Page 44 of Fire

Darius’s grin widens, clearly not buying what I’m selling. “All right.” He nods. “Good to know.”

And then he saunters off like this was some sort of challenge. And he won.

“What did I just do?”

Asher pats me on the shoulder. “I don’t know, but I don’t think you’re going to like it.”

About an hour later, I rush around my room, grabbing my wallet and room key as I dash out the door. Tonight, the PR team has arranged for us to hit up an exclusive club here in Nashville, and according to Missy or Misty from PR—I can’t remember her name—it is mandatory that the entire band attend.

Even the hired gun.

We’ve been on tour for a little over a week, and it’s been nothing short of insane. The crowds are electric, the band is tight, and the music is fucking fire.

And I’m so fucking exhausted.

Zander warned me it would be like this. He said tour life was not as glamorous as Hollywood made it out to be, and I believed him. I saw it with my own eyes when I visited him over the years, but seeing it and living it are two vastly different things.

Hell, I’ve been so tired that I was late coming into a chorus tonight. In Atlanta, it was like my brain glitched and my fingers stopped working. That, combined with my first-day jitters, and I feel like a damn novice again. I finally had to loosen up on my late-night practicing to get in a couple of extra hours of sleep. Otherwise, one of these days, I am going to face-plant right on stage, in front of twenty thousand people.

That would certainly mark the end of my touring days. And probably the day I become an internet meme.

As soon as I step out of my room, I hear an echo. The door next to me closes almost simultaneously, and I glance over to see Zara standing at the door down the hall.

Fucking. Hell.

She’s wearing a short miniskirt and a black low-cut tank top. The skirt sparkles with gold sequins that make her olive skin glow. Her hair falls in loose waves around her face, and she’s wearing that same dark red lipstick she wore that night we hooked up.

The day after, I wore her lipstick like a fucking brand.

God, I never wanted to wash it off.

She must feel my gaze on her because she looks up and then does a double-take, clearing her throat. “Hey,” she says, a bit startled. “I didn’t realize we were neighbors.”

“Neither did I.” And now that I do, I’m probably not going to sleep a damn wink knowing she’s just on the other side of this thin wall.

“You, um, look nice.” She gestures to me awkwardly. When did things start being weird between us?

Maybe after she pulled you into her clinic and helped you get through your shit so you could perform, and rather than thank her like a normal person, you awkwardly avoided her out of embarrassment.

Right. After that, then.

“You look…more than nice,” I say, and feel instantly rewarded when I see a shy smile spread across her face as we walk down the hallway. “I didn’t realize you were going to this thing tonight. Were you also forced into it as well?”

“Not forced, no,” she answers. When we step up to the elevator, we both reach out at the same time to press the down button. Our hands brush together, and I feel her inhale a quick breath of air before retracting her hand to her side. “Elena suggested I go. I haven’t really done much since we left LA.”

“Why?”

The doors open, and we both step in, each taking a side so we can face one another. The mirrored walls allow me a three hundred and sixty-degree view of her in that short-ass miniskirt. It’s actual torture. Why are there always mirrors? Do they want people to fuck in here?

“I’ve never really traveled,” she explains with a touch of embarrassment in her tone. “My family didn’t really have the money for it. Both of my parents are teachers, and finances were always just tight. They took us on small trips all over the state, but that is pretty much the extent of my travel experience.”

“You and—” I can’t even say the dipshit’s name, and she must notice as an amused smile tugs at the corner of her red lips.

“No.” She shakes her head. “We went on a short trip to Hawaii for our honeymoon, but I was still in my final year of residency. I stayed on an extra year to specialize in emergency medicine, and then we had our practice to build. Besides, everywhere I wanted to go, he’d already been. So…”

“I’ve been to a ton of places. Doesn’t mean I don’t want to go back and share those places with the people I love.”

She presses her lips together and gives me a sad smile. “I’m starting to wonder if our marriage was just some sort of weird social experiment for Tanner. Like he’d already been everywhere and tried everything, and nothing was giving him joy, so he thought, ‘Well, maybe I’ll try being a normal bloke for a while.’ Only that turned out to be just as boring as everything else.”