19. Meadow
Chapter 19
Meadow
“ M eadow Marie Reed!” Clover hissed. “Are you fucking serious? I can’t have a rock star in my car. It hasn’t been cleaned since I bought it.”
“I don’t think he’s going to care.”
“But I care. It’s bad enough you got bonded and knocked up by my celebrity crush, but now I have to be in a car with him for twelve hours? This is cruel.”
“We can both be in hell together,” I said with a laugh. “I’m the one stuck with a one-night stand turned baby daddy and bond mate.”
Clover let out a huff. “Do you think he’ll spring for road trip snacks? We could get actual name-brand shit.”
That was a perk I hadn’t thought of. “Let me ask. I guess it’s not like he can really go into a grocery store and get stuff himself, so we need to pick things up before we leave.”
Clover nodded sagely. “Can’t leave him in the car while we go in. Not allowed with dogs, babies, or rock stars.”
Meadow:
What should we do for road trip snacks?
Hendrix:
Give me a list of anything you want, and I’ll have the team pick it up
Clover snatched the phone out of my hands and typed back an exorbitant list.
Hendrix:
I forwarded it
Are you and your friend picking me up from the hotel, or should I arrange a ride to you?
Meadow:
We’ll come get you
Clover and I took turns packing and showering, trying to make ourselves presentable, even though we were going to be sweaty travel goblins by the end of the trip, anyway. I blow-dried my hair while Clover sang her heart out in the shower, and I changed into comfy leggings, slip-on shoes, and a slouchy boat-neck top.
After we checked out, we went straight to the hotel where Hard Knot Life was staying. Anxiety grew the closer we got, and we had to maneuver through a sea of paparazzi. Luckily, they had no idea who we were, and unluckily, neither did the hotel staff, who tried to push us out of the lobby almost as soon as we entered.
“Hey!” Hendrix’s voice snapped through the air, and the hotel staff paused, turning to him. “They’re with us. Let them in.”
He trotted over, looking like a snack in dark jeans and a snug black tee, but paused awkwardly in front of me, like he wasn’t quite sure what to do. Arlo didn’t have the same issue, sprinting across the lobby to scoop me up in a spinning hug.
“Hey there, princess. Any room on that road trip for me? Hardly fair that Hendrix gets to hog you.”
Clover looked like she was about to faint at the suggestion.
“Clover’s car is little,” I explained. “We were already pretty squished with just the two of us. Hendrix is going to be a sardine in the back seat.”
Arlo pouted. “I guess that’s fair. We’ll see you soon in Seattle, though.”
Heat rolled through me. How the fuck was this my life? “Yep,” I squeaked out.
“Don’t have too much fun without me.” He drew me into a kiss that had my toes curling, and Hendrix strategically moved in front of us to block the view from the paparazzi before smacking Arlo in the arm.
“Do you want the paps to be up her ass? Don’t kiss her when anyone can see.”
“Sorry.” Arlo had the grace to look sheepish.
Beckett and Phineas joined us, and Clover got that much closer to actually fainting.
“Bring the vehicle to the underground parking garage.” Beckett handed Clover a hotel parking pass. “This will get you in and out. Make sure Hendrix ducks down when you’re leaving.”
“On it.” Clover took the pass from him and disappeared back outside, leaving me alone with the band.
“You’re absolutely sure we can’t fly you back to Seattle and hire a car to pick you up from the airport?” Beckett asked.
“I’m sure. Clover drove all this way with me, and it would be a dick move if I made her do that whole drive back alone.”
Beckett pursed his lips. “All right, but please check in. And you—” He turned to Hendrix. “—behave.”
“I’m insulted you think I wouldn’t.”
Phin snorted, covering his laugh with his hand.
“I’ll be fine for as long as it takes you all to get to Seattle. Calm down, Daddy Beckett.”
Phin and Arlo laughed, but Beckett only frowned.
“I’ll keep an eye on him,” I promised.
Beckett sighed and stepped forward, cupping the back of my head to draw me in so he could kiss my forehead. “Be safe.”
I clamped my lips together to stop a little whine from sneaking out. Apparently I was a sucker for gentle affection. “I will. Clover is a little wild, but she’s a great driver.”
Phin kissed my cheek, and they all hugged Hendrix before ushering us away to meet Clover in the underground parking lot. One of their staffers met us, loading one bag of dry snacks and a cooler of drinks and healthy alternatives, as well as a stockpile of sunscreen, spare phone chargers, and a tablet with one of those fancy little sticks that let you have Internet everywhere.
Once Hendrix was crammed into the back seat and I was buckled in, we set off. Hendrix burrowed under a blanket as we left the hotel, and once we hit the edge of Salt Lake City and the end of potential red lights, he whipped off the blanket and his shoes, getting as comfortable as he could with the limited space.
“Are you okay back there?” Clover asked.
“It reminds me of the old days. We had about this much room, maybe a bit less, when we were starting out.” He let out a happy sigh. “Honestly, I’m fine with anything as long as Meadow is nearby.”
Those words had my perfume erupting, and Clover gave me a sidelong glance. Hendrix’s own scent bloomed in response.
