Alcohol You Later (7)

“Oh, yeah.” He follows that up with a pshhh. “Never”—hic—“better.”

“I seriously doubt that.” Crossing my legs, I hug a pillow to my chest and set the phone on the bed in front of me then place it on speaker. “Where are you?”

“Uhh, fuck if I know.” His warm chuckle has my heart pulsating. “Somewhere, Alabama.”

I roll my eyes in dramatic fashion. As if he doesn’t already know, I’m his biggest stalker. I always know the location of his shows. Hell, half the time he asks me where he’s headed next. “That’s not what I meant…like a bar? Hotel?”

“Oh, right. We got a hotel for the night. I’m lying in this big ol’ bed…drowning my troubles in this hurr fifth of Jack.”

“Oh, no,” I coo. “Don’t tell me Richard wasn’t cooperating again.”

“Not even you, pretty girl, could resurrect this floppy jalopy tonight.”

I snort laugh. So, he hasn’t completely lost his sense of humor. That’s good. But something is clearly on his mind, and I already know that getting it out of him will be like pulling teeth. Nick’s never been a fan of serious talk. He’s the biggest jokester I know, making light of even the most solemn situations. It’s one of the things I love most about him…usually. Right now? I‘d just like to cut to the freaking chase.

“I need to see my dude.” His dude.

“But you just sai—”

“Not on the phone,” he interrupts. “I’m in nooo condition for textual relashunns right now… I have a…a proposition for you.” His words are thick and tacky, requiring far too much effort.

“I’m listening.” My throat constricts.

“Can you meet us day after tomorrow in Jackson?”

“Thought your next show was in Little Rock?”

He groans as if my not understanding is exhausting, but dammit, he’s not giving me much to work with here. “I want you to come for the rest of the tour…like stay on my bus w—with me.” He coughs. “I’m uh… We’re stopping over for a few nights to pick up my bus.” Nick’s tone brightens considerably. “I’m finally getting my own.”

Holy shit. Alone on a bus with Nicholas Potter for damn near two months…

To what do I owe this great stroke of luck?

My heart takes off, beating so hard it wouldn’t surprise me if he could hear the steady wallop through the phone. I’m literally biting back a squeal. “I mean…I…” A million thoughts rush through my head. I am on summer break from teaching, and the band’s tour finishes a couple of weeks before the new school year starts. But I’d have to drop my shifts at the pizza joint…

“Ray?”

“Sorry,” I stammer. “I’m here.” And shaking like a leaf in the throes of a thunderstorm.

“Will you come?”

“Wednesday?” I ask, giving the impression I’m mulling it over. But I already know my answer. That doesn’t mean I’m going to roll over without making him sweat it a little. “You call me at…” I touch the screen of my phone to bring up the time. “Two thirty in the morning and expect me to drop everything and go on tour for eight weeks? Just like that?”

It’s hard to keep a stern tone when I’m about to explode from trying to contain my enthusiasm.

He sighs. “I know.” His words all run together. “I know it’s a lot…but I need you.”

Well, who could say no to that?

“Come on…” I hedge. “Give me a little more to work with. You’re asking me to quit my summer job. The least you could do is explain.”

Truthfully, it wouldn’t matter if he was calling me over to help bury a dead body. I’d be there with a shovel, gloves, and a smile from ear to fucking ear.

“I really can’t talk about this over the phone. Yerr just gunnnna hafta trust me.”

“This is insane.” I sigh, ripping my hands through my hair. My chest fills with nervous flutters as excitement pricks my skin.

Insanely amazing!

Then he growls his agreement, “Don’t I know it,” and it’s nearly enough to suck the wind from my sails.

Would it be too much to expect my soulmate to…I don’t know…sound a little more enthusiastic at the prospect of my visit?

If his name is Nicholas Potter, the answer would be a resounding yes. The man has more layers than an onion, and I’ve become far too invested in working my way through them to give up now. I’ve never met a person more afraid of commitment—apart from maybe his cousin, Korie.

I do my best to be understanding because he’s been through a lot. More than I could ever appreciate, having come from your typical, middle class, suburban family. His mom left him when he was still a toddler, and his dad was more absent than not, preferring drugs and bars to raising his son. Nicholas’s biggest role model—and really the only one to show any interest in him at all growing up—was his womanizing, famous rock god uncle, Jax Potter.

Don’t even get me started on that piece of hot garbage and the hell he put Korie and her mother through.

That relationship alone keeps him conflicted, trying to balance the love and gratitude he feels for the man who got him out of that trailer park and onto the big stage with the knowledge that Jax’s dedication to him came at a cost. And the one to pay was his little cousin Korie, who just may be the only person he adores more than his uncle. Such a mind fuck.