Chapter 22
Ar y Bws - On the Bus
Lucy
Iforce myself to take a deep breath before I enter The Rectory’s dining room the next morning.
If Rhys and I are going to keep this between us, then I have to act normal.
Which is difficult, when you’ve spent the night snogging the world’s hottest bodyguard.
It’s as good as all your plans going off without a hitch.
The spring in my step and the ginormous smile on my face, look completely out of place considering the temporary cast wrapped around my hand and wrist.
His lips must be medicine, because the pain doesn’t register with me. Not only his lips, actually. The way his hands moved over my body. His words made my walls crumble. You look really lovely with your hair down…the blouse you picked looks fucking hot on you.
The room bustles with people already, despite the early hour. Good. The coach arrives at nine, and I warned everyone if they’re not in their seats by five past, they’ll have to make their own way to Scotland.
My search for him begins straight away, my gaze zooming past the rows of cereal, juices and fruit, and the hot food display the chef has laid out for us.
My stomach grumbles at the sight of it, but I move on.
Most of the seats at the long oak table are occupied, and I don’t spot Rhys’ flaming red hair amongst my colleagues.
He wasn’t in my bed when I woke up, and he’s yet to text me.
I’m not worried. He’s probably busy. We’re all here to work at the end of the day.
Still, it would have been nice to eat breakfast with him.
Cai catches my eye and waves me over, patting the empty seat next to him.
‘Morning,’ Gethin says from behind his paper as I slide into the chair. He peers over the top at me. ‘How are you feeling?’
Fantastic. Brilliant. My legs will never stop being jelly.
‘Uh, yeah. Okay, I guess.’ I slop coffee into the waiting mug and Cai takes the carafe from me to finish.
I swallow my huff. Turns out, I do need my dominant hand for most things.
I’m going to have to figure out ways of working around my cast. I can’t rely on everyone else all the time.
‘It doesn’t hurt much right now, but I’m worried the paracetamol won’t touch it once I’m more awake. ’
Bethan abandons her breakfast to lean over the table. She pinches the tip of each finger, testing the blood flow before nodding to herself. ‘I’ve got something stronger in my toiletry bag. I’ll grab it for you later.’
‘If you need a few weeks off, Lucy,’ Gethin says, ‘then you—’
‘No!’ So much for keeping it cool. I take a sip of my coffee now Cai has added milk to it, and use the moment to compose myself.
Taking time off would mean going home alone and staying there while everyone else remains on tour.
While Rhys remains on tour. Absolutely not.
‘I mean, I’ll be fine, I promise. Most of my work is on the laptop and I could get Rhys – or anyone else,’ I rush to add, ‘to do all my heavy lifting.’
‘Okay, but if you need a break, let me know.’
Gethin returns to his paper. Cai slides two pieces of toast onto my plate without asking. When I raise my eyebrows at me, he shrugs. ‘You do enough to look after me and I wouldn’t want to subject your toast to the same maiming you gave your coffee. Do you want eggs?’
I could handle walking to the counter and helping myself to a dollop of scrambled eggs, but Cai holds steady eye contact with me, his face solemn. He shouldn’t have to do it.
‘But I—’
‘Lucy,’ he warns and we’re right back in the kitchen at the house, him desperate to make me pancakes. Fine. But just this once.
‘Yes, please.’
He beams at me then sets off on his mission. When he returns, my plate is loaded with eggs, beans and a couple of sausages. Okay, if I must.
Cai takes his seat, cuts up all my food then pushes the plate down the table to me.
He drains his coffee then reorganises the cutlery in front of him before huffing and saying, ‘Can’t believe that guy.
Sneaking into my party – because my crew is anti-bellend, right?
– to feel you up? Fucking disgusting. If you hadn’t punched him, me or Rhys would have. ’
‘You’re not punching anyone,’ Bethan says. ‘Your insurance wouldn’t pay out if you broke any of your fingers. And your mum would kill us if we made it to Cardiff with you in a cast, too.’
‘Is she going to be at the Principality?’ I ask. I’d love to meet her.
Cai shakes his head. ‘Probably not. I sent her and Dad tickets, but they’ve seen me play a hundred times. Depends if Mam can change her shifts, I guess.’
I love how Cai earns enough to support both his parents for the rest of their lives, but she kept her job. It’s probably what helps to keep him grounded.
‘Did the hospital say anything about your cast, Luce?’ Bethan asks.
