Page 66 of Bonding the Band

“Good.” Clover scooped my hand in hers, and we wandered over to the zebra enclosure. “You had me really freaked out for a while there. I think that’s another tick on the scent match list.”

“Yeah?”

“Did you need Hendrix to feel better, or did you start to feel better when you ran into Arlo?”

“Oh. Ididfeel way better with Arlo. Hendrix still has the maximum fixing magic, I think, but my body is happy being around all of them.”

“Sometimes fate is really fucking weird about these things, and biology even weirder, but it’s still pretty cool.”

After we finished with the zoo, we spent a few hours meandering through the aquarium until the guys messaged to let us know they were done with all of the prep work for tonight.

“The car will be here to pick us up in fifteen minutes,” I told Clover.

“Sweet. I’m starving. Are we grabbing food with the guys or separately?”

“They usually order food in and chill at the venue.”

“Cool beans.” Clover passed along her order, and we added our food to what the guys were getting for dinner. Half an hour later, we were being shuttled into the green room.

Hendrix scooped me right up and shoved his nose against my throat, inhaling deeply. “You were gone way too long.”

“I’m going to be gone all night,” I reminded him.

“Yeah, and I’m going to hate it.” Instead of putting me back on my feet, Hendrix hoisted me bridal style and sat down on one of the couches with me in his lap. “I have to restock.”

I laughed. “Restock on what?”

“You.”

It was ridiculous, but sweet too, and he obviously knew what both of us needed because the longer I spent in his arms, the better I felt, my fatigue and aches from the day disappearing.

Clover chattered away, surprisingly not asking too many invasive questions to their faces. I knew she was curious, along with millions of their fans, but I was really glad she could be chill with them in person, so they might want her around.

We had worked our way through a giant order of Thai food, and I curled up in as much of a ball as I could manage on Hendrix’s lap, falling into a cozy doze until Gary arrived to blitz all of the relaxation from the room.

“Showtime,” he announced.

Reluctantly, we all parted, the guys to backstage and Clover and me to the nearest seats we could get that still had chairs. Hendrix might have witchcraft stored in his scent, but my feet were pretty well done for the day, after marching through the entirety of the zoo and aquarium.

It was still weird watching them perform. They looked like they were having the time of their lives up on that stage, and the audience loved it. Clover sang along to every song, and while I still didn’t know all the lyrics, or even the names of most of their songs, I was pleased to note that I recognized a few more lines every show.

I got more than my fair share of hugs once the show ended, and I went back to Clover’s hotel with her to complete our girls’ weekend. My instincts were definitely wavering being separated from them, but I was so happy to spend time with Clover. We watched a movie, did face masks, painted each other’s toenails, and gossiped all night as she kept me apprised of the lives of her many acquaintances.

Sleep was blessedly not too difficult to attain with Clover attached to me like a barnacle, her purr rumbling through the night, but even so, morning came too early.

We were stuffing our faces at the hotel breakfast buffet when the guys messaged they were there to pick us up.

Clover stole a couple more slices of bacon for each of us, and we walked out to the glistening black SUV, still chewing. Beckett was up and out of the vehicle to open the door for us, and he loaded Clover’s suitcase into the already jam-packed cargo space.

“Did you two have fun?” Phin asked.

“Absolutely.” Clover grinned. “I’ve been missing my Meadow. You guys better be extra nice to her this week, or I’m going to steal her back.”

“She won’t even know what to do with how nice we’re going to be,” Arlo told her.

“I look forward to the updates.” Clover laughed and gave me a conspiratorial wink.

Hendrix made sure I was safely buckled, adjusting the seat belt carefully to nestle under the curve of my belly before catching me in a kiss that had my perfume filling the car. “God, you taste like my two favorite things in the world: bacon and bond mate.”

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