“I love it when you call me that.”
“I know. I love you, Texas.”
Her eyes ignite. “Love you, too.”
Crawling onto the bed, I climb over her. She’s impossibly beautiful. Her dark hair is fanned in waves around her on the pillow. Her lips are begging to be kissed. I close my eyes, picturing them swallowing me.
Stop it. You’ll get yourself frustrated, and you’ll not be at a hotel for a couple of days.
“What are you going to do with me?” She bites on that lip.
“When we’re in that suite, Texas, there isn’t a thing I’m not going to do.”
Her mouth parts. I take advantage and dive in.
Tex groans and grips ahold of my arm.
“I have to go and change, but I’ll see you downstairs in a minute, okay?” I whisper before kissing her forehead.
She groans something that resembles, “All right,” and pulls the covers over her head.
I won’t be seeing her for a good couple of hours.
Feeling on top of the damn world, I quietly leave her room and go to mine to grab a change of clothes. No one is up yet because it’s the arse crack of dawn, and they were all drunk last night.
I shower and change, eager to get downstairs so that I can see Tex. If she’s not up, I’m getting her up. We won’t have a lot of time together before Mark gets up.
When I get to the kitchen, Cooper is sitting at the table with his head in his hands, groaning like a caveman.
“Hungover, bud?” I ask loudly.
“Fuck off, bellend.”
I laugh and sit down. “What happened with the last girl?”
His face is hidden, but I still see his smile.
“From that smirk, I take it that it went well.”
“Oh, yeah, she was a beast. Milo won last night’s bet though. His chick brought a friend.”
“Great.” I really don’t miss those bets.
“How was your night? When I left with…Red, you were sobbing into a JD. ‘Mark will never forgive me.’” His imitation of my voice is embarrassing.
“I wasn’t sobbing.”
He snorts and looks up. “You might as well have been. What’s going on anyway?”
“Me and Tex are great. Mark is okay about it. He’s watching me apparently.”
He lifts his eyebrows. “So, Mark’s cool?”
Shifting in my seat, I shrug. “I’m still in one piece. He wants her happy, and she’s happy with me—duh—so there’s not a lot he’s willing to do. He won’t hurt her by ordering her away.”
“That was a close call. You’re officially a dickhead for not telling me from the beginning. This could have affected me, too. Enigma could’ve pulled out of the tour.”
“We still would’ve killed it, Coop. But you’re right, and I’m sorry.”
“Damn straight we would’ve. Don’t sweat it, man. I’ve got your back—even if you think with your cock.”
“Because you don’t?”
“Not fucking arguing. I’m young and hot, and I can make women come just by looking at them.”
The fuck is in my band?
“Yeah. Women like Peyton?”
His face falls, but just as quickly, his spark is back. “Now, she’s fun. The poor girl is determined to prove she doesn’t want me.”
“Maybe she doesn’t. Again.”
“Please. I’ll give her time. I can play the waiting game.”
“Tex’s best mate isn’t a game, Coop.”
“Fuck me, you’re whipped. Pey made it a game, and I have no intention of losing.”
“You’re playing with fire.”
His lips kick up into a slow grin. “I know. And if I ever need advice on appearing victorious from the flames, I’ll come to you.”
TEXAS
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 3
FORNEBU, NORWAY
I step up onto the bus, and it’s eerily quiet. I know Enigma is practicing, but I have no idea what Filthy Sound is up to. My educated guess is, they’re at some bar. Although Ted is always with me, it’s nice to have a few quiet minutes, so I’m not going to call Kitt for a while.
Getting my MacBook Air out from under the storage seat, I sit down to finally catch up with some friends on Facebook. I use the term friend loosely because I’ve not known these people long enough to form a real connection to them, but we keep in touch.
It hasn’t been that long since I last sent out my catching-up messages, but I’m so unbelievably bored that I might as well get ahead. There is nothing else to do. It’s quite nice, but I’m definitely not used to it, especially while on tour.
