She giggled. “But seriously, if you want a family, you don’t have to wait for a man.”

  “I’m going to give myself until the end of the year because I can’t imagine writing a book while going through the process. I want to be able to devote all of my headspace to it.”

  “Now that we slept almost the entire flight and won’t need a nap, what should we do until tonight?”

  “Why don’t we walk around and check out the architecture, maybe do a little shopping, and then head to the Red Light District?”

  “I knew there was a reason we were friends,” Lexie laughed.

  Several hours later, Lexie and I were crammed into the front section of the venue, jumping around as Crimson Heat belted out their encore. They were good. Better than good, and I knew after this tour, they were going to blow up the world with their music.

  As the song started to slow, Lexie grabbed my hand. “We should try to make our way backstage now before things get too crazy,” she yelled over the music.

  I nodded in agreement and let her lead the way since I had no idea where I was going. Neither did she, but she certainly acted like it. We were stopped by a big burly man who was half as wide as the hall. Lexie flashed her badge and smile and then picked up mine to show. The guy didn’t speak. He only nodded and moved enough to let us slip by.

  Lexie and I moved quickly down the hall. Our excitement built off the others as we spotted Pen standing off to the side with big headphones on. She hadn’t seen us yet. We moved to the other side of the hall and slinked down it slowly, hoping she wouldn’t turn around and catch us until we were directly behind her. Lexie clapped a hand over her mouth as her body shook, trying to hold in her laughter.

  Sneaking up behind Pen, I placed my hand on her shoulder. She turned around with a pinched face until she took us in standing before her. Mouth hanging open, Pen pulled me into her arms and hugged me until I couldn’t breathe. Next, she gave Lexie a hug before taking a step back and looking us over as if she couldn’t believe we were standing before her.

  Jumping up and down in place, Pen yelled. “What are you guys doing here?”

  “We thought we’d come and surprise you since it’s been forever since we saw you.”

  “And to meet your man,” Lexie supplied.

  “Shh,” Pen hushed her. “Don’t let anyone hear you say that. We’re keeping it on the down-low. The only ones who know are you two and Walker’s bandmates because they found us in a compromising situation.”

  “Sounds exciting.” I winked at her.

  “Try embarrassing. Oh my God, I can’t believe you’re here. Did you see the concert?” Lexie and I both nodded. “Aren’t they great? Everyone overseas loves them, and Titan keeps putting more dates on the tour. I’m just…” She looked back in the direction she’d been looking when we surprised her.

  “It’s your baby. You’re proud of them,” I finished for her.

  “I really am. They’re about ready to come off stage. Please don’t say anything. I’ll introduce you to them once we’re back in the green room. And then...how long are you here for?”

  “We fly back tomorrow, so you only have us for tonight,” I pouted. “Are you happy to see us?”

  Pen rolled her eyes as she pulled me to her side. “Of course, I’m happy to see you. Never in my wildest dreams did I think you’d fly to see me.”

  “Well, I missed you. Plus, I wanted to procrastinate on this book, and visiting you is the perfect excuse.”

  “Ha, ha. I told the band I now know a famous author, so don’t make me a liar.”

  “Thanks for the pressure.” As if there wasn’t enough after my first book did so well.

  “Did your husband come?” Pen asked, looking around.

  “No, I thought it was best if this guy you’re seeing or whatever you are,” Lexie amended after Pen gave her a sour look. “No guy wants to see his woman drooling over another man.”

  “You two are full of jokes tonight, aren’t you?” The loud sound of the crowd erupting had us all go quiet. Pen smiled and then motioned for us to follow her. “Stay here, or you’ll likely get run over. They are full of energy when the show is over.”

  One by one, we watched as the band walked by us. They each gave Pen a greeting before they proceeded down the hall. Walker moved by only muttering Pen’s name, giving nothing away.

  Once he was a few feet past us, Pen turned to us. “Are you ready to meet Crimson Heat?”

  “Oh, I’ve been ready for quite some time,” I told her as we started walking.

