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My stomach froze. “Thanks, but, if anything did happen, it was a long time ago…”
She pulled me in for a hug. “Your body belongs to you. No one should think they have the right to violate it. It’s completely your decision, babes. I’m here for you, whatever you decide.”
“Thanks.” I squirmed from her hold. It was time to change the subject. “It’s freaking hot in here.” I wiped steam from the side of my face. “Why don’t we have a swim? Afterward, we could pig out on ice cream before Joe takes us to the arena.”
“Perfect plan,” she smiled. “Just like old times, girlfriend…”
“I’m still the same Hayley,” I reminded her. “And you’ll always be my bestie.”
“Aw, thanks, sweetie,” she said, looping her arm through mine as we headed toward the spa’s indoor pool. “When are you gonna ask me to be your maid of honor at you wedding?”
“Like, now,” I snickered at her forthrightness. “Will you be my maid of honor?”
“I’d love that.” She nudged my shoulder. “But I’ll also want to be your stylist.”
“I wouldn’t have anyone else.” I released a deep breath. “Pierce and I haven’t discussed whether we’ll have kids yet. But, if we did, I’d want you to be Godmother to our first.”
“I’d be honored.” She lowered her voice, “Except I’m worried you’re getting married and haven’t talked about if you’ll start a family.” Her eyes snapped to mine. “I hope you don’t think I’m interfering, but you should sort that one out.”
I chewed at my lip. “Yeah. I should.” She was right. Pierce and I needed to talk it through. I set my jaw.
And it would be best if we did that sooner rather than later.Chapter 24PierceI sat on my drum throne upstage and clacked my sticks together three times, signaling to the guys to come in on the third clack. It was the last song of our final set at the farewell concert of our tour.
Axel stood motionless on the catwalk. He lifted his mic and the spotlight fell on him. The crowd roared, Zach’s hands crashed down on the keyboards, Rhys shredded his guitar, and I smashed my cymbals and thrashed my skins like a madman as the music ripped out of us.
We launched into ‘Harbor in the Storm’ and I went onto autopilot, allowing myself a moment of reflection. It has been a week since I’d fessed up to my bandmates in Tokyo about Ramos…a week during which they’d shown their total support. They might not have believed Danilo posed a threat—they hadn’t known him like I had—but they were completely accepting of my need to protect Hayley, of my reluctance for the two of us to leave our hotels in Tokyo, Seoul and Manila, and of my insisting Joe stick to us like glue whenever going out was unavoidable.
I suppressed a shudder. Tonight, Jake had organized what he called ‘a big bash’ at a fancy nightclub. It would be disrespectful if Hayley and I didn’t show our faces…our entire crew would be attending the celebration before they flew home to the US tomorrow.
Unlike us…
My stomach churned. Jake had surprised the bands with the offer of a break on an exclusive private island resort one hundred and fifty miles southwest of here. “You’ll be safe, Pierce,” he’d tried to reassure me. “I checked that all the staff are vetted.” He’d squeezed my shoulder. “We’ll be the only guests there.”
I wasn’t convinced it would be such a good idea, but I couldn’t turn down the opportunity for Hayley to have some fun. So, I’d swallowed my misgivings and decided the risk was practically non-existent. If Ramos had gotten as far as the Philippines, he’d have less chance of finding me on a remote island than here in Manila. Especially given that Jake had confirmed he wouldn’t be revealing details of our short vacation to the press.
The audience chanting the chorus of our song reminded me I should concentrate on my drumming. I didn’t want to come in late on the final riff. Flicking a lock of hair out of my eyes, I drummed like my life depended on it, twirling my sticks in the air, and then catching them for show.
“Thank you, Manila,” Axel spoke into the mic after the set finished. “You’ve been awesome. We hope you enjoyed the concert.”
The crowd went wild, screaming and whistling as we took our bows. I blew out a breath of relief. We’d gotten to the end of the tour.I swayed Hayley in my arms while we danced together at the party. Her eyes sparkled with excitement. “Jake said we can choose between staying in a beach cottage, with a hammock on the front veranda, or a secluded jungle villa, with an ocean view from the bedroom. Oh, and the villa has an outdoor bath out back overlooking the forest.” She caught her bottom lip with her teeth. “Which would you prefer?”
