Reckless

Chapter 13

Krista is doing her part in taking my mind off this shit going on back in LA. In fact, a few times I forgot all about it because she keeps me laughing as we make the two-hour drive across the state.

Seeing Krista so carefree and enjoying herself is my new favorite thing.

Solene has texted periodically as we’ve been driving. She’s incredulous I’ve chosen not to fly back home. There isn’t anything I can do right now. Solene was talking about all kinds of legal things, saying we might get pulled into a court case.

I’m not convinced that will happen. Cody took money out of our pocket, yes, but he originally stole from the label, who then pay us. It will be the label’s legal team who deal with it, not us.

I told Solene to go hang out with her friends, let it go for now because I’m done talking about it.

My phone rings again. I groan, but it isn’t Solene. It’s Paul. We haven’t spoken in a couple of weeks, but I guess this is something we can’t avoid.

Krista glances over. “I should get this,” I say, and she smiles, but there is a tightness to it. She’s worried. That takes some more of the sting out of the situation, knowing she cares. Though I hate her worrying about me.

I pop the seatbelt and head back through the RV. I consider going to the bedroom, but when I spend any time in that room, it will not be on the phone to my band mate.

Paul is the quieter one out of the group. For him, the band is his life. He doesn’t have any family and when he’s not with us, he is with friends from other bands, working with them. He’s co-produced a new band's EP and is talking about doing a solo album. Which I, for one, have no problem with. As long as he’s happy. We all need a bit of happiness right now.

Paul is a good-looking fucker and has tons of female fans. He plays up to it, but our biggest kept secret in the band is Paul isn’t into women. I get why he doesn’t want to go public. Ultimately, it’s no one’s fucking business. It’s his choice. I would never force him to do anything he doesn’t want to do.

The label wants to keep it quiet, so it’s a non-issue where that is concerned, but I worry sometimes how heavily it weighs on him. Concealing your real identity from a few people is hard. Keeping it from the world… I can’t even imagine.

Given the way things have gone and how stressed out we all are, it’s got to have been harder for him, having this secret on top of it all. I feel bad for not reaching out, even though Paul hasn’t been vocal on the band taking time out. He has his own reasons for that, and I won’t downplay them.

When I answer, he gets right to it.

“This is a fucking mess,” he says. Stating the obvious.

“What’s it like there? I’ve only heard from Solene.”

“David isn’t happy,” he sighs, referring to the head of Quicksilver Entertainment, our label. “He lost his shit when it first came out. He wants to throw every charge they can at him.”

“It’s fucked up,” I slide down onto the dining table chair facing the back of the RV.

“I always knew there was something shady about him. Guess now we know.”

“Has anyone said how big the loss is?” I ask.

“We’re talking hundreds of thousands, not sure it’s quite a mill, but that’s still big change.”

“Christ.”

“What’s going on with you? Sol said you’re not coming home. You’re on some road trip or something?”

“Just for a couple of weeks. I’m not sure what I can add to the situation by coming back.”

“Nothing, I wouldn’t bother. If anything, they want to keep us out of the spotlight. Although you being missing is still big news.”

“I had nothing to do with that.”

“Yeah, it was Cody’s idea to let it go unanswered. I guess it added to the hype, his long-term plan to cash in on it when you came back.”

I never thought of it that way. I glossed over the road trip thing when I first joined Krista and, given I’ve not spoken to Paul, it hasn’t come up. I’m not sure if Solene has told the others I’m with a woman. She’s good at not spreading shit. Although her brother does sometimes get information out of her.

Krista doesn’t deserve to be dragged into any of the drama. The fewer people I talk to about her, the better.

“Anyway, the reason I called. I’m heading up to San Francisco this weekend to work with Isaac Monroe. I’ve been writing new material, and we want to lay some of it down.”

“Things are moving fast. I didn’t even know you’d contacted a producer.”

“Been doing it in the background,” he says. “He’s got other projects coming up in the next few weeks, so this is a good time for both of us, with Reckless being on a break. I’m not calling to ask permission.”

“Never said you were.” I bristle a little at his tone. “You don’t need to, Paul. I’m happy for you.”

