The Rocker Who Wants Me (The Rocker... Series) (23 page)

“Hey!” Liam pouted.

“…but he’s been a fucking saint.” Emmie went on as if Liam hadn’t said a word, and honestly I doubted she had heard him she was so focused on Devlin. “I expected better out of you, Devlin. You have your son with you this time, so I figured out of everyone you would be the responsible one. The one setting an example. Instead you…” She broke off and turned away from him. After a moment of deep breathing to calm herself she finally turned back and faced the five huge men. “Play time is officially over. The buses will be rearranged, the schedule will be adjusted, and things will be run my way or I will crack some skulls together.”

Zander opened his mouth, but as if she had expected him to run his mouth, Emmie shot him a chilling glare that had him quickly snapping his mouth shut. “Axton and Devlin, grab your shit. Wroth and Liam, you too.”

“Me?” Liam frowned. “But-”

“But nothing. You have a fucking boot over your cast. I’m seven months pregnant with a toddler along for the ride. We get the bedroom.” She softened her tone as she stepped closer to him. “And I just wanted to say… I’m proud of you, Liam. You’ve been doing so great.”

Liam swallowed hard, nodded his head sharply once, but otherwise didn’t say a word. Emmie’s praise had affected him enormously because it happened so rarely. Liam really had been doing a great job. Sure, he had his moments when he wanted to give up, but Linc had been helping him with that with more physical therapy exercises. According to Linc, exercise increased endorphins that helped with addiction cravings. Liam wasn’t even taking his pain meds any more. Just a few Tylenol when his pain level got intense.

“I want Marissa on my bus if I’m switching,” Wroth told Emmie.

“Sure. I don’t care. I assume Harris will move onto the other bus as well, so there will be plenty of room for her.” She sighed and stepped back. “Okay, fuckers. Let’s get going. We have to be in New Jersey tomorrow for the next show. Oh, and Zander? You have merchandise duty. You’ll be signing from five to seven thirty at our booth.” A groan came from Zander that sounded like it had been forced from him through torture. “Devlin, you take over after the show until two. I will be checking to make sure that you both show up and are there the entire time. Don’t make me hunt your asses down. I will make you sorry.”

I pushed away from the wall where I had been standing shamelessly watching the ball busting show Emmie had just put on for my enjoyment. Everyone but Axton left to do as Emmie had instructed. Axton wrapped his arm around Emmie’s shoulders and kissed her forehead. “You look exhausted. Go lie down.”

Seeing how gentle Axton was with Emmie made my already soft heart start to melt all over again. Sure, I’d heard the gossip and the rumors about Axton and Emmie. How Axton was in love with her and how Emmie would probably be with Ax if it weren’t for her getting pregnant with Mia out of the blue. The former one I could see why people would think that and speculate. It was obvious that he cared about her, but I saw nothing more than affection and adoration that was more for a family member than a lover. As for the latter? I didn’t believe that one. At all. Emmie and Nik had something that I would admit only to myself that I wanted from my own relationship with Axton. Mia or no Mia, I was sure that Nik and Emmie would have always been together. They had the kind of love that would stand the test of time.

Besides, it wasn’t like Axton had inked
Emmie’s
name on his skin. I gritted my teeth, trying to fight back the wave of jealously the thought of Gabriella’s name on my man’s wrist caused. It ate at my soul like a cancer. I tried to fight it, but that evil bitch jealousy kept hitting back. Right where it hurt the most. My heart.

As I reached the two I saw Emmie’s shoulders droop, and with a small smile in my direction she nodded her head. “Okay. I wanted to call Nik too. Mia’s probably asleep so I can talk to him without her throwing a tantrum.”

“It’s only for a few weeks, Em. Nik will be back from the UK and able to join us before we get to Ohio.”

Her chin trembled for a moment before she clenched her jaw and nodded again. “Yeah. I’ll see you two later.” She hugged him tightly for a moment then headed toward the buses.

