Forever Red (23 page)

That did make Nate laugh. He let go of my towel and stood up, sliding against me as he did. I stepped back a little too quickly as if the idea of his body touching mine was appalling when, in reality, it was anything but. His hand found the small of my back and he kept it there until we were in the living room.

Cort and Cora were watching us closely and Noah seemed suddenly too interested in the fact that I was barely covered. “I’ll go get dressed,” I told the room as a whole.

I’d taken two steps toward my room when a large hand captured my upper arm, halting me in my tracks. Nate moved his body in behind me, not touching, but so close I could feel his heat. Leaning close to my ear so that only I could hear his words, he whispered, “This conversation isn’t over, Lia. Not by a long shot.”

I wasn’t sure what conversation he meant, but there was no way we were continuing it. I’d get dressed, come out of my room and be civil, apologize for being an asshole, and then Nate Kelly would be out of my life for good. I’d have the closure I had needed for years. That was a good thing. But the idea made me sad.

“Hey, bro,” Noah walked toward me, breaking the awkward silence that had engulfed the room after Lia rushed out. “This is Courtney”—he gestured to the tall brunette that had let us into the apartment—“Lia’s roomie.”

I nodded in her direction, moving my eyes back to the door that Lia had just disappeared through. I heard Lia’s friends whispering to each other, but I was too distracted to listen. Noah spoke to them, and even his words were a murmured jumble. I wasn’t sure what in the hell had just happened in that bathroom, or even how I felt about her, but I knew I needed just fifteen uninterrupted minutes alone with Red.

“Nate?” Noah’s fingers snapped in my face. “Earth to Nate.”

I jerked back, eyes focusing on his face. “What?” I snapped, irritated.

The little puke only grinned. “These ladies”—he moved his eyes to them quickly before looking back at me—“have decided to come with us.”

“What?” I asked again, this time more confused than anything. I hadn’t even asked Lia yet so I wasn’t sure how they knew what I wanted.

Courtney cleared her throat. “I feel like I should be fangirling right now.”

I only lifted an eyebrow at her dull, unexcited tone.

She took a deep breath. “Nate Kelly –
the
Nate Kelly – is standing in my living room. But”—she shook her head once and I wasn’t sure if she was being sarcastic—“I’m just too fucking worn out so I’m gonna give it to you straight.”

She paused, running her tongue along her lips. “Your boy says you want us to come to your concert. I told him that we were taking CeCe away for a couple of nights, but he insists that you have a ginormous house and that we can crash there for the rest of the weekend.” She stared into my eyes. “It’s her big birthday and we need to get her out of here, especially after this morning. So that’s the only reason we’d even consider it.” Courtney paused for a second, glancing at the short one. “Well, that and we think it’s pretty obvious that you two have some shit to work through. So we”—she moved her hand in front of the three of them—“have decided to come.”

I looked over each woman closely. I’d been here maybe twenty minutes and hadn’t said more than a few short sentences to them. No way in hell it was that easy. Either Noah had said something pretty damn convincing or they were fame hungry and I’d wake up tomorrow with my face plastered all over social media, along with an unflattering story for the world to buy. It had happened before.

Fuck it. If it gave me time with Lia, I’d take whatever fallout came. It was worth it to get the answers I needed. Something felt off, though.

I glared at Courtney. “Just like that?”

The blonde that had walked in on Lia and me crossed her arms over her chest and looked at me as if I disgusted her. “No, not just like that.” Her voice was hard and there was no mistaking the dislike she held for me, even though she was whispering. “I’ve heard stories about Neil Kelly for years. So many that I feel like I know him. CeCe told us what really happened and who you are. But don’t think for one second that this is your chance to get even with her.” Her eyes lit up dangerously. “You fuck with her, we’ll destroy you.”

If she hadn’t looked so goddamn serious, I would have laughed. The idea was hilarious. What were they going to do – beat me up? Sell my picture to the highest bidder? Have Lia wreck my heart and leave me? Been there, done that, decided not to buy the tee shirt ‘cause it wasn’t as fun as it should have been.

She was dead serious. She reminded me of a mother hen with her feathers all ruffled, ready to peck the eyes out of the fox in her hen house. How wrong she was; I wasn’t the fox. Oh, no. I was the mother fucking big bad wolf.  

