48. Chapter Forty-Seven
Chapter Forty-Seven
Scarlett
You’re Sapphire Faris, professional magazine article writer. You don’t like music and you definitely don’t listen to Chaos Burning on repeat daily, nor do you know every piece of trivia about them that has ever been released to the public.
You like silly rom-coms and the color blue.
And you would never, in a million years, have the hots for a rock star.
Never. Not even on a Sunday.
And certainly not today.
I take a deep breath as Xane leads us out to the beach.
Trick and Kian are sitting in the same area close to the trees, with a closed cooler in the shade.
Riley has moved further up the beach. He’s taken the other cooler with him.
That’s probably a good thing. I won’t be alone with anyone, but I won’t be surrounded by all four of them at once, either. At least, not until we’re back on the jet.
You can do this. It’s easy. Just stay focused.
It won’t be for much longer, anyway.
“Okay, here’s the plan,” Xane tells them, while I stand slightly behind him, to his left side.
I can feel Kian’s eyes on me, and I’m almost afraid to look at him.
This so isn’t me, but since that’s the point, I shouldn’t fight the feeling.
So, I stay where I am while Xane takes charge.
“The jet is running just fine. It might be a pain in the ass to get her turned around, but the slope we came down to get here should be fine as a runway.”
Trick raises an eyebrow. It disappears under his red hair.
“We can take off on a hill?”
“It’s not much of a hill, but, yeah, we have enough thrust for the gradient.”
Trick glances at Kian before he nods at Xane.
“O-kay. So, when are we leaving?”
Xane sighs. “As soon as we can wrangle Riley into the jet.”
Trick laughs. “Once the cooler is empty, then?”
“That’s probably not even enough beer to get him buzzed,” Kian mutters.
He sounds as low as he feels, and it really makes me wish I wasn’t an Omega.
I kiss my teeth, because there’s nothing I can say that’ll make him feel better.
“You’d better hope it is enough beer,” Xane says. “But here, take these.”
He takes a small bottle out of his pocket and tosses it to Trick.
The mid-air catch he makes is kind of impressive.
His reflexes are crazy-good.
“He can’t have these on top of all that booze.”
“That’s why I’m giving them to you. If he doesn’t pass out from the sun and the beer, you’re on sedatives duty. If we need to wait, we can wait. You can let me know.”
“Gee, thanks,” Trick mutters, as he pulls up the end of Riley’s over-long shirt and puts the bottle into his pocket.
“I’ll let you look after our guest, too.”
Xane nods at me, and I wish I could sink into the sand and bury myself.
Trick gives me a smile, but Kian is looking down when I finally glance at him.
I can’t explain why I got upset, and I can’t think of an excuse to make it better.
I know it’s for the best to leave things as they lie.
That way he doesn’t try to get close again.
It makes my stomach hurt.
And the urge to touch him comes and goes.
He did nothing wrong, but I can’t comfort him.
I got upset for a real reason, and I can’t let that happen again.
Ugh. I’m never suggesting a life swap with Sapphire again.
I had no idea this one would be so damn painful.
Xane strokes my arm, and I look up at him.
“You all good?” he asks quietly.
“I’m fine,” I lie, smiling to sell it.
He nods slowly, dropping his arm.
“Get Trick to bring you back to the jet whenever you want a break from these idiots.”
“Thanks,” I murmur, feeling a lump growing in my throat.
He’s being so nice to me, but at the same time he wants me out of their lives.
I never would have guessed Xane would be so sweetly considerate.
Especially to someone who’s basically a pain in his ass.
He walks away and I hold my purse tighter, standing there feeling awkward as hell.
I chew on my lip as I try to think up some excuse I can give Kian.
He looks up as he rises to his feet, his vibrant eyes fixing on me briefly.
“If anyone needs me, I’ll be monitoring Riley’s condition.”
He takes off before either of us can say a word.
I hesitate when I feel the urge to go after him.
I wish I’d had a tighter grip on my emotions when we were alone together.
He took me by surprise, and I was not prepared for how bad I was about to feel.
Who knew it would be so awful to feel like a guy I was into was into someone else?
So, that someone else happens to look exactly like me.
That should make me feel better, but it doesn’t.
He wasn’t flirting with the broke musician.
He was flirting with the shy writer.
And I seriously need to forget all of that.
It’s not what I’m here for.
Soul deflated, I look at Trick.
He gives me a half-smile. “Kian can be a real drama queen sometimes. Don’t worry about it. He’ll be back once he’s less angsty. Do you want some water?”
“I could use a sip, I guess,” I admit, as I move over to the shade where he’s sitting.
I hold out a hand for the bottle Trick’s offering.
It’s still cold, but thankfully not wet on the outside.
I take a couple of sips and realize I’m actually kind of thirsty.
I didn’t think I was, but maybe I’ve been too distracted to notice.
I take another, longer sip and then hand the bottle back to Trick.
“Thanks. I think I needed that.”
