Page 56 of Knot Just A Fan

“You’ve shaved your beard!” Cami exclaims.

I give her a sideways glance.

Ash blushes and shakes our hands, Cami’s a little longer than mine, despite the obvious awareness he has for my pre-heat state. His nostrils flare and his eyes widen as he takes me in. I don’t know if this makes him wish he hadn’t invited us, or glad.

“Where are Ronan and Enzo?” I ask. I don’t particularly want to run into either of them.

Ash steps closer to us and hands Cami a card with the hotel insignia on it. “Drinks vouchers. Use as much as you want.”

Cami’s lips part and eyes sparkle. “Thank you very much. That’s so sweet, Ash.”

I can’t believe I’m watching this. I am going to give hersomuch shit later.

Then he turns to me. “Ronan is flying back to Heathrow as we speak. I mentioned his brother’s wedding in Cornwall. His bride-to-be is from there, so he’s brought his family over from Ireland.” Ash shakes his head. “Ronan hasn’t seen his siblings in fifteen years. Any of them.”

I know he has a big family, and he’s the youngest, but that’s about it. I didn’t realize he hadn’t seen them in so long.

“That’s good. I mean, I’m glad I won’t run into him. But I’m glad he’s got a chance to catch up,” I say lightly, noncommittally. Ash nods.

“Enzo was going to just kick back. They’ve all got hot tubs in their rooms.”

“Fucking fancy-ass digs, Ash!” Cami exclaims. “This building’s gorgeous.”

Ash rubs the back of his head and squints his eyes. “Yeah, we’re not usually in places like this. Not for gigs. This was only because we had a few days before the next one and these lads need to see the sun.”

“Too bad for Ronan missing it, then,” I say. I am a bit jealous he’s in Cornwall. Not to say I’m ungrateful to be in this beautiful part of the world. “So,” I clear my throat, trying to keep my legs apart enough beneath my skirt that my thighs aren’t touching. Even the friction of them rubbing feels dangerous. “You can lead me straight to the booth? Does he know I’m coming?”

“Bad word choice, Phillips,” Cami shoots out.

“No, he doesn’t know. And I will take full responsibility if he’s unhappy about it. But I think he’ll just be shocked. You didn’t reply in time to meet him, and then with the way you closed your message, he seems to fear never hearing from you again. But he also doesn’t want to push it.”

“He needs to pushsomething,” says Cami.

“So the ball’s in my court.” I nod, trying to imagine his reaction.

Cami snickers. “Again, Phillips.”

I look into Ash’s eyes, which always used to look back at me with a mixture of apathy or sarcasm. It’s strange how fast your view of someone can change. I guess his changed about me, but I don’t know if mine can ever change about Ronan.

“Lead the way.”

The beach party is well under-way as Cami scopes out a table along the back, away from the undulating crowd of dancers outside the raised beach-hut style sound booth, its straw-roof keeping the last of the evening sun off the occupants, which from here I can see is just one person. Grayson.

At this distance I see only a baseball cap, I can only imagine procured from his time in America as it’s certainly not the sort of thing I’ve ever seen him wear before, aviator sunglasses, a light, thin scarf wrapped loosely around his neck, and a long-sleeve shirt.

“I’m just going to camp out here, okay? I will not move from this spot.”

“Promise?” I ask Cami. She nods and I turn to Ash. “What about you?”

“I’ll take you to the guards, make sure they know you’re allowed in. We don’t have any VIP passes here.” He looks around at the packed beach area, all the tables and chairs moved against the back of the sand closest to the hotel. “Honestly I didn’t expect this big of a crowd.” He frowns.

“Does that mean someone’s figured out who he is?” I ask, a bit nervous. I don’t want to disrupt his gig, especially if this is what he does in his down-time, for fun and unwinding. Causing any kind of repeatcamera bitchscene is not what I signed on for.

Ash turns to Cami. “Stay here, save this seat for me,” he says, pointing to the empty chair beside her, gives her a grin, and adds, “Wine or cocktail?”

“Surprise me,” she says, shining an unapologetic smile at him. I shake my head. It really is like the world tipped on its axis since New Year’s Eve.

Must’ve been something in the confetti.

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