Page 22 of Too Little Too Soon
This time he took it, finishing it in one mildly satisfying swallow. “Thanks.” He placed the empty flute on the low table in front of him. “I have a stalker. Used to. Well, I thought she was in the past, but apparently, she’s back. She was in the front row today. In the seats I reserved for you.”
Ava’s eyes went huge. “Oh no. I-I gave those tickets away because Maria told me I could hang out backstage with her. So we took them up to the nosebleeds and gave them to a fan. I had no idea.”
“How would you?” he grumbled, although at least now he knew how his stalker had snagged those seats. There was, admittedly, some comfort in knowing it hadn’t been planned.
“What about Maria? Shouldn’t she have realized?”
He shrugged. “The chick changed her hair, lost a little weight. And it’s been months since we’ve heard from her. Plus, the stalking started in Phoenix, so we had no reason to suspect she’d show up here, in New York City.”
“Wow. I’m really sorry.”
She wasn’t looking down on him for being afraid. That was nice. “It’s fine. I’m starting to unwind now. Just took me by surprise.”
Maria finally returned, bearing not one but two bourbons on ice. “Just in case,” she said, handing them both to him. “Do you want another?” she asked Ava. “I’m going back to grab one for myself.”
“I’ll come with you,” Ava said. Travis wanted to press his hand to her thigh to hold her in place. He didn’t want her to leave. Not yet.
“No, I’ll be right back,” Maria said, and Ava stayed put.
“You shared yours—want some of mine?” he asked after a heartbeat of silence.
Ava shook her head. “After this morning, I don’t think I should drink hard liquor anymore. At least not again today.”
He chuckled, remembering how she’d told him she was recovering from her very first hangover at one o’clock in the afternoon. That conversation had led to…no, not going there.
Another fan approached, but Ava turned her away. Travis took a couple of fortifying gulps of his drink, appreciated how the burn pushed away his tension. Or maybe it was Ava who eased away the tension. Either way, he was finally feeling up to greeting his fans.
This was what being a rock star was all about, right?
ChapterEight
If this eveningcould go any more sideways, Ava would have to call itTop Gun: Maverick.
After she’d made the decision that she was perfectly fine hooking up with Travis again, he’d not shown up to the meet and greet with the rest of the band. Oz said he’d gone to the tour bus to chill. Apparently, this was entirely normal, as no one blinked over that explanation.
Ava had been so disappointed, she’d actually considered asking for Maria’s credentials so she could slip out to the tour bus herself.
Except, yikes, what kind of woman would that have made her? Might as well call her a stalker.
Oh no, she wasn’t that bad—as it turned out, Travis actually did have a stalker. And she’d turned up here, tonight.
Worse, Ava and Maria had given the woman front row tickets. Practically dumped her in his lap.
She must have been the one who had been so giddy that Ava had thought she might faint.
It was nice of Travis not to be upset with her, however inadvertent it had been.
Now here they sat, side by side on a faux leather couch in a room behind the stage at Madison Square Garden, and was it weird that she’d taken pride in keeping his fans at bay when it was obvious he wasn’t ready to interact? Or that she’d enjoyed the fact that he’d opened up to her, had seemed to take comfort in her presence?
Yes, she knew it was weird, and she didn’t care. She liked feeling needed. She never knew she liked that, as she’d never actually felt needed before.
Her job designing cool or pretty or fancy building interiors—it wasn’t a need, it was a desire. Mostly a desire to one up the building next door. Demetri’s clients were extremely high-end; they all had money to burn and a deep-seated desire to show off for their quote-unquote friends.
She’d thrown herself into it because she was exceptionally good at it, and frankly, she had nothing else in her life. And that had been enough, for more than a decade. Now…
Now she found herself with zero desire to go back to that career. Yes, it had only been twelve hours since she’d been fired, and maybe tomorrow she’d feel differently, but right now, in this moment, she couldn’t care less if she ever stepped foot in a graphic design company again.
Right now, all she wanted to do was reconnect with her sisters and maybe get to know the guy sitting next to her a little better.
