Page 98 of Rising Star

Madison’s gaze drifted back and forth between us, trying to catch up on the conversation.

“Curtis Burns is Riley’s father,” I explained.

“The Curtis Burns?” she asked with wide eyes.

I nodded. “And Anderson Ford is his half-brother.”

“Oh, I see,” was all she replied.

My friend dragged a hand over his face. “Our relationship is complicated. Sam will fill you in later. So do we all agree to an additional three months of tour?”

Madison and I said “Yes” at the same time.

“Great. Let me call my guy, and I’ll keep you posted. I won’t be able to follow you on the road this time, though. Thanks, Maddie, for making this grumpy fellow happy and making my job easier. You should get a raise.”

I kicked my friend’s shin under the table.

“My heart is full,” my woman said, glancing at me. “Money doesn’t matter. It’s just numbers.”

We swam into each other’s eyes and failed to notice Riley leaving.

My phone vibrated on the table, breaking the moment.

Riley: We’ll talk later. You two are disgustingly in love, it shouldn’t be legal. I’ll take care of your kids while you’re busy with their mama. (I still can’t believe Mika said those words this morning.)

Riley: I’m happy for you. You deserve all of this.

I put my phone down, unable to tame the grin stretching my face.

“You really want to do this?” I asked.

Madison nodded.

“What about your job? I put you out of work—sorta. You don’t need to get a job, but I’m pretty sure you’ll want one, and I want you to thrive, not be an accessory to my life. You gotta fulfill your own dreams.”

“Well, now that you brought up the topic, and it’s funny Riley mentioned it, I’ve been thinking for a while I could teach kids on the road. All these roadies, they miss their families. What if I teach their kids too or find a way to provide them with the curriculum when they join their parents for long stretches of time? We could make your tour and others’ family-friendly so all those guys wouldn’t have to choose between their children and their jobs.”

A million thoughts swirled in my head.

“Wow, I like that. And the girls would have friends. This could actually be great. I already knew you were amazing, but you just proved it to me all over again. You should talk with Ry. I’m sure he would be a great ally in helping you set this up.”

“And I know nothing about Alexi, but what I gathered from your conversation, he could be the first one to benefit from this.”

“We’ll sit down with Riley. I’m sure he’ll be ecstatic with the idea.” I kissed her lips, eliciting a moan from her. “Now that we have a few hours to ourselves, what do you have in mind?”

Madison shrugged. “Can we just watch a movie or do something boring together? You know, cuddle under a blanket and nap on the couch. Regular stuff couples do, that we never have a chance to indulge in.”

“You want us to be boring, Miss Prescott?”

“My life will always be full of excitement with you guys in it. But yeah, we could be that couple for a few hours to see how it feels. Let’s get naked and see how long we can resist each other under that blanket.”

“Deal.”

We rose, undressed, and slid under the blanket Madison brought to the living room section of our bus.

We were just getting comfortable when her body went limp in my arms, her soft breaths acting like a lullaby. My eyes grew heavy.

“Thank you, life, for putting her on my road. I’ll forever be grateful,” I said. Unable to keep my eyelids open, I capitulated and fell into a deep slumber, the woman I loved nestled against me.