Chapter 27
Darllen - Reading
Rhys
The rustle of pages eases me out of sleep.
I’m on my side, an arm flung over Luce’s thighs, my head resting on her soft belly.
She shifts, another rustle, a soft sigh.
Otherwise, silence. I sink further into the duvet, letting the remaining tendrils of my dream trickle from me, taking my time to wake up.
Lazy mornings are rare, and I want more of them. Especially with her. Calm, comforting, with nothing better in the world to do. No pop stars to look after, no missing guitars to find. Just me and my girl and no interruptions.
I let my eyes adjust to the bright fucking light. I must curse, because she replies, ‘I know. The curtains are rubbish. But they came with the flat and the landlord was adamant he couldn’t replace them. The sooner I move out of here, the better.’
She scratches my hair like I’m a cat. Mmm, that’s good.
My toes curl under her sheets. She’s got those damn strawberry pyjamas on – I swear we fell asleep naked – and she’s sitting against the headboard with a new-looking book in her hands.
Don’t know where she gets the time to buy them.
On the cover, a massive blue guy clutches hold of a femme fatale.
The woman, who should be shaking from the icy tundra, barely has a scrap on. One boob’s exposed. Poor girl.
‘More horny fae?’ I croak.
She marks the page with an old receipt. Need to buy her some actual bookmarks. Bet she’s got a stash around here somewhere that she doesn’t use, mind.
‘Not today,’ she replies. ‘The latest Snow Planet Aliens was waiting when we got back, and I wanted to get straight into it.’
‘That’s… uhm… interesting.’
She’s been reading smutty books throughout the tour, but I wouldn’t have put alien porn on her list. What else is she interested in?
Giants? Trolls? Minotaurs? Do I have to invest in a furry outfit so we can play out some of her fantasies?
My cock stirs. Strange. Clearly, it’ll do anything to keep her happy.
I slide my hand to her neck to pull her in for my morning kiss. Our lips move together, slowly, lazily, without any pressure for it to be anything more. Now this is a nice way to wake up.
We shift in bed and end up with her flopping over me, her book discarded in our tangled duvet. She rests her chin on my chest and grins. Her hair’s pulled into a scrunchie. I tug at it, sliding it onto my wrist so I can play with the end of a curl. I fucking love her hair.
‘Did you sleep okay?’ I ask.
Her happy sigh’s the best damn noise in the world. ‘You’re warm and cuddly. And even with you snoring in my ear, I had a great night.’
‘Good job we get used to sleeping wherever on tour. I’ll steal some earplugs from backstage, if you think it’ll help.’
‘No I don’t want earplugs. It was… comforting… somehow. I don’t think I could sleep without it now.’
If anyone said this to me before, I’d run for the fucking hills. Dim diolch. No thank you. Now tiny Rhys, the git who lives in my brain, dances like he won the lottery.
‘Well,’ I say, ‘I’m glad you got a good sleep, because you’re a bloody nightmare to share a bed with.’
She pushes herself onto an elbow, and I can’t resist taking a sneaky look down the V of her pyjama top. ‘What do you mean?’
‘You’re a bed hog. Two nights in a row I’ve slept next to a starfish.
And you kept most of the duvet to yourself.
Good thing your flat’s warm, or I’d be freezing my bollocks off.
Woke at one point to a near-death situation, perched on the edge of the mattress, shivering.
Have I turned blue? Am I one of your snow planet whatchmacallits now? ’
‘Snow planet aliens.’
‘Yeah, one of them.’ She opens her mouth to argue, but I shush her with a finger to her lips. ‘And I might be a snorer, but you’re a Chatty Cathy.’
‘I am not!’
‘You are. I had a full-blown conversation with you at one point.’
‘What did I say?’
I muster my best falsetto, an awful but not cruel imitation of her sleepy voice. ‘Rhys is the only guy who can give me an orgasm. He has the biggest cock and he knows how to use it. I’m fucking ecstatic he’s mine. I can’t wait for him to eat me out later.’
Her cheeks glow bright red, and she squirms. She rises into a seated position next to me, nabs the scrunchie from my wrist and pulls her hair up.
‘I didn’t know I lied in my sleep. Your penis is mid at best.’
‘Oy!’ I paw at her, desperate to get revenge by tickling her to death. God, I’m a guy who tickles now. What a sap. ‘You’re not a liar. Take it back. Say I have a great cock.’
‘Never.’
‘So you’re not enjoying it? Because some of the words coming out of your mouth tell a different story.’
I finally manage to grab her, my arms looping around her body to tug her to me. Our heads brush and we stay like this: foreheads touching, noses rubbing, lips barely an inch apart.
I want to live the rest of my life exactly like this.
‘It’s the best sex of my life,’ she tells me.
