Page 7 of Accidental Baby For My Brother’s Best Friend

Locke

Two weeks pass by in a blink, and it’s time to start the tour - first stop, Albuquerque. New Mexico isn’t high on my bucket list of travel destinations, but I’m nervous nonetheless. Not just because it’s the first out of state performance that Jack and the Spades will perform, but because I’ll be jammed in next to Gemma Arden for six hours on a tour bus.

Asmalltour bus.

I stand there, staring at it with a frown, until Axel claps a hand on my shoulder.

“You afraid you can’t fold your big ass in there?” he jokes, grinning as he boards the bus.

My frown grows wider. Ever since Jackson suggested that Axel’s interest in Gemma goes beyond the brotherly affection I assumed every other member felt for her, I’ve been a little touchy around the guitarist.

Axel, for his part, acts exactly the same as he always does - annoyingly cheerful and bright. It isn’t as if I dislike people with positive personalities, hell, I suppose that Gemma has one of those, too. It’s just that I don’t have that type of personality, and sometimes it can feel like I’m some kind of buzzkill.

Usually, though, Axel doesn’t get under my skin. In fact, usually Axel talks me into smiling, makes me laugh at something even when everything seems to be going wrong on stage. I guess I have to admit to myself that maybe the reason I feel so irritated now is because Axel might be interested in Gemma.

What does that mean, exactly? It’s not as if Jackson will ever take his eyes off Axel long enough for him to make a move on Gemma, even on tour. Even if hedid, I’m not sure that Axel is Gemma’s type.

But why did any of that matter to me, anyway? I have come to terms with the fact that I’m attracted to my best friend’s baby sister, but I don’t intend todoanything about it. Do I?

I’m still standing outside the tour bus when a wave of disjointed memory washes over me: locking eyes with Gemma, licking that blonde bartender’s neck as I wanted to lick her...

Shit.

My thoughts stop there, thankfully, because Jackson kicks me in the ass with a black combat boot and I nearly fall over.

“Get it together, Kincaid!” he teases, his tone just as bright and cheerful as Axel’s. “We’ve got a show to put on.”

“Yeah, six hours away,” I deadpan, righting myself and ducking to step on the bus. We were supposed to meet at 6:30, but I slept in and didn’t make it until nearly 9:00. Luckily, we all indulged a little too much yesterday, celebrating the tour, so as I screeched into the parking lot, I saw Axel and Jackson pulling up in Axel’s beat up Honda.

Gemma is considerably pissed, especially since the show starts in less than ten hours so we won’t have much time to set up.

She’s already on the tour bus, and I expected her to be glaring at me the second I stepped foot on the bus, but instead, she’s turned toward Axel, laughing, her green eyes sparkling. Something twists in my gut, and I blame it on too much tequila last night and no breakfast in my stomach.

I sit down across from Axel, and he gives me a look, as if we’re in on some inside joke and it makes me want to hit him. Maybe I’m just hungover and sleep deprived, but it seems like everything Axel is doing is driving me up the wall.

Samuel scoots over a seat to sit next to me and smiles. “Everyone’s so excited,” he whispers, “but I’m kind of shitting my pants.”

His low tone and serious delivery surprise me into a laugh, and I bump into him with my shoulder gently.

“Don’t worry, Sammy. We’re gonna blow Albuquerque away.”

Seven hours later, bleary eyed since I’ve slept the last four hours, I don’t feel so confident, stumbling down the tour bus stairs after Gemma. I nearly knock her over when I miss the last step in my sleepy haze.

“Don’t tell me you got into Axel’s mobile liquor cabinet,” Gemma says, but her tone isn’t irritated.

She seems upbeat rather than annoyed, and again I think about how her base personality seems positive – it’s just that she doesn’t like me. Maybe that’s why I’m feeling so odd about Axel, even if I know his interest is purely physical and will go nowhere. I never considered myself a person that wants to be liked, but since Gemma is going to be our manager for the conceivable future (and if I’m honest, does a pretty great job at it), it must be professional jealousy.

Gemma and Axel are always pretty friendly, when I think about it.

I don’t realize that I haven’t responded to Gemma until she puts her hand on my shoulder.

“Seriously, Locke, you didn’t, right?”

She seems concerned, her head tilted up to look into my eyes, and my heart skips a beat.

“Of course not,” I mumble.

It comes out gruffer than I intend it to, and her face changes, something like anger or hurt flashing across it. Usually it would make me smile, being able to rile her, but today, after watching her chat with Axel for hours, I want to backtrack so that she doesn’t take my words the wrong way.

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