Just as I lift the laptop lid, the bathroom door opens, and Kitt emerges—with only a towel around his waist.
Sweet. Jesus.
I didn’t know he was still here.
Now, I know I shouldn’t stare, but his damp six-pack is begging for my hands and mouth to run over it. I want to drag my fingers between the muscles all the way down to—
“Er, Tex?” Kitt says. He sounds amused.
Why wouldn’t he be? I can’t stop eye-fucking him.
“Texas!” Laughing, he clicks his fingers.
I reluctantly flick my eyes up. His grin cannot get any wider.
I blink, unashamed. “Yes?”
“If you’re finished, I’ll go get dressed. Didn’t know anyone else was here.”
And if I’m not finished?
His eyebrow arches. “Unless of course…”
“Unless of course, what?” I whisper. My body is on fire. I feel like pouring ice-cold water over myself to take away some of the heat.
Ted is only upstairs in his room. He could easily come down.
Kitt’s eyes blister, and it’s giving me heart palpitations. He slowly walks over to the table, getting closer to me. Working entirely on their own, my legs stand me up. It’s like I’ve been taken over by a lust-filled hussy. I want him now—even on the table, for all I care—knowing anyone could walk in at any minute. I simply do not give a damn.
He stops when he’s an inch away from me. His chest quickly rises and falls, and his mouth is ever so slightly open. Reaching out, he brushes my hair behind my shoulder, dragging his fingertips over my neck as he goes. It makes my insides turn all squishy.
I love it when he does that.
“Unless of course, what, Kitt?” I repeat even though I have a pretty good idea what what is.
He possessively kisses me, claiming me for his own, and I push him back and wrap myself around him.
Damn towel. I love and hate it, but right now, it’s in my way.
Kitt catches my hand as my fingers curl over the edge of the towel. “Tex, I’m all up for spontaneous sex—in the inside of the bus this time—but…”
I gasp, and my face heats. Dad could come back and catch us.
“Upstairs, sweetheart. I want you laid out on my bed and ready.”
My dad is suddenly forgotten. Kitt’s words have me throbbing with need.
“Ready for, what?” I whisper breathlessly.
The corner of his lips kicks up, and his eyes smile. “Before I sink into you, I’m going to make you come on my mouth.”
He doesn’t need to ask me twice. I bound upstairs.
Looks like our no-bus sex pact is over.
Whatever. It was a stupid pact anyway.
THURSDAY, JUNE 4
FORNEBU, NORWAY
There are four people on the bus who aren’t hungover—the drivers, Ted, and Hank. Milo is worse off than anyone. He drank the entire bar before rambling about something that had Kitt pulling him to the side. Then, he left with three women. Three! We’re heading out of Norway towards Sweden.
“Look at this!” Will says with a chuckle.
My eyes widen. On the front page is a picture of me and Kitt outside the stadium as Filthy Sound made their way back to the bus. His arm is around my waist, holding me close.
Then, I see why Milo is laughing.
Kitt groans and shoves it away. “R
eally?”
“Kexas! Are they serious?” I say in disgusted shock. That sucks. They’ll mash anything together. “And, oh my God, why didn’t they go with it the other way around?”
Kitt laughs. “Titt? Great. Think we can put out a request to change it?”
“Oh, I’m going to.”
“Read the shocking article,” Coop says.
I flip the page, and my jaw drops. We’ve not been out in public yet. No one knows we’re together, and I’m already fucking engaged to him.
“Quick work, Daniels,” I say as I roll my eyes.
Dad looks over the article with a chilling silence.
What’s going on inside his head?
“What are you going to do? I thought the plan was to keep it under wraps for as long as possible?” Milo asks.
“Ignore it,” Dad says.
Everyone’s eyes flick to him.
“Stories are in the paper every day. Ignore it until you’re ready, and it’ll die down.”
He is determined to keep my life normal for as long as possible, and I’m all for it. Kitt and I will announce we’re together soon, of course, but it makes sense to do it during a break in the tour. Hopefully, after that, things will die down, and we can get on with the second half of the tour.
