Page 102 of Reckless

That made Harlow’s tears come harder. “No flying cars yet. But otherwise yeah. Even the part where I have my very own rockstar to love like you do. Thank you for being my best friend and for always being in my corner from the first day we met. I love you.”

“I’m so proud of the way you stood up to Gloria. And the way you let yourself love Miles. You need to be the one to text when you get to London, okay?”

“All right. It’s less than an hour so I’ll get there first and wait for your text soon after.” She needed to go but she gave Nora one last hug. “He loves me like I need to be loved,” she whispered into her best friend’s ear.

She allowed two steps backward before she waved one last time and turned, heading toward her gate.

It had been seven weeks since she’d seen Miles, watching his back as he and the others had moved through airport security, and she’d been on the other side of that line. That extra week had meant more shows for both bands, but those seven days had felt like an extra month. Seven weeks of texts, short Facetime calls and little packages he sent to her via her aunt.

No Miles snuggles in the middle of the night when she woke up cold and her bed was empty. Funny how fast she’d gotten used to sleeping with him and sharing space. She had to order her own room service, though Nora did let her steal part of her food like Miles always did. But it wasn’t the same.

Still, once Earthquakes had headed to their own festivals and the Europe leg of their tour, Above Me’s star continued to rise. Their album sales had continued at a rate that pleased Jeremy and had clearly impressed the label, so they had the amazing experience of signing a new contract. The press they’d gotten was positive for the most part. Harlow had given in and had hired on a PR firm to deal with any negative backlash from Gloria. But Shelly, her rep, was fucking awesome and Harlow was convinced the peace of mind alone was worth the money. Thefucked her way to successbrigade got quiet and theriding her dad’s coattailshad been spun to arock royaltything.

A drink would have been nice, but the flight was so short and she still needed to get to the house she and Miles would be staying in for the next several days. Earthquakes was playing the O2 that night to close out the tour. She’d really wanted to be there but when the Amsterdam shows got scheduled it had given her no time to do both.

Travel had become such a regular part of her life that she’d quickly deplaned, grabbed her bag, and headed out to grab a cab on auto pilot. On the drive, Harlow texted Nora, Marcella, and her dad to let them all know she’d arrived in London safely and would connect with them all later.

And then she was on a doorstep facing a black lacquer door with a fancy gold knocker. Her heart pounding, she knocked but only got one rap before she heard her name being called.

He got out of a sleek black car at the curb just a few feet away and everything in her stilled and then exploded to life. Clicked back into place because there he was. Her person.

“You’re here,” he said as he pulled her close. She wrapped herself around him, squeezing tight as she breathed him in.

“You’re here too. God, that’s good. It’s so good to see you and smell you and feel you. I missed you so much,” she told him as she pressed her face into his neck. “You better still love me,” she threatened.

That made him laugh and squeeze her tight before setting her back. “I do love you. Until the sun burns out.” He pulled a key out and then punched in a code once the keypad slid down. “Let’s get inside. You need food. I bet you came straight from the show without anything to eat or drink.”

The townhouse was posh as fuck. Elegantly classy. It didn’t scream wealth, but it sure whispered it in every finish and element.

“You know some swanky people, Miles,” she said. “I knew this was a fancy neighborhood, but this house is dreamy. It’s like a spread out ofArchitectural Digest.”

He took her bag and her hand and dragged her along. “Let’s put your bag in the bedroom and then have food and a cocktail to celebrate the end of both our tours.”

She grinned, up for whatever he proposed. “Okay.”

The master bedroom and attached bathroom were done up in navy, gray and bright white. The bed was massive and she gave him a sideways glance and a smirk.

“When I was here earlier to leave my things, I had to jerk off afterward just thinking about you and me in this bed,” he said after pressing a kiss to her temple and getting her worked up.

With a moan Harlow reached up to encircle his neck with her arms and rubbed herself all over him. “I’m marking you like a cat. Just so everyone knows. You probably need to reenact that jerk off situation. Just so I can be sure it’s okay with me.”

He chuckled. “Ah.” And shrugged. “Only if you do it too so I can watch. Not because I need to be sure I’m okay with it, I’m more than okay with it. I just want to see you make yourself come.”

She hugged him tighter.

“I missed holding you,” he said, kissing her forehead. “And since I’m going to show you some other things I missed and that will demand calories for energy on your part, food first. I have nowhere to be for the next three days. And then back in Seattle, you and I are going to spend some quality time just hanging out.”

He spun her and marched her out and downstairs where she volunteered to get them both a drink while he set about making them both sandwiches. Naturally the fridge was stocked full of delicious food and drinks, so she made them a fruity themed cocktail from the guava juice that tasted freshly made.

Then they sat at the table in the small garden out back and clinked glasses. “Forever,” he said, and she echoed, agreeing.

“Now,” he said as they began to eat—and she was hungry and had already drunk two big glasses of water. “How did the show go tonight?”

They talked about their closing gigs, and he updated her on where Maddie, Silas and Omar were headed. They talked about plans for the next few days. Her suitcase was pretty empty because London had great secondhand shops she wanted to visit and knew she’d need the room for all her new treasures. There were some restaurants Miles wanted to try and she was always game for eating stuff.

It had been a great show. The O2 had been packed full. They’d been a fantastic crowd, one of the best of the whole tour, though he was pretty sure nothing could compete with that last night of the tour at the Gorge. The band was tight, easily drifting along with one another, stepping aside here and there for the others to shine.

He’d said his goodbyes to his bandmates before the show because right afterward, he’d grabbed his stuff and jumped into a waiting car to head to the townhouse he’d borrowed from a producer friend of his dad’s.

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