Page 35 of The Rocker

Fuck we really needed a night at a hotel and quick.

“Oh, my God,” Pen shouted as she stepped into the room. “You’re never going to believe what just happened!”

“We just sold a million copies of our album?” Cross guessed.

“Not that,” Pen shook her head. The biggest smile I’d ever seen was plastered on her face.

“Don’t keep us guessing. Tell us what it is,” I demanded.

“Okay, okay,” she surveyed the room once and then twice. “Where’s Greer?”

“He went to the bus. Said he couldn’t wait any longer,” Cross said irritably.

“Well, he’s going to want to hear this, so let’s go.” She grabbed my hand and helped me to stand. Well, it was the thought that counted. She couldn’t pull me up even if she wanted to. Hooking both of her arms through Cross and Kenton’s, Pen started to pull them out of the room, skipping down the hallway.

“Whatever this is, it must be good,” Kenton laughed.

“It’s so fucking good you’re going to shit your pants,” Pen laughed.

Now I was intrigued. What could possibly have her acting like we’d just won an Oscar for best musical score or gone platinum on our first album?

Walking behind them, I watched as Pen’s ass moved in her tight jeans as she skipped and dragged the guys down the hall. It was quite a sight. Her mood was infectious, and had put smiles on all of our faces. Not that I wasn’t usually in a good mood when she was around. Pen made my world better, even if we were hiding what we meant to each other from the world.

Pen let go of their arms and ran up the stairs of the bus with all of us hot on her heels.

“Okay, now that you’re all together, I have big news to share with you. What would you say if I told you, you’ve just been offered to do an international tour with Crimson Heat as…”

My heart nearly pumped out of my chest as I listened to each of her words. Time slowed down as I waited to hear what else she had to say.

“The headlining band.” Pen jumped up and down in place and clapped her hands.

The rest of us just stood there in stunned silence, not believing the words that just came out of her mouth.

“You’ve got to be shitting me,” Cross yelled before he picked Penelope up and twirled her around.

Kenton got in on the action as well. They held Pen up and made small circles in our little home away from home. With each spin, Pen’s eyes locked with mine. There was nothing I wanted more than to hold her in my arms and kiss her. Instead, all I could do was smile at my bandmates, friends, and the woman I loved.

Yeah, I loved her. I thought I was already halfway there when she ended things, but once she curled up against me and cried in my lap, I knew I loved her. Which was something I was keeping to myself for the time being. I didn’t want to rock the boat and make Pen second guess what was going on between us. I knew if I told her right then and there, she wouldn’t believe me, but soon I’d tell her. There was no way in hell I could keep my feelings contained any longer. The second we were alone, I was going to tell Pen I loved her.

“I fucking love this woman,” Kenton crowed, saying to the bus and the world what I wanted to say. I knew his feelings were strictly platonic, but still, it ate away at me that I couldn’t even show these three guys how I felt about her.

They put Pen down on her feet, and she stumbled dizzily into my arms. She braced her hands on my chest and smiled up at me. The look she was giving me had me second-guessing if she had indeed been dizzy or not. I had a feeling she just wanted to be in my arms. Pen patted my chest, right over my heart. Her eyes closed for a moment, and then she was spinning around and smiling at all of us.

“Give us all the details, woman. When? Where? For how long?” Kenton rushed out.

“How much are we making?”

“I don’t have all the details yet, but I should have an email soon with all the locations, dates, venues, and more. But so far, this is what I know.”

For the next ten minutes, Pen filled us in on everything she learned while she was talking on the phone out in the hall. By the end, the four of us were about to jump out of our skin with excitement. You could feel a crackle in the air. We couldn’t be contained.

“Alright, I’m going to check to see how long it will take us to get to your next city. You guys need to go out and celebrate. Otherwise, you’ll probably tear down the bus with all of your energy.”

She wasn’t wrong. It looked like it was taking everything in Kenton to not be bouncing off the walls.

Pen stood, pulled out her phone, and walked to the back of the bus as she tried to figure out what she should do with us.

After a minute, I feigned the need to use the restroom and followed her to the back of the bus. I closed the curtains at the bunks so no one could see that I didn’t go inside the bathroom. I found Pen sitting on the bed, looking down at her phone, her brows pinched.

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