Claire and Rodrigo showed me their wrists, and yeah, they both had a tiny moon and sun in black ink. It was cute and made me think maybe I’d want to get Callum’s name on me. Someday. Not now. Not soon either. But maybe someday.
“Wedon’t even have matching tattoos,” Dominic groused.
Claire rubbed the center of his chest. “I have your lyrics on my skin and in my soul.”
His eyelids lowered, and the look he gave her was so heated, I had to glance away. “Yeah, you do,” he murmured.
Adam shoved himself into our circle. “Are you talking about the tattoo?”
I waved him off. “The topic has been covered. I love the tattoo, it’s not the kiss of death, etcetera.”
He folded his arms over his chest. “Well, all right, Wren. I like the way you shut me down and put me in my place. I like that for my boy.”
Hope shimmied in between Adam and Roddy. “Someone put Adam in his place?”
Rodrigo wrapped his arm around her shoulders. “Wren told Adam he was being dumb.”
My cheeks flamed. “I definitely didn’t say that.”
Callum stroked my hot cheek with his thumb. I peered up at him, and he was already watching me, the corners of his mouth curving.
“Hi,” he whispered.
“Hey, baby,” I whispered back.
“Well…” Iris pushed Adam aside to join our circle, “that’s new. My Callie’s a sweetheart.”
I tore my eyes from Callum to grin at Iris. “He is. The sweetest heart.”
Sighing, she threaded her fingers through Ronan’s hand. “Okay, so are you going on tour with us or what? You and your son are invited, and I can’t see Callum surviving an entire summer without you. He was practically crawling out of his skin the entire time we were in LA.”
“Oh, well, I don’t think—” I shook my head. “I have a job and—”
Adam made a face. “You should quit and tour with us. It’s a lot more fun than sitting at a desk.”
I laughed. “I have no doubt about that. The thing is, maybe you forget what it’s like to be a regular person, but we have bills and student loans.Mountainsof student loans. Quitting my job, even if it’s not as fun as touring, isn’t really an option.”
Callum stiffened beside me, and I instantly felt bad. We hadn’t talked about what it would be like when he went on tour, but of course I’d thought about it. In my dreams, maybe I’d pictured Ez and me on the bus with him, riding down long stretches of highway. But that was just a dream.
“Responsibilities are boring,” Adam quipped. “Your first mistake was going to college.”
“Higher education, boo, hiss!” Roddy added.
That made me laugh again, even distracted by the man beside me growing stiffer by the minute.
“We’re leavin’,” Callum barked.
My head snapped to the side to look at him. “What?”
“Now, Wren.” There was something in his command, a tone I hadn’t heard before, that put me on edge. I nodded, never taking my eyes off his.
“Okay. We can leave.”
He jerked his chin at his friends, his bandmates. I got the chance to wave goodbye and glimpse their shocked faces before he pulled me along with him. Not too fast, though. Even in whatever strange state he was in, he remained mindful of my short legs and high heels. When we got to the coat rack by the front door, he carefully slipped mine on me, then buttoned it up to my chin like he always did.
In the elevator, I squeezed his hand. “What just happened?”
“We’ll talk at home.” His eyes were on mine, and the furrow between his brows might have been six feet deep.
“I don’t like you dragging me out of a party without an explanation.”
Nostrils flaring, he cupped my jaw. “We will talk at home, Wren.”
“Fine.” I didn’t like it, but I wasn’t going to fight him, not when he had clearly dug his heels in and nothing I could say would get him to lift his feet. “We’ll talk at home.”
I couldn’t wait.