Page 40 of Love on Tour
Matt stared at her for a moment, causing her to raise her eyebrows at him.
“Aren’t you going to stick around?” Matt asked. “Make sure Austin doesn’t need anything?”
“Hell no. I think we did our time, don’t you? Like you said, he’s fine. Trust me, texts will blow up if he needs me,” she said.
Matt continued to stare at her, his expression blank.
“I’ll see you around, then, huh?” he said.
“I hope so.” Christine watched him leave.
This moment had played out in her head numerous times during the night. They’d meet in the morning and joke about parenting Austin. He’d reach out and touch her hand, thanking her for being such a good friend. The touch would become a caress, which would lead to a hug, followed by a long, slow kiss. Christine stamped her feet in frustration.
She trudged up the stairs, grabbed her purse, hastily made the bed, and headed home.
CHAPTER SIX
Christine moaned in her sleep. The pain was working its way into her subconscious. She was being stabbed in the stomach again and again, and she tried to fight back, but her arms felt heavy and she couldn’t lift them. She woke up, eyes wide, short of breath, looking around until she realized the source of her pain. She cried out and slammed back onto the bed. “Eve had to eat that damn apple, didn’t she?”
She got out of bed, headed for the bathroom, grabbed some Midol out of the cabinet, and reached under the sink for a box of tampons. It was empty. “Argh.” She rummaged through her purse, her backpack, and finally, her suitcase before finding one lone tampon.
“Just what I want to do on a Sunday morning. Go to the drugstore.”
She didn’t want to leave the house but had no choice. Wearing a sweatshirt and a pair of outdated mom jeans, she headed for her car. The upside was that she didn’t know anybody who would be awake at this hour on a weekend.
She passed the drugstore and headed for Target. There, she could grab a Starbucks for her troubles. Whoever decided to put Starbucks inside of Target stores was secretly her hero.
She pushed her cart through the feminine product aisle, stocking up on tampons in three sizes along with Lightdays panty liners. A few rolls of toilet paper and some paper towels rounded out her morning shopping. Stifling a yawn and dreaming of curling back up in bed, she had just started unloading her cart at the checkout when someone called her name.
She shook her head and whispered, “Welcome to hell,” before turning around to see Matt coming up behind her. She closed her eyes. “Please, God, make him go away.”
“Hey, I thought that was you. What has you up so early?” Matt asked.
She raised her eyebrows and gave a little shrug. She motioned to the conveyor belt. No sense trying to hide the obvious.
“Oh. Uh, sorry.” Matt’s face registered numerous shades of pink and red.
“It’s a fact of life, my friend. At least for those of us lucky enough to be born with a uterus.”
Matt smiled. Christine blushed. Yep, she had it bad.
“And why areyouup so early? It completely negates my thought that I could get away with baggy pants, sweatshirt, and no makeup. Only in Nashville. Country music’s fishbowl.”
“You always look great, Christine.” Matt’s voice was sincere, but Christine rolled her eyes anyway. She knew what she looked like.
“We just got in from last night’s show,” Matt said. “Before I crash for the afternoon, I figured I’d pick up some items.”
“Austin mentioned having a three-day run this week. I totally forgot. I haven’t talked to him much since the drunken night with the naked dancing people. He’s sent numerous texts saying thank you.”
“Yeah, one doesn’t get over a night like that easily. Unfortunately for me, I can neither run nor hide,” Matt said.
Christine grinned before turning toward the clerk and paying for her purchases. Once her unmentionables were safely tucked in a bag, she relaxed.
“I know you’re exhausted, but I was going to grab a Starbucks.” She pointed to the one in the store. “You up for it?”
“Absolutely. I’ll meet you over there.”
Christine’s face lit up as she walked over to get in line. She had just ordered her chai latte the way she liked it (tall, no water, nonfat milk with an extra pump of chai) when Matt joined her.