‘Only that I’ll need to go to the fracture clinic when we make it to Sheffield, get another x-ray and potentially a permanent cast. It doesn’t feel too bad, I promise.
Have you seen Rhys this morning?’ I ask, attempting to divert the conversation away from my injury.
I don’t want it to remain the focus of this tour.
Cai scoffs. ‘I texted him to see if he wanted to go for a run, but he didn’t message back. He must be in bed. Shame cos Bryn gave up after 2 kilometres.’
He’d have gotten less from me. I stare at Gethin’s newspaper, looking for something else to talk about. ‘Anything interesting in there, Gethin?’
‘You mean, did the incident make it into the papers?’ He closes his broadsheet, folding it into sharp lines, then sets it on the table next to his empty plate.
‘A lot of guests were filming,’ I explain. ‘If Jasper got hold of it, he’d love to run me through the mill. I’m supposed to be here to create good press around Cai, not bad news, and I don’t want…’ I sigh when he raises his eyebrows at me. ‘Sorry.’
‘You’ve nothing to apologise for, Lucy. It’s not your fault you were manhandled on your night out. So far, the NDAs are holding, but we’ll keep an eye on it. In other news, Cai has received some fantastic reviews.’
It is weird nothing has come out of it. People post videos of Cai doing the most mundane things on social media, and there were way too many cameras. But I hunted through most of the apps this morning and didn’t get a whiff of gossip.
I take a bite of my toast and force my smile back on my face.
‘Great. I’ll have a read of them later. I’ll also review the footage, find areas we can improve on for tomorrow’s show.
I should go and pack before the madness starts.
Deryn will be here at nine. Leave your bags in your rooms. I’ve already sorted crew to load it. ’
I get up from the table before anyone can ask any more of me. My bags are already packed. I’ve got an hour before getting ready to check everyone out so I can work through my emails. Work doesn’t stop because I’ve got a broken wrist.
My phone pings as I enter my room, and I fumble in my pocket for it. Rhys’ name flashes on my screen. The alert pulses for my attention. Or perhaps it’s the giddiness of hearing from him tickling my brain and making my eyes go funny.
Rhys
Morning, beautiful :-) Sorry I wasn’t there when you woke up. Didn’t want to get caught sneaking out this morning.
That's okay. Did you sleep well?
I had the best of dreams. We kissed all night long. Oh, wait. It really happened!!! :O How's your wrist? Do you need anything?
He uses emojis and punctuation like they’re on a 2-for-1 offer, but the message is as good as any romance plot I’ve read.
I forget all about reading my emails and throw myself onto my bed.
My sheets smell of him, of us, and I inhale deeply.
I am a love-struck teenager, and about as horny as one, too.
My wrist is sore. Bethan said she might need to chop it off.
Need me to come over and kiss you better??? I was going to grab a late breakfast, but maybe I can find something tastier to eat ;-)
My cheeks heat. Could I let him in that far already? I bury my head in the duvet, taking a few breaths to calm myself. It’s all fun and games imagining him between my legs, and I bet he’s amazing at it too, but I’m not sure what I’d do when he got up here.
Probably slam my thighs together, squeak no thank you then run scared.
It’s been way too long. What if moths fly out from my vagina? What if I’m no good at pleasuring him? I’ll get all nervous and yank his foreskin down too hard or bite his penis. He won’t want me anywhere near him then.
I roll over and give myself a good telling off. It’s fine. It may have been ages, but I could write an entire dissertation about spicy scenes in romance books. I’ve learned from the greatest. Those amazing writers will guide the way.
My phone pings to remind me about my task list. As much as I’d love to invite Rhys here, test all my theories and see what happens, I have a lot to do before we leave Manchester.
I’ve got work to do.
:'(
Same, Rhys. Same.
Later, then? I've got a few tricks to make you feel loads better ;-) ;-) ;-)
My body reacts before I can reply and I clench my thighs together. I take a deep breath, summon all my courage and message back.
Yes please
I flop into the closest seat on the coach, careful not to bash my wrist on the table, and close my eyes. How is it only 9 in the morning? It’s damn exhausting doing everything one-handed and I have six weeks of this to look forward to.
Rhys better have found a way to make me feel better. Talking of, I turn in my seat, still on my hunt for him.
‘If you’re looking for Rhys,’ Cai offers, ‘he’s using my room to get some work done. I don’t need it today. I have all afternoon to nap once we get to the next house, since I’m not allowed out anywhere.’