Three hundred dollars later, I walked out of Walgreens with enough apple juice to choke a man. Kenton, Cross, and even Greer carried the bags onto the bus for me.
“Any other stops you need to make?” Charles asked.
“We’re all set. I’m sorry to disrupt the schedule, but I think things will go much smoother now that we have supplies.”
“Keep that boy back there. I don’t want to get sick,” Charles grumbled. He was usually sweet, but I understood. He couldn’t drive for long hours if he was sick as a dog.
I put all the items away and the apple juice in the refrigerator before I headed to the back to check on Walker. Hopefully, he was sleeping and getting the rest he needed to get better. I wasn’t sure how happy Titan Records would be if their opening act couldn’t play. They’d have to find someone new for a show or two, and that would be a difficult task—one that would put me on Cristiano’s bad side.
When I stepped through the bedroom door, I found Walker lying in bed, his eyes trained on the door. He’d taken his shirt off, and one bare foot hung out of the side of the blanket.
“Hey, how are you feeling? I put your juice in the fridge, but it will take a bit before it’s cold. They didn’t have any in the refrigerated section.”
“Can you get me a bottle of water?” He sounded so tired, like he could fall asleep talking to me.
“Sure. Is there anything else I can get for you?” I asked as I started to walk out.
“Can you stay with me? I don’t think I can call out loud enough for you to hear me if you’re out there.”
I didn’t point out that he could call or text me. Maybe Walker was clingy when he was sick. I didn’t know, but he looked so pitiful I couldn’t deny him.
“We can watch anything you want.” He pointed to the TV that was embedded in the wall. “Your pick.”
Walker must have been desperate because he always complained about what I wanted to watch. Really, I didn’t care what we watched most of the time. I didn’t watch TV. I had other things to do with my time. I wasn’t used to having free time to just chill out. The only time I made room for hanging out was with Stella. But I liked fighting with him about what to watch.
“Fine,” I gave in. “I’ll be back in a couple of minutes. You can pick what we watch but try to make it something I’ll enjoy.”
I’d barely slept all night. Walker’s fevered body was always pressed against mine, making me feel like I was trying to sleep in a furnace. I’d probably last five minutes before I fell asleep as long as I kept some distance between us. And really, if that fucker got me sick, I was going to kill him. Well, first, I’d make him take care of me until I was healthy enough for me to kill him.
“Are you thinking murderous thoughts over there?” Kenton asked as I pulled out two water bottles.
“Possibly.” I glanced over my shoulder. “Walker does that to me.” I hesitated to ask, but my mouth was spitting out the words before I could catch myself. “Is he usually…” I couldn’t think of a good word that wouldn’t give away what had transpired between us.
“A big baby when he’s sick,” Cross supplied for me.
“Something like that. He wants me to watch TV with him.” I rolled my eyes. “So, I guess I’ll be back there if you need me.”
Cross moved across the tiny space in one stride. “We’re grown men. While it’s nice to have someone taking care of us after going so long without, we can get on without you.”
“I know you can, but this is my job, and sometimes I feel like I’m doing a shit job.”
Putting his hands on my shoulders, Cross leaned down until we were eye to eye. “You’re doing a great job. You don’t have to mother hen us to be doing your job. In fact, I don’t think that’s in the description of being a band manager.”
“I don’t know about that. Some bands need a lot of attention,” I laughed.
“Yeah, well, we’re not one of them. We’re not out every night getting into trouble. The only thing we care about after our music is getting some pussy.”
A surprised laugh burst out of me. Cross removed his hands from my shoulders only to drape one arm around me. “What? It’s true, and we all know it.”
“Yes, we do,” I giggled. “And it’s perfectly normal.” I held up my phone. “If you need me, you can text me.”
“But we won’t,” he said, breaking away to sit back down at the table. They had laid out everything they got from the pharmacy like a kid would lay out their candy from trick or treating on Halloween.
“Have fun with your goodies,” I called over my shoulder as I stepped back into the bedroom. Closing the door, I turned to find Walker staring at me with a deep furrow between his brows.
“What was all that about?” He croaked out.
“Nothing,” I waved him off as I moved toward the bed. I handed him his water bottle and sat at the end of the bed.
His voice was low, and what sounded like hurt echoed through his words. “Why are you all the way down there?”
“Because you’re sick, and I don’t want to get sick. Plus, this isn’t some Netflix and chill session where we start off all curled up together. There’s no more snuggling between us, remember?”
“Oh, I remember you calling it off. I still don’t understand it, though.”
“You don’t need to understand it, Walker. What you need to do is respect my feelings and wishes.”
“What about my feelings and what I want?” He asked so quietly that for a second, I thought I’d imagined the words.
“They are valid, the same as mine. We can agree to disagree on this. We can’t be together and if you try, you’ll move on and forget we ever had something between us.”
“Is that what you did? Did you move on while you were on vacation? Did you meet someone while you were in Spain?”
I turned around to face him fully, sitting with my knees to my chest and my arms wrapped around my legs. “I didn’t meet anyone, nor have I moved on. I wish I had,” I said more to myself than for him to hear.
Walker sat up, leaning back against the wall. “Why are you doing this to us? What can I do to prove to you that it’s only you that I want?”
“You think I’m what you want. That is until you see some hot girl who wants to fuck you and then you have to turn her down. Then you’ll start to resent me because I’m always around and you’re stuck in a relationship with a woman who’s old enough to be your mother.” I pressed my forehead to my knees and tried to forget how he was begging me with his eyes to take him back.
Walker closed his eyes. His jaw was tight as he breathed in and out forcefully. “I’m never going to resent you. Well, I might but only because you’re being so damn stubborn about giving us a real chance. I don’t only want to fuck you. I want to share this whole amazing experience with you.” I started to tell him he was, but he held his hand up. “Not like this. Not as my manager who’s running things, but as my girlfriend who gets to see me grow. As the woman who I can serenade and who will cheer and sing along with the crowd.”