The two of them were all hands and lips in the car. Grimacing as he sat beside the pair, Matt asked, "We are going straight back to the hotel, right?"
Kellan and Evan laughed while I did my best to ignore the fact that Griffin and my sister were panting. I was keeping my gaze strictly on the scenery flying past, but I could hear clothes rustling. God, I hoped they were both still fully dressed. If I heard a zipper, I was out of the car, regardless if it was speeding down the freeway or not.
The behemoth of an SUV finally arrived at the St. Regis Atlanta. The posh hotel was a tall, stately building that screamed elegance and opulence. A fountain in front highlighted a covered drop-off area paved with what looked like slabs of slate. Everything about the architecture was designed to intimidate and impress. But the beauty of the building was lost on me at that moment; I didn't care how nice the hotel was, I just wanted out of the car. When the vehicle stopped, band members poured out of it like something toxic had been released inside. Evan and Kellan were still chuckling as they started gathering Anna's luggage from the back. Matt looked ill. Anna and Griffin didn't get out of the car.
A bellhop magically appeared with a luggage rack, and our driver took over the unpacking job from Evan and Kellan. We had a handful of drivers available to us whenever we went anywhere. All of them were arranged by the label. This one's name was Paul. He was polite, competent, and most of all silent; he only spoke to us if we asked him a direct question. I was sure that was why the label employed him. Who knows how many nondisclosures he'd had to sign.
Evan and Matt walked away with the bellhop while Paul went back to the driver's side and climbed inside. I stood by the back with Kellan, waiting for my sister to get out of the car. Seconds turned into minutes. The weather there was beautiful for late October. While back home it would be starting to bluster, rain, and turn frigid at night, here it felt like a perfectly breezy spring day. Still, I did not feel like spending the entire day waiting for my sister to get out of the damn car.
Paul was sitting behind the wheel, politely waiting for the rock star to finish . . . whatever he was doing to Anna. Not wanting to interrupt them myself, I twisted to Kellan. "Can you . . . ?" I indicated the backseat of the tank in front of us.
Kellan smirked, payback in his eyes. "I would love to."
He strutted over to the door, swung it wide open, and reached inside. God, I really hoped they were still dressed. A second later, Kellan reemerged with a disheveled Griffin. Griffin glowered at Kellan, pushing his hands away from him. His jeans were open. The sight made my stomach tighten. Griffin was just about to launch into a curse-filled rant when my sister slid out of the door. She kissed Griffin's cheek as she readjusted the clingy maternity dress she was wearing. Griffin's objections immediately died off. Anna walked over to me and looped her arm around mine like she hadn't just been rounding third base in the back of an occupied vehicle.
"This is going to be so much fun, Kiera!" she squealed, squeezing me tight. As she pulled me toward the hotel, I looked behind us. Griffin's eyes were glued on her ass; he still hadn't zipped up his pants.
The bellhop was waiting for us when we entered the lobby. I had to give this hotel high scores in the Wow department. The lobby looked straight out of Gone With the Wind-sweeping grand staircases, crystal chandeliers, hardwood floors, and exquisitely detailed rugs. While Anna gaped at the luxury around us, Matt and Evan made arrangements for her at the front desk. It warmed me that the boys so easily accepted girlfriends and wives joining them, whether for short or long bursts. As far as twenty-something rock stars went, the guys weren't your stereotypical hotel-room trashing, groupie-banging, party-all-night divas. Well, most of the guys weren't, and they kept Griffin in line.
When the bellhop got the okay to lead Anna to our rooms, we made our way to the elevator. Kellan and Griffin were back by that time, but they had to wait for the next car. This hotel was plusher than any hotel I'd been in back home, ten times nicer than my honeymoon suite with Kellan. The inner doors of the elevator were made of burnished brass, and Anna's and my reflection stared back at us. Anna preened while I examined her belly. "I'm thrilled to see you, Anna, but should you really be traveling in your condition?"
Anna stopped running her fingers through her board-straight, dark brown locks. "Condition? I'm not diseased."
The bellhop's lips twitched. His head was facing straight forward, but the reflective doors made it pretty obvious that his gaze was blatantly fixed on Anna's ample chest. Sort of wanting to block his view, I told my sister, "Yeah, but what if you went into labor early, on the plane or something?"
Anna gave me a humoring smile as she wrapped her arm around me. "You worry too much. Besides, how awesome would that story be?" Her fingers spread in the air like she was reading a headline. "'Baby Boy Delivered at 30,000 Feet.' Film at eleven."
The bellhop snorted, switching it to a cough. Anna flashed him an award-winning smile. I couldn't help feeling just a tiny smidge of jealousy. Ah, to be as breezy as my sister. Somehow, the I-don't-give-a-crap gene had skipped me. The elevator dinged to a stop, and the bellhop politely indicated for us to go first. I wasn't sure if that was his training or if he wanted a peek at the backside that had Griffin poised for action.
As we walked along the thick carpet, I glanced at the copious amount of luggage my sister had decided she couldn't live without. "You sure brought a lot of stuff for one concert," I murmured.
Grasping my hand in hers, Anna giggled. "Actually, I'm staying."
All of the muscles in my jaw stopped working. "You are? But, what about your job?" Anna worked at the "family" restaurant, Hooters. Her manager had spent a lot of time and energy mentoring her on the business side of the restaurant. Up until, well, yesterday, Anna's plan had been to get into management after the baby. Had she up and quit her job? Actually, that would not surprise me in the least.
Not a care in the world, Anna shrugged. "I decided to go on maternity leave."
