Page 30 of Love Thief

She’s worried about it. My heart clenches, my chest tightening. I try to lighten her thinking, give her some perspective, remind her why we’ve done it.

“Who gives a fuck. We’ll do it if you want. This is for James and I, no one else. Who cares what anyone thinks? It’s what we think that matters.”

“You’re a lot better at dealing with this stuff.”

“No, I’ve just been dealing with the shit longer. It doesn’t matter, you know. One day they love you the next they want to cancel you, it really depends on the flavour of the week. All we do is make music. At the end of the day, if everyone stops listening, I’d still make music. Even if it’s just me and Xan in our sheds.”

“Yeah, I can just imagine you two with your old washboards out, playing a tune, with Xan on the spoons.”

We start to laugh, and I pull her on top of me. I can’t remember ever laughing in bed with a woman other than her.

There’s a knock on the door and it flies open.

“Fucking hell, what the fuck,” I yell in shock.

“Morning, newlyweds.” He’s grinning like an idiot.

“Xander, we could’ve been mid fuck.”

He ignores me and dives onto the bed. “God, you smell of sex, it’s heaven.” He grins at me, wriggling around, trying to get comfortable.

“Is there a point to your interruption?” I ask him, trying to push him out of our bed.

“Yep, Tim wants you. You bob out and I’ll sort Evie out, get her dressed. You’d like that wouldn’t you, Kitten.” He prods at her under the covers as she has them pulled over her head.

She pops it out. “No, Xan, get lost.”

I kick out the covers, leaving her under them with Xan still on top of the bed.

“Can’t you wear clothes? Your ass looks good though. All those workouts are paying off.” He shuffles up the bed and into the spot I just vacated.

“Xander,” she whispers. “I need to get up to the bathroom. Can?—”

“I’ll close my eyes and won’t peek, I promise. Scout’s honour.”

“You weren’t in the scouts, you wouldn’t go,” she tells him.

He laughs. “Oh, yeah, I forgot you knew me from the age of nine. Damn, there goes all my lies.”

“Let’s go, Xan.” I come out of the bathroom as he’s trying to squirm under the covers.

“Xan, leave her alone.” I drag him out of the bed, laughing.

“You’re no fun now you’re married. Don’t be getting boring, you two. Who will I watch fuck? Not Gabe, please not Gabe.”

I shake my head at him. “Ignore him, Evie, he’s still high. Let’s go, loverboy.”

He jogs out after me, blowing Evie a kiss as he goes. “Wait for me, Kitten,” he tells her, as I pull him out of the room.

As soon as we’re out of the room and the door is closed, he switches from the fool to serious. “Mixed bag online. Tim wants to go over strategy.”

“I don’t fucking care what they say, I’ll go on TV if I have to talk about it. I’m not bothered, but she might be. Fucking hell. She was nervous enough last night after that fucking toilet debacle. She put a brave front on, but she needed time to get herself together. She was fucking hiding in an alcove. Fuckers.” I’ve got fucking anxiety over it. It’s a totally new feeling.

Xan has got the band together and we go into a room away from everyone else. Tim comes online, his laptop with him along with Candy, the head of PR, Patrick, the lawyer, and Carl from security.

“What’s going on, Tim?” I dive in, not wasting time with pleasantries.

“Hey, good job, first off. Lots of headlines, mostly positive, but one outlet is posting a ton of shit. And lots of shitty photos of Evie.”

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