I know what it’s like to be mobbed on tour because something in your life has changed, and everyone has the right to know about it because you live in the spotlight.
Five years ago, Jimmy and Saskia suffered a tragic miscarriage, and the paparazzi were everywhere. It was the same when a girl claimed Will had forced himself on her. It was quickly proven that he hadn’t. And again when Dad let it slip that he loved Jennifer. He’d meant as the mother of his child, but it was taken the wrong way.
Rubbish written by the pap is the reason my relationship with Xander was kept under wraps. It’s the reason I want more time with Kitt without the media circus that is waiting in the wings.
“Tex?” Kitt says. “Is that what you want to do?”
I nod. “I think so. There’s not long left until we get home, and—”
He leans over and plants a hard kiss on my mouth. “You don’t have to explain. If that’s how you want to handle this…” He folds the paper over, showing me that it’s done and we’re not going to give it another second of our time.
Dad smiles. “You’ve made the right decision. When we’re home, I’ll up security.”
Can’t wait.
“You ready for even more people in your house, Kitt?”
I have two reasons for asking this. Kitt needs to be prepared for the entourage my dad is going to have following me around. Kitt is used to Ted, but that’s going to be upped. And my dad needs to know that I’ll be over at Kitt’s a lot.
He shrugs. “Doesn’t bother me.”
“It’d better not,” Dad says. “Remember, I’m watching.”
Cooper laughs. “One wrong move, and you’re toast. And I can take centre stage.”
I tilt my head. “You don’t have the voice, Coop.”
“My other qualities would more than make up for the fact that this pussy has a better voice.” He looks down to his groin while jabbing his thumb towards Kitt.
“Gross,” I mutter. “Are we anywhere near Stockholm yet?”
Milo snorts. “Tex, we left Norway five minutes ago.”
“Then, can we chuck Cooper off?”
“Seconded,” Jimmy says.
“You shits always pick on me, and you know why?”
We all wait.
“Because you’re jealous,” Cooper says.
Laughter drowns out the sound of the road.
“We certainly wouldn’t want to be here without you, Coop,” Dad says, slapping Cooper’s back.
I blow him a kiss. “No, we love you and your delusions. Really.”
On the table, my phone starts to flash with a notification, and then they come every few seconds. Oh, great.
“Looks like the article is out there,” Kitt says, wrapping his arm around my waist, much like he did in the photo. “Ready for the crazy?”
I give him a look. “I’m always ready for the crazy, so bring it on.”
The world can do its worst. We’re stronger than anything they have up their sleeves.
KITT
FRIDAY, JUNE 5
STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN
Since the photo of Tex and I was released, the whole world has gone fucking crazy. How can people be so invested in the lives of strangers? But they are. Everyone is obsessed with us being a couple—whether they love or hate us. My critics say I’m not good enough, and Tex’s critics say she’s not.
It’s a good thing we don’t care what anyone else thinks.
Our Facebook and Twitter pages have exploded. There’s something new online every minute, and it’s the first question the paparazzi fire at us. They want confirmation, one way or another.
We’ve upped security for Tex now because the level of harassment is insane. It changed overnight, and I’m on edge every time she goes out in public.
It’s been amazing for our record sales and catapulted the album up to number five in the charts, but I hate how much the extra attention is bothering Tex. It’s shit like this, which is why Mark didn’t want her with someone like me. I get it, too. Finally, I fully understand why he was against her being with someone in the spotlight. He wants to protect her as much as I do.
Mark spends his life trying to extinguish the media fire around Texas, and here I am, adding fuel to it. But I’m too much of a selfish bastard to let her go, not that either of us would allow someone else to influence our relationship.
Not even her dad.
The only people who know the truth are on tour with us, and they’d never talk. I think Peyton knows, too.
