CHAPTER TEN #5
“Crazy, right?” Ethan looked down at his side. “I had no idea he could do something like this, and so quickly.”
Tyler joined them. “It would have come out a lot better if someone wasn’t so ticklish and kept moving.” He held up two paper cups. “Punch?”
Ethan inspected it and asked what kind of liquor it contained to make it light blue, but Wolf downed the entire thing before hearing any of the answers. It was sweet, but not too sweet, and cold, which he still needed after the T-shirt remarks.
Marshall and Amy arrived just as Wolf was pouring himself another cup of fancy blue punch from a big bowl that looked like the ocean, complete with tiny floating sailboats.
“You look adorable!” Tyler exclaimed, which made Wolf turn in their direction.
Marshall carried an inflatable surfboard that had a jagged chunk missing, obviously from a shark attack, and wore a T-shirt that said, “Bite Me.” Amy wore a fitted light gray tank dress that landed mid-thigh, showing off her long legs.
The neckline was adorned with white fabric shark teeth, there was a fin on her back, and a cute shark’s tail on her butt. It was precious!
“Where did you get that?” Tyler asked, his voice higher than usual. “It’s so much better than that Baby Shark tee I gave you.”
“ same-day delivery.” Amy flashed a grin.
“Look at this.” She lifted the attached hood, which continued with the shark teeth from the neckline of the dress and completed the shark’s jaw around the edge of the hood.
As if that wasn’t cute enough, the shark’s eyes were embroidered on either side of the hood.
“Oh. My. God.” Tyler threw his one hand up in the air and walked away. “I can’t even . . . there are no words.” He spun around. “You’ve done it. Girl, you shut me up.”
The retorts were begging to roll off Wolf’s tongue, but he kept quiet. Personal growth at its finest.
“I’m glad you like it,” Amy replied. “Oh, I invited my sisters and their boyfriends. Marshall assured me it was OK. They flew in this morning to see tomorrow night’s show.”
“And I invited two more roadies,” Marshall added.
“Now it’s a party!” Tyler replied.
People started arriving, not enough so it was out of hand, but enough to make it feel like a real party and not just the guys getting together. The roadies and the bus driver were honored to be invited, and it lifted their spirits. Even Paul shed his rigid exterior and was having a great time.
The only one not having a great time was the one person who should be enjoying it the most—Wolf.
He couldn’t enjoy his favorite movie of all time, because he couldn’t stop thinking about Harris and the little fantasy in the shower.
He pretended to watch the movie, jumping in all the right places and laughing at the classic one-liners, even reciting them in tandem on occasion, but his mind was on Harris.
He stole a glance in Harris’ direction, and the guy was looking straight at him.
His heart fluttered a little when they made eye contact, and a genuine smile turned up the corners of his mouth.
Harris raised his punch glass at Wolf as sort of an acknowledgement or toast, and Wolf returned the gesture. He didn’t want to watch the movie anymore. He wanted all these people to leave, and he wanted to hang out with Harris, alone.
Instead of sitting in front of the TV, Wolf moved around the room in an effort to make his way over to Harris who was standing behind the couch off to the side.
But he kept getting interrupted. One of the roadies thanked him for the invite, and another joined in the conversation.
Then Richie, the bus driver, shared an anecdote about something Wolf wasn’t paying attention to.
When he was finally making headway toward Harris, Ethan caught his arm.
“What’s up with you tonight? You look like you’re not into this Jawsathon.”
It figured that Ethan could see right through his facade, and if there was anyone in the world Wolf could be completely honest with, it was this guy.
But telling Ethan that Harris was all up in his head and making him think crazy thoughts might just be too insane to admit.
He needed someone to talk to, though, other than Harris because that might make things weird, and that was the last thing he wanted.
Ethan put his hand on Wolf’s back. “Hey. If there’s something bothering you, talk to me. You know you can tell me anything. I never judged you, and I never will. We’ve been through it all, brother. Together. What’s wrong?”
Wolf shifted his weight from foot to foot and took a few deep breaths. Fuck it. “Can we talk somewhere private?”
“Do you want to go out in the hall?”
“The hall’s not private. There’s a bunch of bodyguards out there.
” Wolf didn’t care that they all had signed NDA’s and were reputable.
He didn’t trust many people. He headed to his bedroom and motioned for Ethan to follow, then shut the door when they were inside.
“Don’t tell Harris I said anything. Promise? ”
“Of course.”
“OK.” Wolf paused. “Harris kissed me last night.”
Ethan pinched his brows together. “Why did he kiss you?”
“I don’t know. One minute I was eating a hot dog. The next minute I was making out with Harris.”
“You kissed him back?” Ethan’s brows rose sky high.
