Reckless

Chapter 22

The thought of them coming into the RV makes me baulk, even if Krista welcomes them. Instead, I make them walk away from that space. It’s mine and hers. I don’t want them in there.

We head to a picnic table where there is no one around. Luther doesn’t like it. I can read him like a book, but he doesn’t say anything. They hesitate to sit, but they look like idiots standing over me. So, I tell them to fucking sit their asses down.

Luther is slow to follow the order, but Riggs sits on the end of the bench, not putting his legs under the table. Eventually, the older bodyguard sits at the other end, also keeping his legs out. Easier to get up and deal with any threats, I guess.

“The place is full of old couples in RVs. I think we’re safe,” I tell them.

The RV is still in my line of sight. I can’t see Krista. I imagine she’s in there writing or cooking. She won’t be spying through the window. That isn’t who she is. Even if her curiosity is getting the better of her.

I love that about her.

Fuck.

“How long have you been following me?” I ask, pushing thoughts of Krista out of my head.

“Since you left Sioux Falls,” Luther says.

“You expect me to believe that?”

He doesn't answer. He was always close, if not right on my ass.

“You’re telling me you were in LA the whole time before Sol and Ethan came to South Dakota?” Still nothing. “Why don’t I believe you,” I say. It’s not a question.

“Believe what you want,” Luther finally says.

It’s not an admission, but he’s also not denying it. I should have known. Damn, I’ve been so caught up in everything I didn’t notice he has been watching us.

Watching out for us, but that’s irrelevant. It feels like I’ve been spied on the whole time I thought we were alone. Not that I think he’s been watching what is going on in the RV. I don’t like I wasn’t aware he was around.

The so-called freedom I got from the band and the label was never true freedom.

“Ethan getting arrested made everyone twitchy,” Riggs says. “Him and Solene being here made people speculate.”

Fucking knew that was going to happen. I won’t blame Sol. She needed me. That thought sends a spear of guilt through me again.

She could have left that asshole, Ethan at home.

We only caught up briefly before he was whisked back to LA. He apologized to me, but the fucker didn’t care he may have given away my location.

Without them being here, Krista is right. Things could have gone to shit today. Begrudgingly, I must admit that.

“You don’t need to keep following us.”

“What happened here today says differently.”

“I could have handled it.” We all know I couldn’t.

“You’ve been taking more risks as the days have gone on.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“I’ve diverted attention three times since you left Montana.”

“What?” My brows lift in surprise. “When?”

I had no clue and can’t think of any time when we might have been at risk. The gas station outside of Sioux Falls. That woman looked like she recognized me. Those guys today. When else had I put Krista in danger? Shit.

“The woman at the bookstore?”

“What woman at the bookstore?” Luther asks sharply.

Okay, so she wasn’t one of them. I wave my hand. “Just some woman who tried to tell me Krista’s books are shit.”

Luther doesn’t look appeased by that and shares a look with Riggs.

“She was harmless. Tried to buy me a coffee, she didn’t recognize me. And Krista saved the day, anyway.” I grin, remembering how she called me honey and got me out of there.

All this talk of diverting people who recognized me has me uneasy. Benson Boone's 'Beautiful Things' is drifting from the RV. What if something happens to her? I can’t fucking stand the thought of it.

“We need to be clear, just because you know, doesn’t mean I’m going to leave.”

They’ve been great security for us for years. They don’t interfere, they don’t pass comment or judgement, and even stood by while Ethan has pulled some stupid shit. They don’t report back to the record label. They’re very loyal that way. It’s the guilt that has me keeping my mouth shut.

I’m not ready to walk away, if that means these guys are around, so be it.

Scrubbing a hand down my face I ask, “What happened back at the park?”

“It was contained,” Luther says. “We deleted the pictures, but we can’t stop them from talking about it. They have no pictures of the woman.”

“Krista,” I snap. “Her name is Krista.”

Silence. They already know. Of course they do. Luther ran a background check on her and I’m sure Sol hasn’t been quiet about her with Riggs. They’re close. Or they were. I look over at him.

“Why aren’t you with Solene?”

“Because I was in the state when it was decided to watch over you.”

“When it was decided,” I huff out a laugh and look at Luther. “Right.”

“The plan is to have two people on you. It made sense I stay.”

“Nothing to do with anything else?” I challenge him. I won’t out Sol’s secret in front of Luther. I’m not even sure she’ll be thrilled with me discussing it with Riggs.

Luther looks between us and Riggs’s jaw grinds.

“No,” he says. “I go where I’m told to go.”

