“Holy shit,” Lexi breathed. “Ford, you look…hot!”
He gave her a lopsided grin. “Thank you, darlin’. Not sure how I feel about it yet, but as Avon pointed out to me, it’s just hair and it’ll grow back.”
“Damn, bro, this is cool as shit,” Tyler called to him.
“Avon talked me into it.” He glanced at her and she winked.
I didn’t know what was going on with them since he’d told us she was a lesbian, but they’d been attached at the hip the last few weeks. She was gorgeous, one of the top models in the world, and hilarious after a few glasses of wine. She had a raunchy sense of humor and made us all laugh, so I figured Ford was enjoying it too. He’d said they were party and fuck buddies, but I wondered how that was going. He wasn’t around often enough to ask, though, and it probably wasn’t my business anyway. In my opinion, it spoke volumes that she’d talked him into cutting his hair, but what did I know?
“Let’s get this party started,” the photographer said. “Are you guys ready to go?”
“Coming.” Lexi stood up and we collectively let out low whistles, including Avon.
“Damn, girl, where have you been all this time?” she asked her.
She’d transformed from sweet, sexy Lexi into badass rocker Lexi. Her big blue eyes were covered in thick, dark eyeliner, her lips painted a deep red, and her hair curled around her head. She wore torn black fishnets, black combat boots, and a tiny little dress that barely covered anything. In fact, the chest tattoos she’d gotten after her double mastectomy were as visible as I’ve ever seen them in public.
She was downright stunning, in a dark, grungy way, and I told her so.
“Thanks.” She flashed me a smile before sliding her arm through Ford’s. “Apparently it was up to the two youngest members of this band to make some changes, so eat your heart out, boys!”
Everyone laughed and the photographer led us into the studio.
25
Brianna
* * *
Nobody’s Fool left on a Wednesday morning. The tour was starting in Seattle and Marla had back-to-back events Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, so I wasn’t able to go. But Declan presented me with first-class plane tickets right before he left.
“Two weeks,” he whispered, holding me close. “You’ll fly out Thursday night and meet me in San Diego. We’ll do San Diego Friday night, Saturday night in Anaheim, and then we’re off Sunday so we can spend the day together before you leave on Monday.”
“I love you,” I whispered back.
“I love you too.” He kissed me, his lips gentle against mine, since we’d probably had sex a dozen times in the last thirty-six hours.
“I’m going to miss you.” I was a little teary and he pressed his forehead to mine.
“It’ll go by before you know it. Two weeks, babe.”
“I know.” I took a breath. “Promise you’ll take care of Noah for me.”
“If you promise to spoil Dunkin like I do.”
I rolled my eyes. “No one spoils that cat like you do.”
“Don’t worry. I still like you best.” He winked.
“Safe travels,” I called as he reluctantly pulled away.
Then he was gone and I leaned against the front door, clutching the paper with the flight info to my chest. I had to work in a few hours, which was good because I’d undoubtedly pout for a few days. But I was going over to Kiki’s for a late-lunch-slash-early-dinner so neither of us would be alone, and then we were working from four until around ten.
“I didn’t think it would feel so empty,” Kiki whispered as I fried some onions in my old kitchen.
“I know.” I absently moved the onions around, not really paying attention to what I was doing.
“At least you get to see him in two weeks,” Kiki said. “I won’t see Noah for six weeks.”
“You’re meeting him in Texas?” I asked her.
She nodded. “I have cousins in Dallas and I want him to meet some of my family, so I’ll join them in Houston and then we’ll go Dallas and New Orleans before I fly home.”
“It’s going to be okay,” I said.
“I know.” She nodded. “He was so excited to be going on tour with them. I’ve never seen him this happy.”
“I know.”
“Don’t worry,” she said. “He needs this. Maybe more than either of us can understand. He needs to be his own man. Living here, contributing a little for groceries and shit doesn’t cut it for him. I really hope Stu can hire him for good.”
“Declan said he had a sixty-day probationary period, where they’d figure out how it was going. If he and Stu are still good at the end of sixty days, he’ll be on the payroll. It won’t be much, though. Probably not much more than he made bussing for us.”
“Yes, but it’s a job with a future.”
“Let’s say everything goes perfectly,” I said carefully. “Are you going to be happy being left behind? Him on the road and you here holding down the fort?”
Kiki hesitated. “I don’t know. I mean, it’s not ideal, but not everything is about me. He has to find himself without me, because if his sobriety is solely based on me, that’s dangerous.”
“Agreed.”
“I think if this becomes something long-term, we’d have to reassess, but even if we were married and stuff, I don’t think I’d want to go on tour with him. That sounds long and boring. I don’t have that kind of wanderlust.”
“I do and I don’t,” I admitted. “I think it would be fun for a year. Especially in Europe. What a fantastic way to explore a bunch of countries. But like you said, if we were married and had kids and stuff, I think I’d want to be in one place.”
“Would you be happy being home with a bunch of kids and him on the road?”
I smiled. “If we were married and had a beautiful home filled with our children and enough money to have help? Absolutely. I mean, I’d need to see him regularly, but Declan could afford to fly me out to wherever the band would be. So if we get to that point, yes, I think I’ll be happy.”
“Noah and I will probably never have money,” Kiki said. “I mean, not like you guys.”
“Yes, but you’ll always have me and you know I’ll never let anything happen to you.”
“But Noah won’t like that. He won’t take money from you.”
“Then I’ll buy you presents,” I said. “But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. We’re not even engaged, much less married with kids.”
Kiki peered into the pan in front of me. “So, uh, is burned onions a new recipe?”
“What?” I looked down in alarm. Sure enough, I’d blackened the onions, and not in a good way. “Shit!”
We laughed as I tossed them and started over. Hopefully, this whole being apart thing would get easier after a few days.
I spent one of our days off at the recording studio watching Ariel record her new album. She’d started it when Nobody’s Fool had been about halfway through recording theirs. She would finish this weekend, take time off to fly out and visit Tyler for a few weeks, and then she’d be starting her own tour.