Page 14 of Ticket to the Stars: Part Two

She was quiet, and she didn’t move a muscle. It took her a few seconds to whisper, “I do.” It almost sounded like she didn’t want to admit it, and once she did, Priest tossed me a smug look, as if checking to make sure I’d heard.

Please. He was acting like she’d said she trusted him more than she trusted me. That wasnotwhat was said, but Priest had a habit of hearing what he wanted to.

He drew his hands down her back, the center of his palms near her spine. I sat back and let him have his moment with her, not saying a word—though I did watch him work. I paid attention to what movements and which areas brought out more muffled sounds from her, and I filed that information away for later. Never knew when it’d come in handy. She seemed to really like it when he dragged his hands down to the small of her back.

Honestly, seeing Priest on top of her like this… it was weird. I knew it’d be weird, but it was stranger than I’d expected. Of course, it was only as weird as we made it, so I’d have to make a conscious effort to not think this was weird.

It wasn’t. This was completely normal.

If I repeated that to myself often enough, I’d start to believe it. That was the trick.

“Just think,” Priest spoke, his voice a low whisper as he leaned over Angel. “I could be your personal massage therapist. After every show, after every long night in the studio, we could come back here and I could help you unwind.”

“Mmm. Is that what this is about?” Angel asked, “Trying to butter me up, get me to do what you want?”

“I want you to do whatyouwant, and it just so happens that what you want and what I want are the same. Deacon and Bishop want it, too.” His hands moved to her shoulders. “What’s holding you back?”

When she didn’t respond, I decided to, “She’s worried it’ll explode in our faces.” Even though I’d already told the guys what she’d said earlier, it still bore repeating. We couldn’t let her think that. If she did, she’d never take the leap.

And, God, did I want her to join us and take that freaking leap.

“Angel,” Priest purred out her name in a way I could only describe as seductive. It was his bedroom voice, if I had to guess, the voice that made girls go crazy. “We’re all adults. We know what could go wrong. While you’re too busy worrying, it’s also stopping you from thinking about how great it could be if itdidn’tgo wrong.”

She hadn’t seen us right after the Pope scandal. How we’d had to kick him out. It was that or Black Sacramentwould be dropped from the label completely due to a breach of our contract—a code of conduct had been written into it. We had to have that talk with Pope ourselves, and it hadn’t been pretty.

So, yeah, we could handle hard times. We could deal with stress. Maybe not as good as the next person, but we weren’t strangers to it. Angel couldn’t let herself wallow in the bad what-ifs without giving credit to what good could come from it, too.

“This could be great,” Priest murmured. “We could be great. I know it.” Deacon walked into the room after that, and he tossed a look his way and said, “Deacon, there you are. Come here and help us convince her that we can do this.”

Deacon sat on the bed near me. “If she needs convincing, maybe she’s not into it.”

Priest’s eyebrows furrowed at that, his eyes squinting, the annoyance clear on his face, but Angel started to move, so Priest got off her and let her roll around and sit up. Even though her bra was still undone, she didn’t go to fix it. She only surveyed the three of us and said, “It’s not that I’m not into it. I just… I don’t want to be the last nail in the coffin.”

“This isn’t a coffin,” I said.

“And if it was, you’d be the pretty lacquered top coat, not a nail—” Priest only stopped when Deacon elbowed him, and he feigned injury even though he was the tallest and biggest out of us. “Ow. It might surprise you to know, but I’m very physically fragile.” He smirked and turned hischarm onto Angel. “I’m kidding. I’m like a rock. Here, want to touch my abs?” He lifted up his shirt to reveal his toned abdomen.

Angel made no moves to do that.

He didn’t like that. He must’ve thought his abs were magic, because he took her hand and brought it to his abs as he said, “There. Aren’t they nice? Don’t they make you want to, I don’t know, give this whole thing a shot?”

Oh, jeez. Priest’s abs couldn’t be the reason she agreed to be with us. That was just… asinine.

“Do other girls trip over their own feet to be with you once they’ve touched your abs or something?” Angel asked. I could tell she was trying not to sound impressed, but she did come across a little breathless.

“Do you really want to talk about other girls right now?” Priest asked.

“No,” she whispered, taking her hand back. She reached behind her, trying to hook her bra together, but she couldn’t seem to do it. Priest leaped to volunteer himself for the job, scurrying around her to do it without saying a word. Her back was rod straight when he re-hooked her bra, and once it was done, she said, “Thank you.”

Priest came to sit between Deacon and I, and the three of us watched her while she, in turn, watched us. We did a lot of staring, and I wished I could be inside that head of hers. I thought our day together had helped her get some clarity, but maybe not. Maybe she was still as torn as before.

“I guess… a part of me is just worried that you guys will change your mind after, or you’ll decide I’m not worth it or something.” Angel bit her lower lip as she absentmindedly picked at the sheet beneath her. “I can’t shake the doubts. Maybe because I’ve never—”

“Had a boyfriend?” Priest offered helpfully. “Or three at the same time?” Deacon glared at him, but all he did was shrug it off.

I ignored them both and asked, “Is there anything we can do?” It was obvious sweet, romantic gestures were appreciated by her but not enough to sway her—not that I wanted to sway her; more like open her eyes to the truth.

And then it came to me. An option. It wasn’t ideal, but it’d be a way for us to try without putting any pressure on it or each other.

---