Chapter 7
Xander
The second we walked into the hotel, I knew she was here. It was a sixth sense I’d developed. Probably similar to how priests could tell when someone was really possessed and not just faking it for attention. I felt a pressure change like a fissure to hell had opened.
And I knew.
“Xander Lang.” Her soprano voice rang through the lull in the lobby. “Fresh from the airport and still so damn handsome. It’s unfair, really.”
And for just a split second, I was reminded why we’d been together for so long. That smile, her sparkle was so fucking bewitching. Like a rainbow, all ethereal and elusive. And it reminded me so much of the girl I’d first met. The one so full of bravado in front of a crowd but so fucking vulnerable behind closed doors. So vulnerable with me and only me.
We’d spent the better part of a decade in and out of love. And Kelly was so indelibly linked to music and my career. Every time I saw her it was like I was twenty-five again—all full of hope and cocky swagger.
Then that wolfish smirk curved her lips when she saw she had me. “Long time no see.”
And I deflated like a balloon.
“If only it was never again.” I didn’t see the point in making her think I was happy to see her. I was pissed that she was in our hotel. I thought we’d agreed that this wasn’t going to happen. She was supposed to be somewhere, anywhere else in Belfast. There were other hotels here, right? “But I guess that’s the benefit to being a soul-sucking succubus—eternal life, right?”
“Tsk, tsk.” Kelly Evers crossed the lobby in a rolling hip motion that was probably more attractive if you didn’t know her ass was all implants and injections. “It doesn’t look good if the tour’s headliners aren’t getting along. That’s PR 101.”
“You’re not a headliner—you’re the opening act,” Harper drawled from next to me.
And I was ashamed to admit it, but I kinda slumped into her side, thankful for her support.
“Who the fuck is this?” Kelly stared Harper up and down like she was offended by Harper’s mere presence.
“Harper Grey.” She dropped my hand and stuck it out to Kelly. “Newly appointed tour manager for Black Hat Productions. So I know exactly who the headliner is. And it isn’t you.”
Kelly’s lip curled, and she ignored Harper’s hand. After a beat, she turned to me with what was probably meant to be an incredulous look, but her facial muscles didn’t move. “Really, Alexander? You’re fucking the help now?”
We all blinked in shocked surprised for a second. Then I shook my head. “What the fuck did you just say?”
“Hey. Hi!” Noah popped up next to Harper, pressing a hand against his chest. “Sorry, I couldn’t help overhearing. But—and correct me if I’m wrong—aren’t you engaged to your manager ?”
Kelly’s head reared back. “That’s different.”
“How?” Noah’s eyes bounced between me and her as a huge smile stretched across his face. “Because he put that rock on your finger that technically you bought since you’re paying him ten percent of everything you make?”
Kelly huffed and turned away from Noah to face me. “We need to talk.”
“Fuck that.” I shook my head. “If I had my way, I’d never have to see you again. I can guarantee you we have nothing to talk about. Come on, Harper. Let’s get our room key from Wes.”
“There’s a few things I want to say to Wes myself, actually.” Harper grabbed my hand and pulled me away from Kelly’s hostility to the end of the lobby where Wes stood with a bunch of paperwork.
“What the hell, Wes?” Harper hissed. “She’s not supposed to be in the same hotel as the guys. It’s literally the only thing they asked for—to have as little contact with her as possible, including accommodations.”
Wes lifted a hand. “It wasn’t my doing. Apparently her manager changed their booking because their previous hotel had plumbing issues.”
“I don’t care,” Harper snapped. “It’s unacceptable. And this isn’t happening again. I say we get the guys into private accommodations ASAP. If we book out an entire country home or whatever, then she can’t pop up and surprise the guys again like a skank-in-the-box.”
“Skank-in-the-box,” Noah crowed. “I fucking love it. And I’m stealing it. Oh! It also gives me a killer idea for a new tattoo. Xander, how about—”
“No.” I didn’t need to hear the end of that sentence. Hell, no one needed to hear it.
“Just hear me out!” Noah laughed.
“No.” I couldn’t take my eyes off Harper. She was so vibrant with her anger and the way she funneled it into her task. It was fucking intoxicating.
Wes nodded. “I agree. I’ll get to work on it while I wait for Marisol to arrive. In the meantime, here’s your room keys. You all have the top floor and the Victorian Loft Suites.”
“And where’s she staying?” Harper asked.
Wes shrugged. “Not entirely sure, but there’s five suites, and we booked them all—Tyler has the fifth. You all have your own private elevator so that should minimize interaction. I’m sorry, guys. I’ll work on getting this resolved with Marisol as soon as I can. We’ll get you booked into a different place tonight.”
Harper nodded. “Of course. I’ll start calling around now.”
“Not happening.” Everyone turned to give me incredulous looks. “Harper’s not helping on her day off. Even if we have to stay in the same hotel as that fucking harpy for a night.”
Wes inclined his head. “Agreed. Harper, go enjoy your day off. I have this under control.”
Harper gave him an imploring look. “But it’d go so much quicker if I—”
“Still not happening.” Wes shook his head. “Go enjoy your day off with your man.”
