“I missed you too.”
“Christ, you were only out of town for three days. It’s not like you went to war,” Michael teases.
“You’d miss him too if he made you shout his name every night in the grip of the best orgasms a man ever gave you. Evan takes you to Nirvana.” I wink at them, enjoying their scandalized faces.
“Sweet Jesus,” Faith whispers from her seat.
“Wait. Seriously? He’s so organized I figured he’d book an appointment to fuck,” Damian snaps incredulously.
“Oh, he’s organized, all right. He takes what he wants, when he wants it, and likes to be in control of the situation… Total control.” My smirk leaves nothing to the imagination, and everyone looks at us, mouths gaping.
“Damn! Too much information. Now I can’t get Evan out of my mind as the lead actor inThe Red Room,” Simon quips.
All eyes turn toward him, wide-eyed with shock. I certainly didn’t take Simon for an erotic reader.
“What? I sawFifty Shades, okay? Don’t look at me like that. It was in theaters, not some sketchy video online,” he tries to explain, and I laugh.
Thomas turns to Evan, horror painted on his face. “Wait. Is that why you bought a four-poster bed?” He is baffled.
“For what? Oh…” Damian’s voice falls silent when he realizes what his friend means.
I turn to Evan and find him looking mortified and rubbing his forehead. I’m sure he wants to dig his own grave and disappear.
“You told me to brag to your friends!” I scold him when I see he’s running out of words.
He smiles and draws me into an embrace. “I know, and I’m regretting it. I didn’t think my…our sex life would be on public display like this.”
I can’t hold back a laugh.
“You’reembarrassed? How do you think we feel picturing you that way?” Simon complains.
Faith chimes in and we all turn toward her. “Stop talking about your sex life in public, okay? That’s not something anyone should do, ever! Next time I’ll wash all your mouths out with soap!”
We burst out laughing because she’s right. We really do need to stop sharing every single detail of our lives. It’s true, we’re a big family, but we know so many personal details about each other that the relationship has become way too intimate too fast.
“Luckily, Emma is upstairs with Iris, or we would have scared her away in the first ten minutes of her new life in New York,” I mumble amusedly.
“I’m afraid it’s too late for that. I don’t know if you saw her face, but we’re probably going to have to resuscitate her for the first rehearsal in the studio tomorrow,” Damian points out. He’s probably right.
“Can you try to behave? She’s a naïve girl who needs to discover the world, not be shocked by it,” I beg them.
Evan laughs, and I glance at him.
“Don’t look at me like that. You put her in their hands. She’ll be swearing like a sailor by the end of the month. But have no fear, I am here to help you.” He kisses me again while the others sigh in exasperation.
“I’m ready to start.” Emma’s voice makes us turn to the elevator, where she stands with Iris.
She’s changed into a light floral dress and is clutching the guitar case tightly. She is the picture of the girl-next-door beauty that makes this industry go nuts.
“I thought you’d want a day off to recover from the trip.” I watch her while she hesitantly scrutinizes the band.
It’s like a lamb looking for an escape route in the middle of a pack of wolves.
“I usually relax by playing my guitar. I thought it wouldn’t be so bad to start getting familiar with a recording studio.” She shrugs as she looks away from me to the band. “If that’s okay with you. I know you’re super famous, and probably don’t have time to hang out with me,” she adds in a trembling voice.
Damian comes forward to rescue her from her embarrassment. “Emma, you are our priority. We wanted to help you record your album and produce it ourselves. We have every intention of teaching you what we know.”
Emma visibly relaxes, and I’m happy to see that she can finally breathe normally. Given her reaction, I was afraid the Jailbirds would be more of a detriment than an advantage to her career.