Trev pulled me into his arms, and whispered in my ear, “If you don’t want to get fucked so hard you can’t walk straight, you should probably lock your door tonight.”
My stomach quivered at his low, sexy threat as I twisted in his arms to whisper back, “I’m sharing with Leanne, remember?”
Trev’s disappointment was palpable. “Pity there’s no roof garden.”
“There’s a balcony.”
His eyes glinted wickedly. “In that case, I’d be happy to explore your exhibitionist side.”
I turned away from him to watch the rest of the show, though it was hard to concentrate with Trev’s hand moving over me. He explored the dip of my spine, the curve of my hip and swell of my thigh.
When the show ended, Karla and Lee went to ‘find the bathrooms’, which I was pretty sure was a euphemism for sexy times. I had a sneaking suspicion they liked to spice up their sex life by doing it in public places, but there was no judgement from me. To each their own.
King led the rest of us through the backstage area to an open, grassy field where there were about a dozen trailers camped out. To the end of the field, a bunch of people had gathered, and I recognised most of them from tonight’s show. They all sat around on deck chairs and blankets, drinking beers and eating barbecue food.
“Are they having a party?” I asked Alexis, who stood beside me.
“Yes, it’s Jack’s girlfriend’s birthday. Her name’s Lille, lovely girl. He’s putting on a surprise fireworks display for her.”
My brows shot up at that. “No way! That’s so cool.”
“Yes, and annoyingly romantic,” Alexis added.
I chuckled. “That, too.”
Trev stood on my other side, holding my hand like he didn’t want to let go, when two women approached us with wide smiles. One was tall and blonde, the other short and brunette.
“Alexis! King!” the brunette called out. “It’s so good to see you both.”
“You, too,” said King. “Can I introduce you to some friends of ours? Matilda, Lille, this is Trevor and Reya. Trevor, Reya, this is Matilda, Jay’s wife, and Lille, Jack’s girlfriend.”
“Hi,” I said, giving them each a little wave. “Can I just say, both of your other halves were amazing tonight? That performance was like nothing I’ve ever seen.”
“Yeah, the problem is they know how good they are,” Matilda joked, her attention wandering to Trev. Her eyes narrowed in thought as she tapped a finger to her lips. “I feel like I’ve seen you somewhere before.”
“Should I be worried?” Trev asked jokingly, charming smile in place.
Matilda smirked. “I hope not.”
“Nah, you might have seen my TV show, Running on Air?” Trev went on.
“Oh yes!” Lille exclaimed as she nudged Matilda in the arm. “We have seen it. That’s the one with all those guys who do parkour, remember?”
“Right,” said Matilda, bobbing her head. “That’s how I know you. Your show is fantastic. Edge of the seat stuff. Jay loves it as well.”
Trev’s charming confidence wavered for a brief second at that news, like he’d just been told his idol knew his name. “Oh, uh, really?”
“Really. He says it’s one of the best things on TV right now.”
I chuckled when I looked at Trev because he appeared about to expire. Then, to make matters worse, the man of the hour himself came to join us.
“King, I heard you might be stopping by,” came Jay’s booming voice as he approached. The two men shook hands, tattoo-free and debonair next to extensively and impressively inked up. They were the last two people you’d expect to be friends.
“My sister’s been complaining that it’s been too long since I visited,” King explained.
“That lady always gets what she wants,” Jay chuckled as he turned to greet Alexis and gave her a brief hug. When his attention fell on Trev and me, he didn’t miss a beat. Unlike his wife, he didn’t have to wrack his brains to remember how he knew Trev.
“Trevor Cross, as I live and breathe, how the fuck are ya?” he said, like they were old pals. Then he surprised everyone when he pulled Trev into a man hug. Trev was so stunned I had to cover my mouth to keep from laughing. Jay greeted him like a friend he’d known for years, though being on TV did have that effect. People felt like they knew you.
“I thought that was your ugly mug I spotted in the audience,” Jay went on. “It’s great to finally meet you.”
He said it like he somehow knew they’d meet one day and it seriously confused me. It seemed to confuse Trev, too, when he rubbed a hand along his jaw and replied, “Er, yeah, it’s great to meet you, too.”
“Sorry to interject, but the way you said finally . . .” I butted in, unable to help myself.
Jay’s attention fell on me and it was a little overwhelming. There was a moment of silence as he shot me a look, and it seemed everyone else was wondering the same thing as we waited for him to respond.
He gestured to Alexis. “The lovely Lexie here is besties with Karla Cross, wife of the restaurant owner Lee Cross, brother to Trevor Cross. It’s like the six degrees of Kevin Bacon. I knew our paths would cross one day . . . excuse the pun.”
Everyone seemed to let out a breath that said, right, that explains it, because for a second I wondered if he really was psychic and not just faking it with mentalist tricks like he did on TV.
“Hold on a second,” Matilda interrupted, looking up at her husband in suspicion. “I’ve spent a lot more time talking to Alexis than you have, and even I didn’t know that. So, how did you?”
He shot her a cunning smile. “No offence, Watson, but what you don’t know could fill a phone book.”
She swatted him on the arm. “You cheeky little—”
He shut her up with a kiss, then said, “Cheeky big, Matilda, never little.”
She shot him a flirtatious scowl then seemed to notice something behind us because she let out a startled yelp. Quick as a flash she grabbed Lille by the arm. “Come on, Lille, I need to get you situated for your birthday surprise.”
“What, right now?” asked Lille, bewildered.
“Yes,” said Matilda, adamant. “Right now.”
“It was great meeting you,” Lille called to us as Matilda dragged her away.
“You, too,” I called back. “And happy birthday!”
When they were gone, Jay addressed us with a wink. “I knew all that from Facebook, just in case you were wondering.”
We all laughed as Alexis joked, “Who needs detective work anymore when there’s Facebook, am I right?”
A loud argument rang out from where Matilda had been looking and I turned to see Jack giving some red-haired guy a stern talking to. There was a box of fireworks at his feet.
“I’m not going to explain why dropping that box could’ve ended in you blowing your goddamn feet off, because I know the chemical components will go right over your thick head, but just imagine you’re holding a box full of gunpowder. Do. Not. Fucking. Drop. It. Again.”