Heart of Stone (Rock Star Fairy Tales #1)

Chapter 31

C h apte r 31

Back to the Real World

After Midnight, Saturday, Febr uary 21 st in Margot’s Bus at the EcoDome in A kkoy, Genc

T hey arrived at the EcoDome a few minutes after midnight, the security guards opening the gate to the back lot and waving them through. Margot pulled up next to the other RVs, her little bus dwarfed by the modern vehicles. She put the TW in park, then leaned back in her seat, neck cracking.

Ash stirred, having fallen asleep about an hour ago, and Margot patted his thigh, trying to forget that she knew what the bare skin of his thighs felt like, tasted like. “Ash,” she murmured, “we’re here.” If he had fallen asleep in a normal spot, she would have left him, but he was awkwardly slumped in the seat, a position that would make his neck hurt in the morning.

He yawned, then opened his eyes slowly, still very muc h asleep.

“Oh?” he asked, eyes closi ng again.

“I’ll get Timothy,” she said, nodding at Tobin before she climbed down from her side, the chill air biting on her legs. She had driven with the window open, so her arms and face were used to the cold, but not the rest of her body. Wrapping her arms around herself with a tiny wish for Ash’s magical heat, she headed toward the RV where Nik and Timothy might be. She knocked on the door, waited, then pulled out her phone to text them. Surely, they weren’ t asleep?

Her phone rang a few moments after she sent the message. “Baby Go!!!” the jubilant voice of her cousin shouted, and she moved the phone away from her ear with a wince. “What’s up!” There was a shuffling, a fumbling, and Timothy’s quieter voice asked, “Margot?”

“It’s me,” she told him. “And you’re at the party,” she said, smacking her head. Some manager, she told herself. Can’t even keep a basic schedule straight. Get some dick, and you’ve turned into a complet e airhead.

“You coming?” he asked. “Brin ging Ash?”

“Not tonight,” she told him. “We’re so tired. Ash is just going to bed. I’ll put him in the bunk, not the back room, okay?” She didn’t want to interrupt any plans Nik or Timothy had for bringing women back t o the RV.

“Why are you putting him to bed?” Timothy asked suspiciously. “Something I need to kn ow about?”

“Not tonight,” she repeated. “He’s fine. We’re all fine. See you tomorrow.”

She hung up before he could ask more questions and returned to the bus to retrieve her keys. Opening the side door with a screech of protesting metal, she gave Tobin a pleading look. “Can you help me get hi m inside?”

Tobin nodded, hopping up and following her out of the bus to open the passenger door, supporting his brother easily as Ash sagged out of his seat. They had made it to the door of his RV, Margot fussing with the keys to open the door, when he looked blearily from the body holding him up to her, a hand reaching out to smack her ass. “Threesome,” he slurre d. “Cool.”

Margot froze, not turning around. She didn’t want to see Tobin’s face. She didn’t want to have heard Ash say that. She didn’t want to imagine what his sleep-addled, oxygen-deprived mind was thinking. Turning the key, she pulled the door open, sighing at the smooth give of a newer vehicle, then offered her shoulder under Ash’s arm again, supporting him as she stepped up the few stairs. Ash’s head lolled and tapped the cushioned wall, and Margot winced, but she had to admit that she didn’t really feel too bad, not if he thought she was another groupie. They stumbled down the center aisle, between the couch and small table and the fancy kitchen. Margot slid the curtain aside from the bottom bunk—Ash’s bunk. She heaved, shoving Ash into the space—bigger than her own bunk bed by far—and Tobin lifted his legs. Ash flopped, snoring lightly, and she frowned.

“I’ve got him,” she told Tobin. “Just give me a sec.”

Tobin walked back into the main area of the RV, studying his brother’s livi ng space.

Margot sighed, moving Ash’s hair off his face. Leaning down, she took off his shoes, then tugged off his socks, tucking the shoes into the cubby below the bed and sliding the socks to the foot of the bed for him to deal with later. She reached for his pants and hesitated, recalling the discussion Ash and Tobin had had about providing clean u nderwear.

Maybe I shouldn’t, she thought. Maybe I should just leave him like this.

She frowned, knowing she wouldn’t want to sleep in jeans, but also knowing that somewhere between the mountainside and the border, she had lost the right to take off Ash’s pants, especially without his consent. Sighing again, and hating the sting of tears in her eyes, she reached for the blanket balled up against the wall. She had pulled it over his legs when her eyes caught a flash of color in the corner of the bed beside Ash’s head. Leaning into the bunk, she peered close, seeing that it was a photo taped to the top of the bunk, situated so a person lying on their back could lo ok at it.

It showed the four of them at the old lake: the boys in swim trunks and her in a modest blue one-piece she had borrowed from Aunt Maddie. They were so young, that first summer she was among them, but they all looked happy, enjoying the water and the summer sun, all smiling as they hunkered together for the camera. She had the same picture on her bus, framed on the wall where she could see it from her spin ning seat.

