“That’s your solution?” His tone is biting.
“I have your ring on my finger.” I lift the black band into my line of sight, loving the weight of it, its significance—and the memory of his expression when he slipped it onto my finger fills me with warmth. “It means more now than it did when you put it there. I can’t stop staring at it. It was the happiest moment of my life.”
“We’ll have more.”
“I know,” I do my best to control my involuntary hiccup and fail. A second later, he requests FaceTime.
“Easton—”
“Answer,” he snaps. “Answer right now. I need to see you.”
I accept the request, and Easton appears, the sight of him like a lightning strike to the chest. Was it only a little over twenty-four hours ago we left each other? It feels like an eternity already. Looking as distraught as I feel, hair in utter disarray, he runs his bloodshot gaze along my face. His expression pained, his eyes linger on my raw cheeks before they close. “Fuck this, fuck all of this, I’m coming to you.”
“No,” I shake my head. “Easton, you know you can’t.”
“Don’t say that to me,” he warns.
I slide my finger down the outline of his profile, his eyes boring into mine through the screen.
“We need to give them some time. I haven’t had a moment of peace or a chance to breathe since we touched down. Holly, Damon, and the rest of my circle are impatiently lining up to take a crack at me. I’ve got a lot of damage control to start.”
“I’m sorry.”
“I’m not,” I manage a small smile. “I married an up-and-coming rock legend. I hope you know it will only get crazier from here.”
“Beauty,” he rasps softly as I heartily drink in every detail of his face.
“We can do this, Easton, for them. With the way we deceived them, especially me, we owe it to them to give them some time to accept us. In the meantime, you have an entire globe to entertain, and I have obligations here. Our plans don’t have to change.”
“I can come to you between gigs. They don’t have to know.”
“Sneaking around is what got us into this mess. If we’re going to try and repair this, we have to stop deceiving everyone we love. It’s the only way it will work.”
“So, we don’t see each other? No. Fuck no.”
“My future at the paper depends on mending my relationship with him. Running off and doing the same thing that damaged it won’t help. You’re going to have to trust me, too.”
He searches my eyes and seems somewhat satisfied. “Fine. But this can’t last long. We aren’t their decision, baby. Do you hear me? The state of our marriage is not a decision they get to weigh in on. We can’t let that happen.”
“I know that,” I agree, “and we made our decision. They just need time to learn to live with it. We have to be patient.”
He opens his mouth to speak, but pauses, instead running a hand over his jaw. “Are we being that selfish, Beauty? Or are they?”
“I think we all are, but they’re reeling because we blindsided them. First with the fact we exist at all, and then by eloping.”
“Doesn’t give them the right to…God damnit!” He roars and begins to pace.
“You have to keep your head, Easton. We both do.”
“I know,” he nods, his exhale ragged. “I’m just…I’m fucking…” He stops pacing and looks pointedly at me. “Don’t say goodbye to me, Natalie.”
“I think the whole point of this conundrum is that I can’t, husband.” I lift my finger, and it earns me the slight lift of his lips before he drops his jade gaze and runs his hand through his thick hair again. A knock sounds on the other end of the line before a male voice breaks through, words muffled.
“Everything okay?”
“Yeah, I have to get on stage.”
“Shit. Please try to have a good show and not worry so much. The bomb went off, and even through the smoke, I can still see you, Easton. I can still feel you.”
“Fuck, I love you.” His tone drops heatedly with his next words. “All I want right now is to be back in that bed, pushing inside my filthy little wife, and making her come.”
I close my eyes and physically feel the fullness of him inside of me just before it’s replaced with ache. “I want that too, so much.”
“I’ll deliver on that, but Beauty,” he eyes me warily, dread setting in with his abrupt change in tone. “They want to add a few more dates to the end of the tour. That will have us booked through most of fall.”
“I’m not surprised in the least,” I say truthfully. “I’m so proud of you.”
“I don’t know what to do.”
“What do you want to do?”
“I want to play.”
“Then get to work, rock star.”
“I want my wife more.”
“You can have both. The plan stays the same,” I reiterate. “I’m not going anywhere, and I’m behind you all the way. I’m with you on this.”
Soft eyes caress me as relief covers the rest of his features. “I needed this before I could go out there. I needed you. Answer my fucking calls, especially when it’s important like this, okay? I get that you can’t sometimes, but don’t pull that shit again, Natalie, or I will come to you.”
“Bet?” I manage another smile.
“This is serious.”
“I’m aware, and I won’t. I’m sorry.”
“I love you, Natalie Crowne,” he rasps softly as I close my eyes before he ends the call.
No One
Alicia Keys
Natalie
Sitting on the other side of the booth from two pairs of affronted eyes after long hours of confession, I suck down the rest of my third margarita as Damon and Holly process.
“So…” Damon draws out as he reclines in the booth. I briefly admire him as he gets lost in his train of thought and seems at a loss for words. Hair trimmed perfectly to his signature quarter-inch, skin a beautiful shade of light mocha, honey-colored, sweetheart eyes cloaked with thick, dark lashes which naturally curl up. The eyes mixed with the cut cheekbones and jawline makes him the most lethal of combinations. He truly is the most gorgeous man. His build is no less than perfect, as he sits across from me wearing a perfectly cut, tailored suit that only accentuates the hours he spends working on his body. His father and mine have been best friends for decades, and though I see him as more of a brother, there’s no denying his masculine beauty. No one can. Holly turns to him in question and gets equally as distracted as he scratches his jaw before finally speaking again. “That’s just…,” he shakes his head. “Can you repeat all that?”
“Which part?” I scoff.
Holly leans forward, resting her elbows on our table—a table the three of us claimed years ago when we decided to make this one of our rituals. “And you didn’t think you could trust us?”
“I explained that part to you. Easton—”
“I get it,” Damon says.
“Well, I fucking don’t,” Holly quips back. “We tell each other everything. At least we used to. I don’t even know what’s going on in either of your day-to-day lives anymore, and frankly, I feel like I’m the only one who even cares.”
“I’m sorry,” I say for the tenth time. “We didn’t even know what it would become until we did, and from there, it went whirlwind.”
“A whirlwind that included a wedding we both missed,” she hisses.
“Please,” I say hoarsely.
Damon sharply scolds her in name alone. He’s been surprisingly calm, considering he hated my ex and had no issue speaking his mind about him.
“I need you two to do the impossible and forgive me quickly. Please. I’m…”
Damon leans forward and takes my hand over the table. “We’re here, Nat.” He turns to Holly, brow cocked.
“I’m irrationally angry,” she sighs, “but I’ll let it go for now. But just for now. But you’re going to catch hell later. Probably some side jabs for years.”
“I’ll take it,” I say. “I’ll take them all. I think you two are the only people in my life who are on speaking terms with me.”