“Now, now,” she smirked, “don’t go getting all emotional on me.”
“I won’t.” I swallowed again. “I promise. How much longer do you think they’ll be?”
The band was downstairs with Eva, having a photoshoot for Rolling Stone magazine. After Drown soared to the number one spot, everyone who was everyone in the industry wanted a piece of Eva and her Black Hearted boys, as the press was now dubbing them.
Letty checked her wristwatch. “Not much longer. Hudson and Damon are heading straight downtown to do the charity luncheon for kids in the care system, and I think Rafe mentioned he had plans for him and Eva. Which means, you and Levi have some time alone...” Her brows waggled suggestively.
“What are you going to do all day?” We had a rare afternoon off. The next show wasn’t until tomorrow but as the tour was winding down, the band’s energy levels were starting to crash. They were exhausted.
We all were.
“Oh, I’m sure I’ll find a way to keep myself out of trouble.” My brows furrowed, and she chuckled. “I’ll be fine, Phoebe. You and Levi make the most of it because once we hit European soil, something tells me life will get a whole lot crazier.”
My stomach knotted. She was right, a world tour would be a whole other level.
“You know, if you wanted to go out, I could probably arrange something discreet for the two—”
“No.” I shook my head. Sneaking around the on the buses and at shows was one thing, but being out in public was another thing entirely.
“Fine, but you have to prepare yourself for the fact this won’t be a secret forever. One day, the world will know you’re Levi Hunter’s girlfriend.”
Her words made my heart soar and my stomach sink all in the same breath. I loved being Levi’s, his girl, his honeybee. But I didn’t relish the day that I had to share him with the world.
Even though I knew that day would eventually come.
“Levi, stop, stop.” I tried to catch my breath as he was tickling my sides. We were supposed to be watching a movie, but Levi couldn’t sit still, touching me and tickling me, anything to try to distract me.
I grabbed a pillow from beside me and swatted it at his face and the rest was history. He pulled me to the floor, pinning me with his hips, attacking me with his fingers.
“Do you surrender?” He grinned down at me.
“Surrender? We’re supposed to be watching the movie.” I tried to buck him off, but he was too damn strong.
“No, you wanted to watch a movie, honeybee, I wanted to do this.” He leaned down, tracing his tongue up the slope of my neck, nipping the skin there, before kissing me hard.
A whimper spilled from my lips as his tongue plunged into my mouth and curled around my own. Heat pooled in my stomach, red hot flames licking my insides.
We had the suite to ourselves. Hudson and Damon would be gone hours, and Rafe had whisked Eva away on a date in an undisclosed located across the city. Letty and Alistair were meeting virtually with Dusty and his team to go over the final preparations for the world tour, and Johnson and Stalter were standing guard beyond the door.
We were alone.
Completely and utterly alone.
Levi was right, I didn’t want to watch a movie. But I’d wanted us to do something normal, something couple-ish. I hadn’t wanted to get too caught up in him, not when there were things we still needed to talk about.
“Levi, hold up.” I managed to slip my hands free and press them against his chest. “We should talk.”
“Talk?” He frowned. “You want to talk now?” He rolled off me with a frustrated groan. “You’re killing me, Bee.”
A soft chuckle vibrated in my chest. “I just figured we should probably talk about some stuff since the end of the tour is almost here.”
“Okay.” He found my hand, tangling our fingers together. “What’s on your mind?”
“I just wondered what your plans are after the trip to Long Island?”
“I don’t know.” He shrugged. “I haven’t really given it much thought. I just figured we’d either head back to my place or crash at yours or something.”
Warmth flowed through me at how easy he made it sound. Levi was surprising like that. He spent so much time fighting his demons that when it came to making decisions, he often made his choice without realizing.
Like right now, he just assumed we would spend the rest of the break together, because to Levi, it was that simple.
“You’re so freakin’ cute.” I ran my nose against his shoulder.
“Cute? I don’t think I’ve ever been called cute, honeybee. Dirty-mouthed, reckless, rock star, maybe. But cute? Not so much.” He flashed me a blinding smile that made my stomach clench. “Why do you ask?”
“Because we haven’t talked about it and I didn’t know if you had plans or anything.”
His brows knitted. “We didn’t? Huh.” Confusion clouded his eyes. “I just figured we’d spend it together. I mean... if you want to?”
“I do.” My lips curved. “I just didn’t want you to think you had to spend it with me.”
“Bee, when are you going to get it into your head that I’m ass over elbow crazy about you? I hate it when we’re apart.”
Crazy about me... he was crazy about me.
I tried so hard not to feel a pang of disappointment, but I was only human, after all.
“We could have gone out, you know?” he said. “Between Letty and Johnson, they could have figured something out.”
“It’s probably not a good idea.” His expression darkened so I explained. “There’s only a few days left. Then we have some time before we leave for Europe.”
“And when we’re over there? Are we going to have to keep pretending then?” He didn’t sound angry so much as defeated.
“Alistair seems to—”
“Fuck, Alistair, Bee,” he hissed. “I only care about what you think. I know my life is a circus, but I don’t want to hide this forever. I want people to know you’re mine. I don’t want to constantly have to worry that I’m too close to you.”
“I’m scared,” I whispered. The second the press knew, they would dig into my life and unearth all my secrets. My anonymity would be gone, forever. You didn’t have a relationship with someone like Levi and maintain your privacy.
Was I ready for that?
Were we ready?
“Are you ashamed of me?” His question pierced the air… and my heart. I hated that it always went back to that. I wasn’t ashamed, I was just worried about losing what we had to the inevitable media frenzy that would swarm us.
“Levi, you know that’s not it.”
“So, what’s the big deal? You knew what you were getting into with me. I’ve always been honest about who I am, Bee. I thought you—”
“I do, so much.” I cupped his face. “I love you, Levi. I love you so freakin’ much. But going public will change everything, you have to know that.”
“Yeah.” He let out a resigned sigh. “I know. But we’re going to be away for six months. Six fucking months, honeybee. Are you really okay sneaking around for that long? And after that? What happens then, huh?”