I picked up my cell and checked the time. In about ten minutes her plane would land and I could call to make sure she’d arrived safely. Traveling alone wasn’t something I liked her doing because there were too many crazies out there. Plus, I wouldn’t be there to shield her from them.
A knock on the door startled me from my thoughts.
“Come in.”
Riff pushed the door open and stood in the doorway. “We’re about to start a Halo campaign. You in?”
This felt like old times—the bus rolling down a lonely stretch of highway while we kicked each other’s asses at a war video game. It was the best way, other than sleeping, that we’d found to pass the hours when we were cooped up inside Big Bertha.
But right now I wanted to wallow in my sadness at being without Lane.
“Nah, I’m pretty tired.”
Riff folded his arms across his chest, his crazy Mohawk standing high on the top of his head. “Dude, I know you miss her, but you can’t mope around in this room the entire time she’s gone. It’s not healthy.”
I sighed. “I know, but it’s hard to be without her.”
He nodded. “I know what you mean, but still you have to live, man. She won’t be gone forever.”
That was true. I would see her again in a week when I got a three-day break between shows, but until then, I didn’t see anything wrong with a little depression.
“I get it, but I’m really just tired. It’s been a long day.”
A sarcastic laugh tumbled from his mouth. “Kyle took you shopping all day, how stressful could that be?”
Since he was my best friend, I needed to share with him the real reason the day hadn’t gone as planned, so I fished the ring box from my pocket. “It was kind of a big deal.”
I held it between my thumb and index finger for Riff’s inspection. His eyes widened. “Holy shit! Does she know you have that?”
I shook my head. “Nope. She left before I got a chance to ask her.”
“That’s a huge deal. You sure about this? Don’t you think you should wait a while?”
“No. It’s the right time. It’s something I’ve thought about doing since high school. Plus, that douchebag Striker keeps sniffing around her. What better way to show him she’s off the market?”
Riff took the box and opened it up and let out a low whistle. “Well, don’t rush in because you feel threatened by Striker. She loves you. Any idiot can see that.”
That was what I thought too. Apparently Striker was the only still blind to that fact. “Like I said, it’s not just for his benefit. This is something I want. I want her to know I’m committed to her.”
He handed me back the box. “If you’re sure, then I’m happy for you. Now, get your ass up, and come help me whoop Trip’s ass. I’m not taking no for an answer. I need my wingman.”
A little less heavyhearted, I sat up, tucked the box back in my pocket, and readied myself for some guy time.
An hour and a half into the game my cell rang. I checked the ID and felt a little silly for the sheer amount giddiness that rolled inside me just from seeing Lane’s name. I hoped the guys hadn’t noticed. I’d never hear the end of it.
“Hey.”
“God, I miss you.” It was awesome to hear she was feeling the exact same way I was. “A week is so long.”
“Too long,” I agreed.
“Well, maybe I’ll actually get some work done this week without you here to distract me all the time.”
I laughed. “So glad you’re looking forward to being without me.”
“You know what I mean,” she chided. “It’ll be nice to have my proposal done for Striker this week.”
The name Striker coming from those beautiful lips was just plain wrong.
“Let’s not talk about him.”
“Noel...” The tone of her voice held a warning.
“I’m not jealous or anything. I just don’t like him.” Honesty was the best policy if we were going to talk about any thoughts that revolved around him.
Normally I would never have believed Lane would go for a guy like that, but after that night in the bar, I knew different. It was hard to get the vision of how he’d touched her that night when they’d danced out of my head. I’d snapped when I’d seen that he was about to kiss her. Not only that but she was going to let him. Something in me went crazy, and so I’d attacked him to keep it from happening.
Lane sighed into the phone. “Okay, no more talk about him.”
“Thank you.” I paused. “Have you made it to the hospital yet?”
“I just pulled into the parking lot and wanted to call you before I went inside to tell you that I love you, and I miss you already.”
My heart swelled. “I love you too. Tell your mom I hope she gets back on her feet soon. I want to show her my mad pancake flipping skills.”
She laughed. “Will do.”
After the call ended, somehow I felt better about missing her. It gave me comfort to know I’d be with her soon, and that I could call her anytime I wanted.
The next show was in Orlando, and it was an outdoors. Singing to a sold out crowd of over twenty thousand people always got me amped. It was still surreal at times to think that we had the amount of fans we did. And man, some of them were dedicated.
Backstage I watched as Embrace the Darkness ended their set. It was really starting to get under my skin that Striker and his band were becoming well-known. He seemed to really enjoy muscling in on things that were mine—things that meant the most to me. He sauntered off the stage flashing that cocky grin he wore half the time I saw him.
“Try not to chase the fans off too,” he said as he walked past me.
I narrowed my eyes. “What the fuck is that suppose to mean?”
He spun on his heel to face me. “It means you’re really good at driving things away. Careful, mate, or you’ll drive more than your fans straight to me.”
I closed the gap between us. “Try something with her, fucker. Give me one more reason to beat your ass.”
He laughed. “You don’t scare me, Falcon. I’m just waiting for you to fuck up before I make my move on Lane. She’s too good for you.”
