Chapter 14
Chapter Fourteen
LUCA
My alarm went off far too early the next morning.
Shutting it off, I turned my attention to the man in my bed.
Normally I kissed my one-night stands farewell at the door, never letting them stay the night. Even with Jorge, the only time we’d shared a bed was when we travelled together.
But things were different with Ollie. I felt differently about him. It might be stupid to pin all my hopes of settling down on the man snoring beside me, but honestly? Right now, it was hard to picture anyone else in his place.
I wasn’t saying I was in love with him or anything…it was way too fast for that.
But for the first time ever, I could see myself falling. Fuck, I hoped Ollie would be there to catch me.
The man in question stirred, his eyes opening blearily. “Morning.”
“Morning.” I brushed a kiss over his lips. Then I remembered my medication. Sitting up, I popped a pill from the packet I kept on my nightstand and swallowed it with a sip of water from the bottle I’d put next to it the night before.
Ollie watched me lazily, a touch of curiosity in his eyes. I flashed the packet in his direction. “SSRI. I take one a day to keep my anxiety under control.”
“Smart,” Ollie said with a yawn. “Mum was always better when she took hers. She never stuck with it though. She thought taking them was…weak or something. I don’t know.”
I sighed. That was such a common misconception.
The stigma surrounding medication for mental health conditions was so damaging.
“That really sucks. I’m so sorry. It’s frustrating that people are judgmental about antidepressants.
Like, if I had diabetes and needed insulin every day, they wouldn’t bat an eye.
But because the condition is in my mind, that’s somehow different?
” I shook my head in frustration. “It’s a ridiculous attitude. ”
Ollie ran a hand idly over my thigh. “Preaching to the choir. Seriously, though, it’s good you keep on top of it.”
“It’s how I’ve got to be. I’ve learned the hard way that I can’t just ignore it and hope it goes away.” I grazed my knuckles along Ollie’s chest, goosebumps chasing my touch. “Have to say, waking up in bed with you is almost as effective as the medication. Did you sleep okay?”
“Like a log.” He lifted his own phone from the nightstand and groaned. “Could use a few more hours though. Aren’t rock stars supposed to sleep the day away?”
I snorted, climbing out of bed and putting a cup under the fancy coffee machine.
Thanks to the brief time I worked in Hell on Earth—AKA soft play—I was au fait with how to work it.
Couldn’t have parents being uncaffeinated while their demonic spawn ran riot through the play centre.
This suite came with a butler to do this sort of thing for me, but I never bothered.
There were some luxuries I gave in to, but letting people wait on me when I was perfectly capable of doing it myself was not one of them.
“Not while we’re on tour…especially not one with as many stops as this one. ”
“Yeah.” Ollie stood and stretched, his joints popping. The lines of his naked body reminded me of the night before. How his muscles had rippled as I rode him. The way his lips looked when he’d shouted my name. I’d had a lot of sex in my life, something I wasn’t at all ashamed of.
But nothing had come close to what Ollie and I had shared.
“Luca?”
I jumped guiltily, Ollie’s voice pulling me from my reminiscing. “Sorry, what did you say?”
He rubbed a hand on the back of his neck, making his bicep bulge. My mouth dried out. “Don’t you ever wish you had more time to explore the sights?”
I forced myself to focus on the coffee. If I didn’t, there was a chance I’d end up taking Ollie back to bed just so I could explore his body in the daylight.
As I didn’t fancy having to explain to Kevin why we’d missed our flight, I needed to not be looking at Ollie right now.
“Not really,” I said, answering Ollie’s question. “During our first few tours, our management arranged several sightseeing outings and stuff like that. Now, I kind of feel like I’ve seen it all, especially in the big cities like this.”
“Makes sense,” Ollie said, staring out the window wistfully. Then he jolted before turning to me with a thin smile. “Guess I better go back to my room so we can make a move.”
“Wait.” I put the cups to the side and pulled him into my arms. “Have you not been here before?”
He gave a bashful shrug. “No, but I’ve not been anywhere, really. Except for Poland on a school trip. But this has been great—I’ll definitely come back one day to see more.”
“Shit, I wish I’d known. Maybe we could’ve taken in some sights.”
Ollie’s eyes bugged out of his head. “No, that’s not why I was saying it. Honestly, simply being here is awesome. I saw so much just on the drive alone.”
I mentally began flicking through the future tour stops, a brief plan coming together in my head. “Maybe one day I’ll bring you back here.”
“I can bring myself back,” Ollie said, leaning forward to nuzzle my neck. “I don’t need you paying my way, thank you very much.”
