“Well,” one huffs as the others … congratulate us.

I try to pull away, but he holds the back of my head tighter.

“She’s shy,” he excuses.

I dig my nails into his chest, and he lets go, but only after a few more seconds.

“What the heck did you just do?”

“What the hell did you just do?” He lifts his shirt to see red marks where I dug into him. “Damn.” He smirks. “You need to kiss it better.”

“Memphis, you just told them I was—”

“So?” He shrugs.

“Well, not only is it a lie, but it’s possible it will start a rumor, and my mother …” I cover my face. “Dear God, Memphis, my mother will stroke out. And you, you idiot, you just messed up the whole”—I wave my hand in the air, and somehow it ends up pointing at his, lower half—“rock star, man-whore thing.”

“First, you can call your mother and tell her I did it to push three chicks away who wanted in my pants, and they were not my type, Tales.”

“I thought everyone was your type,” I huff.

“No, Tales, not everyone.” He looks at me.

“Right. I get it. Fine. But you just screwed that up. Every kinky-haired, thrift store queen is gonna think they have a shot with Memphis Black and—”

“She’s coming. Do you think you could chill the fuck out for a minute?” He laughs.

“No. No, I don’t,” I say honestly.

“Tally, Memphis! Eek, hugs!” Madison runs up and hugs us both. “Tales, you’re too damn skinny. What the hell happened to the freshman fifteen?”

I feel tears filling my eyes. I have missed her so much. She is and always has been what balances me.

I sniff back the tears, and she pulls back and looks at me.

“Don’t you do that, okay? We cried too damn much last time I saw you.”

I feel my lips tremble and I hug her more tightly.

“Aw, Tales.”

“Just missed you,” I whisper.

“I missed you, too.”

I pull back and plaster a smile on my face, and she wipes the tears off my cheeks as two women approach Memphis.

“Aren’t you the lead singer from—?”

“Not right now,” he says in a gruff voice, and I look up at him. His eyes are locked on me. “Come on, Mads. Let’s get sweet cheeks something to eat. I think she’s probably hungry.”

“But you’re Memphis Black, right?” the girls ask as he opens the door to the Escalade.

“Right now, he’s a brother and a friend,” Madison says as she hops in the back seat and pulls me in behind her.

“And apparently, Queenie’s driver.” He shuts the door and grabs her bag.

“Talk to me,” Madison says as she buckles up, then grabs my hand.

“Just, just …” I don’t even want to have this conversation.

“Just what, Tally? You can tell me anything, you know that.” Her eyes are like his; brilliant blue and inviting.

The door opens and Memphis gets in, turns around, and holds up the sign. “Did you even notice this?”

“Nice.” Madison flashes him a smile, then turns back to me. “Spill it.”

I expect Memphis to start up the vehicle, but he doesn’t. When I look up, his eyes are slightly crinkled, and he looks to be trying to figure something out.

“Tales got shit-faced last night.”

“You did not!” Madison gasps.

“Fireball. By the fucking glass. One after another.” Memphis winks at me.

“You’re shitting me,” Madison says, and I smirk.

“I wouldn’t shit you, Mads. You’re my favorite turd.”

“Shut up and tell me everything.” Madison grins and looks at me.

I shake my head. “Wasn’t really my best day.”

“Fucking whiskey? You chose to get drunk the first time on whiskey, Tales?” She laughs. “How do you feel?”

“Surprisingly, not as bad as I should,” I answer.

“That’s because she fucking ralphed all over me.” Memphis smirks at me through the rearview mirror.

“No way,” she gasps.

“Yes way. And more than once.”

“How did that happen?”

“She turned green, and I snatched her up before she tossed it all over in front of the band and some friends. She’d have never lived that shit down.”

“Did you feel better after? I always do,” Madison says.

“She got hosed down in the bath tub and passed out.” Memphis snickers as he pulls out onto the road.

“No way. Who …?” She pauses. “Did you hose her down?”

“Hell yes, I did, right after I hosed myself down. She smelled awful.”

“Aw, my brother can be a gentleman.”

“A perfect gentleman.”

I sit back and listen to the two of them talk back and forth. I have always loved watching how they interact. They may have driven each other crazy growing up, but they love each other immensely.

Then I realize how differently he is driving.

I shake my head and look up. He is staring at me in the rearview. He looks forward and grabs his sunglasses off the dash and puts them on as he cautiously drives us back to the house.

Once Mads and Tally are in the house and settled in their room, I call and order brunch. I’m starving. Everyone is still asleep, but I know, once they smell steak and eggs, they’ll come running like the dogs they are.

While I wait for the food, I decide to take a shower since I didn’t get to it this morning; my bed was too damn comfortable. Mmm-mmm.

What the hell am I going to do about this little obsession with POW!? I need to tap that ass, but she’s—well, she’s fucking Tales.

I kick off my slides, pull my tee shirt over my head, and shed my shorts.

I look down and shake my head, looking at my cock. “You need to take a fucking break right now, anyway. Tour time, you’ll be well fed and exercised. You won’t be frowning forever.”

Freshly showered and feeling like a million bucks, I hop out and towel off before dressing.

When I walk into the kitchen, the food is spread out on the island, and no one is eating. I grab a piece of bacon and shove it in my mouth before grabbing a croissant and heading down the hall to tell Ta … Mads that it’s time to eat.

The door is cracked, and I hear Mads chewing off Tally’s ear.

“No fucking way,” she gasps, and I can picture Tally’s face turning pink. “The senior? Tall, dark, and smoking hot?”

“Handsome, talented, and kind,” Tales corrects her.

“Throw a ball cap and some ink on his arms, and he’d be hot as hell, just sayin’,” Mads says.

“He isn’t that kind of—”

“Fine. I get it. So tell me; how was it?” Mads interrupts.

I’m leaning in closer to hear because I want to know, too.

“It was sex, Madison,” she whispers.

“Like hot, sweaty, all night long, ass smacking—”

“Dear God, Madison! No, of course not. Gross.”

“No, not gross at all.”

I’m ready to bust in and demand a name, an address, and all that shit from Madison.

“I don’t want to hear about you and what’s-his-name.”

“Well, sometimes it’s what’s-his-name and sometimes it’s what’s-his-name.” Madison laughs.

I grip the door jamb and hold myself back from kicking the door open and demanding to know all that information when I feel a tap on my shoulder and jump back.

Finn is standing there with his arms crossed over his chest and a shit-ass grin on his face, shaking his head.

“What?” I whisper in a hiss.

“Don’t do it, man.”

“Do what?”

“Go in there, ready to be the white knight for little sis when you wanna go dark knight all over her friend.”

I glare at him, and he shakes his head, steps around me, and raps on the door.

“Chow time.”

I storm down the hall, and he follows. Annoyed, I look over my shoulder at Finn chuckling.

“Laugh it up, asshole,” I snap, which makes him laugh louder. “Why don’t you…?”

“Don’t I, what?” He laughs.

“Go shave your fucking beard or something,” I snap as I grab a plate.

“Fuck that. Ladies love it.” He smirks as he strokes it.