“You’re good,” she gives me a thumbs up. “Go on out there.”
“Actually,” I interrupt Bri as I walk slowly out onto the stage. “There’s gonna be three more songs.”
The crowd goes absolutely insane when they see me. She turns to look at me, happiness in her eyes, surprise written all over her face. “What are you doing here? I’m supposed to see you at home tonight.” She runs to me, throwing herself in my arms, wrapping her legs around my waist.
As we’ve talked over the last week and a half, we’ve gotten closer, shared fears and dreams. Having her in my arms is the best thing I’ve felt in a long time. “Is it okay I we do a song for you all?”
The crowd responds loudly. She pulls the mic away from her mouth. “Can we do one of yours?”
“Sure, if you can get me a guitar, I can play any of ours. Not perfect, but we can do an acoustic version.”
She mentions one of our newer songs that’s one of my favorites, and I agree quickly. She runs over to one of the guitar techs, who brings me an acoustic guitar. A few people bring out stools allowing the two of us to have seats.
Glancing at her, I raise an eyebrow. “Ready?”
“Absolutely.”
As we sing, trading off parts, I’m amazed. We do it like we’ve been singing together for half our lives, and as the lyric I wrote says, I’ve never felt so alive as I do in this moment, with this woman.
The next couple of months are going to be some of the most exciting of our lives.
Chapter Fourteen
Bri
I can’t believe he wore my shirt.
Scratch that, I can’t believe he’s here.
“What are you doing here?” I ask as I come off stage. He meets me, holding his arms out for a hug.
I fall into them with no problem, but I’m still confused as to why he’s here. “I thought you were meeting me at the airport tonight.”
“I was.” He grabs my hand, leading me toward my dressing room. “But I thought coming to get you would be an even better way for me to meet you at the airport.”
We get to my dressing room, and I gladly shut everyone out. All I want is a few minutes alone with this man I get to call my husband. “Thank you for coming.” I lean up, kissing him quickly.
“Don’t even say thank you.” He has a seat on the couch, watching as I start taking off my makeup and the piece I wear in my hair. “It’s my pleasure to do it. I’m glad to be here. By the way, your dressing area is a lot nicer than ours is.”
I laugh. “I’m a girl. You’re a group of guys.”
In the mirror I see his green eyes travel down my body. “No doubt about it, Bri. You’re a thousand percent woman. Don’t let anyone ever tell you differently.”
The way his gaze feels on me is indescribable. It gives me goosebumps, but also heats me up like lava bubbling up in my stomach, ready to take over. “You think so?” I turn around, as I’m taking my fake eyelashes off.
His gaze zeroes in. “I wondered why you looked so different.”
“Everything about the stage - at least for most women - is a fantasy. It’s all an illusion. We darken our skin so we look thinner, give ourselves fake hair, eyelashes, and even extra height by wearing high heels. Some singers even give themselves fake abs.”
“The fuck? How does that even work?”
“Makeup can change almost anything about your body if you know how to put it on correctly. We pay makeup artists a lot of money to be good at their jobs.”
“Does it ever feel wrong?” he asks, putting his arms out to the sides, gripping the back of the couch.
“Not being my true, authentic self? Yeah, I wish everyone knew who I am behind the makeup, past the clothes, and without the extra couple inches of hair. The sad thing is no one really wants to take the time to get to know the real Bri.” I shrug. “Which I guess is for the best. Things come and go so quickly in this industry. It’s probably better I don’t have a lot of time to make friends.”
EJ dips his head down, before lifting it back up, those green eyes of his slaying me with their intensity. “I wanna know the real Bri. The one you don’t show to everybody else. I’d love to know the side of you you’re too scared to show others. It’s safe with me.” He licks his lips. “I promise.”
And right then, I know I’ll give him every piece of me, whether I want to or not.
He’s the one.
EJ
“Hold on tight to her,” Bri’s protection team says before we get ready to leave the arena.