I winced. Okay, that didn’t bode well.
Changing the subject, I smoothed my hands over Ollie’s rear. “Shower with me?”
His eyes darkened. “I don’t have any clothes. And I need to pack.”
“That’s easily fixed.” Releasing Ollie, I strode across the room and picked up the phone. The butler assigned to me answered immediately. In a few sentences, I’d arranged for Ollie’s belongings to be packed and delivered to my room.
I wouldn’t have the butler wait on me…but I was prepared to utilise them if it bought me a few more minutes of privacy with Ollie.
Ollie was gaping at me. “Did you just…?”
I grabbed his hand, grinning at him over my shoulder and pulling him towards the bathroom. “Just roll with it. If we hurry, we can combine our shower with orgasms.”
Ollie put an arm around my waist, lifting me clean off the floor and carrying me into the bathroom. “Why didn’t you say so?”
Ollie was back in professional mode. From the moment we stepped out of my room to greet Jack to boarding the jet at Fiumicino, he didn’t let his demeanour slip. He was polite, distant, controlled.
It was driving me crazy.
Not that I’d expected anything different. For fuck’s sake, I was the one who’d said we’d keep up appearances while on tour. Then, once all the articles were released, we could take our relationship public.
So long as that was what Ollie wanted…
I held it together until Ollie boarded the plane, deep in conversation with Marta.
He walked down the aisle without even glancing in my direction.
My scowl deepened with every step he took.
Kai was saying something to me, but I couldn’t hear him past the blood rushing in my ears.
All my attention was on the far-too-pretty makeup artist and the man I’d taken to bed the night before.
Without breaking their conversation, Ollie took his seat and began buckling. Marta beamed as she slipped into the one next to him, tossing her hair over her shoulder.
It was the hair flick that did it.
Unbuttoning my belt, I crossed the aisle. It took more effort than usual to find my charming smile. “Hi, Marta. We need to switch seats.”
Ollie’s head snapped up, his lips twitching like he was fighting a smirk. “Problem, Mr Weston?”
I took a steadying breath. Fucker knew exactly what he was doing, calling me that. “Yes, actually. I won’t have time to do the interview later, so we need to do it now.”
Ollie’s eyes flashed as he caught on. “Not a problem. I’m happy to fit you in now.”
My cock thickened. Yeah, I’d love for him to fit me in too.
“Sorry, Marta.” Ollie gave her a warm smile that made me want to straddle his lap and shove my tongue down his throat. “Do you mind swapping with Mr Weston so I can conduct his interview?”
The pinched lines around Marta’s lips implied she did mind, but she could hardly say no. “Not a problem.”
I stepped back as she gathered her things, ignoring the knowing looks from my bandmates. Fortunately, Kevin was deep in conversation with Jack, oblivious to everything happening at this end of the plane.
Marta ran a hand over Ollie’s shoulder, a flirty smile on her face. “I’ll catch up with you later.”
Ollie stiffened, and it made me want to smack her hand away. “Thanks, Marta. I’m sure I’ll see you around.”
Marta didn’t take my seat, instead choosing to sit with the other stylists like she usually did.
“She likes you.”
“And I like you,” Ollie said matter-of-factly, staring at the safety card like it held all the secrets of the universe.
“You do?”
His gaze cut sideways. “I would’ve thought last night would’ve answered that for you. Especially with what I said to Jack.”
That was true. I chanced a brush over his thigh. “Still nice to hear it.”
“I can’t…” He sighed. “I’m not good at this, Luca. I told you that.”
“What do you mean? What are you not good at?”
“This.” He gestured helplessly. “Talking about feelings and stuff. I’ve spent my whole life trying to feel as little as possible, then you come along and…”
His voice trailed away. “And what?”
“And…you’re making me feel everything. It’s too fucking much, Luca, and I don’t know what to do about it.” He sighed, rubbing a hand over his face. “This isn’t the time nor the place to be having this conversation.”
“It’s not,” I agreed. The seatbelt sign clicked off, indicating we’d reached cruising altitude. “Come on.”
Ollie followed me silently as I got up from my seat and headed for the bedroom at the back of the plane. Kevin and Jack looked up questioningly as we passed.
“Just heading back here to do the interview,” I said breezily. “Too noisy out here.”
Kevin nodded before going back to his laptop. Jack narrowed his eyes like he was warning me to be careful.
Ollie closed the door behind us, immediately looking at the spot where I’d blown him a few days ago.
I dropped onto the bed. “You going to stay there?”