Craving Talon (34 page)

“I don’t need a break exactly. I just need to be in charge of certain aspects. I need to know what’s happening when my security is involved. I’m not made of glass, guys, and I promise I will not break.”
 

“You looked pretty shattered last night,” Kyle says sadly. “It nearly killed us to see you like that. We let you be because we both know and understand independence and we understand how you feel about it. We didn’t know how to help you and we made a choice to leave you alone.” Kyle takes a drink of his water. “Our other option was to push you to talk, and after what happened today, I think we made the right choice. Mills asked us to not discuss the incoming bodyguards with you. He wanted to do that, which is why he slept on our bus last night, but you came back to the room next door and pulled us both into the bedroom. The rest is history, but by the time we were done, Mills was briefing the new team. Which is his job; it’s what Talon pays good money for him to do.”
 

“I also pay him to keep us safe and that didn’t happen,” Talon grumbles.
 

“Don’t go there, big man,” I tell him. “What happened last night was no one’s fault. Things happen, and it’s unfortunate that it took what happened to realize our weaknesses. I also know that Mills agreed to the bodyguards because he wasn’t afraid to ask for help.” I run my hand through my hair. “What happened in Dallas was a freak accident. I mean, protocol was followed and I was still attacked.” I watch as both of them flinch, “You stopped it, you recognized a problem and you solved it. What happened last night was at the hands of a man obsessed. So now with all new security and the new protocols they have in place, the chance of something happening again is slim to none. So at this point my security is a mute discussion.”
 

“I agree,” Kyle says.
 

“So you’re okay with the security team now?” Talon

“I am,” I nod, “I spoke with Tori and then met the rest of the guys. We discussed a few things, like trouble signals, who my primaries are, the fact that Tori is moving onto the bus. Speaking of, did you know that Peacock, Mouse and Dex all elected to give her my old rack?” They both shake their heads. “Well, they did. She didn’t move in tonight, but by the time we leave Minneapolis, she’ll switch over. I also know that I’m not allowed to go anywhere without a tail and I put Tori in her place about following too close to me.”
 

“When did you do that?” Kyle asks, suspicion in his eyes.
 

I laugh, “As I was walking to you before the show.”
 

He bursts out laughing. “I wondered if that’s what that was all about.”
 

I giggle, “She wasn’t too pleased with me, but it was one of the things I loved about Rusty tailing me. I never knew he was there, but yet I always knew where he was. We worked great together, which is why I told her tonight that until I get completely comfortable with the new guys, Rusty is to come along anytime I want to go anywhere without the band, like shopping.”
 

They both laugh. “Thank god for that,” Talon says and I scowl at him.
 

“You went shopping with Kyle all on your own in Phoenix.”
 

He laughs, “Sort of. I utilized the personal shopper at the store. I gave her sizes, she picked stuff out and Kyle and I decided what we liked and didn’t like.”
 

“Oh my god, and here I thought I had a totally heartfelt wardrobe,” I tease them both with a laugh.

“We picked it out, we just didn’t spend the hours looking for it,” Kyle says with a smile on his face.
 

“Well okay then.” I nod my head.
 

“So are we okay?” Talon asks, his voice is shaky with concern.
 

“Come here,” I tell him and he crawls over to me, wrapping his arms around my waist and laying his head in my lap against my stomach. Oh god, no wonder I’m a damn mess. “We’re absolutely okay.” I run my fingers through his hair. I look at Kyle who looks sad. “Come here.” He comes at me, wrapping his arms around my neck and knocking me over. “Yes, we’re okay, I promise you we are.”
 

It isn’t much longer after we giggle our way into forgiveness that we crawl under the sheets. I pull the t-shirt over my head so that my boys have their skin on skin contact they seem to crave so much. Ironically, this time, they’re each cupping the breast closest to them. I roll my eyes and try not to laugh at their choice of body part, but it works and at nearly two in the morning, we fall asleep quickly.

Today is Sunday, and we’re on our way to Minneapolis where we will play at First Avenue, which is one of the leading venues that started a lot of major bands in the past. It’s a small venue, only housing fifteen hundred people, but the stop is worth it because the tickets went for premium pricing. It is also our first stop where we will be spending some time in a hotel. I am in need of a bath.
 

When I wake up, the guys are still sleeping, so I crawl out from under them, throwing on Talon’s t-shirt and a pair of pajama pants and head into the bathroom. I check my watch and it’s only nine-thirty, which gives me plenty of time to take care of business.
 

Once in the bathroom, I do exactly that. Only this time I have to pull out my birth control. I’ve been on NuvaRing for a few years now, it works great because of the higher dose of hormones and with my PCOS, I need it. And not to sound gross or anything, it’s not there when I reach to pull it out.
 

I remind myself that I’ve had sex with two very well hung men and it’s probably been pushed higher. I dig a little deeper and I find nothing. Well shit. I know I put it in three weeks ago. As is my Sunday ritual.
 

Having PCOS is no fun sometimes, but I’ve been able to regulate it with birth control, though I don’t always bleed very much. Which is why I take it out on Sunday and put a new one in the following Sunday, but I’ve never had sex with it in. Though I had no intention of doing so, I asked all the questions when she first prescribed it to me.
 