Apparently this one is a pain in their ass. There’s no non-direct place for us to leave, and there’s a whole group of people outside waiting to see both of us. I’m slightly nervous as we wait, listening to the group outside the doors. All I can hear is a lot of screaming, and people chanting mine and Bri’s names.
“Is it always like this?”
I’m surprised she can hear me over the volume.
“For the most part, yet, but typically we have another exit we can go through. Not tonight though, so we’re gonna have to make a run for it.”
I don’t know what making a run for it will entail, but part of me wonders if I’m ready for it.
There’s a countdown for them to open the doors. In any other situation, I might have made fun of that, but right here, right now? I’m slightly worried for Bri’s safety.
The crowd is being held back by little ropes and bigger bodies.
“Oh my God, Bri! Please sign my shirt! I love you! You and EJ are the best!”
There’s so many people yelling. It’s chaos, and she doesn’t dare look up. I’m reminded of something my mom told me once. Make eye-contact, but never allow it to go on for too long. As soon as you make eye-contact, and hold it, you have to talk to them, they become a real person to you. Looks like Bri’s been given that same speech.
It feels like years as we inch our way toward the van that’ll take us out of here, to the airport. I’m not sure how long it actually takes us to get there, but I’m sweating and sore as we finally make it there. The doors are opened and I push her through, diving in behind her. We scramble to get our bodies clear of the door, and as it shuts, the van starts to rock.
“Haul ass,” I hear someone say, and before we can even get ourselves up into regular seats, the van takes off faster than a shot outta hell.
She grabs for me, I grab for her, and when we finally slow down, both of us are gasping for breath.
“Holy fuck!” I scramble up, digging for the closest seatbelt, pulling Bri along with me. “I thought our fans were crazy, but this was next level.”
The bodyguard turns around, with a toothy grin.
“Welcome to the world of pop, my man. It’s a fucked-up ride.”
Chapter Fifteen
Bri
“Jesus,” I huff so hard the air from my breath ruffles my bangs. “Your brother wasn’t lying when he said you have absolutely no food in this place.” I send an accusing glare to my husband, how sits at the breakfast counter drinking a coffee.
“Nope.” A cute little smile plays on his face. “If I wanna eat, I order out.”
“How in the hell do you keep that body then?” I ask because I truly want to know. I’ve never known someone who can obviously eat out as much as he does, and still have the muscle mass, the abs, and the ability to put on a show most nights.
“Steak, chicken, salad, eggs.” He shrugs. “You’ve got enough money? People will make shit you request. Either that or I go over to Mom and Dad’s, but on the road we do have catering, so I mean,” - he winks - “I get by just fine.”
“You sure do.” I throw a dishtowel at him, totally disgusted that this seems so easy for him.
He catches it casually with one hand, and I want to knock the shit-eating grin off his face. But then something happens, the hand he’s caught the dishtowel with is his left hand, and the sunlight streaming in from the window catches his wedding band. Even though I’m hangry, I close the refrigerator door, go around the ba
r, and stand in front of him. He turns toward me, opening his thighs up so that I can step in between them.
“Thanks for coming to get me last night.” I come up on my tiptoes, wrap my arms around his neck, and drop my lips onto his.
His arms circle around my waist, holding me tight. “It was my pleasure.” His voice is deep as he nudges my nose with the tip of his, tilting his head a little further to the side, bringing his lips back to mine, getting a more thorough taste of my mouth than he had before.
When we break apart, I run the tips of my fingers through the hair at the nape of his neck. EJ makes a noise in the back of his throat as he rests his forehead on mine. “I never expected you to come on stage, not once did I ever expect to sing with you either.”
“Did you like it?” His pink lips curve in another smile, and I can’t help but answer that one with one of my own.
“I loved it, everything about it. I was dreading dealing with everything after the show. But I didn’t have to, you took control of everything, and we spent last night in our own bed.”