He’s quiet and I suspect he doesn’t believe me. He clears his throat. “Solene says she is okay with it, but I’m not sure. I think she’s feeling some kind of way about us all abandoning her.”

“No one is abandoning her.”

“She’s being dramatic. Someone should tell you. Ethan’s handling it, but it might become a problem.”

Solene has been texting me more than usual. Fuck, do I have to worry about her now? Immediately, I feel bad for that thought, but another part of me thinks back on what Krista said to me. I have to think about myself. It’s the only way to heal.

Solene hasn’t outright said she needs me, but Paul reaching out like this speaks volumes about it. It means she’s mentioned it to him. She wouldn’t normally do that. I’m not sure she expected he would call and tell me. I am wondering if there is some level of calculation there.

I’m not mad at her. Things are changing. We’re not all living out of one another’s pockets. I’m away on this road trip. Paul is leaving to work on his solo album. It’s understandable she is getting nervous about it.

“Thanks for telling me. I’ll speak to her.”

“Or don’t. You are hiding away for a reason.”

“I’m not hiding away,” I say.

“You’re doing your own thing. Don’t get all twisted up about it. You do what you need to do.”

This is the most accommodating Paul has sounded in a while. Makes me wonder if he is going to be happier being away doing his own thing. At least my intention is to always come back to Reckless Soul. What if he doesn’t want to?

Fuck.

“Let me know how it goes with Isaac,” I say. “I’m glad you’ve got this to focus on.”

“Yeah, yeah. Catch you later, asshole.”

He hangs up without another word. I set the phone down and turn to the window, watching the other cars driving along the interstate. I used to do this a lot while we were on tour, watching the world going by, wondering what the lives of the occupants in the cars were like.

Right now, I’m that normal guy.

Krista knows I’ve finished my call but doesn’t say anything, and I appreciate that. It’s a side to her I’m coming to enjoy. That and her ass.

Yes. I’m thinking about her ass. So much shit has gone on today to impede me from getting my hands on that ass.

Well, tonight is going to be different. Where things go after that, I don’t know, but if we both want the same thing right now, then I’m going to take Krista’s advice and go after it.

I head back to the front of the RV and sit down. Krista gives me a quick glance, then focuses on the road again. I want to learn to drive this thing, to give her a break. She may be used to driving around for three months by herself, but me being along has changed up her schedule.

She hasn’t done much writing while I’ve been here. I’ve been taking up a lot of her time.

“What time do we get to the campsite?” I ask.

“Well, that’s tricky,” she says.

“Huh?”

“We’re about to cross into a different time zone. South Dakota is on mountain time in the west and Eastern time in the east of the state. So right now,” she looks at the clock on the dashboard. “It’s just gone three. It’ll be after five when we stop at Chamberlain in about twenty minutes.”

“I never knew that.” I shake my head. “That’s wild. We’re losing two whole hours.”

“We can get a longer sleep,” she smiles.

“Or we can use the extra hours for other activities.”

“You never stop,” she sighs.

“Nope. You’ll find that out later.”

“Oh my God, stop it,” she laughs. “Besides, you’re about to learn all about the darker side of RV travel.”

“What does that mean?”

“We have to dump our waste and fill back up on water supplies. Did you think the water for the shower and everything else just appears magically?”

My nose wrinkles. “Uh, honestly, I never thought about it.”

“Well, if you want to learn to drive the RV, you gotta learn how to take care of it.”

“You just don’t want to deal with the filthy stuff.”

“It’s good for you to learn these things. Can’t have you being a pampered rock star all the time.”

“Har, har,” I roll my eyes. “Bring it on. I can handle that.”

While Krista checks us in at the campsite when we arrive, I climb out and take everything in. This place is really nice, not like any of the other campsites we’ve stopped at. It’s right on the Missouri River. There are tons of trees around that give it an element of privacy between the different camping areas. RVs are away from the tents and there are several cabins.

I see signs to a shower block and gift shop, and along the river are a couple of large pontoons and kayaks. There are even people hanging out in the water, swimming, and playing. It’s busy with a lot of kids running around, but I don’t feel uneasy. It’s not the kind of place I’d expect Krista to stop, given she’s traveling on her own.