‘Mine too.’ My hands slip under the waistband of her pyjama bottoms to cup her arse. I grin at the lack of underwear. We’re about to fall into a deep kiss, but the growl of her stomach disturbs us. ‘Hungry, sweetheart?’
‘Yeah, but I’ve nothing in.’
‘Ugh. Okay. Get up. Cai’s house will be loaded with food.’
‘But that means leaving here.’ She pouts, and I instantly want to take back all the words. I’ll only say nice things if it means I never get to see her sad again. Even if it’s only fake sad.
Not that I blame her. We’ve got ourselves a little sanctuary, hiding from all the Cai shit.
Gethin’ll be after an update on the guitar – absolute bugger all since we last saw him on the coach – and I have extra checks to do at the Principality.
Make sure nothing can happen over the next five shows. A fucking nightmare.
Have to face it at some point, I guess. There’ll be no beds to laze in if we don’t get paid.
‘Will a fry-up help soften the deal?’ I ask her.
‘Yeah, it will.’
‘If we’re gonna go to mine later, I’ll put a food order in so we’ve got shit in to tide us over. Give us energy.’
We didn’t make it to my flat last night. Popped into hers on our way from the coach to grab a few things and never left. Too tired, and her bed looked far too inviting, especially when she pulled her top off to change.
‘Mmm… even better.’
‘All right. Let’s get showered and out of the flat.’
An hour later, and Cai’s kitchen’s a mess.
Luce rests her fork next to her empty plate. ‘When you made us spag bol on my first day here, it was tasty, sure. But I didn’t know you have a hidden talent for cooking.’
I puff out my chest. My tad always hated my cooking, but I did it for me and Beth. Would have starved otherwise. Over the years, Cai’s mam taught me how to add spices and shit to make the basics better, and we’re always texting over the latest new recipes.
‘I’m a talented lad,’ I tell her. ‘Chess and cooking aren’t my only strengths, either.’
‘Yeah? What else?’
‘I’ll have to show you later. It’s not only your snow planet aliens with skills in bed.’ I bare my teeth. ‘Or maybe I could show you now.’
She raises her eyebrows. ‘What happened to no more distractions at work?’
Dammit. She’s far too good at remembering. Nobody else is awake yet, or if they are, they’ve not bothered me or Luce while we’ve cooked and eaten breakfast. We could get away with it.
‘No take-backs?’ Worth a try.
‘No retractions, I’m afraid. I need to go get some press releases written, anyway. Will you come say goodbye before you head out?’
So we can bang? A promise doesn’t stop a torrent of filthy ideas from crossing my mind, each one dirtier than the next. Me inside her, her hips perched on the edge of her desk. Ooh, or getting on my knees next to her desk chair and devouring her like she’s my last meal.
I shake the thoughts out of my head. No more distractions.
‘You know I can’t leave without a goodbye kiss,’ I say. ‘Go on, get to work. I’ll load the dishwasher.’
‘You’re the best.’ She squeezes my cheek then slides out of the booth, and I can’t resist swatting her arse when she passes me.
I tidy the kitchen, whistling, and as I load the last plate into the dishwasher, Bryn turns up ready for duty. Everyone’s spread out today: Cai’s staying here until his call time, Beth and Luce have some sort of shopping trip planned, and I’m off with Gethin to the venue.
Bryn gets his briefing while I make another jug of coffee – mostly to save him from the shit Cai makes.
On my trip to Luce’s office, I bump into Gethin.
I give him his five-minute warning at the front door.
Maybe I’ll stretch it out to ten. Being apart from her today’s gonna be hard. Fucking love-struck idiot.
‘You gonna miss me today?’ I lean against her doorframe.
‘Yeah. I’d much prefer to come with you than go shopping. Your sister loves spending money.’
I venture in and put my mug next to her mouse. Then I lean over the back of her chair, and wrap my arms around her in my best attempt to get close. Guess I’m clingy now. Her chair groans under the weight, but it holds steady. Cai invested in the good shit.
‘Remind me why you have to go?’ I ask. ‘You could stay with me instead, help spot chinks in my plans. You’re good at that.’
‘There are no chinks in your plan. You’ve got this. Plus, I like spending time with Bethan. You need to learn to share.’
‘I’m happy to share.’ Liar. ‘I’m not keen on the two of you being out and about without protection. The last time Beth tried shopping, a group of Cai’s fans followed her everywhere. Why don’t I call Alina? She loves to shop.’
‘You’re adorable. Stop worrying about us.’ She rubs my arm, but it does nothing to soothe me. ‘We’ll be fine. The driver will stay with us. You got his credentials in the email I sent you, right?’
Yeah, I did. I check my emails now, especially if they’re from her. But credentials don’t stop me stressing. A driver’s not trained in defusing a group of pop-star-hungry teens.
‘I still think you should—’