I feel slightly awkward saying our own bed, but for someone who’s never felt as if they’ve had a home, slipping into something as comfortable as life with EJ is the easiest thing I’ve ever done. It’s almost as if the universe knew what it was doing when we ran into each other, when we got drunk, and then married. Maybe both of us were searching for something, finding it with the other.
He flexes his fingers, moving them down my back, cupping my ass in the palms of his hands. “I haven’t slept that good in a really long time. It was nice to have you here with me, and know we aren’t on a time clock. At least for a few months, anyway.”
“I know.” I pull back from him slightly, unhooking my arms from around his neck, running my palms down his bare chest, before pressing them against his flanks. “I was finally able to relax after the crazy pace I’ve kept up, but there’s one thing I haven’t been able to do here.”
“Oh yeah?” his eyes flutter down to my mouth, telling me exactly what’s on his mind. “What’s that?”
I slightly dig my nails into his bare skin. “Eat breakfast, because you have no food.”
“Damn woman.” He tries to get away from my grip.
“I’m hungry.” I level him with a stare. “While I’d love to get to know you better, you have to feed me. I get hangry.”
“Fuck my life,” he mumbles as he pushes back and hops off the stool. “My mom gets bitchy if she doesn’t have Starbucks. You get hangry if you don’t have food. I’m just gonna spend all my time bowing down to the females in my life, huh?”
“Don’t worry, babe,” I use the nickname he calls me sometimes, giving him a wink. “We’ll teach you how to grocery shop today, and then you’ll never have to worry about me being hangry again.”
He growls, throwing his head skyward in frustration. He’s already going to the couch, where there’s a shirt draped across the back. “Get your sweet ass dressed, and let’s get this show on the road.”
I throw him a smile over my shoulder as I quickly go do as he said.
“Next time we do this, after we get off your tour and get a few weeks together, we’ll make a meal plan instead of going all willy-nilly,” I tell him as he pushes the cart beside me.
“Maybe I like to go all willy-nilly,” he mumbles as we approach the produce section.
I laugh, kind of loving the fact he’s pouting. Obviously this is something he absolutely hates to do, but he’s doing it for me, and that counts for a lot. “You’re cute when you’re irritated.”
“I just hate the grocery store; it seems like such a waste of time.”
Grabbing onto his elbow, I pull him over to where the strawberries are. “Maybe it was before, but now it’s time we get to spend together.”
I reach into my pocket, grabbing out my phone and take a picture of us. Loading it to my Insta-story, I hashtag it with couple goals, tag him in it, set it to post after we get home, and then put my phone back where it belongs. Away from the two of us and what we’re trying to build here.
He looks at me, those green eyes of his clear as they can be. “You know what? You’re right. This is time when we don’t have to check our phones, time when we don’t have emails piling up. We’re just a newlywed couple trying to buy shit to make a meal.”
“Exactly, but I’d rather we get food than shit.”
He rewards me with a chuckle. “You have a sense of humor that you don’t let show much.”
“Nobody really ever wanted to hear it. It’s always Bri do this, Bri do that, don’t do that too much, don’t act too interested in this, don’t offend anybody. To be honest…” I trail off. “Somedays the fear of not knowing what to do, when to do it, and if it’s going to cause a ruckus makes me want to stay in bed and never peek my head out again.”
“Babe, I know the feelin’.” He snakes his hand up under my hair, rubbing absent-mindedly at my neck. “But that’s the best thing about us being together.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah, we do what’s comfortable for me and you. Fuck everybody else.”
As I think about how I can make that my new motto, he drops one of his hands from the shopping cart. I immediately grab it, lacing our fingers together. “This is all that matters, right?”
“The only thing.” The green of his eyes are intense as he glances at me. “If there’s anything I’ve learned from my parents, it’s that you have to trust your partner. And babe, you got promoted to partner in Vegas. Maybe it’s stupid, but I’m handing you my trust.”