Every muscle in my body shook, and spots clouded my vision. Instinctively my fist drew back, ready to blast Striker in his smug face.
My arm snapped forward, stopping inches from my target. I jerked my arm hard, so caught up in my anger that I hadn’t noticed that Riff had my arm hooked in his.
He dragged me back. “He’s not worth it.”
My nostrils flared and my brain failed to absorb his words. “He needs to stop trying to fuck my girl.”
Striker laughed as he stalked off. My heart hammered hard as every piece of me fought not to tackle him with full force.
Riff shoved me back. “Noel, dude, calm the fuck down. He’s just trying to get to you and you’re letting him. This is exactly what he wants—you to doubt Lane, and drive her straight to him. Don’t let that happen. Lane loves you.”
My chest heaved, my body still in fight mode.
“You’re right.”
I scrubbed my hands down my face and took a deep breath. Striker had found my weakness, and hadn’t wasted any time in taking full advantage of it. Trusting Lane wasn’t the issue, but knowing Striker was set on taking her from me ramped me up even more. Now more than ever, I needed to stake my claim for the world to see.
Chapter 11
After two weeks of being without Lane, I still missed her like crazy. Life just wasn’t the same without her.
I rolled over and picked up my cell before searching out her number. Hearing her voice first thing in the mornings was my new routine, and it was one of the only things that kept me going.
It rang a couple times before Lane’s groggy voice answered. “Hey.”
“Hey, baby. I didn’t wake you, did I?”
“Oh, no. I was awake.”
My brow furrowed. “What’s wrong?”
“I’m feeling a little sick a
gain,” she answered.
“Are you having the same symptoms as before?” I questioned again.
“I wish.” She sighed. “I’ve been sick to my stomach all morning.”
I rubbed some sleep from my eye. “You’ve been throwing up?”
“Yeah, but thank God I was able to bring Mom home after surgery last night. It would’ve been hell to feel like this at the hospital.”
I sat up in bed and then tossed my legs over the edge. “I’m coming down there.”
“Noel, you have shows to do.”
Even though she couldn’t see me, I shook my head and hopped out of bed. “To hell with the shows, Lane. You need me, I’m coming down.”
My suitcase was out on the bed before I even finished my last sentence.
“I’m fine, really.” She was trying to convince me, but I knew she needed me. Kathy needed help getting around after her surgery, and Lane wouldn’t be much help to her if she wasn’t a hundred percent herself.
“I’m taking the next flight from what ever city we’re closest to.”
“Noel—”
“No more arguing about this, Lane. I want to come. Please don’t fight me.” I threw some clothes in the bag and zipped it up.
“Okay.”
The reluctance in her voice was heavy but I pumped my fist anyway.
“I love you, and I’ll see you soon,” I told her before I ended our call.
I carried my luggage to the front of the bus and dropped it near the steps. Riff and Tyke sat at the table eating breakfast, while Trip stood at the island finishing up a bowl of cereal.
Riff eyeballed it before he turned his gaze on me. “What the fuck is that?”
I shrugged and knew this wasn’t going to go over well with the guys. “I have to go, man.”
“Go where?” Trip asked, wiping milk from his lip after slurping down what was left in his bowl.
“He’s going to Texas to be with Lane,” Riff answered.
“What about the rest of our shows?” Tyke asked with a frown on his face.
“We’ll have to cancel or postpone them, I suppose.” All three of my band mates stared at me like I’d grown a third eye. “Guys, I’m sorry, but she needs me for a week or so. Her mom broke her leg, but now Lane is sick. I have to go help her.”
Riff flexed his jaw muscle, clearly pissed at my decision.
“Fine. If you want to disappoint all the fans because you’re being selfish—”
“Selfish? This is the first time in my life I’m thinking of others.” I met each one of their stares individually. “I love her, guys. I have to be there when she needs me. I would really appreciate a little understanding on this.”
After a couple tense moments of silence, Riff rubbed his chin. “I guess pushing back the dates a couple weeks wouldn’t kill anybody.” Trip and Tyke nodded in agreement. “I’ll work on having them change the dates. It won’t be easy, and will be a total pain in my ass, but I’ll do it. Go take care of things.”
A grin crept up on my face. “Thanks, guys, I owe you one.”
I told our driver to turn off at the next exit before I went back to wake Kyle, who was still fast asleep in his foxhole, to tell him I needed a ride. In just a few short hours, I would see Lane again. The thrill of it excited me more than playing live music to thousands of screaming fans.
Four hours later, I landed in Houston and picked up my rental car. The solitary drive was a nice change. It was very rare nowadays to be completely alone and the silence was welcomed.
When I pulled into the driveway of Lane’s childhood home, old memories of when we were in high school flooded me. I’d pull into this drive and honk my horn, and Lane would come bouncing down the walkway and hop in the passenger seat of my Chevelle. That was back when life was simple.
I knocked on the front door, and Lane answered the door with a huge smile on her face. “Hey!”
She was cheerful. A complete change from when I’d spoken to her on the phone a few hours ago. “Feeling better?”