  Stopping in front of a closed door, Pen turned to us. Her hands were clasped together as she spoke. “Please don’t embarrass me. I have to be on the road with these guys, and they’ll use any ammunition you give them against me.”

  “I guess there goes our plan,” Lexie said as she went for the doorknob. She was about to open the door when Pen slammed her hand on the door to stop her.

  “What do you mean plan?” She looked back and forth between the two of us.

  “There is no plan. The only one we had was to surprise you. Now quit stalling before we have to do something to embarrass you in front of them.”

  “Fine,” she hissed as she opened the door. We were accosted by the sound of four guys wrestling each other on the ground. They stopped and jumped up the moment we walked in.

  “Hey, P, who’s your friends?” one of the guys said with a wide and infectious smile. He had blond hair in a crew cut and colorful tattoos up and down his arms.

  “These are my friends they came to surprise me, Stella and Lexie. This is Cross,” she indicated the one who’d asked who we were. “This tall beast of a man is Kenton,” Pen pointed to a guy who looked like he was almost seven feet tall. His height could have made him scary, but he had the kindest brown puppy dog eyes I’d ever seen. “This is Greer,” she hooked her thumb his way and moved to stand in front of Walker. From what little she’d told me about the band, Pen and Greer didn’t get along. He stood with his lips curled up in a half snarl and silvery-gray eyes taking us in.

  “Last but not least, this is Walker.” He tipped his chin up at us but didn’t say a word. Even with his hair a sweaty mess and sticking to his head, he was still hot. Looking at them all now, he looked like the oldest of the bunch instead of the youngest.

  “If any of you want to go to dinner with us, I suggest you get cleaned up because I don’t want to smell any of you while I’m trying to eat.” Cross opened his mouth, but Pen cut him off. “And neither do my friends.”

  Walker started to walk away until Pen stopped him with a hand to his chest. They talked in whispers as Greer plopped down on a couch and made himself comfortable. The other two guys argued about if they should stay to pick up some girls here or later while they were out. After a few minutes, they parted ways, and Cross stepped up to Pen. “I think we’re going to skip dinner. That way, you can spend time with your friends.”

  Pen closed her eyes and inhaled deeply. When she reopened her eyes, they narrowed on the man who stood before her. “Don’t do anything stupid just because I’m not there. Remember, if I get fired, the person who replaces me won’t be as lenient as I am.”

  “I know, Momma P. This isn’t our first rodeo. We won’t do anything you wouldn’t do.” His face transformed into a devilish smile for only a moment before he schooled his features.

  “Please don’t call me that,” Pen moaned.

  “Tell Bob to let the people back so we can get this over with,” Walker muttered from the other side of the room.

  Pen pulled a walkie-talkie I hadn’t noticed before from behind her back and spoke into it. “They’re ready. Let them through.” Turning to us, she said. “If it gets to be too much, you can always go out into the hall. Sometimes the women can be a bit much.” She leaned in to whisper. “You’d think with the way some of the women act, these guys were world-famous. When the squealing gets too much, I hide out in the hallway until they leave.”

  I had a feeling it was al
so to not see the women pawing at Walker. Women had been screaming his name, flashing their boobs, and throwing their underwear at him all throughout the concert. If Walker was my man, I wouldn’t want women throwing themselves all over him.

  After only a few girls nearly blew out our ears with their high-pitched squeals from meeting the band, Lexie and I went to wait out in the hall. She walked further down the corridor but was where I could see her so she could check in with Ryder.

  It was only thirty minutes later when Pen and Walker walked out and left the rest of the band with about twenty women.

  “Walker’s going to take a quick shower on the bus, and then we’ll be ready to leave. Would you like a tour of the bus while we wait?”

  “Why not? When am I going to get another opportunity?”

  Lexie and I walked behind Walker and Pen, and I could tell from Pen’s body language it was killing her not to be able to touch him. The moment we stepped inside the bus, Pen’s hand went to Walker’s lower back as she trailed behind him in the cramped space.