Unexpected emotion clogs my throat forcing me to clear it before I can speak again. “I’ll take good care of it.”
“See that you do.” He drops a kiss on my forehead. “Now where we were? Produce?”
“Do you like kale?” I question as I see bunches of it on sale.
“Get the fuck outta here with that shit. Hell no.”
“You said you eat salad,” I argue.
“Yeah, like normal salad with romaine lettuce, carrots, some tomatoes, cucumbers for sure, olives if I’m feelin’ fancy, fuck I’ll even throw in some mushrooms if I’m feelin’ froggy, but never have I ever, eaten kale.”
“Do you just have an intense dislike for it?” I giggle. “Even though you’ve never tried it?”
“Duuddee,” he drags the word out, causing me to giggle harder. “Last tour we had this personal trainer, and she had a crush on me. She was totally not my type, but I tried to be nice, ‘cause I’m a nice guy. But she would constantly bring me these fucking shakes.” He makes a face. “They were kale protein…whatever, and they smelled like ass.”
Now I’m laughing full-on, holding my sides as I see the way his face transforms as he remembers what these shakes smelled like. He gags slightly.
“I can’t even think about it.” He gags again. “I’m gonna puke. So let’s not talk about kale anymore.”
“Got it.” I move him over to the romaine lettuce, wiping the tears from under my eyes. “Good to know I have something to hold over you, when you inevitably piss me off.”
He shudders. “That, I am not looking forward to.” He wrinkles his nose. “Let’s get the fuck outta here. We have enough to last us at least a few days.”
“Wow, all that shit was almost three hundred dollars,” EJ gripes as we load our bags into his Range Rover. “I’m shocked.”
“Yeah well you’re gonna be even more shocked when I ask if you can swing by that Chick-fil-a over there because I’m starving.”
He turns to face me, his hands on his hips, a look of disbelief on his face. “You put me through all that, and now we’re gonna get food through a drive-thru? Fuckin’ seriously?”
“Still hangry over here,” I remind him. “That little piece of a pop tart I got as a sample didn’t fill me up.”
We finish putting the bags in the trunk, before he slams the door. “Not gonna lie though, waffle fries are the shit, and we can’t have you hangry, can we?”
“Nope
, and it’s one of the things you learn about grocery shopping. You spend all that time and all that money for all the food, then you hit a drive thru on the way home. It’s a rule.”
“A rule, huh?” He grabs me around the waist. “I’m gonna institute a rule of my own.”
“What’s that?” I grasp his shirt in my hands.
He opens the passenger side door, pulling me close, the door offering some privacy. His voice is soft, his breath hot. “When I want a kiss, I’m not gonna wait for the best time to take it, I’m just gonna go for it. Fuck if I haven’t wanted to taste you again. You have no idea how hot you are doing the everyday, mundane shit that most people hate.”
Those words make my heart sing. “Same could be said for you, Everett, and please, take whatever you need.”
He twirls a lock of my hair around his finger. “I have a funny feeling I’m always gonna need you.”
That confession is whispered before his lips crush mine. My confession? I want nothing more than for those words to be true.
Chapter Sixteen
EJ
“What do you need me to do now?” I ask Bri as we stand in my kitchen, which for the very first time since I moved in, has food on the counter, might I add. Suck on that everyone who said I didn’t know how to grocery shop.
“Grill these burgers and chicken breasts. I’ve got the mac and cheese, potato salad, deviled eggs, and corn on the cob either done or started. That’s all we have left.”
I’m about to take the platter off the counter when I hear my front door open. “We’re here,” comes the voice of my mom, and then I hear the bark of a familiar dog.
“In the kitchen,” I yell as I come around the counter, dropping to my knees as I see our family dog. “Chaos!” I ruffle his fur, letting him lick me as he dances on his paws and whines. We haven’t seen each other for a while, and it’ll be another long while before we see each other again.
Power Couple: A Marriage of Convenience Romance (The Nashvegas Series Book 1) Page 9