“Yeah. But then I was like, what the fuck’s going on?”
“Were you drinking?”
“We had a beer.”
‘What did he say after he kissed you?”
“He apologized.”
“What else happened?”
“That’s it.”
“Did you two fool around?”
“No.”
“Did you want to?”
“No.” Not last night. Today, yes, but he wasn’t sure he’d admit that if Ethan asked.
“OK. So that’s it? You shared a drunk kiss. That’s not a big deal. It happens.”
Only, they weren’t drunk.
“What else?” Ethan asked, aware there was more.
Wolf hesitated, but decided to be honest. “I was thinking about it in the shower and kinda ended up jerking off.”
Ethan let out an unexpected laugh. “Kinda?”
“It’s not funny.”
“Why are you freaked out about it?” Ethan asked, now completely serious. “Are you still thinking about the kiss and the jerking off?”
Wolf hesitated. “Yeah.”
“Well, don’t.” The tension lines in Ethan’s forehead and around his mouth grew tighter. “Harris is your friend and your bandmate, and you don’t want to fuck that up for a quick lay. Let it go and move on. Find a groupie or someone else.”
“You’re right. I guess.” But Wolf was only saying that for Ethan’s sake. He wasn’t sure what he was feeling for Harris, but he was curious and wanted to find out.
“Good. Because we don’t need anything fucking up the tour. Let me know if anything else happens.” Ethan marched toward the door and opened it, and Tyler fell into the bedroom.
“Oh. Sorry.” Tyler’s hand went to his chest while his cheeks turned bright pink. “I was just . . . um . . . walking by and fell into the door.”
“You fell into the door?” Ethan asked, skeptically.
“OK. I lied. I was listening like a nosey bitch.” Tyler put his hands on his hips and furrowed his brow. “What were you two doing in the bedroom with the door closed? I couldn’t hear a damn thing.”
Ethan smiled and placed his arm around Tyler’s shoulder, leading him out of the bedroom. “Wolf just wanted to tell me something that happened last night. Not a big deal. Retract the claws, pussycat.”
The guys left early the next morning to record a performance on a late-night TV show before heading to the venue. It was a hectic day, especially after the party where Harris drank too much of that funky punch that tasted great but snuck up on him.
Right before soundcheck at the venue, Ethan tugged on Harris’ arm and pulled him out of the green room and into the corridor. “I need to talk to you.”
The tight grip on his arm made Harris give his friend the side eye. “What’s the problem?”
Ethan let go and looked around to make sure no one was paying attention. There were dozens of people in the corridor, but they were all busy and oblivious. “What’s going on with you and Wolf?”
“Nothing.”
“Don’t give me that. Wolf told me you kissed him.”
“He told you?” Harris pursed his lips to the side. He was pissed because Wolf was the one who said not to tell anyone, and because he didn’t like the look on Ethan’s face right now.
“Wolf comes to me when he has something on his mind. You know that. If he has a problem, I’m the one he talks to.”
Harris wasn’t aware that the kiss was a problem.
They’d discussed it, and Wolf wasn’t upset.
If Harris remembered correctly, Wolf said he liked it.
They’d spent the entire day and night together yesterday and everything was fine.
But why would Wolf say anything about the kiss to Ethan? “What did he tell you?”
“He told me what happened, and I want to know what your intentions are.”
Harris grunted, annoyed at the line of questioning. “You sound like his father. He’s not a kid, Ethan.”
“Wolf is sensitive. He doesn’t need his heart broken again. Don’t take advantage of him just because he likes to sleep around.”
Annoyance turned to anger at the accusation and made Harris’ cheeks hot. “I wouldn’t do that to Wolf. Or to anyone. I’m not a predator. I like the guy.”
Ethan’s hard eyes softened a little, and he blew air out through his nostrils. “That’s not good enough. I don’t want you playing around with his heart. I don’t want him to get hurt.”
“Like you hurt him?” Harris shot back. He had a lot more to say on the subject but held back.
Ethan’s shoulders fell, and he looked deflated.
“Look. I still feel awful and guilty for everting that went on between me and him.” A tear glistened in the corner of Ethan’s eye.
“I love that guy. He’s the most important person in my life, besides Tyler.
I’d do anything for him. I don’t want him to get hurt—by anyone—but especially not by someone who he considers a good friend.
Wolf doesn’t have many friends. Me. You. Marsh. Tyler. That’s it. He trusts us.”
“I would never hurt Wolf. He’s one of my best friends too.” Harris stood tall, with his shoulders back and his chin high.
Ethan nodded once. “I said what I needed to say. But if this goes sideways and you hurt him, you’re gonna have to deal with me.”