Santiago
The tour was over. After two months on the road, we were in the air, on our way back home. Maeve was curled toward the plane window, her hands folded under her cheek, asleep. A few of our crew were scattered around the private jet, many of whom were sleeping. Mo’s laptop screen lit up his face, so I wandered over to the couch he occupied, throwing myself down next to him.
He took out an earbud and paused the movie playing on the screen. “Hey, what’s up?”
“Maeve and I are together.” Better to rip off the Band Aid than pussyfoot around it. We’d agreed to come clean when the tour was over, and well…there was no time like the present.
“No shit,” he replied.
I chuckled. “Guess we weren’t as subtle as we thought.”
“I figured you were either stalking her or something was going on between you. You never look away from her. It’s pretty damn obvious.”
“And you’re cool with it?”
“I am.” He rubbed his eyes for a beat. “I gotta say, I want her to stay in the band. I did a lot of soul searching, thought about what Murray said, and I think we should offer her the contract.”
I nodded, looking away. No surprise, my eyes were drawn to Maeve, looking damn pretty as she slept and I knew my doubts were a betrayal to her.
“Can we wait until I talk to Diego? I need to get my head on straight with this.”
Mo looked disappointed in me. “I’ll wait, but we’ve got the votes. Unless you give me a compelling reason why I shouldn’t make the offer, she’s in.” He slapped my leg, a little harder than a friendly tap. “Don’t fuck this up. I know you have this innate loyalty to your brother, and I get that, but he can’t be the only one you’re loyal to.”
“He’s not. You know I’m loyal as hell to Unrequited.”
Mo jerked his chin toward Maeve. “I’m talking about our girl. Your girlfriend.”
That pissed me off. I belonged to Maeve. All of me. She owned me whether she wanted to or not. Straying wasn’t a possibility. It never would be. She held me in her fist, and I could only hope she wouldn’t open it up and let me go.
Or crush me into dust.
“We don’t need to talk about my relationship with her. That’s our business.”
Mo winced at my harsh tone. “Dude, are we not friends?”
“Yeah, we are. That doesn’t mean I’ll give you any room to come in and question my loyalty to Maeve. You don’t know jack in that department.”
“That’s true.” He set his computer aside, twisting to face me. “Relationships have never been my thing. That doesn’t mean when I see you heading straight for a bullet train, I can’t warn you to jump off the tracks.”
I shook my head, my mouth set in a grim line. “There’s no tracks, no train. We’ll talk about band shit in a couple days. The only reason I came over here was to tell you about Maeve and I.”
“And you told me. I’m not the enemy here. In fact, there isnoenemy. I don’t get why you’re getting pissed at me.”
Sighing heavily, I leaned forward on my elbows, cradling my head in my hands. “I’m not, I’m not. I guess...god, I’m happy. Really fucking happy. But I’ve got this cloud hanging over me I’ve got to deal with, andthat’swhat’s pissing me off.”
Mo clamped a hand over my knee. “It’s all good, bro. Get home, get your head sorted, be kind to your girl, and it’ll work out.”
I scoffed, bringing up my head. “Never heard a more trite bunch of platitudes.”
Mo laughed and punched my leg. “Shut up. My advice is the shit and you know it.”
I cracked a smile. “You’re right, it’s all clear now.”
He took a bow from his seat. “Thank you, thank you, no autographs please.”
Maeve threw herself face down onto my bed, spreading out her limbs. “Hello, lover. I missed you so.”
“It was always about the bed, wasn’t it?” I smirked, leaning a shoulder against the frame of my bedroom door.