Page 31 of The Rocker

“Getting ready to leave. I have to pack what little I bought up last night,” I explained as my body sagged into the bed. While I talked a big game, I wasn’t sure how I was going to get on stage in a couple of days if I still felt this way.

“You just rest, and I’ll pack up your things.” Her phone started pinging with rapid-fire texts. With her attention diverted, I once again tried to haul my ass out of bed, but Pen must have had eyes in the back of her head because she pushed me down with a sweet little kitten growl. “Please don’t make my life harder than it already is.”

There was a pleading tone to her voice that had me giving in. “Fine, I’ll let you do it all while I just lay here and watch you.”

“Thank you.” The exhale that came out of her was full of frustration. “The guys are fighting about me demanding the bedroom for you.”

“Tell them I’ll give up my week,” I mumbled as I searched for my phone. I didn’t like that they were putting even more stress on her. I found my phone the second she did. Pen grabbed it up and put it in my bag. “I can’t even have my phone?” I whined. Even I sounded annoying to my own ears.

“No, you can’t because I have a feeling you were going to engage with them, and I don’t need you fighting my battles. If you’re always stepping in, then they’ll think I’m not capable.”

She started to move, searching for more of my belongings, but I grabbed Pen’s wrist and held it until she looked down at me. I can admit I didn’t like feeling like an invalid, but I didn’t mind Pen taking care of me. Maybe she’d soften up to me. At least she had last night, or else she wouldn’t have stayed.

“We all know you are fully capable of kicking ass and taking names. This is just me trying to make your life easier in the short amount of time we have before getting on the bus. You still have to get your things as well.”

“Fuck,” she pulled away and moved around like a chicken with its head cut off. “I totally forgot about my stuff. Can you imagine if I had left it all here? What was I thinking?”

“You were thinking about me and taking care of me because you’re a wonderful and selfless woman.”

“Oh please,” she rolled her eyes. “Don’t kiss my ass. I am far from selfless. I’m doing my job.”

“I don’t believe anywhere in the contract states that you have to take care of us when we’re sick.” I followed her as she grabbed my hoodie and threw it on the bed. “If it was Cross or Kenton, would you have stayed?”

“Put that on,” she pointed to my sweatshirt. She slung my bag over her shoulder and then grabbed my charger out of the wall. “In fact, I probably would have, but they wouldn’t have asked.”

No, they wouldn’t have asked. I was the needy dickhead who couldn’t get enough of her.

Pushing my arms through the sleeves of my hoodie, I took in how tired Pen looked. Had she even slept last night?

“Do you want to stay here while I get my things or— “

“I’ll come,” I interrupted her, wanting to be in her space. It felt like it had been years instead of a month since I’d been to her condo, breathing in everything that was Penelope Rose.

“Okay, we should hurry.” She held open the door for me when it should have been the other way around.

“It’s not like they’re going to leave without us.” I followed along like a lost kitten to her room and waited for Pen to open her door. She patted her sweatshirt and then her pants, a worried look etched on her face. This morning she looked more stressed than ever before. Pen was out of sorts, which was so unlike her.

She pulled the keycard out and grumbled as she walked inside. “I thought for a minute there that I ran out of here so fast that I forgot to grab my card. Well, I did, but I’m lucky I put it in my pants when I went to get ice last night.”

I moved to sit on her bed. Happy to watch her from my perch as I took in her room. It was tidy, but that was to be expected. Pen kept everything nice and neat, and we’d only been here overnight. Staying at the hotel had been a treat. One that I was grateful for.

Outside the room, we heard loud voices pass by, and I knew it was Cross and Kenton joking around. Since we’d formed Crimson Heat, I’d wanted to be a part of that brotherhood, but as I sat here with Pen shuffling around getting her things together, I realized I’d much rather be in her space than theirs.

I wasn’t sure when Pen had come to mean everything to me, but I was damn sure I was going to do everything in my power to make sure I became everything to her. I needed to show her there was no other woman for me, even when I had to smile at the cameras with women grabbing my ass and signing autographs on their overly inflated boobs. I might be young, but I knew what I wanted and what I wanted was my sweet Pen.

“Are you ready to go? I’m sure that was them that sounded like a herd of cattle out there.” A grin broke out on her face as she settled the two bags on her shoulder. “I’m not sure how three people can make so much noise.”

I stood and tried to take my bag from Pen, but when her narrowed eyes fixed on me, I backed away and followed her out the door. “The sad thing is it was only Kenton and Cross. Greer was most likely staring ahead with a scowl on his face.”

“Someday, you’re going to have to tell me how you guys met. I can see why the rest of you are together, but not Greer. It’s like he hates…”

“Everything,” I supplied for her. “I’m not sure why but he does. He’s never opened up to us. Maybe that’s because Kenton and Cross have known each other for years.” I hit the down arrow for the elevator, and it arrived in a matter of seconds. As we stepped inside, I continued. “They had a band, and when it split up, they wanted to continue to make music, so they held auditions. They found me first, and we bonded. I think Greer felt that and never tried to make friends. We both know neither one of us is going to replace Kenton or Cross, and we don’t try. If Greer wasn’t a kick-ass guitar player, we never would have asked him to join. Especially with his attitude, but we put up with it for the sake of the music.” I shrugged as if it all made sense.

Pen nodded as we stepped off the elevator. We could see the bus sitting out front through the hotel’s windows. “I can see that. But you guys are very welcoming, so it’s his fault you’re not better friends.”

“I’m not sure how welcoming we really are,” I chuckled lowly.

“You all welcomed me with open arms,” she said as we stepped onto the bus.

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