“Solene is fine,” Luther interrupts our tense stare off. “She is staying with Zosia for a couple of weeks, working up at her condo in Lake Tahoe.”

My brows lift. She hasn’t mentioned that.

“It was only agreed today,” Luther adds.

She’ll be okay with Zosia. They’ve become close friends even though Zos is younger than us. Sol has kind of taken her under her wing. Teaching her the ropes and perils of being in the rock industry as a woman. She’s just revamped her image, left her pop princess persona behind. It’s not an easy transition to make, but she seems like a sweet kid. Sol will be fine there.

She may even talk to her about what’s going on. I’m sure Zosia will be better placed to help her deal with her predicament. Fuck, that’s a shitty way to look at it. The predicament is a human being.

“So, what’s the plan?”

“That depends on you,” Luther says. “The label wants to be transparent about what is happening with Cody. That means confirming you’re not involved. It just coincided with the truth about what he was doing coming out.”

“They want me to make a statement?”

“You don’t need to go back to LA to do it.”

I eye Luther, reading between the lines. He doesn’t care where I am as long as he can keep me safe. Maybe it’s not a bad thing. And I’m glad to hear that the plan isn’t to drag me back to LA. Still, he’s even more stoic and tighter lipped than normal. We stare at each other across the table.

“I hate to get in between this smoldering intensity,” Riggs says, making me rear back and glare at him. “It might not be a good idea to stay in this locality.”

Our location could have been leaked despite Luther and Riggs’ best effort to contain it.

Damn, do we need to change direction? I don’t want to fuck up Krista’s schedule. One thing I’ve come to learn about her is she likes order. Her plan is set, it will bother her if they make us head some place off her planned track.

We’re heading to Duluth tomorrow, just shy of two hundred miles away from here. I won’t change her plans, but maybe we ought to set off tonight instead of waiting for tomorrow.

Telling them, Riggs agrees it’s a suitable compromise, eyeing his superior who still doesn’t speak.

I have to run it by Krista first. I tell them and get up to leave without another word. I don’t care where they go now, but they’ll be close, especially if we’re setting off soon.

The smell coming from the RV has my mouth watering. Krista looks up from the stove as I step in.

“Hungry?”

“Yeah, actually.”

“What about your friends?”

“They can get their own dinner.

“Jude.”

“What? They’re big enough to feed themselves, Krista.”

“I’ve made plenty.” She points to the burritos she’s filling.

Standing behind her, I wrap an arm around her waist and bury my head in her hair, inhaling the scent of cherries that is slowly becoming my favorite smell. She’s cute. Thoughtful. What the hell did I do to stumble across her in that field in Montana? And how have I kept her?

“I’m mad at them for sneaking around.” I already decided before I got back to the RV, I would not tell her Luther had been here since Montana.

Krista rolls her eyes. “You can pack some up and take them out to them.”

“You’re too nice.”

“How is that a bad thing?” she pokes me in the chest. “I can be hard when I need to be,” she adds, turning back to dish up the food.

There is an innuendo I could add to that, but I don’t, as I snag a piece of tomato from the chopping board. “How do you feel about leaving tonight?”

“Leaving?” She turns again, and I step back.

“For Duluth, setting out early.”

“Oh,” she rubs her lips together and I can’t help but grin.

She thought I meant I was leaving, and she didn’t like it. That shouldn’t make my chest swell. I’m already concluding there are stronger feelings here. Fast or not, there is no denying it.

“It could be a problem. We have nowhere booked to park up.”

“You can’t just pull over like you did in Montana?”

“Why would you want me to do that? What if another wandering rockstar turns up?”

“Don’t even joke about that shit,” I growl, pulling her into me. “I would need the bodyguards to stop me from doing violence.”

“I guess I can try to find somewhere on the drive. We shouldn’t park up on the road. It’s not safe.”

“If we can’t find a campsite, maybe we can spend the night in a motel or something?”

She frowns, but then nods. I hate that I’m messing up her plans. “We can set off after dinner, but we need to change the tanks while we’re near to the facilities.”

“And I know the perfect people to do that for us. They can work for their food.”

“They literally saved your ass this afternoon.”

I’m about to shrug, but she goes and says something that I can’t deny, and I should thank them for. Even if I add the caveat of emptying the toilet waste.

“They saved my ass too.”

I grumble and she laughs, but when she’s done, I wrap up the burritos and then go outside. They’ve moved the car away from us, but not far. They’re surprised and thank me, but tell me to fuck off when I mention the RV issue.

My cunning plan works because Krista goes out to do it. If they hadn’t reacted, I would take over. But before she even gets the doors open for the tanks, Riggs is striding over to help. Luther is standing by the open door looking in at me as I snicker.

