“Hey, Coral. You awake?”
Chapter 22
ENNIS
I blinked in the dark, trying to see Coral’s face.
“I heard you tossing and turning. I can’t sleep either. Wanna talk? We can go up to the front of the bus,” I whispered.
She sat up, yawning and rubbing her eyes.
Hadn’t she already been awake? Whatever.
“Oh. Hi, Ennis. Okay,” she said, swinging her legs over the edge of the bunk.
We settled into seats around the table where we’d been drinking earlier, and I lit a small candle.
“That’s nice,” she said, gazing around the dim bus interior. “It almost looks like a hotel room in the dark.”
God did she look cute in her pajama pants and skimpy top. Her hair was mussed, and when she caught me looking at it, she gathered it in front of one shoulder, and started making a loose braid.
I tore my gaze away. No need to make her uncomfortable. It was pretty obvious she’d rather be anywhere other than a tour bus with us three guys, and I didn’t want to make it worse for her.
Especially considering the Perry High School past we shared.
“Does it suck, to be here with us?” I asked.
Even in the lousy light, I could see her stiffen. I braced myself for her canned, professional answer. After all, the woman probably wanted to keep her job.
Instead, she shrugged. “I’m not entirely comfortable with it. But I like my bunk. It’s cozy, like a little space pod or something. Do you like these tour buses?”
I looked at the candlelight crawling over the ceiling and bus walls. “I do. Something about them makes me feel like a real rocker, you know? They’re cramped and all, but they also feel… authentic or something.”
That probably sounded lame as hell, but if I pointed out the positives, maybe she’d be more at ease.
“I even sleep a little better on the buses, I think from the motion. Well, usually, anyway. See, I have terrible insomnia. That’s part of the reason why they hired me a trainer. Everything else has failed—shrinks, antidepressants, massage, meditation—now they want me to work out.”
Whoa. I didn’t normally share this side of myself and wasn’t sure why the hell I was now. I barely knew Coral. But something about it being late at night in the confines of the bus, in the middle of god knew where, with the future of the band in jeopardy, made me feel lonely.
“I’d think the drinking is probably not helping,” she said.
Bingo.
While I was surprised to hear her say those blunt words, I knew as well as anyone she was right.
“Yeah. I’ve cut back. But not enough, I guess. I gotta make more changes.” I stared at the candle flame. “I can’t lose Dirty Bandit, Coral. It’s everything to me. Basically, it’s my life.”
To my surprise, she reached for my hand, her fingers gripping mine.
We were silent for a moment, relaxed by the rocking of the bus.
“I lost my little sister,” I blurted out.
Jesus, what was wrong with me?
She leaned toward me. “What about your sister?”
In the dim light, I closed my eyes. “I was driving my little sister home after a show a few years ago. We had the radio cranked and were singing at the top of our lungs. I wasn’t really paying attention and—”
I couldn’t continue.
So she did.
“There was an accident, Ennis?”
Eyes still closed, I nodded. Arianna had been my buddy. I could still remember her as a little kid, begging to come to our band practice, where she would dance around, pretending to be singing into a microphone. When she got older, she’d bring her friends and they’d watch us for hours, nudging each other and giggling. She’d been my biggest supporter.
Even after several years, the pain was still a stake through my heart.
“Is that her name tattooed there?” she asked, pointing to the inside of my forearm.
“Yeah. Arianna.”
“I’d thought that was a girlfriend or something. Good lord. I’m so sorry.”
And… I’d pretty much just ruined the mood.
Coral picked up on the awkwardness of our silence and started talking about all the things she was setting up for the band.
“How are we going to do all that? It just doesn’t sound possible,” I said. Charity concerts, USO travel, talk show appearances. Jesus. I was already tired all the time.
She laughed. “Well, we’re not gonna do them all at once. They’ll be spaced out over several months. I’ll arrange it all. You pretty much just show up and look good.”
I stretched and yawned.
“Getting sleepy?” she asked, still holding my hand.
“God, I hope so. We meet with the trainer in just a few hours.”
“Well. Glad to know I can put you to sleep,” she said with a small laugh.
“What? You should feel good about helping me relax.”
Yawning, Coral stood to return to her bunk. But I didn’t release her hand. I couldn’t.
As she sat back down, I lifted it to my lips, brushing over her skin and inhaling her soft scent. God, I could have stayed like that all night.
While Coral watched, full of surprise, I reached for her other hand and pulled her to me. If she pushed me away, so be it.
I’d back off.
But I hoped I wouldn’t have to.
Her eyes fluttered closed, and she tilted her head to give me access to her neck. I shouldn’t have been making the moves on her, but I wasn’t exactly at the top of my game in the early morning hours, starved for sleep, heading toward god knew what city.
So instead of calling it a night, I found her lips, urgently exploring, hungry for connection.
“You’re so beautiful, Coral. I haven’t been able to stop thinking about you since our first meeting.”
It was true. I hadn’t. That goddamn green dress…
“Ennis? Ennis, I need to tell you something,” she said in a whisper.
Chapter 23
ENNIS
Oh Christ. Here it comes.
She had a boyfriend. Maybe even a fiancé.
I placed my hands on either side of her lovely face. “What is it?”
Her words tumbled out like a terrible confession. “I… I’ve kissed Hugh and Stone in the last few days. I thought you should know. I don’t want you guys to get the wrong idea.”
I chuckled and lay her back on the bench where we were sitting.
“It’s fine, Coral. It’s fine.”
I knew her thinking. She was worried we’d consider her a slut, that we’d see her as another band groupie wanting to fuck a celebrity so she could brag about it to her friends.
But that wasn’t the case with Coral. Not by a long shot. And she was going to learn that.
I slipped my fingers into the waistband of her PJ bottoms and slowly began to drag them toward her knees, inch by inch. I knew not to make any fast movements so she’d have the chance to send me away if she wanted.
But she lay back, her breath deepening as she relaxed.
Dying to get to her bare pussy, I parted her knees just enough, and when I pressed my tongue between her folds, she was as soft and delicious as I knew she’d be, her scent revealing her excitement. Roaming through her swollen lips, I was on the verge of another world. One I never wanted to leave.