Chapter Sixteen
River
Scared? Fuck yeah, I was scared.
I’d never been arrested in my life, and sitting in the police station after being hauled away in zip cuffs was fucking humiliating. Thank heaven Kit showed up with lawyers. Getting out of jail was a goddamn relief.
“Thank you for picking us up.” I glanced at Kit, who had his arm around me in the back of the cab.
“You’re welcome, and I’d do it a million times again. You need to know I’d do anything for you, River. You can count on me, I promise.”
I almost couldn’t catch my breath at his words. I nuzzled into his neck and breathed in his scent. “You’re sweet.”
“Sweetheart, I’m here for you. I want you guys to succeed, and I’ll do whatever I can to help.” The sincerity in his eyes made me speechless.
There was only one thing to say. “Thank you again.” The kiss on my forehead was perfect.
Meeting Olive Chevalier was intimidating as fuck. She wasn’t one to be toyed with, and I could see Kit had mad respect for her, though I found her a little condescending.
“We’re glad to have you jailbirds back on track.
We’ll deal with these issues, but what we need to concentrate on is this Saturday night.
I’m going to invite some press to the show in hopes that your performance will outweigh anything that could possibly hit the papers about the arrests,” Olive said.
No pressure there…
I took in my fellow bandmates to see how they felt about Olive’s comment, and the frowns told me everything I needed to know. “We don’t know you,” I said.
Olive nodded. “And I don’t know you either. What I know is that your tour is funded by Sound Wave Studios. You have an obligation to the contract you signed, and it’s my job to see that it’s fulfilled to the letter.”
I wasn’t sure I liked her, though, as I turned to Kit, he smiled. “She’s fine. You’ll like her in the end, I promise.” He hadn’t steered me wrong so far.
Her mouth was open to say something when Marsh walked up to the table with a smug grin on his face. “What did I miss?”
He turned to Kit, who was sitting at the other end of the long table with Clancy, Lauren, Sam, and Allen. “That message you left me was inappropriate. We’ll talk about it later.”
Marshall then glanced at Olive. “And you are?” One thing about Marsh, he was a smug son of a bitch at all times.
“I’m Olive Chevalier, your replacement as tour manager. Mr. Ashby sent me to fire you and take over the job you’re not doing to his satisfaction. Where were you when your band needed you?”
Damn, the woman was intimidating.
“I don’t answer to you, Miss Chevalier,” Marsh snapped.
Kit abruptly stood from his chair and headed for Marsh, but I jumped up and got between them. “You don’t want to go back to the Central City Precinct, this time in the back of a squad car, do you?”
He met my gaze. “I do not, but I won’t let him disrespect you and the band.” I wanted to kiss him, but it wasn’t the time or place.
I turned to my band brothers. “We need to decide right now. In or out?”
Arlo was the first to answer. “Out. We needed him, and he was nowhere to be found.”
“Same,” Goldie responded.
JD and Hardy both nodded, so I turned to Marshall.
“You’re fired. We’ll fight you in court over the contract.
You were negligent in your job, and we have plenty of witnesses to back us up.
I’d suggest you go back to your other business engagement because I doubt Mr. Ashby wants to pay for you to stay here. ”
“Oh, you have my word. There will be a fight over this.” Marshall shot a withering glare in my direction before he stormed off.
Kit’s hand on my neck was warm and supportive. It was exactly what I needed at the time.
“Let’s talk, guys,” Olive said. We all returned to our seats as she pulled a folder out of her bag and opened it on the table. “How did this second show at The Van Buren come about?”
With that, we went through the schedule, and she asked which cities we would consider adding a show.
Her reasoning was that it was better to have more footage and recordings of the shows to choose from during the editing and remixing process in case we had a bad night.
That made sense to me, and judging by the way the guys were nodding, they agreed.
“Okay. I need to make some calls so we can move things along. If I don’t add a show to the schedule, don’t you dare agree to do another one.
I’ll make sure you have practice space in each city, proper hotels, and a music reporter at each venue.