The fun begins when she takes me outside and opens up the compartments underneath the RV. There are tanks that have been collecting all our waste. Grey for water and black for the toilet. Luckily, it’s fairly straightforward to dispose of them at the dumping station, and Krista shows me how to reinsert everything.

Then she makes me man the hose, filling up the fresh-water tank which is fine by me. The weather is great and everyone around is enjoying themselves. For a while, I watch some kids with water pistols having a fight, ducking and hiding amongst the trees and bushes as they try to soak each other.

I don’t remember the last time I was that carefree. The smell of other people’s dinner make my stomach rumble. Once I’m sure the water tank is topped off, I disconnect the hose and seal everything up, then I go back inside.

Krista is on her laptop, but when she sees I’m done, she heads to the driver’s seat and drives us over to the RV site where we set up. I’m pleased to see there is a row of trees between our door side and the next parking bay.

We make fajitas together. There isn’t a lot of talk, but I keep accidentally on purpose bumping into her. She elbows me a few times. It’s not a kind of foreplay I’m used to, and not the way I usually behave around beautiful women, but it’s fun.

We set up on the small area of grass at the side of the RV to enjoy the weather and food, and I tell her about Paul’s plans to go to San Francisco to work on his solo album.

“Is that something you would ever do? Go solo?”

I shake my head. “Being part of Reckless Soul is all I ever want to do. I mean, never say never,” I add, sitting back and spreading my legs wide, getting comfortable. “Everything going on notwithstanding, I love being in the band. I can’t imagine making music without the other three. We’re family.”

“Do you worry Paul might like it and not want to come back?”

“That’d be his choice. I can’t influence it, but I don’t think he’d walk away. At least I hope not.”

Krista suggests a walk along the riverbank after dinner. It’s a nice night, and even though we pass people on the walk, no one gawks or whispers or tries to follow us. We reach a dock where there is a pontoon boat tied up. Another is out on the water, lights and music coming from it. They’re not being loud, but they’re having fun.

For a moment, I picture what it would be like if the band and the people who hang around us were out there. It wouldn’t be that sedate, that’s for sure. I enjoyed the parties, being around friends and the people I consider family.

It's hard to think about how bad things got, or that it was only a few days ago I walked out of a party and into the wilds of Montana.

I glance at Krista. For the first time in a long time, maybe even my entire life, I’m speechless. The sun is going down, but there is a streetlamp behind her, casting a halo around her. The whole thing makes her hair look like fire.

My type is dark hair and eyes. The thing about Krista, there is more to her than how she looks. Yes, she’s beautiful, but I’m drawn to more than that and frankly, it scares me a little.

In the real world, my rockstar world, if I’d heard about what Cody did a week ago, I would have run back there. Krista makes me want to stay away from it.

We’ve danced around this too long. I want this woman.

Krista turns and is about to say something when I step right up to her, push my hand up through her hair to cradle the back of her head, and pull her to me. She makes a small sound of surprise and one of her hands comes up to my chest. I trap it between us as I cover her mouth with mine, holding her close to me with a palm at the base of her spine.

The world fades. Each second stretches into an eternity. I never want it to end, as her mouth opens up to me. Her body surges, eagerly accepting and reciprocating everything I am putting into this kiss.

Her free hand drifts up into my hair, tangling in the strands and tugging, making a jolt of electricity run down my spine.

We kiss for what feels like an age. No one interrupts us, nothing stands between us. Eventually I slow the kiss, biting her lower lip and sucking it between my lips. The whimper she makes has my cock pressing against my zipper. I turn us so my back is to the river, just in case the people on the pontoon look over.

My hand trails over her hip, up her ribcage, and I ghost my fingertips over her breast. Krista gasps into my mouth and I deepen the kiss again, squeezing her breast in my hand. Before it gets indecent, I pull back. Her lips are wet, her eyes half closed. I’ve never seen anything sexier in my whole goddamn life.

Maintaining the contact, I circle her nipple with my fingertip. She curses under her breath.

“Should we head back?” I ask in a husky voice.

“God, yes.”

I can’t help the burst of surprised laughter at her tone. She wants what I want.

We have to get back to the RV. Now.

I take her hand and turn back on the path. I’d like to run, but I need to control my shit. Although power walking seems to be a new skill.