Axton watched her walk away until she was out of sight before turning to me with a grin on his face. “Well, looks like you won’t be able to hide from me now.”

I laughed and rolled my eyes at him. “I know. Damn. Guess I’ll just have to lock my door at night.” Sharing a bus didn’t bother me anymore. Not after the last few days. When I’d stopped trying to hide the truth from myself about how much I loved him, I’d realized that attempting to set boundaries was useless. Why keep so much distance between us when it obviously made both of us miserable?

He wrapped his arms around my waist and lowered his head until our lips were nearly touching. “Wanna share a roost? I promise not to take advantage of you in your sleep.”

I tilted my head back just enough to meet his eyes. “But what if I want you to take advantage?”

Hazel eyes lightened to green and I was rewarded with the sight of those freaking sexy-as-hell gold flecks. “Then I am screwed. I would love to take advantage of you, baby. But we will both have to be good. Mia and Harris will be on the bus with us.”

I pouted up at him. “But, babe!”

Axton grinned and finally brushed his lips across mine. “Minx. You’re so freaking adorable when you pout like that.” Another kiss, which I took advantage of by sucking on his pierced bottom lip for a moment, and then he was pushing me in the direction Emmie had just gone. “Go. I’ll be there after I get my stuff. But I was serious about wanting to share a roost. I haven’t been sleeping that great on the other bus. I need you wrapped around me, hogging the covers, to get comfortable.”

“I might hog the covers, but you hog the bed. That’s why I have to wrap myself around you, otherwise I would fall out of bed.” Of course that wasn’t true. Axton kept to the middle of the bed and I could only get comfortable when I was pushed up against him with my head using his chest as a pillow and one arm over his waist. His confession that he couldn’t sleep without me was doing crazy things to my heart, but the same was true about my own sleeping habits lately. The only time I got a good night’s sleep was when I slept in the same bed with him. Whether we made love that night or not.

On my way to the bus, I passed a grumbling Wroth, without Marissa. Frowning I kept walking, knowing that if I tried to talk to the ex-marine now it would not be pretty. Wroth in a temper was not something I liked to experience first-hand. When I stepped onto the bus it was to find Harris sitting on the couch watching a movie, but no sign of his father or Marissa. I wished him a good night and kept going.

I stopped long enough to use the bathroom then brushed my teeth at the small sink outside the bathroom. When I was done I went straight to my roost and climbed in. I had the middle roost on the left side while Linc had the one directly above mine. I wasn’t sure who was going to take the one below mine, but if Marissa was still going to be on this bus then I knew that someone most likely would.

As I scooted until I was against the wall of the roost, I thought I heard a small hiccup and paused to listen closer. It didn’t come again, but I was sure that I had heard it—the kind of hiccup that accompanied crying. Shaking my head, I pulled my cell from my jeans before kicking them off and pushing them with my foot to the end of the bed.

Checking my phone, I saw that I had a few missed calls and texts. Two from my dad and one text from Harper. Opening it I snorted as soon as I saw the picture of her on the beach in front of her house in Santa Monica. She was in her bikini with Shane wrapped around her. Of course his lips were touching her neck, because Shane Stevenson’s lips were always finding their way to some part of Harper’s gorgeous body.

That right there was another relationship that I was jealous of. Shane and Harper had their Carl and Ellie love life—their words to describe their relationship, not mine. It was adorable the way Shane loved Harper so fiercely, and their sex life was… Porn-star worthy was the only real way to describe it.

“Dallas?”

At the sound of Axton’s voice I couldn’t help but smile. Rolling over I pulled back the curtain that provided privacy for my roost. He stood there with his pillow and blanket, and yeah, my heart melted all over again. Stupid fucking heart, but I’d already promised myself I wasn’t going to fight this. He was with me now, not the troll bitch.

“Hi,” I murmured.

His brow wrinkled as he grinned at me. “Hi, yourself. Changed your mind yet?”

“Maybe.” I shrugged. “We should discuss the terms and conditions again.”

Hazel eyes narrowed on me. “Let’s hear them.”

