Crap.
Will gave me an uneasy look and then held up his hands and backed away slowly.
Braden’s hurt expression didn’t help things.
“Let’s go talk?” I offered, grabbing his hand and pulling him out to the balcony. He grabbed a blanket and wrapped it around my shoulders while I exhaled a shaky breath. “You were great tonight.”
“I was petrified,” he answered. “I’m glad you didn’t tell me. I think it would have made it worse, the anticipation of it all. And when I saw the pictures and the families…” He shook his head. “How is it that you’ve known me for only thirteen days and know exactly what I need when I need it?”
I smirked. “Life coach.”
“Bullshit.” He jerked his chin in my direction. “Give me the real answer.”
I gulped. “Because I recognize your pain like it’s mine, and I would do anything in this world to make it better.”
He gasped, and then he pulled me into his arms, tugging me by the blanket. “Stay. I’ll do anything if you just stay. Damn it, stay.” He kissed my forehead. “Stay.” Then my cheeks. “Stay.” Then my lips as he whispered across them, “Stay.”
A tear ran down my cheek. He caught it with his fingers. “Why does staying make you sad?”
“I was afraid you’d be pissed that I pushed you,” I admitted. “Afraid you wouldn’t want me to stay after all of this when it’s the only thing I want.”
Our foreheads touched. “Piper, I would have chased you, tackled you to the ground, and begged you like the obsessed, in-love fool I am.”
“Love?” Tears welled. “But it’s so soon. Are we crazy for—?”
His mouth found mine, but before the kiss truly got going, he pulled away. “Life is short. Love can be given just as quickly as it can be taken. I’m done living in fear. I just want to live by your side.”
I hugged him tightly.
After an intense moment, he abruptly released me. “Be right back.”
He was gone maybe thirty seconds, but when he came back, it was with his vision board.
I smiled. “You’ve been busy.”
“Very,” he admitted. He pointed to a picture. It was of me before I got stung by the jellyfish. I looked so happy. Underneath it, he had put one word: forever.
I gasped. “When did you put this on?”
“Days ago,” he said. “And I’m keeping it because I’m keeping you, even if I have to make up a fake job for you so I can have you on tour.”
I grinned. “You won’t have to.”
“Huh?” He put the board down on the table. “Explain.”
“That’s how Will knew I was interviewing with the production company. Will suggested that they have a life coach on tour to help the guys stay focused on their music and goals, and I nailed the interview. They offered me the job during the concert via email. I leave with you—”
He jerked me against him, meeting my mouth with a punishing kiss, and then he tossed me over his shoulder and marched into the house.
“Daddy, Daddy, why does Uncle B have a girl over his shoulder?” one of the kids asked.
Alec muttered a curse and then said, “Headphones!”
His two kids put their hands on their ears only to have Trevor’s eldest demand, “Why are they going to bed already? You said we could stay up late!”
“Uncle B’s in trouble, that’s why,” Drew said, not helpfully. “Hey, let’s uh, turn up the volume on Frozen Two, and play the sing-along game!”
The kids cheered.
The adults all smirked at us.
And then the door to Braden’s room closed.
Clothes were thrown in seconds.
Mouths clashed.
And I was his.
Epilogue
Braden
1 Year Later
“How’s it going!” I shouted into the microphone amidst the screams. “We’re so glad you guys could come out and join us for our second annual benefit concert to prevent violence.”
More cheers.
“And a very special thank you to my gorgeous, pregnant wife for helping us coordinate this very personal project. Let’s give her a round of applause.” I turned to her stage left.
She was glowing, due in a few days, and I’d never seen anything so beautiful.
The wives were all backstage, while the guys and I were preparing for our sets. I knew Piper would be in good hands with all the ladies—they were used to this sort of thing.
After the sold-out world tour, we decided that we needed to do something more, something better. Because when we sang, people listened.
So we made it an annual concert event in Seaside.
We raised money.
And we tried to create change in a world of people who too often said they agreed with you only to push back when it made them uncomfortable or didn’t benefit them.
Piper got pregnant nearly two months after the tour started. I had found her puking her guts out and immediately thought she had the flu, only to be overjoyed when we found out that she was carrying my child.
Didn’t matter that we’d fallen quickly. After all, trauma forced you to grow up fast, and I’d been a grown-up since my dad left, taking care of my mom and my family for as long as I could remember.
I grinned at the sold-out crowd camped out on the beach and said a prayer of thanks for the very uptight Pollyanna who had stomped into my life and forced me to make a vision board that was still hanging up in my house, glittery blue penis and all.
In order to change, we sometimes had to get uncomfortable. But it only lasted a minute before you found yourself stepping out of the darkness and into the light.
“Let’s get this party started!” I yelled as I strummed the chords to my newest hit single, Vision.
* * * *