Page 121 of Lust For

“Me too.”

“Makes sense that you’re with us for this tour. And not just because of Derek. I like having my little sister around.” He picks me up the same way Brent did and twirls me around. “I love you, kiddo.”

“Love you more.”

I turn to Derek last, noticing that Aiden and Brent kind of disappear a bit to give us our space. “I love you most of all,” I tell him before placing my lips to his. Derek deepens the kiss, causing me to moan.

“I can’t wait to take care of you tonight in the back of that bus.”

I giggle. “They are so going to hate us.”

He chuckles. “Oh, I don’t know. Sometimes they have their own bus bunnies, and well, that’s not always the best thing to listen to either.”

“Ugh, what did I sign on for?” I tease him.

“You signed on to be with me always,” he reminds me.

“I did. And I will.” I kiss him passionately. Just as our kiss is finishing up, the band is being announced.

Dale comes over and taps him on the shoulder. “I don’t mean to be a cockblock here, but he’s got to get on stage.”

“Got it,” Derek says, pulling back. “I love you, baby, and I’ll see you soon. I gotta go to work.”

“I love you and I’ll be cheering for you,” I call after him.

He turns and shoots me that sexy smile I love so much. Blowing me one last kiss, he heads onto the stage with the rest of the guys, and they launch into the first single from the radio, “Lust For.”

I cheer backstage and dance around as the band plays. I’ve never seen them from this angle before. It’s definitely louder, which is why I have earplugs in. But I like that I can see Brent drumming away. I can watch how his hands fly from drum to drum. I have a great view of Aiden and Derek singing. My favorite thing, though, is seeing Derek look over every once in a while and wink at me.

“He’s a hell of a rock star,” Dale screams from beside me.

I hadn’t even realized he was still standing there. The buzzing of my cell phone interrupts my viewing experience. It won’t stop. I finally decide to look at it and see that it’s Emma. I head away from the stage and pick up.

“What’s up, girl? You’re interrupting my concert. The boys are playing.” I scream into the phone.

“Can you help me? I need to get back there. I’m here too,” she says into the phone. “But these assholes won’t let me back since I’m not on the list.”

“I’ll take care of it,” I scream back. I head over to Dale and ask that he let Emma in. Like the dutiful manager that he is, he goes and allows Emma into the venue. She joins me and I hand her a pair of her own earplugs. I immediately notice that Emma looks sick. Something seems to be bothering her.

“Do you need to talk?” I ask.

“No,” she shouts. “I just want to watch the show for now.”

I nod back and the two of us bop around to the music and sing. Emma looks a little better now that she’s reached me, but something is still bothering her. I decide to let her tell me when she’s ready. And I’m not ready to leave the stage yet. I wanna watch the concert the whole way through. Had this been one of many that I saw, I would have left with her. But this is my first one.

I grab her and pull her into a tight side hug. I vow that no matter what is bothering her, I’ll be there for her through all of it.

The concert ends with two encores. The boys were prepared for one, but not two. It’s an amazing night and an even better show. They come running off the stage sweating and pumped up.

I move out of the way as the stage crews grabs the drumsticks and the guitars from the guys. They’re handed bottles of water, which they all chug. I stay back and wait for Derek to be ready to come over to me. I know when he is, he will.

When he makes his way over, I throw myself into his arms. His black muscle shirt is covered in sweat, but I don’t care. I’ve seen him like this before, and right now, all I want to do is hug him and kiss him passionately.

“You were amazing,” I tell him before I grab his face and kiss him tenderly.

When we finally come up for air, he smirks at me and says, “I hope this is the welcome I get every time I come off stage. If so, it’s going to be the best fucking tour of my life.”

I giggle. “Play like that and you just might.”