He nods. “I’ll bring my gym stuff.” He doesn’t say anything else, and we eat, watching the news on the screen. After helping clear the dishes, I grab my phone and go into the room to get dressed. I pick up the big Louis overnight bag, and I toss my pjs in there. I open the little luggage with my everyday clothes and grab a pair of light blue jeans and a white V-neck T-shirt. I also grab the tan-colored thick cashmere jacket, then zip it closed. I open the shoe luggage and laugh. Maybe Brian is onto something with his one carry-on bag, I think when I get down on my knees and go through the different booties I have. After grabbing the cream-colored open-toe booties, I slip my feet into them and get up. As I pick up my purse, my phone buzzes, and I see that Cori is on her way, which means we need to get going. Grabbing my jacket, I walk out and find Brian standing there in black jeans and a black short-sleeved polo shirt with the two buttons at this neck open. I smell his cologne as soon as I walk close to him. He looks up from his phone with his aviator glasses already on.
“Cori is outside,” I tell him, and he nods, following me when I walk to the door. He closes it behind him, making sure it’s shut and locked. Cori is already sitting in the golf cart waiting.
“I love that outfit,” she tells me when I sit in the front behind the wheel. “What are you doing?”
“Move,” Brian says before I can answer Cori, tossing his bag in the back.
“I want to drive.” I look at him, and I hate that I can’t see his eyes.
“You can drive when I’m not here,” he says, but I hold my ground, “which will be in eighty-five days when you get home.”
“Brian, just get in. I’m sure I can get us to the lobby without anything happening.”
“Kellie.” One word, teeth crushed together. “Move.”
“You might as well move over. This stand-off isn’t going to go your way no matter how long you stand your ground,” Cori says, leaning forward and whispering.
“She’s right, babe.” He smirks with the nickname, and I glare at him.
Cori now looks up at Brian. “If there is anything she hates more in this life, it’s being called babe.”
“You are so lucky I don’t want to go to jail,” I hiss at him as I move over, “or that the keys are not in the ignition because I would leave without you.” He gets in, hiding his smile of victory.
“Good to know, babe.” He says it again, and I look over and punch his arm.
“That’s considered assault.” He looks at me. “I could press charges.”
“Wait there,” I say, grabbing my bootie and starting to tug it off so I can hit him with it.
“I can’t have you being arrested,” Cori says from the back, laughing when Brian peels away from our room. “No one has time for that.” Then she looks at Brian. “Don’t poke the bear.”
He doesn’t answer; he just throws his head back and laughs. “How is this? I call you babe when you don’t listen.”
“How about this,” I counter, “you call me babe again, and you can sleep with one eye open.”
“You’re cute when you’re angry.” I don’t know what shocks me more, the fact that he admitted I’m cute, or the fact that I’m almost as giddy as a teenager with hearts in her eyes. I don’t have time to reply because the cart comes to a stop and he gets out. Grabbing his bag, he heads into the lobby.
“Did I just witness foreplay?” Cori whispers as we get out of the cart. “I mean, I don’t know about you, but his voice just made my knees weak.”
“Shut up, Cori,” I hiss at her. Walking into the lobby, I see him standing beside the car talking to the driver. The back door to the car is open, so I just duck my head and get into the town car. Cori follows me into the back seat, and the door closes behind her. “It’s day five, and this is happening. How are we going to survive?” she says under her breath, and I think the same thing.
Except I don’t have time to think because we arrive at the venue, and I’m ushered into the back with Cori on one side and Brian on the other.
He keeps his hand on my lower back as he walks almost like his body can cover me if anything happens. The sound guy, Jerry, meets me at the stairs. “Hey, Jerry,” I say, smiling at him. He’s already wearing his headset as he hands me my ear plugs and the mic.
“Here you go, gorgeous.” He smiles at me, and my knees don’t get weak nor do his words leave me breathless, but the other dork calls me cute and all my senses go into overdrive. I walk out to the middle of the stage and look out at the empty venue. Workers are busy setting everything up, so the only one sitting down watching is Brian. I try to zone him out as I run through the set list. We make a couple of changes when I hear the feedback in my ears. When I hand Jerry the microphone, I walk off the stage, and Cori leads me to my dressing room.
I’m a little in shock when I walk in and it looks like I’m in someone’s house and not backstage in a venue with cement walls. Heavy white drapes cover the walls. White couches line the room with low white tables decorated with vases of white roses. A huge white vanity has white light bulbs all around the mirror. A table set up across the room has drinks and snacks on it. “It smells like a flower shop in here,” Brian says and then sneezes four times in a row.
“Did you know there is a theory that says if you sneeze six times in a row, it’s like a mild orgasm?” Cori says, sitting on one of the white couches. We both turn to look at her in shock, and she just raises her eyebrows. “What?” She crosses her legs. “You’ve never wondered about it?”
“Not for one minute in my whole life,” Brian says, and I walk to the door. “I can just imagine what your Google search looks like.”
She throws her head back and laughs while I grab my workout bag. “Oh, you don’t want to know that.” Cori looks at me. “The changing room is to the right behind the white veil.” I nod and walk to the side, moving the fabric aside. I look inside, and this is more like it.
All the walls are squared cement blocks with five brown bathroom stalls and three white sinks stuck on the wall. I’m about to kick off my shoes when I feel wind beside me and see Brian walk by with his bag in his hand as he heads to one of the stalls. Walking to the biggest stall at the end, I change into my workout clothes. Folding my clothes, I walk out of the stall and see that he is already gone. When I walk into the room, I see him in his workout gear. He’s wearing black shorts, and a black short-sleeved shirt molds his whole torso.
“Ready?” he asks, slapping his hands together, and I nod. We walk out together and find the gym. The trainer meets me and looks at us as we walk in. “I’ll be on the treadmill,” he tells me, walking to the five treadmills that are side by side. I don’t have time to watch him because the trainer introduces herself, and for the next hour, I block him out of my mind and push my body.
Chapter Twelve
Brian
Looking in the mirror while I raise the dumbbells at my sides, I watch her ass run on the treadmill. This is much better than when the fucking trainers made her do squats with her ass to the mirror. It was at that time I knew I was close to the edge.