Mark has been watching me like a hawk, even more than before, judging how I’m dealing with the unwanted attention. He’s not mentioned anything or given me any advice, so he either thinks I’m doing all right, or he’s keeping his mouth closed and letting me work through it with Tex.
I feel like I’m on fucking trial. It’s almost like he’s waiting for me to screw up, and I’m downright petrified that, under his constant scrutiny, I will. It’s a lot of pressure. I’m drowning under it, but I remind myself of what this is all for—Texas. My mind overworks, dreaming up every eventuality, and I stress over every little thing from a single line in a new song to being dropped by the label to Texas having enough.
Then, she smiles at me or says she loves me, and everything else turns to white noise.
“Anal?” Texas says, snapping me right out of my thoughts. We’re sitting on the sofa together.
“What?” I blink. “What?”
“Ah, welcome back. No, by the way, to anal. I just wanted your attention. Tomorrow, you guys are on TV at seven a.m., so no partying tonight. I’ll let you tell Coop.”
“Thanks. Why seven? Couldn’t you have booked it later?”
“Right, I control the breakfast show. Just because you’re a rock star, Kitt, doesn’t mean you get to make all the rules. Plus, I didn’t book it. I, for sure, would have gotten it later because I’m the mug who has to try getting your hungover arses to places on time.”
“You manage us better than Jodie.”
“She’s super busy with a much better artist.”
I narrow my eyes, and she laughs.
“I’m joking. You guys are getting bigger, so I think she’ll soon get someone else to manage you guys full-time. She needs to concentrate on her train-wreck singer. That chick needs an intervention.”
Jodie’s other client is pop star Elody Wild, who’s been in the industry since she was fucking conceived. The meltdown was coming, and she did not disappoint. Elody’s breakdown means that Jodie is unable to be here the whole time. But Jodie was only ever our temp manager.
It’s a good thing Tex is here because there’s no way we’d make appearances on our own.
“I’m glad she’s not here. She’d only moan
about the volume of alcohol entering our bodies.”
Tex twists and sits on my lap, almost kneeing me in my most important area. “Should I scold you for that?” she rasps.
I run my hands up her thighs, and I’m about to take her mouth when the bus door opens. Gripping her waist, I launch her off me, and she lands on the sofa, staring at me like I’ve lost it.
“What the fuck, Kitt?” she snaps, whacking my arm, as Mark, Jimmy and Will walk into the room.
Mark is immediately suspicious of Texas’s action. I laugh, trying desperately to make it look like a joke. I’m not really sure how to explain to him that his daughter was straddling me five seconds ago.
He’s accepted our relationship—although I do think he’s been a little too cool with it. We get no hassle, but it won’t take much for him to freak out again, and I know Texas will always choose him. From the second she was born, she’s been a daddy’s girl. I’m close to my grandparents, but I had a closer version of a normal childhood. The way Mark and Texas live and what they’ve been through makes their relationship a little different. It’s strong as fucking steel.
“Hey, Daddy. How’d the sound check go?” Texas asks, settling back into the sofa after realising why I threw her like she’d burned me. Her cheeks turn pink, and she looks to the left of Mark.
The girl is shit at lying.
“Speakers cool now?” I ask.
Mark nods, mouth tight. “All good.”
“I’m fucking starving,” Will says. “Jimmy, cook some bacon.”
“Why do I have to cook?”
Will rolls his eyes. “Mark, cook the bacon.”
“Jesus Christ!” Texas says, pushing herself up and stroking my hand as she goes. “I’ll cook! Besides Will, you all suck anyway.”
“May I remind you, master chef, that you burned toast?” Mark says, pointing at Tex.
She turns and narrows her eyes. “I was distracted. The toaster didn’t pop up on time.”
“Blame the toaster, Tex? Really?” I tease.
The look she gives me tells me that if her dad wasn’t here right now, she’d be telling me that I’d be outta luck for sex tonight. Unlucky for her—and lucky for me—she could never stick to a threat like that.
With the Band (With the Band #1) Page 26