“Ash,” she whispered, the bite of tears becoming somehow softer. Despite his earlier comment, and the knowledge that things were about to go back to normal, she was relieved to know that when Ash was alone in his bed, he liked to look at his friends in the old days before the band, before ev erything.

“Go,” he mumbled, a hand reaching out to touch her, tugging her down for a sleepy kiss. Margot froze, then melted, allowing him to pull her close. “Stay with me,” he murmured, his breath warm on her lips.

“I can’t,” she told him, feeling the space between them widening. She kissed him gently and slowly peeled his hands from her face. She tucked them under the covers and kissed him again, this time on the forehead. “You need sleep. I’m right next door,” she added, sliding the curtain shut before he could say anything else. She stood next to the cubby for a moment, catching her breath and slowing her pounding heart. Tobin still stood in the liv ing area.

“Nice.” He nodded at their surroundings. “Sleek. Though I think I like yours more. Seems to have … c haracter.”

“Character is great until you want a shower,” Margot told him.

“You okay?” he asked gently, nodding at Ash’s bunk beh ind them.

“Yeah,” she said. “Just tired. I have to get the bus set up, or I won’t be able to shower in the morning.”

“I’ll help,” Tobin volunteered, and he followed her out of the RV, waiting as she locked Ash inside. They returned to her bus, ran the lines she needed to dump the water and plug into the local power. Tobin was a good partner, taking instructions easily and following her guide without any di fficulty.

When they had finished, she stared at him, considering the sleeping arrangements inside her bus. When she was growing up, she and her mother had made her bed each night, dropping the planks into place so she could sleep, but when she redesigned the bus, her goal had been to always have her bed ready to go—hence the one bunk bed. Since she never brought anyone back to her bus, it hadn’t mattered—and the few times Nik had spent the night, he just curled up on the passenger seat or reclined in her swivel seat. Her bus wasn’t made for entertaining, though she did have two folding chairs to set up outside if she had company. “You can probably use one of the bunks in the RV,” she began, but Tobin sto pped her.

“It’s fine,” he said. “If you don’t mind, and you have an extra blanket, I can just sleep on t he floor.”

“Are you sure?” she asked, knowing the floor was not comfortable. “I t’s hard!”

“Won’t be the first time,” he said with a smile. “Besides, it’s like camping. We should make s’mores.”

“Maybe tomorrow,” she told him. “Right now, I’m so exhausted, I just want to curl up in my bed.” She gave him a long look, thinking of his warm body, her tired mind trying to decide if her thought was ma nageable.

“You’re wondering if you should ask me into your bunk,” Tobin said. “You want to be polite, but you also don’t want to imply anything.”

“How do you do that?” Margot asked, plopping onto the swivel chair and taking off her sneakers. She put them on the step, then stood up, peeling off her socks and tucking them in the small laundry bag that hung on a hook in her closet. “It’s like you can read my mind.”

“Not my skill set,” Tobin admitted, hands spread wide. “But I can read you, Margot.” He nodded at the floor. “I’ll be fine.”

“I don’t want to be alone,” she blurted, not sure what she was going to say until the words came out. “But I don’t want to have sex with you tonight.”

“I appreciate your candor.” He waited for her to continue. When she just stared at him, glancing between him and her bed, he added, “I can be a comfort to you, Margot. I will not do anything untoward.”

“You sure?” s he asked.

Tobin lifted a hand to his chest, one finger held out. “I do so swear, I will not offer any physical pleasure… until you a sk me to.”

Margot snorted, appreciating Tobin’s sense of humor. Then she sobered, shattered heart throbbing. “Are you okay with this? I’m kind of u sing you.”

Tobin shrugged, tugging off his shirt with casual abandon. Margot’s mouth went dry, and she reminded herself that she was exhausted and in no mood for anything. “I’m fine with however you choose to use me, Margot, even if it is just so the bed isn’t s o lonely.”

But I can still look, she reminded herself. He is so fuc king hot.

Sleep , her body demanded, and she nodded, grabbing pajamas from the bin and heading to the bathroom. She changed quickly, brushed her hair and teeth, and came out into a dark bus, Tobin having turned off the lights. It didn’t matter—she knew her way around, and she hopped up into bed easily. Tobin was there, his body hard and reassuring in the dark, lots of bare skin but still wearing shorts, and she snuggled against him, the two of them fitting much better than she had with Ash the nigh t before.

“Tobin,” she said, so many words wanting t o escape.

“Tomorrow,” he said, leaning down to kiss the top of her head. “Sleep now, Margot. I will be here.”

“I know,” Margot said, wrapping an arm around him, reveling in his solidity, his presence, and slipped quietly off to sleep.