We have our future back and the world at our feet.
It’s time to show them who we are.
All of us.
Oh, shit…what have we done?
Pacing up and down the hotel room, I can feel the guys’ eyes on me, and I have a mini freak out. The board members are bastards, and it was coming sooner or later. They never cared for us, and leaving was the only option. But I quit without a plan. I’ve got savings and friends—I could probably get by. However, in the process of me leaving, I seemed to have caused a chain reaction, and because of me, now none of the guys have jobs. Not to mention some of the crew and Kathy. Fuck.
“Do you think she’s okay?” Leo asks, his expression a mix between amused and concern. Pushing aside their voices, I try to plan. Planning is what I do best, and right now, I have no idea what to do.
“I don’t know, but she’s giving me whiplash,” Liam jokes from where he’s curled up on the bed, his head propped up on his hand as he watches me, his legs twined casually with Leo’s.
“Gabs, come sit down for a bit,” Damon suggests, holding his hand out for me as I pass him. “You’ve got to be exhausted, and you’re probably hurting.” His voice is soft, like his smile, but I shake my head and make another circuit of the room, leaving him hanging.
He’s right though, my body is screaming at me, my side burns, and my leg aches. I need to sit down, but I’m worried that as soon as I do, I’ll fall apart. The sound of footsteps alerts me to the fact someone is behind me, and with a soft brush of their fingers against my skin, they catch my arm, gently pulling me to a halt.
“Gabs, stop.” Damon’s voice is tight as he swings me around to face him. “What’s going on? Why are you so worked up?”
I look at him like he’s mad, then start laughing maniacally, the stress of the last couple of weeks—hell, the last couple of months—finally catching up with me. “Why am I so worked up?” I glance at the other guys, and my laughter becomes more manic as I take in their confused expressions. “None of us have jobs, and it’s my fault!” I cry, not understanding why they all seem so calm.
Blake raises his eyebrow, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed. “Baby Girl, we made the decision to leave.” Pushing away from the wall, he stalks towards me, his movements slow and unhurried. “You didn’t force us.” When he reaches me, he places his hands on my hips and pulls me flush against him. The sharp movement has me bracing my hands on his chest to steady myself. “Besides, we are the show.”
Damon moves in behind me, pressing a soft kiss against my jaw so I’m trapped between them. “He’s right, Gabby,” my rocker whispers, brushing my hair from my neck as he places gentle kisses there. “We’re big boys, we make our own choices,” he murmurs, pressing against my back, showing me exactly what big boys they are.
I know they’re doing it on purpose to distract me from my panic, and it’s working. Sorry, but a girl’s got needs.
“Exactly, we own the name, we have the talent,” Leo says, and as I look over, I see him and Liam draped over each other on the bed. “They aren’t The Wild Boys without us.”
“And we have you,” Kingston rumbles from the single seat sofa where he’s watching me with heated eyes.
The atmosphere in the room has turned heavy, and I can see the lust in their gazes. We all know where this is going. Except…in the back of my mind, I can’t turn off the organised, clipboard wielding, highlighter brandishing Gabby who needs to know the next step.
“Wait.” I push gently against Blake’s chest as he kisses along my jaw. He growls softly at the interruption, but pulls back immediately, his eyes dark with lust as he meets my gaze. Turning in his and Damon’s arms as much as they will allow, which isn’t much, I address the others. “What about money?” Liam groans and throws himself harder onto the bed, but I can tell he’s still listening from the tilt of his head.
“If you’re serious and want to start your own show…we need money to book venues, plus there’s advertising, costumes, hotel and travel, and that doesn’t even begin to cover hiring the rest of the crew.” I let out a deep breath as I look around, noting none of them seem to be that concerned. “Tours are expensive, guys. The board might have been bastards, but they supplied the money.”
Damon’s hand starts rubbing comforting circles on the small of my back. I look up at him, and I can’t help but smile slightly, his own grin infectious. Calm seems to just radiate off of him. “Then we get a loan and we set up a base. Don’t tour for a bit.” His hand moves up my back, working on the knots in my shoulders, and I can’t hold in a moan of pleasure. “I’ve been wanting to settle down for a bit anyway.” His eyes linger on me as he says this, and my face flushes. Is he saying we should all move in together?
Before I can get too caught up in that line of thought, never one to be outdone, Blake pulls on my hips and tugs me back against him firmly, and I can feel the beginning of his erection pressing against my leg. Damon huffs out a laugh and moves back in, pinning me into place. Now that he knows I’m not going anywhere, Blake removes one of his hands from my hips and gently grabs my chin, lifting it until our eyes meet. “The board was restricting us. Without them, we can do what we want.”
“Make it a family run show,” Kingston murmurs from the other side of the room. “Just us.”
Blake is still holding my chin, so I can’t move, and he’s arching an eyebrow at me as if daring me to try.
“We would still have to hire a crew to help us…” I start, but I get distracted as Blake’s hand slides around oh so gently to cup the back of my head. Moving in, he places small, soft kisses against my jaw.
“Yes, but we could choose who we trust. I know a couple of people, and I’m sure some of the old crew would follow us,” Kingston suddenly suggests from beside me, and when I raise my head, I see he’s staring down at me with growing heat in his eyes.
“It’s not going to be easy.” My voice is breathy as Damon’s hands continue to work on my back and Blake kisses my jaw, his fingers skimming down my shoulders.
“Easy is boring,” Liam calls from the bed, and Leo makes a noise of agreement.
A thrill of excitement goes through me as I take a moment to really consider what they’re saying. A show. Run by us. No board dictating what we can or can’t do. A base we can come back to…a home. There are a lot of other things that would need to be worked out, a lot of ifs, buts, and maybes, but this could really happen.
This could be our happy ending.
“Are we really going to do this?” I push all of my hope, excitement, and fear into that one question, and I feel all of their eyes land on me.
“Together,” Damon whispers into my ear, sliding his arms around me from behind. His words make me a bit teary-eyed, and I blink rapidly to push them back, determined not to cry in front of the guys again. They’ve seen enough of that, and this is a happy occasion. I don’t want them to think I’m anything but excited for our future together.
“I love you guys so much,” I start, but my voice breaks and betrays me.