“I’ll call you, often,” he promises.
Lifting my hand, I wrap my fingers around his wrist and hold on tightly.
“I know you will,” I breathe. I don’t know.
What I do know is that he gets lost in his music, in traveling, and in his shows. That’s what has me the most worried, him losing himself. I don’t want him to spiral again.
Granted, I don’t know the man that he was while he was drinking, but he wants this change so badly, and I want him to have it, to be happy and at peace.
The four of us load up in the SUV, the girls in the back and the guys in the front, again. The ride to the airport is quiet and I can’t help but feel a cloud of gloom and doom hovering over us.
Once we’re at the airport and checked in, I turn to him, knowing that I’m going to have to walk away and hating it.
Beaumont is wearing his aviator glasses and a ball cap pulled down as far as it can be against his forehead. The only part of his face that I can see is his lips. His beard covers what his glasses don’t. Smiling, I lift my hand and run my fingers through the hair of his beard.
“Wish you didn’t have to go,” he rasps.
“Everything will be fine. Austin will be okay. Daniel will be okay. The tour will go wonderfully and I’ll see you in two weeks in Washington.” I grin.
He shakes his head, he turns and touches his lips to my palm. “It will be. But I’m still going to miss you lying next to me.”
“When you don’t sleep?” I ask.
He grins against my hand. His tongue sneaking out to taste me before he shifts and lowers his face closer to mine. His lips touch mine and my eyes automatically close, preparing to become weak-kneed by one of his delicious kisses.
“You’re mine, Hutton. Don’t forget. Don’t talk yourself out of it. We are for one another, meant to be together. It just took me a little time to get my shit together, but I’m solid, darlin’.”
Inhaling through my nose, I can feel my nostrils flare as I try to fight back the emotion that fills me from his words. His lips touch mine, his tongue sliding inside of my mouth and I moan as he strokes me. As he stokes the fires inside of me with just the simple touch of his tongue against my own.
When we’re both breathless, he pulls me against his chest and I feel his chin rest on the top of my head. “This shouldn’t feel this fucking bad,” he murmurs.
I nod once, agreeing with his words. It shouldn’t be this hard, I shouldn’t feel this sad, this dark. It’s only two weeks. Sometimes couples are separated for months at a time, years even. This is only two weeks, only one weekend really.
We can do this.
I refuse to be a girl who can’t be apart from her boyfriend. I have put myself through school. I own my own business with zero help from anyone. I’m independent and I won’t be this sad meek thing just because I miss my man.
Clearing my throat, I take a step back and tilt my head so that I can see into his aviators. Thankfully, he tugs his glasses off and I’m treated to the sight of his warm dark eyes. His lips twitch and he shakes his head.
“Talk to you soon, darlin’. Be good,” he murmurs.
Rising to my toes, I touch my lips to his. “You too, Beaumont,” I breathe.
Taking another step back, I turn from him and walk toward the TSA line. Looking back over my shoulder, I give him a smile. His eyes shift from my ass to my face and his lips turn up into their own grin.
“You know, you two are sickening,” Laurie announces once we’re in line.
“Are you going to tell me about Jesse?” I ask. “Or maybe you’d like to tell me about the person you keep texting on your phone.”
She grunts but doesn’t speak right away. I allow her, her silence for a moment, but I will find out. It’s been long enough, and it’s time she tells me.
“I almost broke up with him yesterday. I tried to actually. I told him about Chelle, but we never did talk about it. I said it in the middle of a fight and then we kind of got distracted later and we never really discussed it,” I admit, deciding if I expect transparency with her, then I better give it as well.
Neither of us says anything as we make our way through the TSA checks and then grab a coffee on the way to the terminal. Once we’re settled in our seats and waiting for the plane to arrive, Laurie clears her throat.
“I slept with Ford Matthews a couple of weeks ago,” she blurts out.
My head turns to face her so fast that it hurts my neck. Lifting my hand, I wrap my fingers around the back of my neck and stare at her wide-eyed. Shocked. I’m completely shocked.
“Are you guys… together?” I ask, thinking about all of the time she just spent with Jesse.
She snorts. “Not at all. We’ve texted a few times. I don’t know if he wants more, seems like he might, but I don’t.”
“What was wrong with him?” I breathe, desperate to know what could possibly be wrong with Ford. He’s so handsome, established, and seems like such a nice guy.
She shakes her head. “Aside from the fact that he’s clearly still hung up on some girl from his past? Nothing. He was fine in bed and all, but he was a little too controlling,” she says, wrinkling her nose.
“You don’t like that, I take it?” I ask.
She laughs. “Apparently you do?”
I shrug. “I’m not answering that. So, what are you going to do and what’s up with Jesse?”
Laurie lifts her coffee to her lips and takes a long sip. “Nothing. I’m not doing anything. Jesse was a good time and we have plans to have repeat performances in two weeks, but it’s nothing serious. I don’t want anything serious. I’m not like you, Hutton.”
“Not like me?”
She nods. “You are a relationship girl. You’re never going to be promiscuous and that’s okay because that’s not who you are. The man that you fall in love with, you’ll marry. Me? I’ll probably never fall in love because I won’t allow myself to.”
“Don’t say that, you never know.”
“See? You’re so sweet, which is why I love you, but I’m not sweet.”
We don’t say anything else.
I’m not sure what else to say.
I hate that Laurie doesn’t see herself the way that I see her.
She may not be sugary sweet, but she does sweet things. She loves hard, she’s always loved me hard. She would make a wonderful partner because she would always be loyal, stable, and defend her lover with all of her heart and soul.
BEAUMONT
Daniel and Austin are on my fucking shit list. Jesse heads back to the bus but thankfully doesn’t speak. I don’t know if that’s because he doesn’t want to talk, or maybe because he’s too busy thinking about Laurie.
I should probably warn him off of her, but Laurie is a big girl, and she’s no shy virgin, she came here bound and determined to party like a rock star and I have no doubt that Jesse showed her a good time.
Jesse pulls up to the bus and I quickly exit the SUV, jogging toward the door. It’s still early, so hopefully everyone is still inside and passed out. We’re getting this done and over with right fucking now.
Wrenching the door open, I climb inside with one step up and place my hands on my hips as I look around. There is a naked woman face down on the couch, her body draped over Austin’s equally naked one. Daniel is passed out in the middle of the floor, two women curled against one another lying right next to him.