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He blinked at her. “Was that a joke?”
“A bad one, apparently. Sorry, I had my head buried in this.” Reese waved the phone at him. “I’m better at conversations I can plan and type out than ones in person where I have to think on my feet. I get all rambly or confuse people.”
“I think you’re a fine conversationalist,” Sterling said.
The correct response would have been “thank you,” but Reese couldn’t get the words out, so she simply stood there, trying to get her bearings.
“Speaking of all that social media stuff, thank you. Morgan said we sold out the rest of the tour.”
Reese grinned. “It’s pretty amazing. Though that’s really all on you. The stuff I’m doing is just showcasing you better to people. It’s packaging. You’re the package. Not that you’re an object. I’m not objectifying you. Wow, I should really stop talking now.”
Snapping her mouth shut, Reese put her hand over it. She was horrified at the words that seemed to keep falling out of her mouth. She was a smart girl. Despite the things that happened when she opened her mouth.
Sterling began to laugh. He laughed so hard that he bent over at the waist, putting his hands on his knees. Reese didn’t know if he was laughing at her or with her. She wasn’t laughing, so it had to be at her. Though it didn’t feel mean-spirited.
“I’ve missed talking to you,” Sterling said.
Reese was glad he was not looking at her. She might not be able to take the intensity of his eyes paired with a statement like that. Because that’s all it took to get her heart melting for him once again, tossing out all logical reasons that she should resist the feeling.
Should she say that she missed talking to him too? It was the truth, but you didn’t always have to speak the truth. Sometimes you definitely shouldn’t and this seemed like that kind of situation. Not speaking the truth wasn’t exactly lying. It was withholding.
When he stood up again and met her eyes, all her words disappeared anyway. Sterling had a wistfulness in his eyes that made her feel sad. He had blown through several emotions really quickly, from the laughter to whatever this feeling was that was laid out in his eyes.
“I bought you a ticket,” he said. He held a sweaty T-shirt in his hands. It must have been the one he just took off.
“What?”
“A plane ticket. I bought one for you. If you still want to come with me to L.A. this week. We’ll fly out from Kansas City and then back to Denver.”
Reese froze. She had felt so sure that Sterling had changed his mind that she had not even thought about going to L.A. with him after the exchange at the back of the bus. Knowing that he bought her a ticket liquefied her thoughts. She knew she was staring, mouth partly open.
His eyes grew distant and he shifted, still twisting the sweaty T-shirt in his hands. “It’s fine. Don’t worry about it if you don’t want to come.” Sterling started to move away.
“I want to go with you,” Reese said, hoping her voice didn’t express just how much she wanted to go with him and how thrilled she was at the thought of traveling with him alone.
He paused, said, “Good,” without looking at her again, and walked away. She thought she caught a small lift to his mouth: he had smiled.
Reese leaned back against a wall nearby, needing something sure and firm to hold her up. Her mind was filled with questions. When had he bought her ticket? After she hugged him out on the balcony? That would make the most sense. Or did he still buy it after she told him that their relationship needed to be professional? Why wasn’t he taking Morgan? They grew up together. She already knew his family. He let her sleep in his bed.
She had to get over that. Nothing was going on between him and Morgan. It would be way too hard to hide that on a tour bus. Though she still caught Morgan staring longingly at Sterling sometimes when he wasn’t looking. She and Morgan still didn’t talk about it, but Morgan probably knew Reese had feelings for him too.
The noise from the crowd was getting louder, overpowering the sound of the rock playing over the speakers. As they always did, her nerves started singing. Reese may not have been the one playing for the crowds and she didn’t know if Sterling got nervous before a show, but she got nervous for him.
Tonight her nervousness mixed with the reality of what she had just agreed to: a two-day trip to L.A. with Sterling. That sounded more intense than any performance ever. And she couldn’t wait.
Chapter Fourteen
Reese didn’t know if her exhaustion was simply par for the course on a tour, or if it came from the emotional overload of knowing she would be leaving with Sterling in two days. They were in a hotel after another packed and amazing show in Dallas. Reese had sent a text to Staci that morning, telling her they needed to talk, but now she was too tired. She had on pajamas, watching HGTV and decompressing in the hotel room. After sleeping in the tiny bunk on the bus, she slept in the very center of the hotel room bed, spreading her arms and legs out as far as she could like she was making a snow angel in the sheets.
That’s where she was when someone started banging on her hotel room door at the same time as her phone started blowing up. As she got up, Reese glanced at the phone in her hand, still vibrating, and saw the last in a stream of texts from Staci.
Staci: Sterling is a BABY DADDY? Call me, girl
The cocktail of emotions that hit her bloodstream were muddled, but they were all bad. Reese hadn’t even thought to check the peephole to see who was on the other side, assuming it would be Morgan. She was surprised to see Sterling with her. They both wore serious, angry faces. Without speaking, Reese stepped aside so they could come in.
Morgan stepped in easily, her mouth a hard line. Sterling hesitated for a second, his dark eyes fiery on Reese, then walked right in. His cologne or deodorant or whatever pheromones made him smell amazing went right into her nose and then right to the part of her that couldn’t seem to dial back the heart palpitations. His fierce look helped temper the feeling some. Dark Sterling had definitely showed up tonight.
Morgan flopped down on the queen-sized bed, eyes going to the TV. The two Property Brothers were just telling the couple the exorbitant price of their dream house, so that they would understand renovating a dump was their only option. Sterling stood in the corner, looking like he didn’t know where to place himself. Reese didn’t miss the way Sterling’s eyes were all over the room, finally settling on the bed, where the top blanket that hotels never washed had been shoved to the floor and the sheets were completely pulled away as though two people were sleeping there. Reese felt oddly exposed having him in her space, even if it was a hotel room, not a bedroom. He finally sat down at the small table by the window.
