Page 22 of A Way Out (Rock Star #2)

Chapter Twenty-One

“ V ic, I have other things going on. I cannot just hop on a plane when you’ve decided you’re ready to play nice .”

Shit. Oz did not like the sound of that.

“You okay?” he asked as soon as Maria lowered the phone. He’d stayed even though Riley was totally ready to go and he still needed to change clothes. But he hadn’t been able to leave, not when he could hear the frustration in her voice.

And the words coming out of her mouth.

Maria shook her head. “Nothing I need to deal with right now. But I do need to get dressed and get downstairs.”

He’d heard her tell her ex that she had commitments through next weekend. And she seemed to be shaking off whatever they had discussed; her smile was genuine when she offered it up.

Chill, Oz. Everything’s fine .

He started toward her, to pull her into his arms, when she stopped him with a pointed look.

Oh, right, she needed to get dressed for the wedding.

Without him in the room. Although he’d seen her naked not twenty minutes ago, now was not the time to try to explain to a three-year-old that it was okay for Mommy to undress in front of a man who wasn’t her husband.

He glanced down at Riley. “You want to come help me choose my outfit while your mom gets dressed?” The least he could do was give Maria a minute to breathe without having to worry about another little being.

Bonus that she wouldn’t slip away downstairs without him if her kid was in his room.

“Aunt Holly didn’t tell you what to wear?” Riley asked, confusion coating her childlike voice.

Oz chuckled. “Nope. I’m not in the wedding. I’m just a guest. Guests can wear whatever they want. Well, within reason. I have two shirts, and I can’t decide. Will you help me?”

“You don’t have to do that,” Maria said.

“Sure,” Riley said, clasping his hand and leading him through the bathroom into his bedroom. He barely had time to wink at Maria before she disappeared from sight.

Riley picked the baby blue button-down, and he stepped into the bathroom to dress, pairing it with a pair of navy slacks. He was tempted to peek in on Maria but resisted. Besides, that first glimpse of the finished product, he knew, would be worth the wait.

When he returned to the bedroom, Riley was checking out his empty guitar case. The guitar was downstairs, propped on a stand on the stage, ready for their concert later tonight.

“Mommy says we have to stop listening to KIDZBOP because your band is better.”

Oz laughed. “Did she now? Well, you’ll get to decide for yourself. We’re playing for all the wedding guests tonight.”

“Do I get to stay up? Mommy says I have to go to bed before the wedding is over.”

“You’ll probably be able to hear the music when you’re in bed. It’ll be like a rock lullaby.”

She canted her head, and then she shrugged. “Okay.”

A soft knock drew his attention to the bathroom doorway, where Maria stood, nervously smoothing the front of her satiny dress.

It was champagne colored, the perfect complement to her sun-kissed skin.

She’d touched up her lipstick and added chandelier earrings that he wouldn’t be surprised to learn were made with real diamonds.

Real diamonds. The kind he could never afford. Maybe, someday…but right now? No way.

It was yet another reminder of how far out of his league she was.

But then she smiled and he forgot all about their differences, her role in his life. All he could focus on was how beautiful she was, inside and out, and how desperately he did not want to let go of whatever was happening between them.

“Stunning,” he murmured, lifting her hand to brush his lips over the back of it.

Her smile grew in wattage. Because he’d complemented her. Yeah, it was an ego trip.

“I definitely have the two hottest dates to this wedding,” he said, winking at Riley, who giggled.

He escorted them down the stairs, pausing on the third step from the bottom so the photographer could snap pictures. A guy who was working with the caterers whipped out his camera and got off a few clicks before his boss grabbed his arm and gave him a dressing down.

Good. They didn’t want any pictures leaked until tomorrow. Today was for Lacey and Parker and Holly and Sam. Tomorrow, they could return to their regularly scheduled program of attempting to gain publicity and therefore fame.

The wedding planner popped up at his elbow and whisked Riley and Maria away. Oz wandered out to the deck, which had been transformed into a wedding ceremony, complete with white wooden chairs, a center aisle, and a brass arch that was wrapped in heavily scented fresh flowers and greenery.

