When I walk out of the bathroom, Rawley’s blinking his eyes open. “Oh, shit. Avery.”
“Forget I was here?”
“No, I—wait, why am I on the bed?”
“I was wondering the same thing.”
He brings his hands to his face. “Damn, I must have moved here unconsciously during the night. I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay.” Yeah, thankfully he doesn’t remember what happened about ten minutes ago.
He rolls the blanket off and stands on the far side of the bed.
Andsigh, the sight of him. All six-foot-five inches of muscled Rawley for my viewing pleasure, dressed only in boxers. Those thick, tattooed thighs exposed as my eyes drift down.
He sees me taking him in, and glances down at himself. “Sorry.”
I snap out of my stare. “No need to apologize. I’m going to head to the kitchen, okay?”
“Yeah, I’ll meet you in a sec.”
When I make my way there, it’s empty. I suspect it’s too early for Rawley’s brothers to be awake.
I figure out the coffee maker and get it humming. A text comes through on my phone, right as the coffee starts hitting the kettle.
AIDEN: Can I give you a call? Taylor filled me in.
I take the extra five minutes to get some coffee in me before calling him myself.
“Hi, Avery. How are you this morning?”
“Well, last night wasn’t fun, but I feel better today. Has Taylor figured out who those photographers were yet?”
“Yes, their pics have shown up and we’ve traced them. Miami guys, as she expected.”
“Okay.” It’s crazy they would drive four hours to get photos outside my house.
“The reality is you’re reaching a level of fame, deliberately so, in which you may need to shift around some parts of your life. I think you would have needed to anyway, but we’re accelerating everything.”
I already knew everything Aiden just articulated, but I decide to let his mansplaining moment sit.
“I’m getting a lot of messages from brands. I’ve asked three to put something on paper so we can look at the proposals. SkyHigh again, as well as the Triumph clothing brand and GirlBoss home gyms. What we’re doing, it’s working.”
Okay, that does help make up for the chaos created by this situation. “Thank you, Aiden, that sounds hopeful.”
“We’ve been at this for less than two weeks. More will come in.”
“I’m here for it.” Even if I still have to figure out a lot of practicalities. “I need to get my stuff at the house before we fly out for the road trip.”
“I’ve got that covered. After Taylor called me last night, I contacted the owner of a security company I work with down there, Peterson Security. They’re going to send someone to drive you where you need to go today.”
As wild as it is to have a “protector” to go to my house, it also provides a measure of relief. “That’s great.”
I look at my watch, and I don’t need to get the stuff from my place for a few hours. “I’m at Landon and Rawley’s house. Could they pick me up around eleven, and then once I grab my stuff, drive me straight to where the Surge is having us gather for the trip?”
“Sure.”
“Thank you.”