  “I’ll be right back. Make yourselves comfortable,” he murmured before walking off into the back.

  “So, this is it,” Pen laughed. “Their bus isn’t as nice as some big-name people, but it’s still pretty nice. There’s a bedroom in the very back, and here,” she walked a few steps. “This is the bunk area. The back bedroom is on rotation so whoever isn’t sleeping back there is in one of these.”

  “Do you have sex in this tiny area?” Lexie asked as she crouched down to get a better look.

  “Only once. It was...difficult would be the word. Normally we wait until one of us has the back bedroom or is staying in a hotel like tonight.”

  Scrunching up my nose, I backed away from the bunk beds. “It smells like Doritos and feet.”

  “Yeah,” she sighed. “Coming from being an only child to sharing a small space with four males has been trying.”

  “I’m sure Walker makes handling the situation a whole lot easier.”

  Pen looked over her shoulder and then ushered us closer to the front of the bus. Speaking in a hushed tone, she said. “Most of the time, but he can be moody after a show. I don’t know why and from what I gathered, neither do the other guys. Like tonight, he’s being unusually quiet. I don’t know if he had a bad night because from what I saw and heard, they were amazing, or if it’s because you guys are here and he’s giving me my time with you.”

  Hopefully, it was the latter, and he just needed to get to know us.

  Walker stepped out of the bathroom shirtless with his long hair dripping and his shirt balled up in one hand. Pen let out a noise that was a cross between a sigh and a whimper. She had it bad. I only hoped Walker felt the same about her.

  Shaking out his shirt, Walker slid it over his head before he looked to us. “I’m ready whenever you are.”

  “So, I did a little research on places to eat here, and there’s a place close to the hotel we’re staying at. We could get an Uber there and then walk. Shit, where are you guys staying?”

  “Funny you should ask that. I thought I was going to have to give my first-born child to Christiano to get any information out of him. He pretty much told me not to get you into trouble while we’re here. What have you told him about me?”

  “Nothing at all. I wouldn’t tell that man anything voluntarily about my life.” She let out an annoyed huff. “He’s so fucking annoying. I can’t believe he said that to you. Did he at least tell you where we’re staying?”

  “He did after a lot of begging and promising that I really knew you. We were lucky to get a room. The hotel said they only had a couple that weren’t booked.”

  “At least we’re all staying at the same hotel. We can eat dinner and then chill out at the bar downstairs or something.”

  “Perfect, now let’s get ourselves a ride because I’m starved, and you don’t want to see me when I get hangry.”

  Covering my mouth and speaking low, so Walker didn’t hear from his spot next to Pen, I asked. “How do you sit by and let those women, and I use the word women loosely, hang all over him?”

  Pen leans back, not caring if anyone hears her. “I don’t really have a choice. If I acted all possessive over him, that would only stir up rumors. What about you? How do you handle it?”

  “There’s not much to handle. Everyone we’re around knows Ryder and I are together. I can’t do a thing about all the women who eye-fuck him.” She tipped her head in each of our directions. “You two included.”

  It was fun to watch as Walker, who’d be acting uninterested in our conversation, stiffened.

  “When we were first together, Ryder took care of it for us when we were around new people. He’d claim me on the spot with a kiss that would leave me breathless and a whole lot more if you know what I mean.”

  Oh, we knew exactly what she meant. Ryder would kiss her, and she’d want to jump his bones.

  A sigh escaped her, and I knew Lexie was missing her husband and child. It meant a lot to me that she came on this trip with me. I needed to do something to repay her. Maybe I’d watch Delilah while they went out on a date or something.

  “We were going to wait if you hadn’t stopped in Spain so we could make a little pit stop, but it wasn’t meant to be.”

  Pen’s eyes went wide. “Were you going to look him up?”

  “I mean, I was thinking about it.”

  “This is new.” She wrapped her hand around Walker’s bicep and shook it with excitement. “Do you want to talk to him or just have great sex again because I bet Zelda would try to get his number if you really wanted it.”

