Page 137 of Reverse

She nods as I press my forehead to hers. “Say it.”

“I promise, Easton.”

“Good. And I promise to do everything in my power to keep this between us until you’re ready to talk to your dad.”

“Thank you,” she murmurs against my lips.

“Go, before I do somethingreallystupid.”

Anxiety overtakes me with the thousand ways this could go wrong, and she quiets my erratic thoughts with the tenderness in her kiss, soothing me as we desperately draw upon each other’s mouths. I sink into her affection, into her need for me, into the promises we have yet to make, and the declaration dancing on our tongues as our time ticks out. She breaks the kiss with Joel’s last knock and exits the SUV, stalking toward the plane and boarding without a glance back. Though it stings like a bitch, I know why. For the same reason I can’t fly with her and tuck her in.

I revel in what this ache means, in what my heart is relaying.

My chest tightens unbearably as I watch the plane taxi down the runway, flashes of the last forty-eight hours flitting through my mind as our connection continues to buzz through me with the strength of a tsunami. As her plane floats into the late summer sunset, the ache in my chest begins to rage, only confirming the deep-seated truth that began to take shape inside me months ago.

The truth that our souls clicked seamlessly together before our bodies ever aligned, and it can no longer be denied or undone.

FORTY-ONE

“Girl, You’ll Be a Woman Soon”

Rafferty

Easton

“It’s a good one, man,” Tack claps my shoulder as he and Syd exit the stage searching for sustenance. Our sound check lasted longer than normal—thanks to my insistence we start working on a new cover I decided we would master after leaving Dallas.

“I agree. See you tonight.”

Syd jerks his chin to LL and me in silent goodbye, vape smoke billowing in his wake. Aside from his base line, I’ve deduced grunts and gestures are Syd’s chosen love language. Syd’s private, and in that, we have common ground.

For the most part, I’ve got my bandmates figured out—quirks and all—except for one. I glance over at LL, who’s taken residence on my piano bench to jot notes down on the margin of his sheet music. When he senses my gaze on his profile, he stops his pencil and stares back at me.

I’ve been borderline hostile with him since Dallas, and he must know why. In response, he’s been playing ignorant. The apology he should have already made feels pointless now, but I can feel the indecisive energy emanating from him when he finally speaks up. “Look, mate, I didn’t know—”

“The fuck you didn’t,” I interrupt. “Let me make myself clear. I don’t care that you’re talented and will be hard to replace. If you ever so much as look at—or pursue—any woman who’s with me like that again, you’re fucking gone.”

“That’s a bit fucking petty,” he fires back. “I was already midgame before she caught us in the act.”

“Then maybe don’t make it a point to have your cock sucked in public.”

“It wasyour party, and it wasn’t exactly rated PG. If I recall correctly, it was quite the contrary.”

“And that makes me responsible for your behavior?” I roll my eyes and take a step toward him. “I was already skeptical about you personally when we hired you, so any chance of my opinion changing was shot to shit with the way you reacted.”

“She was watchingme,” he defends.

“She saw something that piqued . . . shocked her. In turn, you saw an opportunity,” I snap. “That’s the behavior of a fucking predator. I know it when I see it, so don’t play innocent.”

“Far from that, mate.”

“I’m not your fuckingmate,” I snap, turning to retreat off stage before my anger bests me.

“No, you’re not my mate. You’re a fucking spoiled cunt. I’d almost be relieved if you carry through with the threat to fire me,” he snaps at my back. “At least I’d get half my salary and be free of your Type A fucking arse. I don’t see the issue. She’s just another fucking bird.”

Red streams through my vision as I turn, and in two strides, land a right squarely on his mouth—knocking him backward, along with the piano bench. Tempted to pounce, I take a few steadying breaths as he sneers up at me, his lip bleeding freely.

Sighing, I grab the towel from atop the piano and squat so we’re eye level as he continues to glare at me. Indecision appears to flit over his features, like he’s deciding whether or not to strike back. I give him ample opportunity to do so before thrusting the towel toward him. “You deserved that, and now I know where we stand, but let’s cut the bullshit. I’m just as observant as you are, Leif, and you know damn well she’s not justanother fucking bird.Regardless of what she is or isn’t, it’s not your business to try and figure that out. Your business is to show up and play guitar.”

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