Chapter 22
NERVOUS NIX
Phoenix
Nausea curled low in Phoenix’s stomach, growing far beyond the motion sickness that usually plagued him when he sat in the back of big cars and limos.
He also usually blamed big public appearances, and the Indie Awards was the biggest one for the Stone Talons yet.
Hell, he could even blame the gas station breakfast burrito he’d devoured earlier that morning against his better judgement.
But the truth was he was seconds away from seeing Addie, and after the music-filled revelations last night, his jumbled feelings for the sassy demigoddess were a hell of a lot less tangled.
“Will you stop with the knee bouncing?” Naiomi stilled his leg. “You’re acting like you’ve never been to one of these things before.”
Next to her, Easton grinned wickedly. “He hasn’t been to one with a certain gorgeous woman on his arm, so it’s a little bit different. And because it is different, photographers are gonna throw a spotlight on him that’s larger than the fucking Bat-Signal.”
Phoenix stopped bouncing his leg and shot his friend a glare. “Seriously? That’s not helping.”
“I’m sorry, was I supposed to be helping?”
“I still don’t know why you’re so worked up,” Naiomi interjected.
“You handle the press probably better than anyone in the group. And you’re not a monk who’s never been on a da—” His sister’s face slowly eased into a grin that matched her fiancé’s.
“Oh. Your stomach’s doing the jig because the woman on your arm is Addie. Is Naughty Nix … nervous?”
Phoenix wouldn’t confirm nor deny that statement because the second he denied it, his sister would call him out on his bullshit answer and he had enough on his mind to not want to add familial taunting to the evening.
Tonight needed to go well. No hiccups, fuckups, or muck-ups. And once the circus portion of the evening was done, he’d lay everything out there.
For him, this was no longer a fauxmance.
Maybe it never was. Maybe he’d tricked himself—and her—into thinking there wasn’t something there from the very beginning. He wouldn’t find out until he got this damn award show and after-party out of the way.
Ignoring the soft snickers from his sister and best friend, Phoenix glanced out the window as the limo slowed to a gradual stop in a Brooklyn neighborhood and compared it to the address she’d texted him earlier.
“This is it.” Phoenix tossed Naiomi a warning look. “Are you going to be on your best behavior? If not, we’re sending you right back to the library to continue your studying.”
She stuck her tongue out at him and he climbed out from the back. By the time he stepped onto the curb, the door of the single-story ranch home had opened.
Phoenix missed a step and stumbled, making a complete fool of himself.
“Have a nice trip?” Addie’s peach-tinged lips curled into a teasing smirk.
“Adalyn.” He detached his dry tongue from the roof of his mouth. “Fuck. You look incredible.”
A blush rose up on her cheeks. “Thanks. You don’t look too shabby yourself.”
“Is this when I warn him that he better have you back by midnight?”
The redhead rolled her eyes and shifted, giving Phoenix a view of Maxi and an older man standing just behind. With matching auburn hair and familiar eyes, there was no doubt this was her father.
“Mr. Whitlock.” Phoenix hustled up the steps, his hand extended. “It’s nice to meet you, sir. I’m Phoenix.”
“I know who you are. I googled you the second I saw your mouth attached to my daughter—along with thousands of other baseball fans.” The elder Whitlock folded his massive arms over his chest. “You’ve been parading my girl all over this damn city and you’re only now introducing yourself?”
“Pop!” Addie’s wide eyes shot her father a warning look.
“No, he’s right. We should’ve been introduced long before now. My parents would give me a hard time about it, too, if they knew this was the first time.”
“Good.” Addie’s father took his hand in a firm grip. “You know there’s a lot of information about you on the internet, right?”
Phoenix grimaced. “I’m sure it made for some entertaining reading.”
Mr. Whitlock grunted. “It’s a good thing I’m a man who likes making his own decisions. It’s nice to meet you, Phoenix … and your manners.”
Addie cleared her throat. “We should probably get going.”
A wolf whistle pierced the air, and Naiomi, half-leaning out of the limo, waggled her eyebrows. “Damn, Addie! They won’t need the smoke machine tonight because they can just use the smoke coming off you! Hubba-freaking-highway!”
Phoenix rolled his eyes, but Addie laughed. “We’re sharing a limo with East and Nai, as you can tell,” he said. “Hope you don’t mind.”
“A limo, huh? It kinda feels like prom.”
After a round of goodbyes, they headed to the limo, Phoenix holding the door open and giving Addie his hand.
