Page 78 of Reckless

Fortunately, Drew nods off, her head lolling on Wayne’s shoulder. She got off his lap a while ago, but they’re never far from one another, always touching.

Watching them together hits me differently to how I usually see couples in love. A quick glance at Krista tells me the reason. Being around her is all I want. Even when I was trying to help Solene, Krista wasn’t far from my mind.

Wayne gets up and takes his wife’s hand, helping her up and grinning at her as she gives me a sleepy smile. It’s a massive shock to my system when it hits me.

I want that too. That closeness and assurance that the person you want to be with the most, feels the same way.

How can Krista and I ever have something like that? I haven’t even known her a week. It’s insane. I’ve been in love before, twice, but it’s never been the kind of love that passes between Drew and Wayne.

Isn’t it something that everyone wants, eventually? To be loved? To be in love? Finding that one person you want to spend the rest of your life with isn’t easy. I’m still not convinced it is going to happen to me any time soon. Yet, I’m more open to the idea of it.

It’s hard to find. Wayne and Drew are the lucky ones.

We’re a perfunctory second thought to them now and Drew waves as they leave the room. Krista has a dreamy smile on her face as she watches them. Is she thinking the same thing as I am?

“Want to go to bed?” I ask, taking her glass and setting both of them down on the table.

“Thought you’d never ask,” she gets up and takes my hand, tugging me up too.

“Is it wrong that I want to go back to the RV?”

“Yes, and you’ll agree when you see our room.”

As she turns away, she can’t hide the look on her face. She liked I said that. A lot.

She’s not wrong, the bedroom is impressive, but it’s nothing I haven’t seen before in any number of hotels all around the world

And it’s not as impressive as her tits when I peel the t-shirt off her. Or the throaty laugh she lets out when I grab the back of her thighs and pick her up, walking us straight into the bathroom. One benefit of this place. I can fuck her in the shower for as long as I want.

We set off mid-afternoon from Wayne and Drew’s place. I was more than ready to leave. Not that I didn’t like them. I was eager to get back on the road. We haven’t talked much about Ethan. I got the impression she wants to draw me back away from that negativity. Not without making sure I am okay and offering to talk about it if I need to.

I want to get back on track, on fixing myself and not worrying about anything else. Though Solene is on my mind. If there is anything I regret about walking away right now, it’s leaving her when she is vulnerable. She told me to go, that she is okay. So long as I answer her calls, which I swore I would do.

Riggs is with her, though that is a whole other story she refused to discuss with me. I’m not stupid. There is something going on there and she needs to talk about it, but I can’t force it.

Krista interrupts my thoughts.

“Can you play any other instruments? Besides the guitar, I mean.”

I don’t take my eyes off the road. I’m taking this seriously, given she is letting me drive the RV. She got us close to the interstate, then let me take over as we head into Minnesota. Our destination here is Lake Superior, stopping off at different places along the way. Then we will swing through Wisconsin and down to Eastern Iowa.

That will be where I am due to leave her and go back to LA. I push that out of my head.

We’ve been listening to music for a while, each picking a song from our respective play lists and talking about why we like it.

It’s crazy to me I’ve been in the music industry for so long, but I’ve never done something like this before. Talking about the songs I love, and the reasons they evoke certain emotions in me. Also taking the time to listen and understand how someone else feels about the music they enjoy.

My current pick is ending. ‘Moving’ by Supergrass. It’s another new to her band, and she liked it, especially the British accent.

“Piano,” I tell her.

“For real?”

“Why so surprised?” I chance a quick look at her.

“I don’t know. Which is very judgmental of me. I guess I just can't imagine a rockstar playing the piano.”

“There is a lot of piano in rock.”

---