17—Interstate 55
Nope. I won’t be spending an incredible night of steamy bliss with my boyfriend, because instead of having the love of my life on my bus and in my bed during the drive to Indianapolis, I have Sage and Coriander.
They haven’t fought this hard since they both wanted the same hair color.
“You know I’m right!” Sage barks as she stomps into the room where Val and I are on the bed trying to work.
“Sagelicious is so much better than Corialicious!” she whines.
“And you can’t both be… licious?” I ask.
She gasps and shrinks back like I hit her. “We can’t have the same handle! I’d think you of all people would understand that.”
I should probably be offended at that remark, but I’m not entirely sure what I was attacked for. Also, I will take this to my grave, but Sage is right. Sagelicious sounds way better than Corialicious.
Val’s amusement is all over his face as he balances the laptop on his stomach, one arm tucked behind his head. I’m sure he too was disappointed that our epic night was crashed by a fight I still don’t fully understand, but he also tolerates “ridiculous” better than anyone I know.
“Don’t you both already have accounts?” I ask.
“Yes, but we’re starting a blog.”
“A blog,” I say skeptically.
“Yep.”
“About what?”
“Touring, silly! Being a famous musician!”
“Okay, but you’re not. You’re just… never mind. If you’re writing a?—”
“Videos. It’s a video blog.”
“Oh. So a vlog.”
“Yes, but it won’t be just videos. We’ll also do clothing or makeup or something.”
“You’re starting an entire brand?”
Val shifts on the bed. Yep, he’s definitely stifling a laugh. I’d glare at him but then I’d have to look at him, which would make me laugh (and mad that I’m not kissing him right now).
“Or makeup. Maybe lighting.”
“Lighting?”
“Name one celebrity lighting brand.”
She places a hand on her hip and waits with a smug expression.
“She’s got a point,” Val says without looking away from the screen. “What’s more ubiquitous than lights?”
“Exactly!” Sage agrees, even though there’s no way she knows what ubiquitous means.
Now I do glare at him, and crap. I was right. I have to swallow a snort at the glint in his eyes when they flicker to me. How is he able to look so adorable and hot just lying there pretending to work? His studio headphones are draped around his neck which is how I know he’s not.
“Okay. Sounds like you’ve really thought this through,” I say. “So if you’re filming a vlog or… selling lights… why do you each need a separate social media account? Wouldn’t you have one account for the entire… whatever this is?”
She opens her mouth to argue. Then closes it. Then squints at the ceiling.
“So you’re saying, we use Sagelicious for all of it and not even have one for each of us? Huh. Interesting.”
“Well, that’s not?—”
“Cor!” she shouts, jumping off the bed. Before I can stop her, she’s out of my room and halfway to the main lounge. “Larinda had a great idea. We use Sagelicious for everything. We don’t even need more than one account.”
“Why not Corialicious for everything?”
“Are you freaking kidding me? That will look ridic on a tote bag! Seriously, Cor.”
While the fight resumes, I shut the door. Then lock it.
“I’m so sorry,” I groan. “I just don’t feel right about passing them off to someone else when they get like this. That’s not fair to Bruce and the rest of the crew.”
“It’s fine,” he says with a smile. “I love how big your heart is.”
“Yeah?” I say in a coy tone as I climb toward him on the bed. “What else do you love about me?”
His grin is so stinkin’ special. And kissable. I lean in for a small taste. Then a bigger one. Then… sigh. Why fight it?
Soon I’m removing the laptop, his hat, headphones, and anything else preventing me from crowding him into the sheets and stealing the kiss I’ve been craving all night. The heat of his body burns between my thighs where we connect, and I sink down to enjoy enticing friction. He inhales sharply at the pressure, his eyes closing with a groan.
“This is a bad idea,” he mumbles, casting a look at the door where my two companions can still be heard arguing about… something that probably isn’t lighting science.
“So bad,” I say, leaning down for another deep, probing kiss.
Gosh, it feels good to have him again. I stretch over him, guiding our movements with my grip on his hair.
“No one can know about us,” he murmurs through our kiss.
“Correct,” I say, yanking his head back to suck on his neck. “I won’t leave a mark,” I tease against his skin.
His soft laugh erases any chance he has of convincing me to stop.
“Thanks.”
In one swift move, he flips us around and applies slow, hard pressure between my legs. I’m burning as I pull his head down for another kiss, practically whimpering when he drags his hips against me, over and over. My right leg tucks behind his to force him even closer. Agonizingly close.
“Maybe just a little?” I plead.
“A little what?” he says against my skin as he runs his lips over my collarbone.
“A little sex.”
“A little sex?” he says through a laugh. “What’s a little sex?”
“Gah! I don’t know. Just… this is killing me.”
“We can stop.”
“No! I want more, not less.”
His grin as he shakes his head is not helping. I tug him back to taste that too. My fingers tangle in his hair again as we kiss, our bodies grinding and exploring the other. Fire rips beneath my skin. Everything is burning and throbbing. This is absolute torture.
“Val…” I moan as he runs his hand along my side beneath my shirt. His fingertips taunt me with each brush just at the edge of where I want them.
“Yeah?”
“Touch me,” I whisper. I cover his hand and mold it to my breast.
Chills rake over my skin as he slips his fingers beneath the soft lace and begins a gentle massage. I arch into his touch, moaning at the sparks firing from each graze of my nipple. He pinches it gently, sending me writhing into the sheets.
“This okay?” he asks, kissing along my jaw.
“I’ve been waiting months for this.”
I feel his smile against my skin and trail my fingertips over the back of his neck.
“What have you been waiting for?” I ask.
He looks up with a devastating grin. “You really want to know?”
“Actually, I want to guess. This?” I graze my hand down his back and push beneath the hem of his sweatpants. He sucks in a breath when I sink my fingertips into the dense muscle waiting for me.
“Or maybe this?”
His eyes grow hot when I slide my hand over his hip to the front. We might have slipped back into my fantasy when I run my palm over the hardening bulge in his boxer briefs. Gosh, he feels good. And yes, I imagine this. All. The. Time.
I grip his hair with my other hand to resume our kiss, loving his immediate surrender. How the heck am I so lucky?
A thump at the door has us tensing in surprise.
Or not...
Val starts to roll off me, and I yank him back in place.
“Don’t you dare,” I whisper. “What?” I shout.
“Larinda? You in there?”
We exchange a look, and he stifles a laugh.
“Um. Yep,” I call back.
“Okay. We have a question about the cappuccino machine.”
My boyfriend’s silent laughter as he drops his forehead to my shoulder somehow manages to pull an exasperated smile from me as well.
“Yeah? What is it?”
“Can we show you? It’s pretty complicated.”
The entire process is two steps, one of which is pushing a button.
“Can we do it later?” I ask.
“Of course! No problem. We’ll wait here.”
Grr…
“It’s fine,” Val says, kissing my cheek.
I sigh and take his hand after he lifts off me.
“Tomorrow night. I promise,” I say, squeezing his fingers.
We lean in for another quick kiss…
That becomes more…
That becomes more…
That becomes… ugh. I force myself to let go.
“I’m dying to play with that bassline, anyway,” he says, reaching for the laptop.
I glare at the door. Funny, because I’m dying to play with something very different.