“Fair enough.”
Chapter 28
Countdown to mayhem
The arrival of Tripp’s band meant the end to their little vacation. It had been amazing while it lasted, and there was no denying it had made their relationships stronger. Even Dez and Tripp occasionally wandered back from somewhere together claiming to have been working on a surprise for the rest of them.
After the hot air balloon restaurant, Zakk was willing to trust that whatever idea he concocted was at least going to be an interesting one, the question now was if there would be anymore adventures in their final three days at the spa, or if it was time to focus on the mini-tour that would be the final leg of their road back to Rocktoberfest.
He should have known Tripp would come up with something, despite having spent the whole of the day apart, working out set lists and ironing out wrinkles in songs. Zakk was just sprawling across his bed, about to listen to a couple rough recordings of their newest songs, when the knock came, prompting him to set down the headphones he’d just picked up.
“Yeah!”
“Can I come in?”
“I don’t know, can you?” Zakk shot back, already scooting over to make room for Tripp.
Shoving the door open, Tripp fixed him with a look and promptly flipped him off. “What are you, the grammar police?”
“Naa dude,” Zakk replied, making certain to play up the Boston area accent he’d mostly lost in his many years on the road. “I’d need three extra lifetimes just for that, especially around you and Riley.”
“Damn, what’s with all the hostility tonight?”
“Oh, so you noticed it was night. I was beginning to wonder.”
With a feigned look of surprise, Zakk fought back the laughter that was threatening to spew from his throat.
“Awe, was someone feeling neglected.” The teasing lilt to Tripp’s tone, coupled with a hint of mockery, made it harder to keep from laughing. “Should I go back to my room and sulk in the darkness alone as penance for leaving you all alone today or would you like a Teddy Bear and a piece of candy to make it all better again?”
All that was left was thepoor babyline, or another equally patronizing pet name, but it had the vibe, which was all the prompting Zakk needed to yank the pillow out from under Tripp’s head and smack him several time with it.
Of course he forgot that Tripp had way more mass than he did. He soon found himself tackled to the bed and tickled until he relinquished his hold on the pillow. That earned him some retaliatory swats with it before Tripp tossed it across the room.
“Dude, you didn’t have to go all Hulk Smash on me!” Zakk replied, brushing his hair out of his eyes. “At least, not that kind of smash, anyway.”
“Oh really, and what kind of smash did you have in mind.”
“If you don’t know, perhaps I should demonstrate.”
“Only perhaps?”
How he could look at that single raised eyebrow look of Tripp’s and find it both sexy and comical was beyond him, but damn. Zakk was laughing even as he leaned in, his lips brushing over Tripp’s. “Well, I could always treat you to a little sample.”
Those murmured words produced fleeting little kisses, just from the way his lips formed them. Soft skin brushing against equally soft, supple skin pressed a little closer, as if to hurry things alone.
“Tease,” Tripp whispered, flicking his tongue out and grazing Zakk’s with just the tip of it.
“I’ll show you teasing.”
“I should hope so.”
There was no longer any space between them, just his body melting against Tripp’s, no beginning, no end, just limbs entwined, and chests pressed together. Every breath they took, the other shared in, lips no longer moving to make words, but to touch, press, manipulate. Fingertips slid just beneath the hemline of his shirt, ice cold against the warmth of his skin.
“Jesus, fuck, what did you do, stick those in a freezer before you came in here.”
“Sorta.”
“Why!” Zakk yelped, trying to move away from him when Tripp slid his other hand along Zakk’s side. Wiggling and protesting did nothing to get him to loosen the hold, meaning layers of body heat were slowly stripped away, leaving him shivering and wanting to crawl beneath the blanket. Whoever the fuck had gone to the front desk and asked them to turn up the air conditioning needed to be found and dunked in a bucket of ice water. He was about to suggest Tripp let him go so he could call up to the main office, when someone beat on the door like the po-po breaking up a house party.