He shrugs as he secures the cap and sets the bottle down next to his leg.
“It’s hot out. All of us should be hydrating.”
He’s wearing a wry smile, and I can tell he’s thinking about Riley, who’s doing the complete opposite right now.
I turn slightly, but I only see Kian, sitting in a slouch with his back to us.
Riley’s hidden from view behind him, I guess.
Sighing softly, I turn back to Trick.
“How long do you think it’ll take for Riley to be transportable?”
He shrugs before he answers. “If he passes out after he’s been drinking, we could be out of here in a few hours.”
That doesn’t sound so bad.
I think I can handle a few more hours.
I let out a soft sigh as I try to sit more comfortably and find out I can’t.
It’s the fitted style of the dress I’m wearing.
This get-up would have been fine for an airconditioned bar, or for sitting out under a shade by the side of a pool, but there’s no room to slouch, so I guess I’m stuck sitting perfectly erect.
Changing wouldn’t help. I don’t think I packed anything more casual.
It’s funny how badly I want to be out of here.
This is exactly the kind of scenario I’d usually kill for a shot at, and I’m itching to leave.
All it took was realizing the cost of being Sapphire.
If only I could be myself. That would change everything.
When I look around, I’m still amazed by how beautiful this untouched island is.
It’s bright out under the scorching afternoon sun, and the water looks so sparkly and clear.
“Is Golden Palms anything like this?” I ask as I look back at Trick.
He smiles. “They have a beach that’s a little bit bigger, but it’s never as quiet as this.”
“This is pretty peaceful,” I admit.
“Yeah. It’s nice,” he agrees.
I remember what Kian told me about how much they work.
This is probably restful for him, even if how we ended up here was kinda crazy.
We sit in comfortable silence for a few minutes, looking out toward the sea.
“You can kinda see the baby sharks from here,” I tell him, pointing out the shadows in the rippling water.
“Yeah, I noticed. Weren’t you even a little bit scared when you realized they were in there with you before?”
“Not really. They’re so small. It was cool to be so close to one.”
“I guess I’m more of a cat person.”
I laugh. “I wouldn’t keep a shark as a pet.”
“Yeah, me either,” he jokes, giving me his trademark cute half-smile. “I don’t think I have a big enough bathtub. I mean, technically I don’t have a bathtub at all.”
“So, you have a shower at home,” I assume, because he definitely doesn’t smell like a guy who never washes, and I’ve been around more than my fair share of that type at festivals and gigs.
“No, but I have a tub and a shower in my room in most hotels. We live in the tour bus when we’re not in one of those.” He shrugs. “It’s weird, but you get used to it. Kinda.”
“So, none of you own a house, or an apartment?” I ask, trying to keep my shock to myself.
“I mean, Xane and Riley rented a place together when they were starting the band. They moved out when we started touring, way back when we were fresh on the scene. Kian still had a room at his parent’s house until a few years back, when they emailed to let him know they’d turned it into a guest room, and he could come get his clothes and stuff anytime he was in town. ”
“Wow. Was he okay with that?”
“Yeah. He’d been meaning to go clear out his room there for ages. Every time we were in town, he’d visit and forget to load up the tour bus.”
“If you had a place, would you get a cat?” I ask, making him laugh again.
“I don’t know. I’m kinda used to being on the road. Maybe one day.”
I nod slowly. “I get that. It’s probably a lot of fun, moving around from place to place.”
“It can be. We get to see a lot of the country.”
“But?”
He shrugs. “I don’t know. It would be nice to see more of the world, I think, but Xane doesn’t think we’re selling that well in other places, or whatever. I guess the money isn’t there if we wanted to go to Europe or the UK.”
My eyebrows shoot up, as shock rolls through me.
“Are you kidding me? You guys have a European fan club a quarter of a million strong …”
I press my lips together as I hold in the rest of the crazy stats I was about to spill in my surprise.
Composing myself, I go on, “Uh, I mean, you guys definitely have a following across the pond. I realized that when I was doing the research for this interview.”
“Huh,” he murmurs. “Really?”
My heart sinks as I realize what I did was worse than blurting out info he wouldn’t expect me to have. Judging by his frown, and the hint of confusion I’m feeling from him now, he’s wondering why Xane would lie about something like that.
“Yeah, but the costs could still be prohibitive, I guess. And you guys would need work visas. There’s a lot of admin involved if you’re gonna tour the rest of the world.”
Ugh. It sounds like I’m reaching.
I should have kept my mouth shut.
“Kian’s always down for any admin stuff that needs done,” Trick tells me. “Xane always has his reasons. It probably has something to do with money. Even if it’s not the exact reason he gave me.”
He shrugs and then leans back against the tree.
I can still feel confusion from him, and a hint of hurt feelings on top now, too.
His lead Alpha lied to him. He has every right to be upset.
I go back to staring out at the sea, while we sit there in silence.
It’s not comfortable any longer.