“I saw that happening from a mile away,” Emmie snorted through her laughter. “Luca really likes nice tits, Rissa. And they don’t get any nicer than your rack, babe.”
“Boys got some great taste,” a new voice spoke up and my head snapped up from making sure that my top was covering everything that it needed to. When I saw Rhett Tomlinson standing behind Emmie I couldn’t help but smile at the lead singer of Trance. The sexy as sin rocker had been a regular at our apartment lately and we’d become fast friends over the last several months.
“You’re just biased.” I pushed through my two friends to wrap my arms around Rhett’s neck. “Where have you been hiding? I haven’t seen you in over a week.” I glanced at Natalie over my shoulder. “Have you been mean again, Nat? Stop scaring the guy away.”
Natalie rolled her blue-gray eyes. “Yeah, it’s my fault. Couldn’t be anyone else that runs their mouth and pushes him out the door more often than not.”
Turning back to the leanly muscled, sweat worthy hottie, I leaned up on the tip of my toes and kissed his cheek. “Ignore her. She doesn’t know what she’s talking about. It’s the haircut, it did something to her brain when all that hair came off.”
Rhett turned his head and brushed his lips across mine before shooting a mock glare at Natalie. “What the fuck were you thinking cutting off all that hair? Damn it, woman. I was half in love with you because of that hair alone.”
“You’re lucky I still have any hair.” Natalie wiggled her brow at him, making him flash that sexy grin that would have affected a ninety-year-old woman. “I wanted to shave it, but Marissa talked me out of it. This was my compromise.”
Rhett smacked his long fingered hand against my hip playfully, making me squeal in surprise. “Rissa, you should have called me. I would have come over and tied her to the bed so she couldn’t leave the apartment.” Dark chocolate eyes met mine and he winked before his gaze was attracted by my new facial accessory. “Holy shit, that’s hot.”
Delight filled me and I hugged him again. “Really? You like it?”
“Fuck yeah, I like it. You definitely should have called me when you decided to get that little baby. Would have loved to have seen that happen. When are you going to get your first tat? We’re stopping in Miami in August. Tell me what you want and I’ll talk to the guy that does all my ink there. We can set you up an appointment, make a date out of it.”
Excitement made me giddy and I jumped up and down. I’d been thinking of getting a tattoo for a while now, but I wanted to be absolutely sure I was in love with whatever I decided on before getting it permanently inked into my skin. “That sounds like fun. Let me think about what I want first and I’ll let you know.”
“Let him know what?” Liam asked as he and Linc joined our group. His eyes narrowed on Rhett before pulling me into his arms and kissing my temple. “That piercing is adorable, Rissa.”
“Adorable?” I glared up at him. “Adorable wasn’t what I was going for, Li.”
“Sure it is.” Liam winked down at me. “Now, what do you need to let him know?”
“What tattoo I want.”
“Marissa.” Liam shook his head, then turned a cold glare on Rhett. “No. She doesn’t need any ink.”
“I want a tattoo, Liam.” I pulled away from him and stepped back into Rhett’s arms. “And it’s not up to you whether I get one or not. My body, my choice.”
“Rissa…” My brother let out a long sigh, but then perked up. “So does this mean you’ll be going with me on tour?”
It was my turn to sigh. I’d been thinking about it hard all day, but hadn’t made up my mind until Rhett had mentioned tattoos and Miami. “Looks like it.”
Liam pulled me away from Rhett once more and swung me around and around, making me giggle and cling to his shoulders. My heart warmed at the happiness I saw in his eyes. Liam deserved happiness. When he put me on my feet again he surprised us all by shaking Rhett’s hand. “Guess I have to thank you for getting her to come. Even if it was with bribery of ink and debauchery.”
Rhett put his hand in Liam’s, grinning… until Liam’s grip on his hand tightened painfully. Rhett’s grin disappeared and his eyes widened ever so slightly. “There will be no debauchery, understand?”
“Liam!” I pushed his shoulder, making him drop Rhett’s hand. Didn’t Liam understand that Rhett and I were just friends? Rhett was fun to be around, great to talk to and I trusted him enough to confide in him. But he wasn’t into me and I definitely wasn’t into him. Not that I would ever explain that to my brother if he didn’t already know that. I wasn’t likely to explain it to anyone.
Emmie clapped her hands together. “I was hoping you would come with us. I love you to pieces, girl, but I also have ulterior motives. With all the kids with us on this tour, I was hoping to add you to my payroll as a helper for my nanny, Felicity.”
“You don’t have to pay me, Em,” I assured her. “I love to help out.”
“Hell yeah, I have to pay you. Have you ever been around all of these brats without their parents to run interference? Trust me, Ris. You will be begging me for double pay by the end of the tour.”
“Okay, then.” I hugged her. “Just let me know what I need to do and I’ll take care of it.”
“I’ll email Natalie with all the paperwork to add you to the payroll. I’ll have to get back to you on what bus you will be on. We still haven’t worked out all the sleeping arrangements. Alchemy and Trance have one bus to share, but we’re going to call that the party bus. As long as no one kills each other and there is no drug use I don’t really care what goes on.” Emmie shrugged. “Then there are the OtherWorld buses. One was turned into a private bus for Axton and Dallas. We revamped it. But the other one is the same as it was…” Her eyes drifted to someone behind me, but I didn’t pay attention. With the room full of so many people it was hard to tell who she was focused on right then anyway. “Although I’m sure that isn’t really an option for you. Still, the Demon’s all have their own private buses so I’m sure we can fit you in somewhere.”
“Seven buses? I’m sure that I’ll find somewhere to call home for the next few months.” I glanced up at Rhett, giving him a teasing look from under my lashes. “Wanna share a roost?”