I try to push it to the back of my mind, the main concern is the fact that I’m going to have to ask one of my guys for help. If I can’t find it, that means that either I will need to visit the doctor to have it removed, or it fell out and then we have a major issue.
 

The likelihood of getting pregnant for me is less than a ten percent chance. I have one semi functioning ovary and the other is completely blocked by cysts, which are checked regularly, so don’t panic on me. Believe me, I’m doing enough of that myself.

I put my hand on my stomach and I’m bloated, which is normal. I’m a crabby ass bitch right now, which is a good sign of me having PMS, and I’m an emotional mess. So for now, I’ll wait.
 

When I’m done, I sit down with my laptop at the table. Instead of jumping into my email, I log into Facebook. More friend requests, over three hundred new notifications and messages. I go into the settings to see if I can turn off friend requests, also, making sure the page is private so that people can no longer contact me though this page. I have a new musician’s page and they can friend me there. Once that’s done, I hop over to the page and there are no less then another ten grand in new likes since I saw it last night. Jeez. I guess I’m more popular than I thought.
 

I look through some of the notifications and the majority of them are people tagging me in posts and pictures, which is great. I click on a few of them and surprisingly, I remember meeting a lot of these people when I see the pictures.
 

There are a ton of them that say they can’t wait to see me in…fill in the city and it warms my heart. I log into Twitter with the credentials given to me by Cami and I can see that I have more than ten thousand followers and that I am following about fifteen people. I click on the following and smile.
 

Cami, Tristan, Mick, Beau, Travis, Trinity, Vincent, Talon, Dex - oh lord -, Mouse, Peacock, 69 Bottles, Vicious Records, Kyle, and finally I’m thrown by the last one, Bryan Hayes. I click on his pictures, enlarging it to reveal a picture of The Bryan Hayes, one of country music’s biggest names right now. Then I notice that he’s following me. I click back and see that everyone I’m following is among those who are following me and I smile.

Then I click over to the Mentions section and holy shit, there is a lot here. Mostly large groups of new followers, which I turn off. Looking only at the @ Mentions.
 

It’s a lot of the same, can’t wait to meet her, met her, so on and so forth, until I come across a tweet from Bryan Hayes. “Dying to see @AddieBelt69 in Minneapolis 2nite, she’s amazing, would love to sing with her. #69Bottles”
 

“Holy fuck!” I nearly shout.
 

“Unless you’re dying, shut up, love.” Dex grumbles from behind his curtain in the bunks.

“Bite me, Dex,” I call back to him.

“Stop threatening me.”
 

I roll my eyes and he pops his head out from behind the curtain. “Seriously though, you good?”
 

“Fucking fabulous!” I stand up, grab my laptop, disconnecting it from the wall and go bounding back to our bedroom. I shut the door behind me. “OHMYGOD!” I all but scream, both of them jump about a mile high off of the bed. “You’re not going to believe this!” I jump up on the bed, making them bounce a little more.
 

“Baby girl, what time is it?”
 

“It’s after ten.”
 

“Oh,” Talon says. “You all right?”
 

“No, I’m over the fucking moon!” I squeal.
 

“Oh lord, what are you so excited about?” Kyle says, playfully covering his ears and plopping back onto the pillow.
 

“Bryan fucking Hayes is coming to the show tonight!”
 

Kyle’s eyes pop open, “The Bryan Hayes?” I nod.

“Country superstar Bryan Hayes?” Talon asks.
 

“The one and only.”
 

“So why does that make you so excited, I thought you loved rock music,” Talon teases.
 

“I love rock music, and classical and country and pop and oh hell, just about anything but I
love
Bryan Hayes. But that’s not why I’m excited.” I open the laptop to the bigger version of the Tweet. “Read it, read it!” I squeal.
 

“Stop shaking it, baby girl. We just woke up. How long have you been up?”
 

“Like forty minutes, I haven’t even had coffee yet.”
 

“Oh god,” Talon says, excited. “You’re kidding me right, he said this?”
 

“Uh huh. He’s following me on Twitter too.”
 

“Since when do you have Twitter?”
 

“Oh fucking read the Tweet, cowboy, please?” I beg.
 

Talon is staring at me in shock.
 

“Holy shit!” Kyle exclaims. “Holy fucking shit, baby girl, that’s fucking, wow.” He looks at me with love.
 

“I knew you’d make a name for yourself,” Talon says with a big wide grin on his face.

“Oh my god, now I’m fucking nervous.”
 

“About what?” Kyle teases, “Tonight’s show?” I nod. “Oh baby girl, forget about that, you always do anyway, stop fretting about it. And give me a fucking hug.” I laugh and fall on top of him, hugging him. Talon comes up behind me, sandwiching me between the two of them.
 

“I’m so proud of you, angel,” Talon says then kisses my cheek.

The excitement of that tweet overrides all thoughts of birth control and missing rings.

Shell shock… that’s about all I can say right now. After I got done freaking out over the tweet and the boys helped me freak out a little more, they too are very excited; I got into my email. There was an email from Cami that reiterated the validity of the tweet. She told me that Bryan would be stopping by before the show to introduce himself. I squealed again when I read that and the boys thought I’d lost my mind.