I grinned at the way she pouted. Because she’d rather be doing work. It was so fucking cute. And ridiculous.
“I think we need to enroll her in a twelve step workaholics program or something,” Noah said to me in a loud aside that everyone heard.
It would’ve been funny if it didn’t immediately make me think of Liam and the number of times I’d dragged him to NA meetings and rehabs. I tried to shake off the bad mood as I turned to Harper. “Come on. Let’s head up to the room and get refreshed. If you’re aching for something to plan, I have a few things I wanna do that’ll require some advanced planning.”
“Is that your idea of dirty talk?” Noah squinted at me. “’Cause, bro, if so, you’re doing it wrong.”
“Disagree.” Harper sent me a mischievous look. “I thought it was totally hot.”
Noah snorted. “You would.”
“More than I wanted to know.” Wes handed out room keycards. “I’ll contact you if we book something else tonight. Otherwise, be prepared to move hotels tomorrow.”
“Done and done. I’m not unpacking shit.” Noah galloped to the marked elevator.
Wes shook his head then turned to us. “I’ll probably be gone by the time you all get back. Marisol will be here though. She’ll coordinate with Harper on any changes we make. And I’ll be sure to update her on your relationship to avoid any awkwardness going forward.”
Harper’s face flushed, and she nodded quickly. “I uh, appreciate that, Wes. And thanks again for the opportunity. I promise you won’t regret it.”
“Not possible.” Wes smiled back at Harper before giving her a quick side hug. “Now go on and have some fun with your man. I’ve got everything here under control.”
“Thanks Wes.” Harper stepped out of his arms and took a step back.
I thanked Wes too, then took Harper’s hand and we followed Noah’s path at a regular pace, but still met him waiting for the elevator. I tossed a quick glance around the lobby. It was empty, aside from a few employees who were desperately trying to look like they weren’t staring.
Kelly had vanished just as quickly as she’d appeared.
I shuddered. What I ever saw in her, I couldn’t tell you. I was just glad I’d finally shook her free. Mostly.
“So where are we going?” Noah asked as we stepped onto the elevator.
“Top floor,” Harper replied.
Noah pressed the button but shook his head. “Nah, I mean after that. What’s the plan? What sights are we hitting today?”
“What? Are we a throuple now? Really?” I scoffed.
Noah rolled his eyes. “You know I’m not down for the devil’s threesome.”
“That’s not how I remember it.”
“ What?! ” Harper yelled. After a beat, she snorted and covered her face with her hands. “Never mind. I didn’t say that. As you were…” Gaspy little laughs and snorts came from her corner of the elevator.
“I didn’t mean it like that.” I crossed my arms over my chest with a huff.
“Yeah, man. It kinda sounds like we got it on together with another woman.” Noah smirked as his eyes bounced from me to Harper’s still hidden face. Mirth filled his eyes. “And for the life of me, I can’t remember that. How high was I?”
“I don’t know,” I replied, deadpanned. “But we can always ask Liam if you need a refresher.”
The smile fell off Noah’s face, and he sent me a scathing look.
A moment later, our elevator stopped, and the doors opened.
Noah stomped down the hall without another word to either of us.
Dammit.
Harper bumped into my side. Her fingers laced with mine before she gave my hand a sympathetic squeeze. I jumped as Noah’s door slammed shut.
Fuck. Me and my big mouth.
I waited until we entered our room before I turned to Harper. “Don’t—”
“Yeah. You don’t even have to finish that sentence. I’m not touching any part of what just happened with a ten foot pole.”
“I appreciate it.”
Sighing, I turned to take in our suite. We were standing in a small, narrow hallway. To the left was the sitting area. I spotted a small sofa, two pillowy chairs, a few tables, a tiny fireplace, and the obligatory tv on a sofa table. Directly in front of me was the bathroom with dark tile and I assumed all the usual fixtures. The room I had to see was on my right.
I walked down the tiny hallway to the bedroom. And all my fears were realized. The ornate gold filigreed bed looked more like a queen than a king size. Tiny. There had to be at least ten pillows dotting the flower patterned comforter. The whole aesthetic made the bed look smaller. Or maybe that was just my imagination since I’d be sharing the bed with Harper.
She might be tiny, but I definitely wasn’t. And I knew there was no way either of us would fit on that itty bitty sofa in the other room.
I really hoped we were changing hotels tonight.
Otherwise, this was going to be a long night.
I sighed and turned to Harper who’d also been contemplating our obvious accommodation issues. “You ready to have some fun?”
* * *
Of course nothing with this crew ever went seamlessly.
A call for a car and a security escort somehow turned into everyone in the band tagging along. While I’d been looking forward to an easy afternoon of getting to know Harper better, everyone had apparently conspired against me.
It was the only explanation I could come up with for why I was sandwiched between Noah and Jesse while Harper was between Ella and Shay.
“Smile!” Ella called as she pointed her ever-present camera at us.
We gave her our unimpressed rock star glare as she snapped away. Or at least I did.
“Just promise you won’t post anything until we’re back at the hotel,” I grumbled. “The last thing we need now is a fucking riot at Giant’s Causeway.”
“I thought we were going to Bushmills Distillery,” Noah whined. “You promised me whiskey.”
