Page 59 of The First Chord

“Well, well, well,” Joey said, a full-on smirk on his face. “Seems the girl’s changed her mind.”

I swung around to see what he was talking about and took a step back. Amber was coming our way, dragging a case with another bag over her shoulder. Without a second thought, I was rushing towards her, holding out my hands for her luggage.

“Are you coming on here?” I asked, dragging the bag from her shoulder.

She chewed her lip. “I’m not sure it’s the right thing to do, but yes, I’m going to travel on your bus.”

My chest expanded as I exhaled. “R-really?”

She nodded. “Destiny had some interesting things to say about the situation.”

“Destiny?” I didn’t know whether I had ever felt more grateful to anyone in my life. “What the hell did she say? She didn’t yell at you, did she?” I asked anxiously.

Amber glanced back at the Blind Devil’s bus and gripped the front of her shirt. “No, she was brilliant.” There were tears in her eyes, but a small smile tipped her pink lips. “She made me realise that I shouldn’t let Jimmy have any control. Me traveling on that bus gave him the control.”

I reached for her case and as my hand grabbed the handle, our fingers met, sending a flush of adrenaline through my body. No matter how I tried to deny my feelings for Amber, they were there. Big, bold feelings of attraction and a need to protect. Which meant that her being on our bus probably was a bad idea, but I didn’t give a shit. For me, it was thebestidea.

“Come on,” I said turning to the bus. “Let’s get you settled. Hey, Joe,” I yelled. “Tell Beau he needs to get his stuff out of the bedroom, Amber—”

“No.” Amber grabbed my arm. “Joey, no. No, I don’t want to cause any upheaval. I’ll take one of the bunks.”

“But it was supposed to be for you,” I protested.

“Sim is with him, though,” Joey said, grabbing Amber’s bag from me. “Good to have you on board.” He gave her a wink, the charming bastard.

“Please don’t ask them to leave the bedroom,” Amber begged as she followed behind us.

“Hey, Amber.” Elliot stepped forward and held his arms out. “Great to see you. You doing okay?” he asked, giving her a hug.

“I’m fine. I’m just grateful that you don’t mind me traveling with you.”

“Not at all.” Elliot released her and grinned. “Don’t worry about the bedroom situation, Ali sorted something.”

“What?” I asked. “I thought we’d just had the bedroom added.”

“How do I know this, and you don’t?” he said, shaking his head. “I’ve been out of the loop for three weeks.”

“Because he’s too busy doing Lego,” Joey offered as he walked to the bus.

“Oh god, I hope I haven’t caused too much trouble.” Amber looked between us with a strained expression.

Elliot shook his head. “It’s fine, love. They’ve taken a top bunk out and sectioned the bottom one off to give you some privacy. Your own little bedroom.”

“Ah fuck,” I groaned. “That means Beau gets his own way. He gets the damn bedroom back.”

“Afraid so.” Elliot smirked because we both knew that Beau would be fucking unbearable and enjoy it.

“This is going to be so much fun,” I muttered.

When I heard Amber giggle I couldn’t help but smile because even if it wasn’t fun I was going to love having her around. .

Joey was already upstairs when we got onto the bus, so I followed him up there. “The bunks are up here,” I called over my shoulder.

“Okay.”

That one word sounded like it came with a bundle of nerves, and I felt for her. I felt nervous when I was about to go on stage, I’d puked the very first arena gig we’d done. There wasn’t the added pressure of a dick head ex-partner, though, so it must have been extra hard for Amber.

When we got to the top of the stairs, I turned to her. “It’s going to be alright. You know that, don’t you?”

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