“Okay, you two are going to have to get a handle on that, or I’m going to suffocate on this trip,” Clover admonished with a little smile. She used her driver buttons to open up all the windows a crack, but that only made Hendrix lean closer, resting his forearms on the back of my seat, his chin on his elbow.
“Sorry,” he said quietly. “New to the whole bond mate thing.”
I shifted in my seat, his presence at my back making all of my little hairs stand at attention.
“Okay, it’s time for Clover asks invasive questions to kill the mood .” She beamed at us. “Apollo, wh?—”
“Hendrix,” he interrupted. “Only fans call me Apollo. You’re basically family in a roundabout way now, so it feels weird.”
Clover danced in her seat. “Okay, Hendrix , what’s your most embarrassing childhood moment?”
“Probably the time Arlo dyed a bucket of water yellow and dumped it in the pool behind me when I wasn’t paying attention. My friends called me Pee Pool Henny for two years after that.”
Clover let out a cackle. “Incredible. Your turn, Meads.”
“Oh god. Okay, in sixth grade, I had a wicked crush on our teacher, and he had a policy that if anyone was caught passing notes, they would be read at the front of the class. One of my frenemies wrote a note asking if I was still planning on asking him to marry me and to tell her what he said. She made this big dramatic show of trying to pass it to me, which of course, caught his attention. I think he might’ve been just as embarrassed as I was that day.”
Clover had heard the story before, but she laughed anyway, and Hendrix did too.
“On the bright side, he did get rid of his reading-notes-out-loud policy.”
A lot of the trip was like that, with all of us speedrunning getting to know each other. Sometimes Hendrix was hesitant to share, and then one of us went first to coax it out of him. We played driving games and stopped for drive-thru meals, where Hendrix had to hide and I had to dash inside to pee. By the halfway point, when he was finally relaxing, Clover took a chance and put on some Hard Knot Life songs.
I didn’t know any of the lyrics, but hearing his voice echo behind me as he sang along had goose bumps dancing across my skin.
“I don’t know why I’m surprised that you actually sound that good in person,” Clover said when the song finished.
“I’ve gotten better.” His cheeks were hot pink. “Took a lot of training.”
I turned in my seat to look at him when there was nothing but highway in front of us. “I assume the answer is yes, since you’re still doing it, but do you actually like being a rock star? It seems both fun and really stressful.”
Hendrix lapsed into silence for a few seconds before sighing. “I like most of it. The guys are the best part, and seeing the fans happy never gets old.”
I ruminated on his answer. There was a lot of good that could come from money and fame, but I knew it wasn’t all sunshine and roses.
“So, what made you pick Meadow?” Clover asked and Hendrix froze. “Don’t get me wrong, I love the shit out of her, and she’s gorgeous, but I know for a fact she only came to that concert because of me.”
I whacked her shoulder.
“I’m just curious. Wouldn’t it be easier to date someone in the industry, or at the very least, someone who likes your music?”
Hendrix let out a bitter laugh. “You would think that, but no. Honestly…I think the fact that she didn’t like us made me want her. And granted, I don’t remember much about that night, but I do know if I don’t have someone’s approval, I get a little desperate to earn it. Which, now that I think about it, made this career choice a terrible idea.”
“Oh god, yeah,” Clover agreed. “I feel like being famous is the epitome of can’t please everyone .”
“It is .”
“I’m still a little offended you don’t remember me,” I confessed.
“I would be, too, in your shoes,” Hendrix replied. “I watched the security footage outside the VIP room a million times, trying to jog my memory. I’m pretty sure if you had gotten excited when we met, I wouldn’t have thought twice about you, and no offense, because I agree with Clover, but that’s the response I get from everyone at these shows. You being there and not giving a shit made you stand out.”
“So, the secret to finding a rock-star boyfriend is to find one I know absolutely nothing about?” Clover asked.
“She’s kidding,” I insisted, worried he might think Clover was some sort of star stalker, desperate to date one. “She’s just trying to be funny.”
“She’s not really wrong, though. A lot of companies won’t even let you apply to work for them if you indicate that you’re a fan in any way. A lot of people who get on become fans, but I think most places are pretty wary of anyone starting out that way, with all the stalking issues and info leaks.”
“Oh shit,” Clover said. “That makes so much sense. I promise I’m not a stalker. I might know a lot about you guys, but I am one hundred percent Team Meadow.”
“Me too.” He said it so quietly, I almost didn’t hear it.
In that moment, I didn’t care that he didn’t have a choice but to be on Team Meadow. That nearly silent sentiment, expressed like he was afraid to acknowledge it, untangled one of the many knots of anxiety that had taken up permanent residence in my chest. I didn’t know any of the band, but I had already mentally committed to giving us a chance. Even outside of needing proximity to Hendrix to not feel like absolute shit, I was curious about all of them as people, eager to learn what kind of partners and parents they could be if things went permanently down that route.
It was a life full of complications, but when Hendrix reached between the seats for my hand, the tenderness unraveling another anxiety knot, I couldn’t help but think that all of the chaos might be worth it one day.