Before I could say anything, Noah snorted, standing up a little straighter and crossing his arms over his chest, mimicking her stance. “He isn’t going to fuck with her,” he shot back, defending me. Then he smirked. “He might fuck her—”

Blondie growled – actually growled – cutting him off.

Leave it to my kid brother not to leave well enough alone. “And if he doesn’t want to, I’ll volunteer.”

The short one burst out laughing, making Courtney and I groan; me in frustration, her in obvious disgust. I pinned him with my eyes, letting him know that if he even thought about it again, I’d kick his ass into next week. No one was touching her. The idiot grinned again as if saying that he was going to do a hell of a lot more than think about getting Lia in his bed. I wanted to knock his teeth down his throat.

I closed my eyes, forcing my hand to uncurl, fighting the urge to beat on my brother. Then, something that Courtney had said hit me. “What happened this morning?” I demanded, as soon as the homicidal urge was gone.

“Huh?” This time it was the blonde’s turn to look confused.

“You said that Lia needed to get away after something happened this morning. So what happened?”

Three faces went blank, all of them avoiding my eyes, giving each other knowing looks as they had a silent conversation. Whatever it was, they felt it was important enough to get Lia out of town. My imagination ran wild; she didn’t seem like a criminal, but I really didn’t know anything about her anymore.

Hell, I didn’t even know what she did for work. I glanced around the apartment quickly, hoping maybe some clue would pop out. It was decent but extremely tiny. There was one large room that held both the kitchen and the living room, if you could even call it large. There were three doors off that room; one I knew led to the tiny bathroom, so that must mean the other two were bedrooms. It was a hell of a lot better than the trailer she’d grown up in, but everything about this space from the stained couch to the decade-old television told me that she struggled financially.

It shouldn’t have bothered me. Her finances were not my concern; hell, her life and how she lived it was none of my business. But it pissed me off.

I moved away from her friends and strode to her door. She’d had enough time to throw clothes on and it wasn’t like I hadn’t seen it before if she hadn’t. I wasn’t surprised when the handle turned in my hand; there was a lot about this woman I didn’t know, but some things, like her hatred of locked doors, I knew would never change. Unlike Lia, I liked my privacy, and I flipped the lock as soon as I closed the door behind me.

Lia was dressed. She didn’t look to see who had joined her, but I saw her tense, telling me that she knew exactly who had walked into her space uninvited. She was on the other side of the room leaning against her bureau, staring at something. I stood, watching her a minute, but she didn’t acknowledge me.

I glanced around the room. “Where’s your luggage?”

“Suitcase is in the closet,” she answered absentmindedly, not moving her eyes. Then, as if realizing what she’d said, she turned her entire body toward me. “Wait! What?”

I fought the smile that was threatening to break out and shrugged before walking to the closet and pulling open the accordion door. “Gotta get you packed so we can get on the road. Some of us have places to be.”

She laughed, snagging my attention away from the absurdly miniscule space she had crammed with her things. “Wow.” She crossed her arms over her chest and leveled her gaze on me. “While I’m sure most women can’t resist that amazing Southern charm of yours and would follow you anywhere, this girl is staying put.” She waved me away with her fingers. “You have places to be so you better hurry and get moving.”

I turned back to the closet, finding a small black and red suitcase buried under the rubble and yanked it out, tossing it on the bed. I tried not to notice that her bed wasn’t made and that her sheets were a tangled pile that were calling to me. Instead, I unzipped the bag and walked to her. Moving around her, I reached for the drawers,

“Oh, no!” Lia batted my hand away. “Don’t even think about touching my stuff. There is no need to pack anything because I’m not going with you.”

I let my hand drop to my side. “Yes, you are.”

Her fists went to her hips. “No. No, I’m not.”

I rubbed my chin, trying to hide my smirk. Jesus, she was cute when she was feisty. I leaned down, invading her space. “Either you pack your shit or I will. One way or the other, Red, I’m not leaving this house without you.”

Her nostrils flared and she narrowed her eyes as her lips turned up in a smile that told me she was about to give me hell. I didn’t let her. Before she had a chance to realize what I was doing, my hands tangled in her hair and I pulled her into me, capturing her mouth with mine. It had been years since I’d kissed her, but I remembered it like it was yesterday.