“Much! I don’t know what was wrong with me this morning. I couldn’t stop throwing up and every smell made me nauseous.”
Alarms were going off like crazy in my head and I grabbed her hand to pull her outside, out of earshot of her mother.
“Do you think you’re pregnant? It’s been nearly four weeks since you saw that little munchkin-looking doctor. It’s possible.”
Lane flinched. “No. I’m on birth control.”
“It’s not uncommon for birth control to fail if someone is on an antibiotic,” I told her.
She tilted her head and crunched her brow. “How would you know that?”
I shrugged and I felt my cheeks burn with embarrassment. “I read up on pregnancies a lot when I thought I was going to be a father. And you know there’s not much else to do on that bus. A man can only stomach video games so long. So, I thought I would educate myself on babies.”
She dropped her head. “What would we do if that’s why I was sick this morning?”
I tipped her chin up with my index finger so she’d look at me. “We’d get married of course.”
She pulled away. “You can’t marry me because you feel guilty. I’m not Sophie.”
“Hey.” I wrapped my arms around her waist. “What we have is real. Sophie doesn’t even exist on your level. A baby for us wouldn’t be a bad thing.”
She shook her head. “I still wouldn’t want you to ask me solely because of it though. This isn’t the 1800s. We can have a baby and not marry.”
The temptation to dig the ring out of my luggage was overwhelming. If I gave it to her now, she’d never believe I’d had it before there was even a possibility of a baby. After the way I had just jumped to the conclusion right off the bat, she would think I bought it on the way down here because I suspected she was pregnant.
I would just have to wait and plan out a beautiful proposal to make things perfect. She needed to know we could be perfect together, and that my reasons for wanting to get married came straight from the heart.
She lay her head against my chest. “Now curiosity is killing me. Do you mind sitting with Mom while I run to the drugstore to buy a test?”
“Sure.”
A half an hour later, Lane returned from the drugstore with a plastic bag in her hand. While she snuck off to the upstairs bathroom to take the test, I drummed my fingers on the arm of the couch and watched television with her mom. It was hard to believe the balance of my life would be determined by a ten-dollar test.
“Noel!” Lane called from upstairs.
I swallowed hard. “I’ll be right back, Kathy.”
I took the steps two at a time as I raced up to Lane. She waited in the doorway of her room. After she yanked me inside her bedroom, she plopped down on her bed, tears filling her eyes before they rolled down her cheeks.
Dropping to my knees in front of her, I took her hand in mine.
“Whatever it said, it’s going to be okay.”
She sniffed and batted away a couple of tears. “You think a baby bed will fit on that tour bus?”
“Oh my God.”
I wrapped my arms around her waist. It was true, we probably weren’t ready for this, but it didn’t change the fact I was excited about the news.
I bit my lip and pulled back. I took her left hand in mine and peered up at her. “Lane, will you marry me?” The words were out of my mouth before I’d even had a chance to think. As soon as I said them I felt relived, and wondered why I’d held off for so long. We were meant to be together—fate had shown us much with this baby—and Lane has to know that she was it for me.
She shook her head. “No. I told you, I won’t marry you just because of a baby. This is just a decision on a whim for you. I don’t want you to regret asking me, or resent me later in life.” She stood up, leaving me still kneeling on the floor by her bed.
“Where are you going?”
She stopped just short of walking out the door. “I need time to think, and ad
just to this news.”
Watching her walk out and shooting down one of the biggest dreams I’d ever had nearly crushed me.
I needed advice and since I couldn’t ask Lane for it, I went to my go-to person. I pulled my cell from my pocket and dialed my mom’s number.
“Hi, honey. How are you?” Mom answered.
“I’m in need of some advice, actually. You got a minute?”
“All the time in the world for you. What’s up?”
I cleared my throat as I stood and walked over to the window. The dock was in perfect view from here. My hand pressed against the warm glass when I saw Lane at the end of it looking out over the lake. It hurt me to know she was sad and hadn’t taken my proposal seriously.
“Noel, you still there?” Mom’s voice snapped me out of my thoughts.
“Sorry, Mom, I’m here. I need your help. I want to plan the perfect proposal for Lane,” I said.
A giddy laugh echoed through the phone. It had been a long time since I’d heard Mom laugh like that. “I’d be honored to help. What do you have in mind?”
From there I broke into the entire story of how Lane and I had reunited, and how we’d nearly been torn apart by Sophie’s lies. I didn’t have to explain why I loved her so much to Mom. She knew. She’d always known. I remembered how she would tell me how much she liked Lane, and couldn’t wait until the day she officially became part of the family.
The only thing I couldn’t tell her was about the baby. Not because I didn’t want to, but because I didn’t feel right telling people before Lane was comfortable about the idea of letting our families know.
“So you’ll help me? Lane is taking Kathy for a follow-up appointment tomorrow, but they won’t be long so we’ll have to work quickly.”
“We’ll decorate the dock and make it the most romantic thing she’s ever seen. After we’re done, there’s no way she won’t take you seriously,” she gushed. “I’ll email you a list of everything you need to buy tomorrow. Just call me when you’re ready for me to come over and help.”