Page 22 of Rock On

“I think he plans to marry me.” I bit my lip, unable to hold back my grin when he caught my eye again. Yeah, itwasfast, but like him, I didn’t see any other outcome, either. Once we got past this problem, anyway. When I envisioned my future, I saw him right there, too.

“Good.” She gave me a small smile, not threatening Jerrin’s wellbeing again while we enjoyed the rest of the concert. Loving Jerrin hadn’t magically changed my taste in music, but I kind of enjoyedWaterstone’sperformance, too. That had everything to do with Jerrin, though, and his eyes on me, probably more often than they should have been.

After the concert, Marley led me over to security, who in turn, took us backstage. We’d barely taken more than a dozen steps through the doors when Jerrin caught me in his arms. His hand brushed along my cheek, and he softly pressed his lips to mine, the kiss too quick and light for my tastes.

“Thank you for staying,” he said.

Marley shoved his shoulder, reminding us she was there.

“This is my only warning,” she growled.

“Yeah, you’ll kill me,” he finished. “I know. You don’t have to worry. I’m not going to hurt her. I promise.”

“You already did,” my sister argued.

“Marley,” I said gently while I extricated myself from Jerrin’s admittedly sweaty embrace. I pulled her into a hug.

“Thank you,” I said into her ear. “I love you.”

She sighed. “I love you, too. Are you staying with him?”

I glanced over at Jerrin, and he nodded.

“Yeah. I’m staying. We’re going someplace, so we can talk.”

She pursed her lips and looked around. “Alright, I guess I need to make sure all my people are doing their jobs, anyway. Call me if you need me, okay? I’ll come right away.”

“I’ll be fine.” I didn’t point out that I’d driven here, and I could make my own escape if I needed to. When she was in big sister mode, details like that didn’t matter.

After another quick hug, she walked away with the promise of seeing me the next day.

Jerrin took my hand and led me in the other direction.

“Where exactly are we going?” I asked as he wove through the throngs of people backstage. He kept me close to his side while we zigzagged toward the exit—at least, I thought that’s where we were headed.

“To my place, like I said. We can talk in private there. Stone agreed to stay on the other bus tonight. They have an extra berth.”

We stepped outside, and I was relieved when the sound level dropped. We were still on the festival grounds, so it wasn’t quiet by any stretch, but we were much farther from the crowds.

Keeping my hand in his, Jerrin headed down a wide path lined on either side by the artists’ buses. Halfway down the makeshift road, he nodded toward a dark blue and silver rig with huge dark-tinted windows.

“This one’s mine,” he said, nodding toward it.

“Fancy.”

He shrugged. “It’s home for long stretches.”

Minutes later, we were inside, and he led me to a surprisingly spacious lounge outfitted in tan-leather. To one side were overstuffed chairs and to the other, a couch. He pulled me to sit on the couch then knelt in front of me, wiggling in so my legs were forced to part for him while he held my hands between us.

“Sky, I’m sorry—”

I pressed my fingers over his lips, while I shook my head. “I get it. I don’t agree with what you did, but I get it. Don’t lie to me like that again.”

“I won’t. I hated it. Once I started, I couldn’t see my way out of the lie. And I really did like that you saw only me and not the fame. No one outside the band has viewed me as only Jerrin in over ten years.”

I nodded and angled closer. “You said something else, too.”

His brow furrowed in confusion. “I’m sorry. I—”

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