Stage Dive 02 Play(72)

With a sigh, he went up on one elbow and put an arm around me, pulling me up against him. When he rolled onto his back, I went too. I lay sprawled across him. There was no better thing. Apart from what he’d just done to me, of course. One hand stroked my back, while the other lay behind his head.

“A miniscule amount, really.” My thumb rubbed over his nipple, back and forth, back and forth. I seemed to have entered some stream-of-consciousness state and I didn’t have the energy to fight it. “You probably couldn’t even see it with a microscope.”

Another sigh from the man.

“Well, maybe one of those lab ones, but not a kid’s toy one. The magnification wouldn’t be–”

All of a sudden we rolled again and I was on the bottom with the weight of Mal’s body pushing me deep into the mattress.

“Hi,” I said, just a bit discombobulated by the abrupt change in position. He’d barely given my head to time to stop spinning from the previous shift.

“Been thinking.” He watched me, eyes intense. “Want you to do something for me.”

“Okay.”

“Need you to come on tour, least for a while. See what you can manage, okay?”

My engorged heart basically burst. My insides were officially a mess. “Need?”

“Yeah, need.” His forehead furrowed. “Things are happening and I know you’ve got questions but I need you to not ask them right now. I just … I need you with me. I deal with stuff better when you’re around.”

“Stuff like the other reason why you wanted me around that you wouldn’t admit to last night?”

Guilt slid across his face. “Yeah.”

“We’re going to have to talk about stuff eventually.”

“Yeah, we are. Yours and mine both.”

I froze beneath him, not answering. But he just patiently waited me out. The words were stuck inside my chest with the rest of the clutter. It was hard to find them. “You’re right. I know. And I’ll try and work something out about the tour.”

Work would survive. Reece owed me. He wasn’t going to like it, but he sure as hell owed me. Between Tara and the new guy, Alex, my shifts could be covered.

“Thanks.” He nodded, gave me a small mile. “And it’s okay about the feeling something thing. I get it.”

“You do?” What a relief, because I still wasn’t sure I did. I’d never even said anything close to resembling those words.

“Yeah. You don’t need to keep babbling about it.”

“I wasn’t babbling.”

“You were, but that’s okay.” His fingers toyed with my hair. “The timing isn’t great for me, pumpkin. I didn’t need shit getting any more complicated. But like I said last night, we see where this goes. Agreed?”

Sounded like a solid plan. “Yes.”

“You’re good for me. You take me any mood I come in. I don’t have to be always happy or on around you. You roll with any shit I say and give as good as you get. You don’t let me push you around if it doesn’t suit you and you haven’t asked me to buy you a fucking thing.”

I arched my brows and “ooh”ed. “God, I’m so slow. It hadn’t even occurred to me. Can I have a Porsche?”

“Sure. What color?”

Holy shit, he would too. If only to mess with me. I took a deep breath and let it out slowly, shook my head. “You never hesitate when I ask for something.”

“You don’t do it often. I figure if you’re asking, it’s something that matters.”

My eyes did not tear up again. I had allergies or something, probably to feelings. And you had to know, this man, he made me feel all the things all the damn time. “I don’t really need a sports car. But thanks.”

“Let me know if you change your mind.” He smirked, obviously having known full and well his agreeing would freak me out. Cunning man.

“Ev wants to organize a dinner tonight with the parents and everyone,” he said. “You good with that?”

“Sure. They’re nice and their place is beautiful.”

He stilled, studying my face. “Yeah, it is nice. Glad you like it there. They mean a lot to me.”

“They’re great people.” In my bedroom the alarm clock blared to life, belting out some long forgotten hit from the seventies. “I have to get moving.”

“Your legs working yet?” Mischief danced in his eyes.

“I think so.” I laughed.

“Call me today. I wanna know you’re okay dealing with Reece and everything.”

“I’ve been dealing with things for a long time.” My jaw tightened. “I can deal with Reece.”