He shakes his head, then goes to join Riggs. They both thank Krista for the food before dealing with the toilet waste.

There is some construction on the highway when we’re halfway to Duluth, which slows us right down. Krista is busy trying to find us somewhere to stay tonight while I drive.

“That’s great, no I appreciate it, Justine. And thanks for staying late. We should be there in about twenty minutes. You’ve helped me out,” she laughs. “Yeah, no problem…. A murder? Damn, that went dark fast.”

What the hell?

“I’ll see what I can do. See you soon.”

“What was that?” I ask as she comes back to the front of the RV.

“The ranger at a state camping park I went to a few years ago said a cancellation came in this afternoon. She’s a fan,” she adds bashfully.

“She wants you to write a murder based there in your next book for doing you a favor, don’t they?”

“Yep. I try not to use actual places in my books. I can base it on the site, but I won’t use their name. I don’t want to give them any negative publicity, even if it is fiction.”

We arrive almost forty minutes after the call because of having to divert back to get to the campsite we already passed. The ranger is over the moon to see Krista and gives her a huge hug.

This woman. Even the guys are impressed when I explain the situation. Luther approaches the ranger, asking to speak to her about them being on the land without camping. She looks put out by it but Krista sweet talks her again.

They have to park at our site, which is irritating, but it’s not like they’re coming in.

“All I ask is you keep your area clean,” the ranger says as she walks us back out to the RV, looking more serious suddenly. “We’ve had some bear sightings in the last couple of days. Wouldn’t want to encourage them to head into the camping site.”

“What?” My eyes widen.

“They won’t come over,” Krista waves to the ranger who walks away after Krista reassures her she knows the drill. “But not giving them a reason to come say hi is a good idea.”

I glance around the site but see nothing. “What does that mean, exactly?”

“No food outside. We’re okay because we’re in the RV. It’s more for campers who have to be careful with their food storage. But even trash can attract them. They can smell bacon cooking from three miles away.”

“So can Solene,” Riggs mutters.

“That’s true.” I narrow my eyes at him. Bacon is her favorite food. He knows a lot more about her than I thought.

Luther is unconcerned as he walks back to the car. Riggs still looks around nervously. They’ll be sleeping in their car, so I guess they have more to be worried about. Krista lets them inside the RV for a little while, but I draw the line at them sleeping here. It’s what they deserve for lying to me.

They leave all their food inside and only take water to the car. Krista is upset they’re doing it, but Luther reassures her they’re fine.

We settle down to watch TV after they’ve gone. I’m playing with her hair as she leans her head on my shoulder when Solene calls. Krista sits up, expecting me to move away, but I stay where I am and encourage her back into the spot against my chest.

“Riggs called,” Solene says when I answer.

“How long have you known he was here?”

“I didn’t. I swear. I only found out when he called to tell me what happened at the park. And I had no clue Luther was following you. Are you and Krista okay? How did she handle it?”

“We’re fine. Thanks for asking. How are you?” I don’t elaborate anymore about Krista. I want her to meet Sol at some point, if she’s willing. “Riggs said you’re in Tahoe.”

“I’m getting around just as much as you,” she laughs. “I’m good. Tired.”

I want to ask her about the baby, but I won’t with Krista here.

“I’m having a good time with Zosia. You know how she is. Always fun to be around.”

Yeah. I do. She hit on me once, after admitting she’d had a crush for months. I never took it seriously because she is nineteen years old. A lot of other guys would have taken advantage of that, but it creeped me out.

I’m almost ten years older than her. It felt wrong. She’s a good kid, and it only took me saying that for her to back off. I didn’t intend to embarrass her, but there didn’t seem to be any other way to let her down.

“It’s safe up there? With Riggs being here?”

“Yes, of course it is. Zosia has amazing security at this place, and she also has someone watching out for her. He’s cute. I think she has a thing for him.”

“Seems to be a theme,” I mutter.

“Yeah well…” she goes quiet. I’m about to change the subject when she speaks. “It doesn’t matter what was happening there. It’s all changed now.”

“So, something was happening?”

“Maybe. I don’t know. It can’t now, right? What man wants to be saddled with someone else’s kid?”

I tilt my head to look down at Krista. There is no way she can’t hear my side of the conversation. She may have heard Solene.

“Don’t worry about that. I’ve got it handled.”

“Have you?” I ask.

She sniffs. “Yeah. It is what it is. I’ve thought about it a lot, Jude. I can’t get rid of it. I know it’ll be tough, but I can’t do that.”

“Whatever you choose, you know I’m here for you,” I say softly.