Chase raised his eyebrows. “You don’t even like whiskey.”
“Scotch,” Noah corrected. “I don’t like scotch. I hate the marshy taste. Bleh.”
Chase tried to cover his laugh with a cough. “Touché. You got me there. No, I forgot.”
“But Irish whiskey is—” Harper started to say when Chase cut her off.
“Completely different from scotch. My bad.”
We all snickered under our breaths. Despite the number of times we’d toured Ireland, this was a lesson that Noah had to learn repeatedly.
“Sorry about the hotel, Xan,” Chase whispered to me while the talk around us devolved into a discussion about everyone’s favorite drinks. “Tyler swore they would keep you guys apart.”
“I appreciate it. Not much we can do. Apparently their reservation was canceled due to a plumbing snafu. Hopefully Wes comes through with a house for us tonight.”
“Because there will be a ton of last-minute rentals available for the two nights leading up to our concert. Sure .” Chase gave me a sidelong look. “When did you turn into such a gullible schmuck?”
“Fuck off,” I grumbled.
“No, but really, it’s bullshit.” Chase shook his head. “I don’t know what the fuck Tyler and Wes were thinking.”
“I guess they thought the fact that no one got arrested when she opened for us in Vegas meant you guys were copacetic.”
Chase and I both turned to look at Noah.
“Copacetic?” I repeated after a short, shocked silence. “Are you high?”
“What? You guys kinda were, right?” Noah raised his eyebrows. “No one got arrested. No hotel rooms were trashed. The only bad thing that happened in Vegas didn’t even have to do with her . I kinda get why they did it, honestly.”
I’d actually been reacting to Noah’s use of such a big word, but I had to acknowledge he was right. Apparently I should’ve made a bigger ass of myself in Vegas to avoid this whole thing.
My bad.
Needless to say, I was quiet and brooding the rest of the trip. We all hopscotched across the weird rock formation at Giants Causeway. Took ridiculous photos as a group and then with couples. Harper’s breath hitched when I put my arm around her, and I couldn’t help but grin smugly down at her.
Then at the distillery we had more than a few in the bar at the end of the tour. They’d shut the place down just for us, and we took full advantage. By the sixth round, even I was stumbling over my feet.
After hitting a chippy for a round of fish and chips that were fucking out of this world, we all poured into the limo for the drive back to Belfast.
“Wait, wait!” Noah shouted. “I’m still confused. So it’s Irish Whiskey that has the peaty smoky shit? What the fuck do they put in scotch then?”
We all jeered and tossed a few fries at him. Which then devolved to Noah catching any food we tossed at him.
So despite the food, we were still a little unsteady when we pulled up to the hotel.
“Are we sleeping here tonight, Harper?” I shouted over the cacophony of everyone grabbing their shit and climbing out of the car. “What did Wes say?”
Harper swayed and squinted at her phone. “Wes can’t find anything big enough for you guys, plus the required security presence. Sounds like anything halfway decent is already booked.”
“Fuck.” I turned from her and saw through the hotel doors that Kelly was in the lobby. Again. “Fuck,” I repeated.
“Hey.” Harper shoved into my side until I was all but forced to put my arm around her. “That’s what I’m here for, remember? You don’t have to say anything to her. It’s me and you against the world, kid. I got you.”
Fuck. I must be really drunk because that got me straight in the feels.
So with my arm around Harper, we staggered through the lobby to our private elevator. But because it was me, we missed the first elevator car as Noah let the doors close when we were feet away.
“We’ll wait here with you for the next car, sir.”
I jumped. I didn’t even realize security had followed us to the elevator. “Right. Thanks.”
The next two minutes felt like an eternity.
“Alex! Alexander! We need to talk.”
Her voice rang through the lobby. I could feel everyone’s eyes turn to our corner of the lobby.
I shook my head. “Don’t got shit to say to you, Kelly. And for the last fucking time: don’t call me that! ”
Security stepped between us before Kelly even got close to us. “Ma’am, I’m going to need you to move away. This is a private elevator, and Mr. Lang needs some space.”
“Ma’am? Ma’am! ” Kelly screeched. “Do you know who I am? How fucking dare you ma’am me!”
The elevator bell chimed behind us, and I guided Harper in while everyone stayed facing Kelly. She was volatile and I didn’t want to turn my back to her.
Harper clung to the back of my jacket as we all awkwardly shuffled backward into the elevator. Walker, one of our security guards, stepped in and the other stayed to make sure Kelly didn’t follow.
“I’m sorry about that, Mr. Lang,” Walker said, facing the doors. “Please give us a call if you have any issues and also when you want to leave your room. We want to make sure that your stay in Ireland is safe and enjoyable.”
“I appreciate it,” I said calmly even as my heart raced.
Kelly had a way of getting under my skin. It used to be fun sparring with her. Now I didn’t even want to look at her, let alone hear her voice.
Walker followed us to the room and did a quick sweep as we stood in the hallway.
“All clear,” he said as he exited our room, holding the door open for us. “Enjoy your stay.”
The door clicked shut behind me, and I remembered the other bomb waiting for us.
There was only one bed.