“I must have kisses. Lots and lots of kisses. Before bed, every morning, and in between the two. Should you go five minutes in my presence without giving me a kiss, then that’s grounds for dismissal from my bed.”

“Done.” He placed his pillow on the bed. “Anything else?”

“Not for now. But this is an open contract. I can add other conditions at any time.” I grabbed his hand and tugged him closer. With his grumbled “agreed” I sucked his pierced bottom lip into my mouth and nipped on it before releasing him. “Welcome to Casa de Dallas. Make yourself at home.”

Axton

Rock On The Range.

It was only one of the few events that brought rock fans together for a three-day event that celebrated everything rock-n-roll. One hundred thousand plus people. Three stages of some of the best bands in the rock world? Check. Mosh pits? Check. People crowd surfing? Check. People passed out drunk on a wet lawn or in a dark, cool corner? Double check. The smell of marijuana in the air? Of course. Chicks walking around topless, no matter the size of their tits or the fact that they didn’t exactly have the body for it? Fuck yeah! Why the hell wouldn’t they? It was Rock On The Range, bitches.

And OtherWorld was closing Saturday night on the main stage. It was something that announced how fucking awesome a band was to be closing on Saturday night. Closing on Friday was okay, because it got everyone pumped for more, and Sunday was when everyone was fighting their hangovers and just ready to make the trip home so the crowd was only a small fraction of what it should be.

Saturday? Saturday was perfect.

Demon’s Wings had closed on Saturday the year before, so I was more than stoked to be part of the closing this year. With Nik on board my tour bus with his very, very—VERY—pregnant wife, I was sure he was going to make sure that I didn’t live down the fact that he had closed a ROTR first. The fucker.

The bus pulled to a stop late Saturday morning and everyone was wide awake and ready to party. Especially Mia. She knew most of the bands that we were friends with and wanted to say hi immediately. Those we didn’t know personally? She would no doubt wrap them around her pretty little finger in no time. And the ones that were pricks? Her daddy and her Uncle Axton would kick their fucking asses until they played by Mia’s rules.

For OtherWorld, today was not just about performing that night. We had obligations. Monster had their own booth and we would have to go over and make an hour-long appearance. Wroth and Liam were expected at the Fender tent, to sign guitars and meet fans. Then we would all take turns at our own merchandise tents set up outside the arena, signing anything that fans happened to buy or bring. It was going to be a long day. And I planned on eating lots of junk food, drinking plenty of Monster, and listening to some kick-ass music with Dallas.

Of course, I had one more obligation. One that I didn’t want to mention to anyone, especially my girlfriend.

Gabriella was performing today on stage two. She’d already emailed me twice about it, using it as an excuse so that she could check on Liam since the tabloids had stopped following his recovery process over six weeks ago because it just wasn’t entertaining enough now that he was doing so much better. I was supposed to perform the song we did together back when we first started dating.

That song alone should have told me that Gabriella hadn’t been the one for me. She’d written “Shatter Me” about her cousin Alexis. Alexis had gone through a bad breakup with her now husband and she had fallen apart emotionally. After recording the song with OtherWorld, Gabriella had rushed to get the video shot so that she could use it to break Alexis and Jared up again. It had worked.

Big time.

Fortunately, Alexis and Jared had finally gotten back together and now had a beautiful son. If nothing else, Gabriella wouldn’t change that one little thing. Jordan was her favorite person in the world. It was for Jordan’s safety that she had ended things the way she had with Liam in the first place.

I didn’t want Dallas to know about performing with Gabriella and her band. Things were perfect with us for a change. Neither one of us had actually said the words ‘I love you’, but I could see them in her eyes. And while I hadn’t been able to voice them myself, I tried to show her with everything I did for her how much she meant to me.

The fact that I was adopting Kenzie? It had brought us even closer. All of Dallas’s walls were down, and had stayed down from the moment I had told her that I was adopting the girl who had touched my heart in just a matter of minutes after meeting her.