What had Maria’s wedding had been like? He quickly shook off that thought. Didn’t matter. Now, wondering what sort of wedding she might like in the future, that made a hell of a lot more sense.

But he didn’t need to jump that far ahead.

Hell, he wasn’t even sure where they stood at the moment, let alone where they were going.

And frankly, he ought to just chill and let it happen.

He was already breaking every single one of his rules—if he thought too hard about it, he might convince himself to stop sleeping with her again, and he definitely didn’t want to do that.

He made his way over to the bar and accepted the bottle of beer the tender handed him, taking a cooling drink before a shadow fell across him. He glanced up to find Travis standing there, arms crossed over his chest, a frown cutting deep crevices in his face.

“I don’t like it,” Travis announced.

Oz glanced at the arch, where the wedding planner and the officiant were deep in conversation. “The wedding?” He’d thought Travis had finally come to terms with Lacey and Parker’s relationship.

“You,” he said, stabbing a finger at Oz’s shoulder. “And Maria.”

Oh, right. Oz was pretty sure his bandmate wasn’t aware that he and Maria had hooked up, but he also knew his yearning for her had been as clear as if he’d written it down while he sang “Desire” to her earlier. Hell, he had written it down, hadn’t he?

“It makes me twitchy, mostly because I don’t know her well, but I really like her and I want her to stay on as our publicist. But she’s got a lot of baggage, man.”

Don’t we all?

“I also realize there’s not a damn thing I can do about it, so I need to just keep my nose out of it.

Other than to tell you that the song you sang to her definitely needs to go on our next album.

It’s next level shit. It’s like Nine Inch Nails and Prince and Chris Isaak all had a love child.

And it’s going to pull fans who don’t even like hard rock into our orbit. ”

He paused.

“And if it has that much impact on me, I know it’s coming from your soul. I just hope she feels the same way.”

He walked away, down the aisle, and dropped into a seat in the second row. Oz stepped deeper into the shadows cast by the lodge.

He thought Oz’s song was “next level shit.”

He could tell how deeply Oz felt…something for Maria.

And he was worried that Maria might not feel the same.

Damn, that was a lot for Oz to process. And here he’d thought he was simply going to let things happen.

Except they already were, weren’t they?

Cash stepped out of the lodge, dressed in a dapper, fitted suit, wearing sunglasses that probably cost more than the monthly payment on Oz’s mom’s second mortgage. He made his way to the bar, collected a bottle of beer, then spotted Oz.

“Come on, man,” he said, motioning at Oz. “The processional is about to start. We need to take our seats.”

Oz followed him to the second row, where they sat next to Travis. And not a moment too soon, as the officiant made her way down the aisle, and then the string quartet Holly and Sam had hired for the ceremony began the processional music.

The two grooms came down the aisle next, with Sam’s mom between them, clutching their biceps under the tuxedo jackets, and smiling like she’d just won the lottery. She was gaining a daughter- and son-in-law today.

The grooms, by contrast, both looked starry-eyed and a whole lot nervous.

Next came the maids of honor; Maria and Lacey’s best friend, a stunning Black woman named Sabrina.

But his gaze returned to Maria, drinking her in all the way down the aisle, until she stood under the arch, slightly to the left, almost directly in front of him.

He was so busy soaking in her beauty that he totally missed Riley’s flower girl debut, until she tossed a handful of rose petals into his face.

The guests laughed and Maria bit her lip, motioning for her daughter to stand next to her.

The tone of the music changed as Lacey and Holly stepped into view, flanking Lacey’s dad, whose chest stuck out like a proud rooster.

They made their way down the aisle, Lacey’s dad kissed each woman on the cheek and then handed them off to their respective grooms before sitting next to his wife in the front row. Oz didn’t miss the swipe of tears—both Sam and Parker—as they both sappily grinned at their soon-to-be wives.

Oz stared at Maria during the entire ceremony.

He could see it clearly; her standing up there at the altar, waiting to marry her own groom.

He wanted to be that groom. That man who would get to spend the rest of his life making this woman happy.

Holy hell.