Page 11 of A Way Out (Rock Star #2)

Chapter Ten

M aria woke on Thursday morning with a full bladder and butterflies swarming in her stomach. Riley was spread out on the bed next to her, and the house was quiet. The sun hadn’t even risen yet. A quick glance at her phone indicated it was just after six.

A faint noise came from behind the bathroom door. Oz was up. Of course he was. The man hardly slept; he was too busy taking care of everyone around him. Sleep wasn’t a priority.

She blew out a breath. Hopefully, now that he’d agreed to let her be the band’s sponsor, he could relax a little, maybe even sleep once in a while.

Gently sliding out of bed so as not to wake Riley, she padded over to the bathroom door and quietly knocked.

It opened from the inside and there was Oz, a toothbrush in his mouth, a pair of gym shorts riding low on his hips.

Water droplets clung to his bare chest, and his hair was damp and finger combed away from his face.

Maria opened and closed her mouth. No words came out.

“I’m almost done,” he said around his toothbrush, “and then it’s all yours.”

Needing something to do that wasn’t simply standing there staring at him, she snagged her own toothbrush.

They stood side by side, watching each other in the mirror, until he finally bent over one of the sinks and rinsed his mouth, and yes, she had to fight the very real urge to lean back and admire his backside when he was in that position.

She caught his eye when he straightened, and she swore he smirked. Great.

“Kids will be getting up soon. I figured we should leave as soon as they head off to school. Does that work?”

They’d already had this conversation, of course. Maria was a woman who needed a plan, after all. But she appreciated his attempt at trying to force normalcy into this situation.

“Yes, of course,” she agreed.

“I’ll leave you to it.” And then he was gone, striding into his bedroom and closing the door behind him.

She sighed and stared at herself in the mirror while she finished brushing her teeth. What was she doing? Was she projecting? Was she looking for a rebound?

Did it even qualify as a rebound at this point? She’d come to terms with her failed marriage long before the divorce was final.

But she hadn’t been with anyone, since before her grandmother died. That was a long time. And she knew, from her own body, let alone all the blogs and conversations with her doctor, that she was at the peak of her sexuality right now.

She ought to be having sex on the regular.

Was that it? Was that all she wanted from Oz? Because she wanted something from him. And by something, she meant she wanted to feel his naked body pressed against her own. She wanted to use her fingers to explore all those hard, inked muscles. She wanted his lips on hers.

On her.

What would that lip ring feel like, pressed against her skin?

She shivered and rinsed her mouth.

When she climbed into the shower, she was still wondering—what did she really want from Oz?

This morning was no less chaotic than any other this week. Maria was grateful for the distraction, to be honest.

Was it strange that she preferred the constant noise and movement to what she’d had in her previous life?

Everything had been so organized, so put together, so quiet.

She and Vic had rarely spoken, even before they separated.

The nanny didn’t talk to her other than to give her reports on Riley’s day. The housekeeper basically ignored her.

Her house in Washington had felt like a museum, like she wasn’t supposed to talk loudly or touch anything.

In contrast, staying with Oz and his family was energetic, exciting…fun.

Hugs and kisses were doled out as Cat ushered the kids toward the door.

“Have fun!”

“Love you, Uncle Oz.”

“Come home with a record deal,” Daniel said.

Oz chuckled. “We’ll do our best. Hey, take care of your abuelita,” he called out just before the last child hurried out the door.

Cat watched, probably making sure they were climbing into her car, and then turned around.

“Come here,” she said to Oz, who obeyed as only a son should. They hugged, she whispered something into his ear, and the tips of those ears turned red.

And yes, Maria was curious. Not curious enough to ask, though. Or, more honestly, not brave enough to ask.

“Your turn, mija ,” Cat said, pushing Oz away.

This was not how goodbyes were done in her household.

Not the one she grew up in, not the one she’d recently divorced out of.

She honestly could not remember either of her parents ever hugging her.

Vic had given her a peck on the cheek in the early days of their marriage, but that had soon morphed into simply “goodbye,” followed by an indication of when one or the other intended to be home.

They hadn’t even clasped hands or given the other a shoulder pat.

Cat, on the other hand, pulled her into an embrace that practically molded their bodies together. Maria could actually feel the outline of the other woman’s bra strap.

She didn’t hate it. Not the bra strap—the hug. The signs of affection. She wanted Riley to grow up thinking this was a normal goodbye.

Cat grasped her shoulders, pushing her to arm’s length and peering into her face. “You have a second chance, mija . Don’t blow it.”

Maria opened her mouth, but Cat was already hurrying across the porch, calling out to the kids to buckle their seat belts.

Her verbal goodbyes weren’t nearly as comforting as her physical ones.

Blinking rapidly and shaking her head, Maria shuffled back to Oz’s side. He pulled his phone out of his pocket. “Travis and Cash will be here any minute. We’re going to ride to the airport together.”

Maria had chosen this flight because she knew they would be up already. Travis had complained that most musicians, as a rule, did not get up at the butt crack of dawn, but he’d grudgingly agreed to fly out on the earlier flight. Cash had simply shrugged and said, “Okay.”

Parker and Lacey were already in Missouri, having flown out the day before.

Yesterday, Oz had still been protesting her purchase of his ticket. Earlier in the week, she’d joked that she was his sugar mama, which had not gone over well. Yesterday, she suggested, “Look at me as your boss.”

This had earned her no less of a scowl than anything else she’d said to convince the man to let go and focus on his music.

Riley finally grasped their intent as they were loading luggage into the back of Maria’s SUV.

“Leaving?” she asked and then violently shook her head. “No. Want to stay with Izzie.”

Maria tried to placate her but instead reduced the child to tears. Oz stepped in and swept her into his arms, holding her high enough that they were eye to eye.