Another sniff and I close my eyes, wishing I was with her.

“Anyway, I wanted to check you were okay and to tell you Ethan is back in Ohio. He’s visiting mom for a couple of weeks.”

“He’s been sent to the naughty corner,” I laugh.

“Yeah, more or less. Mom is not impressed.”

We chat a little while longer and after some coercion from Solene, I put the phone on speaker so I can introduce her to Krista. They talk about me mostly, but it’s all surface stuff. When we hang up, my mood is a little bleaker. I’ll be there for Sol, whatever she needs. I’ll back her to the ends of the earth with the record label.

Part of me is worried. Paul is off making his own album and Ethan has been effectively banished, and me with Krista. Solene being pregnant is a big deal that will affect the future of Reckless Soul. It's a lot to think about.

Luther and Riggs make it through the night unscathed. They disappear to get cleaned up while Krista and I explore the park. We’ve crossed the swing bridge over the river twice, once walking the second time running to see who can go fastest. Surprisingly, she beat me. But then again, she’s fearless.

As we approach a quiet tree lined area, Krista grows quiet. It's like any other field to me, then I see a headstone. It looks really old, and I spot a few more around the field. They are so out of place.

“It’s the Pioneer Cemetery,” Krista explains.

I walk over to the tallest headstone and read the epitaph. Died in 1882. Wow. As I look down at the aged and moss covered headstone, I wonder who this guy was, what his life was like and how he came to be buried here. I say as much to Krista.

“A lot of settlers came through here,” Krista says. “It’s hard to know what their lives were like, or where they settled. It’s peaceful though.”

“Yeah.” I take her hand and we walk through the rest of the area in respectful silence. The thought that this is some kind of tourist attraction doesn’t sit right with me.

I rarely think about my own mortality. The last few months, when I’ve felt like I was dying aside, death isn’t something I choose to dwell on. I haven’t lost many close relatives or any friends in my lifetime, but it is part of the cycle of life.

We’re all gonna die at some point. I just hope it's way, way in the future, for me and the people I care about.

I wonder what people will think of me in a hundred years, or if anyone will even care. It makes me think of Solene again. She’s creating a new life, another generation that means a part of her will go on.

Kids haven’t crossed my mind much. I watch Krista as she makes her way out of the cemetery ahead of me, and I picture a miniature version of her, holding her hand as they walk through the forest. It sends a jolt through me. I shake it off fast. Those kinds of thoughts are dangerous.

We maintain that respectful silence until we’re back across the swing bridge and heading to the RV.

“I’ve been thinking,” I say as we near the campsite.

“About what?” she asks.

“The itinerary.”

“Yeah?” she pauses for me to come in line with her.

I fix some hair that has blown across her cheek. It’s tied up but her ponytail is so long. If she hadn’t been so skittish about the guys being outside, I’d have made her tie it up like that, and held on to it while I fucked her from behind. Shit, that is something to think about for later.

“Jude?” she nudges my stomach. Her expression says she can see where my mind is going.

“Sorry,” I blatantly adjust my cock and wink when she widens her eyes. “So, you still have about three weeks before you need to get to Chicago for the convention?” She nods. “How do you feel about getting there a week earlier?”

“Why?”

That she asks so matter of fact makes me grin. “You’ve been driving around for over a month now and when you get to Chicago, it sounds like it’s gonna be a crazy three days. Then you have to drive all the way back to California. So, I was thinking we could get a hotel the week before, and take a proper break.”

“Together?”

“Well, you can go alone if you want, but I was thinking it would be more fun with me there.” I step close and pull her into me.

“What would we do for a week?”

“Use your imagination,” I grip her ass. She glances around to make sure no one is looking but melts against me, tipping her head up.

I’ve had her all to myself, mostly. If we’re separating at Chicago, I want to spend as much time as I can with her and convince her it won’t be so bad if we stay in touch. Or… more. I’ve already successfully convinced her to let me stay with her for the entire journey to Chicago.

She lowers her head and looks to the side. Fuck, have I read this whole thing wrong?

“You deserve a break from all the driving, and cleaning out toilet waste. I want to treat you. With Riggs and Luther around, we can go out too, someplace nice.”

“I don’t need you to buy me things or take me places to enjoy being with you, Jude.”

Another thing about her I’m falling for.

“So, we’ll stay in the room. Think about it. I can make arrangements while we carry on with the trip.”

“Alright.”

“Alright, yes or alright you’ll think about it.”

“I’ll think about it,” she kisses my jaw, then squeezes my cock before pulling back and walking away.

That ponytail thing is so happening tonight.