Page 46

Will

I hadn’t slept in nearly three days, riding high on making new material, but I suddenly hit a wall and told my bandmates, “I need a nap. Give me at least three hours, unless ya’ll think you need some sleep, too.”

“I want to finish this song,” Silver said, “but you should hit the hay before you fall asleep sitting up.”

“Go,” said Hailey. “We’ll finish this one and you can help tweak it later.”

Animal had gone to his room about thirty minutes earlier, but I wasn’t going to make it up four flights of steps to mine, so I crashed on the daybed just outside our practice room.

No one woke me for nine hours, and when I finally sat up, I found a bottle of water along with one of my favorite electrolyte packets beside it, and a note from Davy that he’d put a roast in the slow cooker that morning, and it should be ready to eat by around three or four. I looked at my watch but it was dead, so I reached for my phone, which someone had plugged in so it would charge while I slept, and saw that it was nearly three in the afternoon.

I dumped the mix in the water, screwed the lid on, shook it, took the lid off, and drank over half the bottle in one long swig.

No one was in the practice room, so I stumbled to the toilet for a piss and then made my way upstairs and checked the roast. It needed a little longer, but it was close.

I hit the stairs again and went to my room because I was in desperate need of a shower. My phone told me I had seventy-three unread texts because I’d silenced it when we started working. Whatever was waiting for me had waited this long, it could wait until I was clean.

The hot water felt so good, I just stood under it a while, soaking in the heat.

When I finally sat down with my phone, there was nothing from Drake Security, meaning Micca was fine. Nothing from Micca either, but that wasn’t unusual — she often has to go completely dark when she travels for work.

So, I checked texts from Davy first, where he’d kept me up to date on his days, much as he’d been required to do back when I was on tour. I hadn’t told him to, but my boy is smart and figured out on his own what I’d want. He was deep in a project today and he warned it might be as late as seven before he got home.

I was disappointed, but it wasn’t like I could bitch about his hours when he was running tight to get a project finished on time. It’s important to Davy to deliver when he promises, and that’s part of what makes me love him so much.

I didn’t know when Micca would return from wherever Drake Security had her, nor did I have any idea what part of the world she was in. I hated it, but it was the reality of being in love with someone who works with the most elite private security company on the planet.

I texted Davy before I looked through all my other texts.I’m up after a long sleep. I’m going to down some carbs and then work out before I scroll through and listen to the songs we’ve been working on.

Sometimes I hate new stuff after a long sleep, other times a song is so good I can’t believe we came up with it.

My phone rang with a video call request from my boy, and I accepted it with a smile.

“I should be finished in a couple of hours unless something goes wrong,” Davy told me before I had a chance to say anything. “I’ll let you know if that changes, but I might be home by five thirty or six instead of seven.” He gave a shy smile and spoke lower. “I’ve missed you, Master.”

“I think it was a good session, but it’s good to be back to reality, and I’m happy with what you accomplished on your own, without me standing over you to make you work out properly.”

“Enough for maybe a reward, Master?”

I smiled. “Possibly.”

“Did you hear from Micca, Sir?”

I shook my head. “It’s normal when we don’t. Drake Security would let us know if there was a problem. She’s fine.”

He spoke a little louder, in a normal tone to say, “I know, but I hoped. If you aren’t in the mood for a roast, I can cook something else when I get home.”

I shook my head. “The roast is perfect. Now get back to work so you can get home.”

He gave me a huge smile. “I love you. Can’t wait to see you.”

“Ditto, boy.”

I disconnected before he could say anything else, and then dealt with the other texts while I ate potato chips and dip, which took over an hour. Well, the chips and dip were gone sooner, but the texts took longer.

I hadn’t worked out in days, other than pushups while we all worked on lyrics and rhymes together, so my muscles complained at the start, but once everything was warmed up, my routine was second nature, and I ended with laps in the pool.

Davy was in the kitchen wearing nothing but an apron and his ankle cuffs while making gravy when I went back downstairs,so I merely held him from behind rather than turning him around to give him the kiss he needed.