I’ll handle the parking issues related to bringing a show of this size on the road, and if you encounter any issues, I want to know about them immediately.
“At the break in August, we’ll all go back to Los Angeles first so we can meet with Nate to go over what we’ve collected in the first half of the tour.” Olive handed each of us a sheet of paper that turned out to be a much more organized schedule than just the list of cities we had from Marshall.
It seemed as if the meeting was over, so I stood to leave. Kit had taken the seat next to me, and he pushed out of his chair and stood to leave.
As we were about to walk away, Olive said, “River and Kit, may I have a word?”
The tone of her voice brought goose bumps to my skin and sent a shiver down my spine. It was like being called to the principal’s office when I’d been in school.
Kit moved closer to Olive and pulled out the chair across from her for me. I sat, and he sat close, which I didn’t mind.
Olive took a sip of her iced tea and placed the glass back on the table. “I’ll get to the point, and you can tell me to fuck off, but there are things I truly need to know. Are you two a couple?”
I was surprised at her question, but before I could say anything, Kit spoke up. “If we were, would that harm River’s career or the band?”
I turned in my chair to stare at him. “I refuse to hide who I am, for the band or for anyone. I’ve never been in any kind of closet.”
Olive laughed. “Okay then. I just wanted the lay of the land. If you’re a couple and want to be out, then please make sure you’re appropriate in public.
If you want to keep it quiet, you’ll need to stay far away from each other.
The air crackles when the two of you are together, and it won’t be hard for anyone to pick up on it. ”
She gave a quick nod and stood, grabbing her tote and walking over to speak with our server. The young woman nodded, and Olive waved and left.
“Can you go up to our room to talk? Or do you need to meet with the band?” Kit asked.
“I think whatever you want to talk about is more important than a band meeting right now. Let’s go.”
We stood, and the server waved to us, so we hurried out to the elevator to go to our room.
We got off on our floor, and Kit let us into our room.
When he closed the door, he grabbed me around the waist and kissed the living daylights out of me before he took a step back and put his hands on my biceps, holding me still.
“I freaked the fuck out when Clancy told me you guys had been hauled off by the cops. What the hell happened?”
My answer wouldn’t make me look very smart.
“We were in the park to work on some songs. Sometimes, the creativity flows when we’ve had a few drinks or smoked, so we thought it would be okay if we shared a joint before we started working.
There was a playground, but we didn’t notice it until it was too late.
Either the cops saw us or the mother called them, but they saw Goldie and me take hits, so they took us in.
Arlo’s situation was a separate issue that they found after they checked our IDs. ”
“You thought it was okay to smoke a joint in a public park? Come on, Riv. You’re smarter than that.
If we’re going to be together, no more smoking while you’re on tour, and I’m going to tell the rest of the band the same thing.
You don’t need shit like this biting you in the ass.
” He released my biceps and took my hand, leading me to the bed to sit.
“I don’t know if I’m gay or bi or any of the other designations under the rainbow umbrella, but I know that you are very important to me, and I can’t imagine not having you in my life.
I want us to be exclusive, and I don’t want to be unable to touch you in public.
I’ve never been very good at sneaking around about anything, and at thirty-five, I don’t want to start.
Do you think I’m too old for you? Fourteen years is a big gap. ”
I couldn’t form the words to answer him while my brain processed what he’d said, so I scrambled to sit on his lap and kiss him.
His arms wrapped around me, making me feel safe.
Our tongues tangled in my mouth and then in his.
Knowing this man wanted me as much as I wanted him made all the difference in the world.
Kit’s hands settled on my lower back as we ended the kiss, which wasn’t what I wanted to do at all.
He reached up to move my hair out of my eyes.
“You’re very distracting. Since Kensington is gone—and I hope you realize this won’t be the last you hear from him—I’m going to do my best to look out for you guys, but I’m going to have a few ground rules.
I’d like to come to your band meetings so I can hear about problems or changes you guys need to make.
