“That may have been the hottest thing I’ve ever seen,” she said, stroking her fingers through my hair. “Way better than any porn I’ve watched.”
“How much porn do you watch?” I asked, laughing.
“Enough.”
“Fuck, that’s hot.”
“Really?”
I collapsed to my side, curling her into me, and tugged the curtain closed behind me. “Nova, anything you do is hot. And these,” I groaned, stroking her now covered pierced nipple. “That was a surprise.”
“Your piercing was a surprise, too.”
“I’m glad you like it.”
I wanted to say so much more. Tell her about all the things I wanted to do to her. How I wanted her to stroke my piercing and how I couldn’t wait to feel inside her. I wanted to have it all right there.
But she yawned, and I remembered where we were. Tonight wasn’t planned, but it was beyond anything I could’ve asked for or expected, and I didn’t want to push.
We crossed a line tonight we’d never crossed in our relationship.
I didn’t want to push any further and tempt fate to send us back to the beginning like it always seemed to do.
So instead of telling her how much I couldn’t wait to be inside her, I settled on wrapping her in my arms and falling asleep.
Twenty-Two
Nova
“All right, ladies,” Aspen addressed the guys. “These two suites connect and have two rooms each. Nova, you’re down the hall.”
She passed me a key card with my room number on it, and a couple of weeks ago, I might have been grateful for the reprieve, but now I looked at the guys knowing I’d miss being crammed into a tiny space with them twenty-four-seven.
“We’re here for three days, so please behave and show up for practices and events on time,” she continued, looking around the room as if to inspect the crisp area for any wrinkles.
I couldn’t imagine the penthouse suite to be anything other than top-notch, but I’d never stayed in a place as nice as this. At least not the top floor. But the guys lounged around and dropped their bags, propping their feet on the furniture, obviously used to the life of luxury.
“Will you be here too, Aspen?” Oren asked, batting his lashes.
She rolled her eyes, which she did almost every hour with Oren, but it was always with affection. Aspen stood with her back ramrod straight, intimidating in all black with a bold red lipstick. She screamed sophistication and power—the complete opposite of Oren’s laidback personality. Which was why he prodded her so incessantly.
“I’ll also be down the hall in another room,” she answered.
“Well, if you get lonely, you can always join me.”
“I’ll keep that in mind,” she deadpanned.
Oren pumped his fist, bringing out another small smirk from her.
“So, what events do we have? I know there’s an interview in the morning,” Ash asked.
“There’s an event at the Contemporary Arts Museum showcasing musical art from local schools to raise money for arts programs.”
“Very cool,” Brogan said.
“Parker,” she turned to him, her tone warning that what came next would probably piss him off. “Sonia is attending the event, so you can go as her date.”
My gaze jerked to his, thankful to find a frown already forming. He gave me a small shake of his head before pulling his shoulders back as if preparing to go to battle with Aspen.
“No.”
“Uh, yeah,” she responded like he was stupid to even try and say no.
“I’m not going on any more dates with her. Our agreement needs to be absolved.”
“Listen, Parker,” she sighed, exasperated she had to even explain. “You have an album coming out soon and a concert to promote, and you have enough ballads on your playlist that fans go crazy over the idea of knowing who it’s about.”
“I don’t care. I’m not going. Let one of the other guys go with her.”
“No one will believe the other guys are in a relationship.”
“True story,” Oren called. “I think someone got a picture of me sandwiched between two girls the other night.” Aspen glared, and he held up his hands. “Don’t look at me. I was just dancing. Brogan was making out with like three different women before disappearing in the bathroom.”
“Jesus,” she muttered. “Like I said, you have an established relationship, and that belief equals oodles and oodles of money.”
“I get that, but I’m ending this. As there was no set date, it shouldn’t be an issue.”
“The issue is the timing. Just get through the tour—maybe the album release, and then you can be done.”
He let out a frustrated growl and paced away. Aspen let him have his moment before putting her phone aside and strolling to block his path, her black stilettos clicking each step of the way. “Beyond the contract, you gave your word to management that you would promote the band as necessary. I do believe you even scoffed and let us know if you had to bang a redheaded model every now and then to help the band, then you’d take it. That if this was the shit rock stars had to do, then it was better than you originally thought. So, I suggest you get over yourself and follow through.”