Page 43 of A Way Out
For a woman who, not three hours ago, he’d unceremoniously kicked out of his bed.
Shaking his head at his own idiocy, he quickly switched from pajama bottoms to shorts and dug his gym shoes out of his bag. He hurried from the room before his imagination convinced him to walk into that bathroom and apologize for his terrible behavior.
Because if he did that, assuming she forgave him, he’d end up climbing in that shower with her. Which would undoubtedly be glorious, but then they’d be right back where they had been when they woke up.
No, it would be worse. Because Parker would most likely come looking for him, and then he’d figure out what was going on, and Oz and Maria’s indiscretions would be exposed.
Holly would probably be mad. Travis would definitely be pissed. And Maria’s reputation would be shredded.
Nope. Not going there. Not doing that to her.
Oz jogged down the stairs. Parker and Cash had been joined by Travis and Sam.
“You guys are like a gang of sexy, tattooed, half-dressed rock stars,” Holly said, laughing. “Come on, let’s go out on the porch. I want to snap a picture.” Her laugh fizzled into a frown. “I wish Dahlia were here. This is her forte. She’d have this picture up on our socials and drawing attention in two seconds flat.”
“Well, we don’t want anyone to know where we are, so that’s not a bad thing,” Sam pointed out.
“I’m not going to reveal our location,” Holly insisted. “But this sort of publicity isn’t bad for either of our bands.” She was back to chuckling as she snapped pictures with her phone.
“What’s up with your publicist?” Oz asked, obligingly flinging his arm across Travis’s shoulders.
“Don’t know,” Sam responded for Holly, who was busy trying to get the perfect shot. “She was supposed to be here yesterday, but something came up with another band and she couldn’t get out of it. She’s hoping to be here for the wedding.”
Holly was right. Demigoddess Revival needed all the publicity they could get. Maria had convinced them to let her sponsor them, with an assumption that their eventual success was going to pay back her investment with interest. The sooner the better, in Oz’s opinion. He hated this idea of being beholden to her, especially after what happened last night.
“As weird as it sounds, this feels like I’m fulfilling my own dream. Even though I don’t even know what that dream is yet. So let me do it.”
He understood that she needed to feel like she was doing something, making a difference. Helping. She had no intention of being a silent partner.
“I’m sure if you asked Maria, she’d be happy to do whatever documenting you need,” Oz found himself saying.
“That is an excellent idea,” Holly enthused before making a shooing motion. “Now, jog away so I can grab a shot of all of your perfect rock star asses.”
“Hey,” Sam protested. “You’re only supposed to want one rock star ass.”
“And I do,” Holly assured him. “The rest are for the fans.”
Sam snorted, and the guys took off at a slow jog down the steep driveway.
Oz’s muscles began to loosen and relax as he fell into the steady rhythm. Sam and Parker were serious joggers, doing it damn near every day, regardless of the weather. Maybe they were onto something, because as his shoes slapped against the gravel and he worked to keep his breathing steady, he felt lighter, more in control. Like maybe there really was that proverbial pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.
They didn’t do a whole lot of talking, other than busting each other’s balls—especially Sam’s, since he was about to get married tomorrow. Which was fine with Oz; he wasn’t in the mood to get into deep topics.
“Just you wait,” Sam said after Parker dropped a particularly hilarious burn on his best friend. “Your time is coming. I know you’re gonna propose to my sister any minute.”
“I already have a ring,” Parker said.
Sam stopped running. “Are you serious?”
The rest of them slowed up and started walking.
“Yeah. I told you when you first found out about us that I was going to marry her. Jesus, dude, we’ve known each other since high school. And I’ve been in love with her almost as long as I’ve known her.”
“Don’t tell me that. I don’t want to know you were secretly lusting after my baby sister while we were on family vacations together. Especially when we were at the beach after she hit puberty and started wearing bikinis.” He shuddered dramatically.
Parker snickered.
“That aside,” Sam said, “what are you waiting for?”
