Page 80 of Fractured Rhythm

“Hair,” I said, looking up at him. He quirked a brow.

“Okay. Hey, Charlie, I wanted to say how great you were up there tonight,” he said.

“Yeah, fucking awesome,” Jax piped in, throwing his arm around her shoulder.

She rolled her eyes but allowed the touch.

“Yes. Great job. Especially on ‘Monsters.’ That opening can be tricky,” Tristan said.

“Thanks, guys. It was amazing up there. I can’t wait to do it again,” she said.

I sipped my beer and stayed silent as they talked about the concert on Sunday and how it felt on stage tonight. I leaned back on Bash’s chest as they reminisced about playing here years ago and how the place was different yet the same.

“Could you drink that any slower?” Bash muttered in my ear, bringing my attention back into focus.

“What?”

“Chug that thing,” he said.

I laughed. “Patience, Bash. Patience.”

“I don’t have any.”

I turned to face him and slowly drank from my bottle, tracing the top with my tongue for good measure. His eyes darkened.

“You’re playing with fire,” he whispered.

“I know,” I said, and I knocked back the rest of the bottle.

BASH

How I didn’tspontaneously combust as we stood waiting for the service elevator in the hotel was beyond me. After torturing me with that bottle-licking stunt, I’d rushed us out of the bar, ignoring the guys’ whistles and catcalls, with Cassie laughing all the way into the cab.

“What if I’d wanted another drink?” she asked as soon as I’d given the driver the name of our hotel.

“You can drink the entire minibar in our room,” I growled before I’d yanked her into my lap and kissed her until one of our security guards was opening the car door and slipping into the front seat.

“Drive around the side,” Bud—at least I think that was his name—said.

“Why?” I asked, shifting Cassie back to the seat next to me.

“There’s a crowd,” he said.

“Fuck. How did they find out where we were staying—no, scratch that, Josh probably let it slip. Extra hysteria.” I was going to kill that man one day.

“Yeah, well, they swarmed, so we’re going to take the service elevator to your room. I already have another guy heading to the bar to give the rest of the band extra security.”

“Guess the fans haven’t forgotten about us,” I said, rolling my eyes as we came to a stop and Bud jumped out to open our door.

In no time, we were in the elevator and I tugged Cassie into the corner as Bud put his back to us and hit the button for our floor.

“Bash,” she warned.

“What?” I asked, running one hand down her spine. She arched into my touch with a whimper.

“We’re almost to our room,” she said, her gaze darting toward Bud, but he kept his back to us. The man knew what his job was.

“You know performing turns me on, and then that bottle stunt,” I said, and her eyes widened as I lowered my head.

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