This wasn’t an awkward and clumsy first kiss. It also wasn’t the rushed, “hurry up and fuck me” that I was used to. I wasn’t trying to remember her name or plotting my next move. No, as my lips moved against hers and her tongue danced with mine, I lost all thought. Nothing in my life had ever felt more natural and I didn’t want to stop. I’d found the part of me that had been missing for years, the piece that made me whole. Lia stepped in to me, throwing her arms over my shoulders and tugging me close.

A sharp knock on the door broke the spell.

She pushed against me before stepping back; her eyes were wide and worried as they avoided mine and her hand flew to her mouth. I watched, hypnotized as she ran her fingers over her swollen lips as if trying to tell herself she hadn’t just kissed me. I wanted to kill whoever was on the other side of that fucking door.

“CeCe? Everything okay?” I didn’t know which friend it was, but I didn’t care. She didn’t sound worried. In fact, she sounded amused.

Lia glanced at me, the slight tinge of embarrassment creeping up her neck and onto her cheeks. I moved toward her, but she stepped back. Each step I took, she retreated until her back was up against the wall. I pressed my body against hers, capturing her hands and tugging them away from her face, trapping them over her head.

Those giant eyes looked at me, pleading. For what, I wasn’t sure. Whatever the hell it was she wanted, though, I’d find a way to give it to her. I leaned down, running my nose up her neck to her ear, memorizing her scent. “Neil,” she groaned softly. The sound was like a shot of adrenaline straight to my dick.

Her pulse pounded away in her neck as she struggled to catch her breath. I knew mine was just as ragged. Being this close to her was pure torture; I wanted her as much as I always had. Maybe more than I’d ever wanted anything. I needed to get away from her or I was going to lose all control.

I couldn’t do that with my brother – or her friends – in the next room. I nipped her ear, hard enough to cause her to gasp. “This still isn’t over,” I ground out the words.

Backing away quickly, I moved to the door. Her short friend was on the other side, jumping back in surprise when I yanked it open. I didn’t look over my shoulder because I knew if I did, I’d be the moron that told her friend to get fucked, slam the door in her face, and drag Lia to bed.

Instead, I scowled at the woman and her knowing smirk. “We’re leaving in ten minutes. Get her packed.” Not waiting for the answer, I glared at my brother. “I need some fucking air.”

Noah nodded, understanding immediately. “We’ll be down in a few.”

I jogged down two flights of stairs and out into the bright sunlight, cursing myself all the way. New plan. Fifteen minutes alone with her in a crowded room. Somewhere that we could talk without interruption, but someplace where we weren’t alone. I couldn’t trust myself to be alone with her. It was too fucking risky. It wasn’t until much later that I realized it had been the first time I’d kissed Lia without braces.

*****

Tipping the can of Red Bull up, I guzzled the last few sips. It was the third one I’d had in a matter of hours and mixed with the coffee I wasn’t used to drinking, I felt like I could fly. Screw wings, I was floating in the sky. It was all good, though; I’d burn up the extra energy as soon as I got on stage.

“Hey. Are we…” Molly sauntered toward me, holding what looked like my set list, cocking an eyebrow when she reached me. “What are you doing?”

I shook out my arms and shifted my weight from one leg to the other. “Getting ready for the show,” I shot back as if it was obvious.

Her face twisted in a scowl. “No. You’re bouncing. Actually fucking bouncing.”

I laughed, causing her to step back and stare at me with wide eyes. I rolled my neck from side to side, hearing the familiar crack that told me I was no longer a kid. I may only be thirty, but a lot of those years had been spent abusing my body. I was a middle-aged model with high mileage.

Eyeing my energy drink, Molly snarled. “You’re gonna crash mid-set if you’re using that shit to pick you up.”

I only chuckled again. This was her first stadium show – she had no fucking clue what she was in for. “I’m fine,” I assured her. “In order to go out there”—I nodded my chin toward the door—“and to give them the show they deserve, you need to prep the same way a runner would prepare for a marathon.” I moved an arm around in a circle. “Stretch, hydrate, and, above all else, pace yourself.”

She looked at me like I was nuts, but she’d see. Especially if she was going out there in those sky-high heels. Her feet would be killing her two songs in and her toes would be numb by the time the third was over. The rest of her night would be spent in her room with a bucket of ice water soaking away the blisters. But I got to wear work boots or sneakers, so what did I know?