Page 63 of Rock Giant

“We done?”he asked.

Xane and Spook exchanged looks.

“Party time?”said the latter.

“Party time.”Xane stood.Prompting the rest of them to do the same.“It’s been lovely,” Xane said to the Ghost Boys tour manager, an older guy who looked as if he’d seen some stuff, while Ronnie scrambled out from under the table.

The Ghost Boys exchanged bewildered looks with the suits, who didn’t look pleased about the exodus.Xane put a hand on their blond guitarist’s shoulder and said something to him too quiet for anyone else to catch.No doubt, the rest of the band would be grilling him for details the moment Black Halo were out of the room.

“How long?”Paul asked as they piled into the lift.Black Halo were up in the penthouse suite for the night.

“I said to give it ten.”

“Ten what?”Dani asked yawning.“Man, I’m so pooped.It’s gonna take me a while to get back into the rock star routine.My body’s still on 9 o'clock tutorial time.”

“Bonding sesh in ten minutes,” Xane explained to his still yawning girlfriend.“I can’t face another two days of awkward interactions, let alone months, and nothing’s gonna ease while the suits are trying to buddy us up.

“So, you’ve invited them over?”

“’fraid so,” he said in response to the wrinkling of her petite nose.“If you need perking up though, I can make time before they arrive.”

“Hm,” she rubbed her face up against Xane’s chest.“I think I like that idea.”They disappeared straight into the bathroom the moment they were through the suite door.No one needed to ask why, especially when Luthor followed them.The rest of them flopped across various surfaces as beverages were poured, and Ginny put some music on.Paul lingered on the periphery, so he’d be the one to answer the door and welcome them in.The wait was only a few minutes.He opened the door to the blond guy and their bassist.

“Lee.Balin.”

They exchanged fist bumps as he ushered them in.

Jodi was next, along with the fiancé, who had his arm around her shoulders.“Welcome.Come on in,” he said.

Fuck, he wanted to rip the guys arm off.

Luthor was right.He didn’t want to share.He wanted every bit of her all to himself.Wanted time to explore and get to know her, make love, and grow old with her without interruptions.They ought to be honeymooning somewhere, not kept apart by some invisible force field of societal expectations that gave Nash the upper hand by virtue of having had her first.Except, that wasn’t even true.She’d been his Jodi, long before Curtis Nash arrived on the scene.

“Appreciate the invitation, man,” Nash said, brushing past him.

At least he’d let go of Paul’s lady love.Entrance wasn’t wide enough for them to get through glued together like conjoined twins.

“Castle.”

“Rock Giant.”She gave him a shy smile.

The final member of her fiancé’s band, the one with the long, wavy brown hair, and eyes like Turkish coffee leaned around her.“Jez.Be good, guys.Now, point me at the booze.”

Paul tipped his head in the right direction without taking his gaze off Jodi.“How’ve you been?”

“I’m good.How’ve you been?”

“Lonely,” he said.“I got hitched, but it’s still just me in my bunk listening to the rest of the wankers I work with get their rocks off of a night.”

“I’m sorry.”Remorse flooded her face.She touched his arm, leaned towards him.“I don’t expect fidelity, if you wanna… I mean, we agreed we were just gonna be friends, and you know, I’m with Nash.”

Oh, he knew that all right.Also, that wasn’t quite what they’d agreed, but he let it fly for now.“Cute, Castle.Very generous of you.”

Like hell was he going to be screwing anyone else.Just no to the nth degree.They might not have sworn fidelity as part of their vows, but that didn’t mean he was going to diminish things by seeking comforts outside of their bond.

“Paul, please.I don’t want you waiting around for me thinking something—”

“Jo-Jo, get your arse over here.”Nash patted the spot on the sofa next to him.