We arrived at the end of the hallway where the rock star's rooms were. The D-Bags and I had two rooms on one side of the hall, and the three members of Holeshot had one room on the other side. Sienna had the entire penthouse suite. I had a feeling that Anna and Griffin would be confiscating one of the D-Bags' rooms, and the rest of us were going to be very cozy for a while. Maybe Kellan and I would return to our bus sanctuary quicker than I thought.
Still a little shocked, I sputtered, "But you have a month left," as I used my key to unlock one of the rooms.
Anna walked through like she owned the place. "I know! Just one month to be wild and crazy and completely carefree." Walking over to a crisply made bed, she sprawled herself across the elaborately brocaded cover. "Why would I want to waste my last chance at freedom being shackled to a restaurant when I could be touring the country with a bunch of rock stars?" She raised an eyebrow at me, like I should completely understand. I did. I just also understood the reality of her situation.
I sat beside her as her luggage was wheeled into the room. "But what about the baby? Where are you going to have him?"
Her face turned droll. "Call me crazy, but I was planning on having him in a hospital."
I shook my head. "What if we're not near one when you go into labor? What if we're in the middle of nowhere?" Oh God, was I going to have to deliver my sister's baby? On a tour bus? I felt a little sick just thinking about it. I was not a blood, mucus, and gore-friendly person.
She waved my concerns away. "It will be fine, Kiera. Don't stress so much."
I knew that the delivery part of having a baby actually did worry my carefree sister, and I started to wonder if that was the real reason for her escape from Seattle. My sister could do denial better than anyone.
Griffin and Kellan popped into the room a minute later. Kellan tipped the bellhop while Griffin lay down on the bed next to my sister. His hands were under her dress before I even had a chance to turn away. Feeling my cheeks heat as the sounds of lip-smacking filled the air, I hurried over to Kellan. He was lightly laughing at the frisky pair of reunited lovers. Grabbing his hand, I pulled him from the room and tossed over my shoulder, "Catch you guys later."
Anna mumbled some response, then let out a low moan. I quickly closed their door and headed over to the other room reserved for the D-Bags. Anna and Griffin could have that room all to themselves. That was just fine.
Just as she'd said, Anna stayed with us after the concert. When the busses packed up and left Atlanta, my sister packed up and headed out with us. Griffin was in seventh heaven now that Anna was with him again. A part of me wanted to believe that it was just because he was having regular sex again-a lot of regular sex-but there were brief moments of tenderness in between the sex that made me wonder if Griffin really did love my sister, and if she really did love him.
I certainly enjoyed having some more feminine energy on the bus while we traveled, and I loved having my sister close to me again; it was nice to have someone to talk to about all the craziness going on. The only thing I didn't love was the loss of my marriage bed. Griffin and Anna evicted Kellan and me from our bedroom the minute she climbed on board. And I couldn't even really complain about it because she was pregnant-very pregnant. Making her sleep in an uncomfortable cubby would be cruel.
So I grudgingly squished myself between Kellan and the bus wall every night and tried to ignore the lack of privacy, space, and comfort. It's okay, I love my sister and she needs the room more than I do became my new bedtime mantra as I attempted to fall asleep amidst the snoring, shuffling, and chatting of my many rock-star bunk mates.
Waking up with a kink in my neck after another restless night, I debated if Kellan and I could rent a motor home for the remainder of the tour. The hole-in-the-wall bunks even made me miss our thin mattress on Justin's bus. It was dark in our cubby, and the bus was unusually quiet. I figured it was still early, or late. I didn't know. Time was meaningless when alternating between packing up late at night and heading out early in the morning. And crisscrossing over time zones only added to the confusion. My internal clock was all sorts of messed up. I only knew that I was awake while others appeared to be asleep.
The sleeping portion of the bus had no windows, and the thin gray curtain that gave us the illusion of privacy was fully extended. It was peaceful, if cramped. My eyes quickly adjusted to the lack of light, and blocky shapes sharpened into distinct objects. A smiling set of lips were the first thing I noticed.
"Mornin'," Kellan whispered.
I stretched my tight joints and carefully turned my neck; it ached badly. I was going to have to invest in a therapeutic pillow soon. "Good morning . . . is it morning?" I yawned.
His hand on my stomach shifted to my side, pulling me into him. "No idea."
Kellan was tall, a bit too tall for the cubbies, and his knees were pressing into my thighs. As we scooted closer together, I wrapped my legs around his. Coincidentally, our bodies lined up right "there." Kellan's grin widened as he leaned in to give me a soft kiss. "Sleep well?" he asked.
My neck complaining, I shook my head. "Not really. I miss our bed."
Kellan frowned as he shifted around; his head bumped the top of the cubby while his feet kicked the side and his elbow brushed the curtain. "Me too, I feel like a sardine in here."
Sighing, I laced my arms around his neck. "I suppose we don't always have to sleep together. We might sleep better apart."
Kellan hugged me to his bare chest, his long arms wrapping over and under my ribcage. "I'd rather go without sleep than without you."
As we lightly kissed, Kellan's hands slid under my tank top. Loving the feeling of his skin dancing over mine, I melded my body into his. Maybe being cramped wasn't such a bad thing after all, although it did lend itself to intimacy problems. We hadn't been together much since my sister had joined the tour a couple of weeks ago. I was sort of dying to make love to him.
I could tell that Kellan was dying too, as one of his hands followed the curve of my spine and darted beneath my underwear to rest on my backside. I stifled a groan and pressed my h*ps into his. Cramped or not, we could make this work. Our kiss picked up as his hand massaged my skin. My fingers tangled in his hair, drawing him into me.