I’ll talk to Olive about any issues you encounter, so that’s one thing off your plate. ”
Oh, I was all over that. Kit volunteering to deal with Olive on our behalf was a relief. “That would be great. We’ll pay you, Kit.” It was only fair that he should be compensated for the additional work he was taking on.
“No. I don’t want your money. You’ll have to get an agent because I know nothing about negotiating contracts or riders or any of that shit, so you’ll need an agent or a good entertainment lawyer.
I can ask Nate if he has any recommendations, if you want.
He works with them all the time, and he knows which ones are good at their jobs and which ones are assholes.
” Kit rubbed his hand up and down my back, which was nice.
“We’d appreciate it. What other kind of rules do you have?” The idea of restrictions kind of worried me. I always broke the rules my mom laid out when I was a kid.
“Nothing crazy, I swear. No smoking pot, and we’re gonna get you guys working out on your off days.
Not crazy triathlon training, but some cardio and weight training will help with your stamina.
We can discuss it as a group and find out what you guys like to do.
The other thing is no fucking the groupies—any of you, but especially you. ” He kissed the tip of my nose.
“Yeah, uh, that’s a good rule, especially for Arlo.
He’s got enough trouble on his hands, and I don’t think any of the guys ask for ID before they get with groupies.
Usually, if they’re at a venue where we’re playing, we assume they’re over eighteen, but obviously, we shouldn’t.
” All we needed was another surprise baby on the way.
“I wonder if Antel Reardon can practice law in California. He seemed very savvy when he handled the arraignment. Do you know if Arlo talks to his baby momma very often?”
That was a good question. “I’m not sure. I can’t believe he was so careless. One thing Regal says that is smart—no glove, no love.”
Kit smiled. “Do you use condoms? Have you been tested for STIs?”
“Yeah. We had physicals for our insurance before the tour started, and we all got the full blood panel done. I was negative for everything. The one time I had anal, we used a condom. How about you?”
“I get a full physical once a year for my insurance as well. Some of the shippers I contract with require random piss tests, so I pee in a cup about once a month, but that has nothing to do with this. I get tested for STIs and HIV every six months because I take my health seriously. I’ve had anal sex once as well, and I always use a condom when I have sex. ”
“Who did you have anal sex with?” That was a surprising revelation. I thought being with a guy was a new thing for him.
Kit chuckled. “Some women like anal, you know.”
That brought a laugh from me too. How shortsighted was I?
Kit reclined, taking me with him, so I straightened my legs and rested on top of his firm body, laying my head over his heart. The beat was steady, and I could almost fall asleep listening to it.
“You mentioned being exclusive. Does that mean you won’t fuck women anymore?” My stomach turned at the thought of Kit with anyone other than me.
“It does. Did you top or bottom when you had anal?” His right hand continued to stroke my back as his other slid down and rested on my ass.
I stacked my hands on his chest and rested my chin on them, looking him in the eye, where his head rested on a pillow. “I topped. I’ve never bottomed, but I like ass play, so I’m willing to try. I’ve just never wanted to be that vulnerable with someone I didn’t know very well.”
“Will you tell me about the guy you were with?” Kit asked.
I sighed. “His name was Curtis. We went to high school together. He was on the soccer and basketball teams. One year, the basketball coach had the guys on the team try to recruit some of the taller guys at school to try out because we lost our whole first string when they graduated. I’ve been six feet tall since I was fifteen, and Curtis tried to recruit me.
“We started hanging out so he could teach me the game because I had no idea how to play, and one night, we went to a party. We had some drinks, and he told me he was a virgin and wanted to have sex before he went off to college. He’d had sex with some girls, but he wanted to try it with a guy.
Hell, what did I care? We had sex in his old treehouse, and I kneeled on a rusty nail, but nothing could have stopped me from fucking him.
I had to go to the hospital and get a tetanus shot when my knee got infected.
I’ll never forget my first time because of that. ”
Kit tried to hold in his laugh, but I didn’t, and we ended up rolling around on the bed, both of us hysterically laughing and hanging on to each other. It was funny, but I loved hearing his deep laugh. I could listen to it for the rest of my life.