“Problem?” he asked when she paused.
She sighed. “Don’t look down when I bend over to get in.”
“Well, now that you told me not to…” Phoenix teased. She tossed him a heated glare and he laughed, raising his hands in surrender. “I kid! I kid!”
He glanced away and allowed her to slide in before following, and then they were off, Nai and Addie chatting like long-lost best friends.
They talked about Nai’s final presentation and Addie offered to give her a wedding update, to which Nai slapped her hands over her ears, begging not to know a thing.
They all laughed and chatted, and it damn near felt … normal.
“It’s almost time to walk the plank and drop into shark-infested water,” Nai grumbled out the window before sending Addie a warm look. “You sure about this? You can change your mind.”
“Hey now.” Phoenix dropped his arm over the back of Addie’s seat. “Don’t go scaring off my date. It’s not that bad.”
“You’re right, it’s worse.” Nai nodded. “But it’ll all be fine. Stick to Phoenix, smile like you just inhaled laughing gas, and just think of later tonight when you’ll get to climb into your pj’s.”
“You make this sound like a big ball of fun.” Addie’s voice wavered slightly.
“The music part is fun. They really go all out for the performances, and then the after-party is always good for a few laughs—or so I’m told. Someone always ignores their Honey, No person, and does something stupid. With this group, it’s usually Gavin.”
“Honey, No person?”
“Honey, No.” Phoenix chuckled. “It’s the person who stops you from saying or doing something stupid in the heat of the moment. That last-minute-voice-of-reason person who poses the question, ‘Maybe you should think twice before you do what you’re about to do?’ Easton is usually mine.”
East snorts. “And he ignores me about eighty-five percent of the time.”
“No, I don’t. I hear you. I think about it. I just feel like going ahead and doing it anyway.”
Everyone laughed, including Addie, which was what Phoenix wanted …
to take her mind off what was about to happen in a few seconds.
But as they pulled up in front of the concert hall and into the long line of waiting limousines, her gaze drifted to the horde of media on either side of the blue carpet.
“Holy shit,” Addie whispered, her eyes transfixed on the massive gathering. “Bailey was right.”
“It’s not as bad as you think,” Phoenix tried putting her mind at ease.
“So you’re saying they’re not as feral as a zombie horde anxiously looking for their next meal?”
“Nah.”
“Really?”
“Nope. They’re a feral zombie horde looking for their dessert,” Phoenix added teasingly. “Big difference.”
Addie fiddled with the hem of her gorgeous dress as an attendant opened the passenger door. Phoenix nodded for East and Nai to climb out first, and the second they did, cameras flashed and reporters called out to the soon-to-be-wed couple.
Phoenix dropped his hand to Addie’s bare knee and her body froze, gaze snapping to meet his.
“Let me go first,” he offered. “I can be your barrier wall while you get out.”
She flashed him a breathtaking smile that sucker-punched him straight in the gut. “Thank you. There are enough stories floating around about me right now. I didn’t really want to add thong-flasher to the mix.”
Phoenix climbed over her to head out first and his dressy boot—not one of his preferred footwear—slipped.
He plummeted into Addie’s lap, the surprise eliciting a startled yelp from the sexy redhead.
He tried righting himself and slipped again, this time with his face landing a mere inch from the deep plunge of her cleavage.
They both froze, Phoenix’s hands planted on either side of her knees as he slowly tilted his gaze up and stared at her from between her luscious breasts.
A merging of reality and his fantasies temporarily stole his ability to move—or think of anything beyond Adalyn’s sweet honseysuckle scent.
“That took an unexpected turn.” A cute little snort escaped Addie’s throat, and they both laughed.
“No way could I have pulled that off if I tried. Well, maybe if I tried. I mean, the second I laid eyes on you I imagined myself on my knees and between your—never mind.”
Bright flashes snapped them back into the present—and to the photographers attempting to snap a few pics of their current conundrum.
“Fucking hell.” With a growl, Phoenix climbed out of the limo and used his bigger body to push the assholes back, and in a blink, East and the event security were there helping to do the same.
Phoenix waited until the reporters had been pushed back behind the ropes, and held out his hand, doing as he’d promised and using his body to block her exit from the limo from prying eyes.
“Thanks.” Her cheeks flushed as she slid her soft hand into his calloused one and joined him on the walkway.
Hand palming the small of her back, he stood close and let her eyes adjust to the bright flashes. “You okay?”
She nodded faintly, not meeting his gaze.