Chapter 8
Noah
Almost a month had passed since I’d left Vegas, and still, Kiki wasn’t talking to me. According to Bri, she’d seen a doctor to discuss her postpartum depression, but other than pictures and videos of the baby and a text that said, “please be patient—I’m working on some things,” she’d been quiet. That text had given me hope, though, and since there was nothing I could do from so far away, I’d thrown myself into work.
I hated that I was missing so much of Beth’s early growth, but if I was going to be away from her, it was probably better that it was now instead of when she was old enough to notice. At six weeks, she was still basically a cute but helpless blob.
And Kiki wasn’t the only one working on things.
Bash and I had done a lot of talking and research.
There was a school in L.A. that offered a certificate in sound engineering that could be earned in six months. It was expensive, but I could start in the fall. Bash had offered to loan me the money—interest-free—and since Bri was in culinary school there, I could live with her. Bash had pulled some strings to get me in, so I’d filled out the application and now we were just waiting for it to be official.
It would require more sacrifice on both my part and Kiki’s, but it was the first step toward something that would allow me to be at home instead of on tour. On top of that, Bash had spoken to Casey, and she’d said I had a job waiting for me at Hart Studios whenever I was ready. So, there was a lot to be excited about.
If only I knew what was going on with my sweet, beautiful fiancée.
I couldn’t wait to surprise her with my news, but Bri had told me to give her the space she’d asked for. On one hand, it pissed me off, but on the other, I felt like I owed it to her. After I’d overdosed, I’d spent months in rehab, unable to call or see her, and she’d waited for me.
So I owed her a little grace, no matter how much it frustrated me not to be there for her, emotionally if nothing else.
I was eating dinner after sound check and scrolling on my phone, when I opened my email. To my surprise, there was one from the school in L.A. and my heart pounded nervously as I read it.
It was my acceptance letter.
“Oh, fuck.” I stared at it. Bash had assured me it was a done deal, but I hadn’t wanted to make any assumptions until it was official.
And now it was.
“You okay?” Z asked, since he’d stuck around today.
“I got in,” I told him, grinning. “To that sound engineering program I told you about.”
“Fuck yeah!” He high fived me. “Congratulations! When do you start?”
“I don’t know yet. There are some slightly different programs, and I need to go down there and talk to one of the advisors before I’ll have those kinds of details.”
“This will be good for you,” he said, nodding. “And for your family.”
I’d told him what was going on with me and Kiki.
“I think so too.”
“And if you need some part-time work while you’re in school, depending on your schedule, I can hook you up. Lots of local gigs where they just need a roadie or tech for the night, you know?”
“Thank you,” I told him. “I really appreciate that.”
“Anything I can do.”
“Noah!” Bash came around the corner calling to me. “We need you for a sec. It’s important.”
“On my way.” I got up, glad I was almost done with my dinner, and went in the direction Bash had gone. “What’s up, man?”
“There’s a situation on the bus,” he said. “Can you check it out?”
“Of course. But what—” I turned to him but he’d already jogged back into the building.
I stared at the tour bus, suddenly suspicious.
I was working more with Onyx Knight than Nobody’s Fool right now, so I wasn’t sure what they might need. Especially on their tour bus. Curiously, I pushed open the door and climbed the steps.
“Hello?”
“Well, hello there, handsome.”
Kiki was sitting on one of the built-in tables, a playful smile on her face.
And she looked amazing.
Her blond hair was gone, dyed jet black with hot pink on the tips. She’d also cut it into a faux mohawk, with the sides shaved close to her head but not bare, and the top long and spiky. She’d lost most of her pregnancy weight and wore a ripped-up Onyx Knight concert T-shirt, a short black denim skirt, black fishnets with holes in them, and her favorite black and purple Doc Martens.
My rebel was back.
“Babe.” I walked toward her slowly, unsure where we stood but unable to keep from touching her. I moved between her legs and put my hands on either side of her face. “What are you doing here?”
“I came to surprise you.”
“I’m surprised. Where’s the baby?”
“At the hotel with Bri.” She bit her lip. “We needed a little us time.”
“Definitely.”
She reached up and wrapped her arms around my neck, tugging me down so she could kiss me. Her lips were sweet against mine, and when she slid her tongue between them, there was an urgency that caught me by surprise.
Normally, I loved when she took charge like this, but there was an emotional distance that had to be bridged before we could do this.
I drew a deep breath and began, “Babe, I think?—”
“I know we have to talk,” she whispered against my mouth. “And I owe you an apology. But I need for us to touch first.”
I understood what she was trying to say, and this time I kissed her, pulling her against me and letting my lips say some of the things we obviously couldn’t put into words. Not yet. When we’d met, it had been all about sex and companionship, two lonely people looking for the only kind of comfort they’d thought they could get. It had turned into so much more, but somehow, it felt right to go back to where we’d started.
Our relationship had surged ahead at warp speed, so going back to the beginning felt natural.
Except she’d just had a baby.
“Hey, did the doctor say sex was okay?”
She smiled. “She did.”
“Oh, fuck yeah.”
“Wait.” She put a hand on my chest, and before I realized what was happening, she’d dropped to her knees in front of me.
“Babe, what?—”
She gazed up at me. “Remember the first time we hooked up?”
I groaned.
She’d been on her knees in front of me.
Just like this.