Chapter Twenty-Four
As soon as we finish with the last song and I’ve said my goodnights to the audience, I make a beeline for Julia, still standing backstage on the side with a dopey smile on her face. Mallory’s standing next to her and glares at Ryker as he pushes past the two of them, making me wonder what’s going on with them this time. When Julia walks up to me, thoughts of my sister and best friend fade from my mind as I lift her into the air and spin her around.
I put her down and wait until she’s flat on her feet before I lean down to press my lips against hers. Unlike the tender kiss on stage, this one is full of hunger and eagerness that makes my cock jump up at attention. Julia presses her body into mine, her breasts rubbing against my chest in a teasing manner, and I nip at her bottom lip.
“Okay, lovebirds,” Mallory says. “Save it for the bedroom.” When I look over at her, she’s got a big smile on her face, and I chuckle. She rolls her eyes and then looks at Julia. “Am I assuming you won’t be leaving with me?”
I steal a glance at Julia and notice her cheeks tinted pink, that beautiful flush making her look even more delicious. She brushes a stray strand of her away from her face with a nervous smile, her teeth sinking into her bottom lip in the process. “Yeah, I’m gonna hang back.”
Mallory chuckles and throws her arms around Julia, whispering something in her ear that makes the flush on Julia’s cheeks get brighter. Then she pulls away with narrowed eyes pointed at me. “You better not do anything stupid. This was your final chance.”
With a smile on my face, I wrap an arm around Julia’s waist and tug her against me with a shake of my head. “Never again, little sis.”
She finds my answer good enough and nods, then waves goodbye before heading back the way they came in. As soon as she disappears, I nuzzle my face into the back of Julia’s neck and inhale her scent deeply, soothing a deep part of me who was craving it these last few months. Julia leans back into me, her body relaxing under my hold, and I let my eyes fall shut for a brief moment before Ryker’s laugh echoes behind us.
Julia steps away from me, her hands falling in front of her so she can fiddle with her fingers, and I reach my hand out to thread my fingers through hers. She seems surprised by the action, but Ryker barely notices it as he makes his way toward us with a goofy grin. “Julia, it’s about time. I was worried Brent was going to ditch the tour to come after you.” I shove his arm, and he chuckles like he”s the funniest guy in the room, and then he holds a hand out to Julia. “I’m Ryker, the best friend.”
She takes his hand hesitantly, but also like she is in a daze, and I smile at that. Clearly, she knows exactly who he is and is probably having a silent fangirl moment in her head. It’s adorable. “Um, yeah, I know. Hi.”
He smiles knowingly at her, then pulls his hand away from her and shoves both into his jeans. “I’ve been waiting to meet the woman who managed to get my boy to fall in love after he swore it would never happen.”
I’m going to throttle him, I swear.
I clear my throat and throw a glare in his direction, then tug on Julia’s hand with a smile. “Well, as much as I’d love to stand here and chat, Julia and I got plans.” She snaps her attention to me and scrunches her eyebrows, knowing damn well we never made a single plan for the night, but I ignore the look. “Catch ya later, man.”
Ryker and I do the handshake we made up when we were kids, and then he throws a wave over his shoulder as he heads toward the back where Evan must be. I look at Julia, my gaze traveling down her body with nothing on my mind but peeling the fabric from it, and give her hand an eager squeeze. “There’s a hotel room calling our name,” I rasp against her ear, the action making her shiver in response.
Every single fantasy I’ve had that I jerked off to until I couldn’t see straight had this woman in it. All I want to do now is make those fantasies a reality, but only after I express my feelings to her in the privacy of our hotel room. It may have been presumptuous, but I had high hopes that Julia would make an appearance tonight, and I booked the hotel room before we even arrived in Orlando.
Mallory is the one to thank for that. After spending too much time trying to get in touch with Julia and failing miserably, I got in touch with Mallory to help me with our Plan B. I finished the song I wrote for Julia a while ago, but I didn’t want everyone else to hear it before her, and I asked Mallory to get Julia to come to our Orlando show. With backstage passes and the best seat in the stadium, there was no way Julia would resist coming, and I was right.
