Page 60 of The Stalker

9

The Truth

“It’s tour day, Tatiana!”Hayden exclaimed on Sunday morning as she opened his bedroom door.

His enthusiasm was infectious, and she couldn’t stop herself from grinning at him. Cruise Control were kicking off their tour with a concert in Chicago tonight.

“I feel like I should give you some kind of present or something. Does it always feel this momentous?”

“Pretty much. Tonight I’ll be performing for my fans, and it’s going to be epic.”

She’d received confirmation from Owen before she and Hayden even left the premises that they would be able to change the door. She didn’t even bother mentioning the bunk issue to them because there was no way to get that fixed in time.

The only place they’d gone yesterday was to see Hayden’s new therapist, so Tatiana had taken him solo to give Jesse a final day off before the tour. She told herself that was the reason, anyway, and that it definitely wasn’t because she was dreading the moment when she had to tell him about the tour bus situation.

He arrived while they were eating their breakfast and said, “Morning, Mr. Vega. Morning, Tatiana. I’ll leave you to your food. Come get me when you’re ready for me.”

As he walked away, Tatiana murmured to Hayden, “Do you want to be there when I tell him?”

“It’s such a cop-out, but not really,” he cringed. “I should, though, so I can apologize.”

He looked so fretful that Tatiana couldn’t stand it. “You can apologize later. Let me tell him alone, then I can bear the brunt of any initial anger.”

“What are you going to tell him?”

“That your heart was in the right place, but you couldn’t see the forest for the trees and that I fucked up by not being involved in the tour bus prep. Then, I’m going to offer him the room.”

Hayden gasped. “You’ll sleep on the sofa?”

“If I have to,” she shrugged.

“No. You can have my bed if it comes to it.” He shook his head.

Tatiana laughed, “Where will you sleep if I’m in your bed, Hayden Vega?”

Hayden’s eyes darkened considerably, and he swept his gaze over her before meeting her gaze again. She desperately needed to clarify what she meant.

Shit. No. Don’t try to backtrack. You’ll make it worse. It was an innocent question.

Hayden was looking at her as though it very much was not an innocent question, though. She hoped that if she could just manage to keep her cool, she could pretend she wasn’t imagining them sharing a bed together.

It was the first time she couldn’t stand Hayden’s delay before answering a question. She thought she might expire as she held her breath awaiting his reply.

“I’ll take the sofa, as long as you let me have a bath every once in a while,” he told her in a serious voice, but there was no hiding the amusement in his expression, and her cheeks flushed with heat as he said it.

An image of him in the bath the other day came to her mind. She envisaged herself in there with him, and hated herself for thinking it.

She pushed the thought away and said, “As generous as that offer is, I couldn’t possibly take you up on it. I’m responsible for your safety, and part of that is your physical health. I’m sure touring is hard on the body, and you’ll need the rest.”

“Well, I don’t want you sleeping on the sofa,” he said in a soft voice.

“But you’re fine with Jesse doing it?” She raised an eyebrow at him.

“Fuck. I’m an asshole. No. I don’t want that either,” he sighed. “I fucked up so bad.”

“Don’t stress. We’ll get it sorted out. You focus on being an amazing drummer who loves his fans. I’ll focus on sleep logistics.”

Hayden nodded and smiled at her. “I think I can manage that. Let me know as soon as you can how it goes, though. I might go to the music room while you talk.”

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