  “Well, in a perfect world, I’d like both and for him to be at least be on the same continent or sharing the same body of water. That’s not too much to ask for, is it?”

  “I don’t see how you’re going to get laid if you’re not even on the same continent as the guy,” Walker muttered.

  “See,” I slapped my hand down on the table. “He gets it.”

  “Maybe you should stop focusing on that guy and find one more…” his eyes lifted to mine, “attainable.”

  Ouch.

  “Don’t listen to him.” Pen glared at Walker. “He doesn’t know what he’s talking about or what you’ve been through. But,” she drew out the word, “maybe you should think about starting to date. Maybe download a couple of apps.”

  “She should not do that.” Walker leaned forward with his elbows on the table and gave me the hard facts. “Listen, you don’t want to meet a guy off an app. They are there for one thing only, and that is to get laid. You’re a beautiful woman, and if you put yourself out there, any guy in the vicinity would want to date you.”

  Throwing up my hands, I smiled over at the two of them. “Well, he won my vote. I say you keep him. Anyone who can simultaneously tell me something I don’t want to hear and compliment me at the same time is good in my book.”

  “Is that really all it takes?” Pen silently shook with laughter from her side of the table.

  “Well, I mean, you seem to like him since you’ve kept him around for a few months, which isn’t typical for you.”

  Pen’s eyes narrowed as she shot daggers at me. “How about you don’t spill all of my secrets, so I can maybe keep him around for a bit longer?”

  Walker looked to Lexie. “It’s like I’m not even here. Do they do this often?”

  Lexie tilted her head to the side and smirked. “I’ve spent a lot more time with Stella than I have Pen, but I can’t say that they do.”

  Turning to Walker, I apologized, trying to explain. “Sorry, we know you’re here. I wanted her to know you’ve got my seal of approval. I was worried that after I found out about you, I might not like you. That there might have been an ulterior motive as to why Pen kept your existence all to herself.”

  Walker sat back and put his arm around Pen’s shoulders. “She felt bad about it if that helps.”

  I would hope she felt bad about lying to me for months. As far as I knew, it
was the only secret she’d kept from me.

  “It helps some,” I murmured.

  Our waitress brought out our food, and we all sat in silence for a few minutes as we ate. Lexie and I were starved since we hadn’t eaten since early in the morning, which seemed like ages ago. Pen had found a quaint little café that had a little bit of everything.

  “You did good picking this place,” I said before I took another bite of my mini pancakes.

  “Yeah, it’s good, or it could be because it’s been hours since we ate,” Lexie pointed out.

  “You did good, babe,” Walker nodded. “How did you two like the show?”

  “It was a damn good show. I wouldn’t normally go see a band play if I didn’t know their music, but your music sucked me in, and I was dancing along like I knew every word.”

  “That’s a good thing.” He bobbed his head with an uptick of his lips.

  “I’ll definitely be buying your music once I get home. I know my husband will love it too, so you’ve got three new fans. I know that’s not much—“

  “No, it’s everything. It means a lot to me that you both liked our music. The whole band is astounded by the way everyone has embraced our music, and we have Pen here to thank for that. If it wasn’t for her giving us a chance, we’d still be playing at college parties and at the one bar that would let us play.”

  I loved seeing the passion he had for his music and how humble he was.

  “That gives me all the feels. I’ll have my husband download it and do something on his Instagram story, TikTok, or something like that showing that he’s listening to it. You’ll have a lot of new fans or at least sales if he does that.”

  “Get their IG handle as well so he can tag them. They’ll get a lot of new followers,” Pen instructed, going into manager mode.

  Walker sat up straighter. “How many followers does he have?”

  Lexie scrunched up her face in thought. “I don’t know. Let me look.” She pulled out her phone and smiled down at her phone. Her home screen was a picture of the happy couple in an exotic location with Delilah on her dad’s shoulders. It was a gorgeous shot of them. The moment she clicked on Instagram, it lit up with notifications as she went to Ryder’s profile. “He has a little over a million.”