“We’re going to visit your aunt Holly,” he said, and Riley’s sniffling ceased almost immediately.

“Aunt Holly?”

He nodded solemnly. “And Uncle Sam.”

“Uncle Sam!” Riley called out, clapping, her eyes bright.

“They’re getting married,” Oz continued. Maria’s ovaries considered exploding. She’d never observed a man interacting with her child like this before. Not even Vic.

It was sexy as hell.

“We all get to dress up and watch them get married, then eat a yummy meal,” Oz added. “Doesn’t that sound like fun?”

“And eat cake,” Riley said. Oz laughed.

The crisis was averted by the time Travis and Cash pulled up and parked next to Oz’s old Civic. Well, that crisis, anyway.

The crisis of her lust? That was a whole other story.

Cash waved at everybody while Travis greeted her with what Lacey had earlier in the week referred to as a “bro hug” and pulled a sucker out of nowhere for Riley, who greedily grabbed it and shoved it into her mouth.

How come Maria’s ovaries weren’t exploding now? Why was it only Oz who made her feel all warm and gooey inside?

The men all clapped hands and half hugged, Travis and Cash added their bags to the rest of the luggage, and soon, they were on their way.

For the thirty minutes they were in the vehicle, everything was fine.

She’d even go so far as to say normal. It was easy to ignore her fluttering heart, her raging hormones, when the guys talked shop the entire time.

An obscene number of details went into trying to break out in the music business, as it turned out.

Maria wasn’t daunted, though. She liked a challenge, and she especially liked a plan, and right now, she had both. Okay, and she liked being in charge.

Not that she technically was at this point; the band was making all the decisions.

She simply got final approval because she was paying for everything.

But of course she wouldn’t say no to them, not unless there was a valid reason.

And since she knew next to nothing about the music industry, she figured their decisions were the right ones.

Security was a breeze. Courtesy of traveling with a small child, she and Oz were able to bypass taking off their shoes and waiting in line.

Cash apparently was enrolled in TSA Precheck, so Travis was the only one who had to queue up to get through security.

Luckily, the line wasn’t bad and he didn’t have the extra supplies that came with traveling with a small child, so it wasn’t long at all before he caught up to them on the other side of the security checks.

They were flying out of John Wayne Airport, which was Cash’s idea. He assured them this airport was much smaller and easier to maneuver through than LAX.

They found their gate easily enough and now had one and a half hours to kill before boarding.

No one spared a glance for Maria and Riley, but Oz and Travis and Cash received plenty of speculative looks.

Was it because they looked like rock stars?

Were they that recognizable already? Or was it simply because they were all breathtakingly handsome?

“We’re in LA,” Travis explained when she asked. “There are famous people everywhere, and fans and groupies searching for them all the time.”

“Plus, Travis really was famous for a minute,” Oz quipped.

Travis rolled his eyes. “Yeah, like six years ago. Fans have short memories when you aren’t putting out music regularly.”

“That’s good to know,” Maria said. They’d need to put out albums on a steady basis. And how famous had Travis been? Could his new band use that to their advantage?

“I didn’t eat breakfast,” Travis said. “Y’all want to join me at that restaurant over there?”

“Definitely,” Cash said, patting his stomach.

The restaurant was right across from their gate. Oz and Maria had already eaten but went with them anyway. Travis ordered a burger and a beer, even though it was just after eight in the morning.

“We’re in an airport,” he said. “Time of day has no meaning here.”

Cash ordered a quesadilla and a beer.

“I’ll have one too,” Oz said. “Just the beer.”

Maria had never ordered a cocktail before noon in her life. Actually, prior to arriving at Holly’s house last weekend, she’d not ever had a drink before five p.m. She cleared her throat. “Do you have mimosas? And a chocolate milk for my daughter?”

“You got it,” the server said before hurrying off to put in their orders.

The guys chatted like the old friends they were—no, scratch that. “You’ve only known each other for five months ?” she asked incredulously.

Oz used his beer to point at Travis. “I’ve known of him since he played in Dog Daze. But then he disappeared off the face of the earth?—”

“Just stepped away from the music scene for a few years,” Travis explained.

“And then about six months before Lacey and Parker showed up in LA to form Demigoddess Revival, I started noticing Travis, playing here and there in bars, filling in for other bands’ drummers,” Oz added.

Travis shrugged. “I missed it.”

“So, yeah, we’ve only been working together since January.”

“That’s amazing,” Maria said, sipping at her fizzy drink. Mimosas were delicious. “You all mesh so well together.”

“That’s part of why we’re convinced we’re going to make it,” Oz said. “Although, early on, we almost broke up before we even got started, because Parker and Lacey meshed a little too well.”

Travis’s lip curled, like he tasted something sour.

Parker and Lacey were a couple, so what did he mean?

“I didn’t want their thing to ruin the band,” Travis clarified. “That’s what I was worried about. Interpersonal relationships within the band rarely work out.”

“He knows from personal experience,” Oz said.

“Also, just look at the tabloids. Every time someone within a band dates, they end up breaking up, and it usually screws up the entire band’s dynamic.”

Her sister Holly was about the marry the drummer from her own band. No one seemed concerned that it wasn’t going to work out. Then again, everyone believed they’d been dating for nearly as long as their band had been around.

“Are you still worried?” Maria asked.

Travis took a swig of his beer and gave a one-shoulder shrug. “Nah. They’re good together. But I still maintain that it isn’t a good thing. Normally.”

It was obvious Travis had a chip on his shoulder, and she did not want to get him riled up about something that wasn’t worth riling up over.

Although would he be upset if she and Oz got together? Or was it different because she wasn’t in the band?

And seriously, why was she even wondering?

It wasn’t like it was going to happen.