Mo laid hands on both our shoulders, shoving at us. “Fucking hell. Back off, both of you. There’s no need for this.”
Murray threw his hands up, raising his eyebrows at me. I let him go, backing a few steps away. “Don’t talk about her like you know anything.” My tone brokered no arguments, and Murray didn’t try.
“I’m asking questions. Questions that need to be asked,” Murray said. “Maeve is my girl, and someone’s gotta speak for her.”
“She’s not your girl,” I practically growled.
“My friend,” he amended. “I like her, and I want her to stay. You asked for my opinion, I’m giving it. I’m not hedging my bets, waiting around to see if Diego even wants to come back while we’ve got this amazing drummer who’shere.”
Giving me a disgusted look, he stalked off to the bunks and slid the door separating the lounge from the rest of the bus shut, leaving Mo and me alone.
He raked his fingers through his hair. “I didn’t expect that conversation to go down that way.”
I scrubbed at my face with both hands. My arms tingled with residual adrenaline, and my heart was still pumping faster than normal, thumping in my chest.
“Me either.”
Mo patted my back. “Murray isn’t wrong, you know.”
“I do know that.” I squeezed my eyes shut. I’d been putting off thinking about this, focusing on Maeve, the tour, traveling, playing. If I focused on Diego too hard, I’d go nuts. “Can we table this for a while?”
He sighed. “Yeah. Think on it. I’ll do the same. Murray made some valid points…”
Mo eventually started up his video game again, and I sat back down, attempting to read, but it wasn’t happening. I should’ve gone to bed. I was tired as hell, but my brain kept racing.
Needing to move, I walked down the aisle, sliding the door open to the bunks. Murray’s bunk light was off, and knowing him, he had on his sound cancelling headphones playing white noise. Maeve’s bunk was empty, so I slid open the second door, and found her in the back lounge, typing on her small laptop.
Her wet hair was piled on top of her head, revealing the long line of her snowy white neck. She had her legs stretched out on the bench, ankles crossed. We rarely went barefoot on the bus—it wasn’t advisable around these messy fools—but she’d kicked her flip flops off, her bare feet moving to a beat only she could hear. That was when I realized she had earbuds in and hadn’t even noticed my entrance. All the better, she probably hadn’t heard the argument.
I stood there, leaning a shoulder against the doorway, drinking in my fill of her. She was so damn pretty, even more now than she was when I first met her. The thought of not seeing her day in and day out wasn’t a pleasant one. But not doing everything in my power for my brother wasn’t something I could live with either.
That didn’t stop me from wanting her. Just standing there, looking at her, had me calming. Feeling more at ease. There was something about being around her that centered me. Kept me coming back for more, seeking out that feeling.
Maeve lifted her head, and her eyes found mine. Her mouth curved up, and she removed her ear buds.
“Hey, creeper,” she said.
I moved forward, lifting her feet so I could sit down on her bench. She tried to pull them away, but I kept them in my hands, laying them across my lap.
“Hey. Not sleeping tonight?”
“Soon. I’m just returning a few emails.” She clicked her laptop shut and set it gently on the ground. “What about you?”
“I’m wishing like hell I had a bed I could spread you out on.” My hand moved up her thigh, and she tried to slap me away.
Her eyes narrowed on me, making her look more cute than threatening. “Don’t even think about it. It’s not happenin’.”
I looked her in the eye while I moved my hand to her waist, dipping my finger beneath the waistband of her leggings. “Maybe it shouldn’t happen, but itwillhappen again.”
“I don’t know if I appreciate this side of you. I think I liked you better when you were bossy from far away.” Her words were meaningless when she leaned back and her legs fell open, giving me better access to her.
Fingers drifted under her loose T-shirt, feeling her soft skin, soft body. It’d been too long since that drunken night in her bed. We’d been on the road for a solid week, barely any time to breathe let alone spend any time together, just the two of us.
“Nah, I know you like it, baby girl.” I flattened my hand against her stomach, and she sucked in a big breath of air. “I feel how you’re breathing, the goosebumps on your skin. You might not want me to tell you what to do anywhere else, but when we’re alone, you want it.”
She brought her hand to her mouth, nibbling one of her fingers. Her eyes darted from my hand to my face. There was indecision there, no doubt, but desire warred to take the top spot.
“I don’t understand you. Are you doing this because I’m the only available pussy for miles?” A hint of vulnerability broke through, surprising me. Maeve rarely showed insecurity. When it came to the band, she asked for help when she needed it, but to me, that made her seem more secure. The way she turned away now, staring out the dark window instead of meeting my eyes, unleashed a deep down coiled need to make her understand there wasno oneelse, not when she was in the room.