I almost thought she wasn’t going to show since they got to the concert so late, but I was more than happy when I saw Julia standing off to the side during our set.
Before I know it, one of the guys from security is shoving me and Julia into the back seat of a blacked-out SUV.
All I have to do is focus on what’s most important right now.
Julia leans back into the seat, and I stare at her breasts spilling from her shirt, a red one that exposes her flat stomach, while rolling my tongue across my lips.
She fidgets in the seat, rubbing her thighs together slightly, and I reach forward to brush my fingers over the thin straps hooking over her shoulder with a smile. “I missed you, you know?”
“Did you?” She asks, but there’s no light or humor in her eyes. It’s a serious question and one that she deserves to have. “Because a couple of months back, you seemed awfully cozy with someone else, so I just want to make sure.”
I cock my head to the side. “Who?”
“Misty,” she grinds out.
“It wasn’t like that,” I say softly. “I mean, it was going to be exactly like that because I was trying to get over you. Nothing happened, though, and I fought for you instead.”
She scoffs. “Wow, lucky me.” The sarcasm is clear in her tone, and I worry I’ve still messed things up, but her loud sigh gains my attention. “Look, I get it; it’s not fair of me to be angry with you, seeing as I was supposed to go on another date two nights ago.”
I clench my fists and clear my throat. “Another?”
“I’ve had a hard time getting over you too, Brent,” she says, her voice barely above a whisper. “Guess it’s a good thing I didn’t, right?”
“Julia,” I say, taking her hand in mine. “I meant everything in that song tonight.” She stares at me for a few moments, her gaze searching mine for a sign that I’m lying, and I reach out to run my knuckles along her cheek. “I’m sorry for how things went in St. Croix and I wish I would’ve done them differently. I love you, and I hope you believe that because I don’t make a habit of showing those emotions for women.”
That gains a soft chuckle from her, and then she frowns. “Why didn’t you tell me that before?”
“I was scared of my emotions, didn’t want them to get me burned like they have in the past, so I pushed everything away – including you.” I lean closer to her and smile. “That’s not what I want to do, though, not again. You brought out the side of me I thought had been lost, cast a light on my heart that no one else has ever been able to do, and I love you for that.”
She doesn’t say anything, so I inch closer to her until our mouths are a breath away from each other and look up at her. “Tell me you want to try this, and I’ll do this the right way. I’ve got a lot to make up for, but I’m more than willing to spend the rest of our lives proving that I’m the right guy for you.”
Julia stares into my eyes, emotions swirling like a kaleidoscope throughout, and she nods. “I want to try this, Brent.”
I slam my lips against hers and run my hands over her waist until I bring them to the curve of her ass, peeking out of the shorts and grip the thick flesh to haul her over my lap. Her legs rest on either side of me, but there’s something missing from the moment, and I study her for a few seconds before flashing a smile – Her hair. In one swift movement, I reach my hand back, rip the hair tie, and watch as her bright locks tumble down her shoulders to tickle the space between her breasts. “Much better,” I whisper, then push my tongue between her parted lips hungrily.
She follows my movements, our tongues meeting each other, and I’ve never felt so consumed with emotions as I do at this moment. I thought the right thing was to walk away from Julia, but I was so far from the truth and now I get to make up for my mistake. I groan when she grinds her ass into me and grip her hips, halting her movements with a shake of my head. “We can’t do this here.”
I glance over her shoulder at the driver currently sitting a row in front of us and she follows the stare with a frown, then sighs. “If only he would drive faster.”
I smirk at her. “I can arrange that.” With her still straddling me, I lean forward and tap on the partition that separates us from the driver. “Mind going a little faster?” He gives me a curt nod, his stare still facing ahead, and Julia jolts in my lap as he presses on the gas. “See? That easy,” I say with a wink, then pull her against me to breathe her in.
How did I ever think I could live without this?
“I’m in this, Julia. I love you,” I whisper before placing a kiss onto her head.
She lifts up enough to look into my eyes and smiles. “I love you, too, Brent, and I can’t wait to see what the future has in store for us.
I can’t wait either.