Page 98 of Love You Like This

Is it crazy that I already want this every day for the rest of my life? To share every mundane moment with her? Watching her simply exist fills my heart and soul with so much love it’s impossible to focus on anything else.

She finishes combing her hair and stops and looks at me while her towel drops to the floor. Her nipples pebble under my attention, but she turns and walks into the bedroom. I drop my towel to the floor and crawl in bed beside her. She reaches over and shuts off the lamp, casting the room into darkness aside from one stream of light shining through where the curtains meet.

I pull her back against my chest, my body cocooning hers. She melts against me, a happy hum coming from her chest when I press my lips to her shoulder. Neither of us move as we drift off to sleep.

I’d pay any amount of money not to be on a bus to Atlanta right now. Everyone is tense with worry. Tobias keeps glancing at my leg as it bounces up and down.

“You need something to do,” he says with a rasp in his voice from partying last night.

“I can’t focus for shit right now.” I run my hand over my face.

“It’s going to be okay, no matter what happens.”

Stone plops down beside me. “We’ve got you.”

Jade’s phone dings with an incoming text. More follow, chime after chime ringing out. Her brow knits as she lifts the device.

“What the fuck?” Darren says as his phone starts doing the same thing.

Unease creeps through me as I get to my feet and walk over to the table. I catch the two of them sharing a wide-eyed look. Then they both look down, their fingers flying over the screens as they type.

“What’s wrong?” I ask with trepidation.

They share another silent look with each other. Like they’re having an entire conversation that only they can hear. Each second sends my blood pressure soaring.

“Answer me,” I growl. Even without them saying anything, the way they’re trying to figure out what to do or say lets me know it’s about me.

Finally, Jade turns her attention to me. “A blind item was just released. It’s about you.” She hands me her phone.

A member of this currently touring band has some baby mama blues on the way. Sources indicate he knocked up a beloved influencer early last year but hasn’t claimed the baby as his. The chart-topping musician is reportedly forcing a paternity test before he even meets the baby or hears the mama out.

Blood roars in my ears as I hand the phone back to Jade. I run my hands through my hair and pull on the roots as I pace back between the bunks. What a fucking nightmare. Is it a big deal for a rock star to get someone pregnant accidentally?

No, of course not. The problem is that we’re working so hard on freshening up our image. Just the hint of a skeleton in the closet will make the press ravenous for more. They’ll dig and dig until they get a juicy scoop to throw all over the headlines and rake in money.

“Hey,” Jade slips in front of me and pulls my hands down. “Look at me.”

I do and find nothing there but steady compassion. My chest aches because I know this entire situation has brought so many things to the surface for her. I hate that she’s felt pain because of me.

“I’m sorry,” I whisper, looking down at the floor between us. “How did anyone even find out?”

“Who knows? It could have been someone she’s talked to or hell, even herself who did it.” Her thumbs rub soothing circles over the back of my hands. “Trust that Darren and I will handle all the public statements. This is literally why you guys pay us those big salaries, okay?” She dips her head until we make eye contact. “Soon they’ll find out there’s nothing to these rumors and move onto the next scandal.”

I nod, letting her reassurances sink in. Her arms wrap around my waist, and she tilts her head back to look up into my eyes. She mouths ‘I love you’ and part of me wants to just wants to say fuck it and kiss her right here. Tobias wouldn’t care. The only thing holding me back is Darren. He’s already stressed, so he’d probably be a dick about it.

As if my thoughts conjured him into existence, he clears his throat from behind me. Jade drops her arms, and I turn to look at him. His eyes move back and forth between us, wariness creeping across his expression, but he doesn’t have any remark.

“This is good.” He hands Jade her phone. “I made one little tweak to the statement, but I think we’ll be able to push it out. I’m just waiting on a call back from the attorney about the paternity case.”

“Yeah.” Jade nods. “The last thing we need to do is release a statement and kick up the hornet’s nest before the appointment.”

I gesture to the back of the bus with my head. “I need a few minutes alone, if that’s okay?”

“Of course.” Jade’s hand brushes along my lower back as she walks past me in the narrow corridor between bunks.

I turn and walk into the soundproof room we put in so we could work on music whenever possible. I pull the keyboard out and sit down. The best way for me to work through my emotions and stress is to just sit and play. My music or others’, it doesn’t matter. As long as my fingers are dancing over the keys, I can clear my mind of the fog. That’s what I spend the rest of the ride doing, and thankfully everyone leaves me to it.

Thirty-Six