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At the end of the day, music came first.

Love was too unreliable.

I’d learned from my mistakes and had to be cautious. That was why I wanted to take things slow with Tia. “I agree. Music is life. But there is always room for love and compromise. You’re sitting here wishing you were with Maddy. You won’t know what will happen unless you try. You might find a balance, like Flint and Sutton have.”

He let out a low laugh. As he swished his head from side to side, his long hair brushed across his shoulders. “They’re a rare exception to the rule. I’m not that lucky. Sometimes no matter how you feel about someone or how much you love them, there’s too much other shit blocking the road to being together. On both sides.”

“Baggage and barriers, right?” Yep! Tia and I had a ton of those to deal with.

“Truckloads.”

I raised my beer glass. “Here’s to being fucked up by love.”

We chinked our glasses and downed a mouthful of beer.

He smiled a crooked smile. “To no light at the end of the tunnel.”

I hated seeing him tortured over someone he liked. But I could relate to that. With a drunken sway, I clutched onto his shoulder and gave him a gentle shake. “There is always a light—it might be a freight train coming at you or a bright new opportunity on the other side. There’s no way of telling what awaits you unless you take some risks.” I quirked a grin and raised my eyebrows. He needed a nudge with Maddy. I needed to be with Tia. Hopefully my plan worked. “So, want to take one?”

“One what?”

I eased back on my chair. “Maddy is sharing a room with Tia. If you want...Tia could stay with me. You could get some time with Maddy.”

He chuckled as he shook his head. “You like stirring the pot, don’t you?” He stole a glance toward Maddy. A war of want and restraint swirled in his eyes. “But you’d do that?”

Hell yeah. I want to get laid. “Absolutely.” The alcohol kept talking. “I’m no expert on relationships. But when something keeps pulling you back together, maybe you should stop fighting it. If you and Maddy are meant to be, you’ll find a way to make it work. Letting go of the past is hard. Change is even harder. Trust me on that one. But give yourself a chance to find out if what you have is real. If it’s right, you will survive anything. If it fucks up, I promise I’ll be here for you to help you through the mess. You’ve been good to me, Slip. I’ll always be here if you need me.”

“You got this all planned?”

“Nope. I’m winging it.” I grinned but then slid some seriousness into my tone. “I hope I can trust you like you can trust me. Tia and I need some time to work things out. Are you willing to do the same with Maddy?”

Slip’s leg jiggled as he met Maddy’s gaze. He rubbed the back of his neck, then ruffled his fingers through his hair.

“Fuck.” He slid off his stool and pointed at me. “If this fucks up, it’s on you.” He downed the rest of his beer and slammed the glass down on the table.

“I’ve got your back.”

“I’ve always had yours.” He slapped me on the shoulder, then took a step backward toward Maddy. The biggest shit-eating grin lit his face. “Don’t fuck up with Tia. I want you in the band.”

“I’ll do my best not too.”

But just like in life, there were no guarantees.

My track record had proven that.

Chapter 23

TIA

At two a.m., I headed back to the hotel with Slip, Maddy, and Lewis. Traveling together provided the perfect cover for our secret, steamy rendezvouses. No one suspected a thing. On our floor, I fell into the room with Lewis. He had my top half off before the door clicked shut.

Another two mind-blowing rounds between the bedsheets with him were ten times hotter than our previous encounters combined.

I loved he was a fast learner.

He’d always asked questions, tried different things, and had taken his time exploring, tasting, and touching me. If we were going to keep seeing each other, I wanted to do away with condoms. We agreed on getting checkups before he got home from promo so we didn’t have to use them.

The following afternoon, having to say goodbye to Lewis and act like nothing was going on between us in front of my brother and the rest of the band, had taken all my self-control. I’d wanted to kiss Lewis again, so freaking much. But as I gave him a quick hug goodbye, and breathed his earthy scent in, dizziness swam through my head like I was high up on a tightrope, with no safety net, afraid to take another step. He was right. We had to take our relationship slow. I didn’t want either one of us to get hurt. Not again. But sneaking around had woken a desire in me that had been hibernating for way too long...the need to have some wicked fun. Just the thought of stealing hot moments and finding ways to have sexy rendezvouses with Lewis without being caught turned me on. For the first time in months, I had something to look forward to. Lewis would be home in two weeks. I couldn’t wait to get him alone again.