“So tell me, how is the tour going?”
I settled in and filled Ruby in on all of the pieces she wasn’t aware of, waiting patiently through her laughter as I told her about Lainey’s black eye.
“You know damn well I’m a girl’s girl, but that bitch had it coming.”
“It wasn’t even her fault, though. It was a fucking roadie who is never working in this business again… Actually, I’m still not sure if Calix just had him killed. I wouldn’t put it past him.”
Ruby’s grunt could have been agreement or condonement.
“You know we’re majorly failing the Bechdel Test here, Tates.”
“Shut up, I’m talking work, not guys.”
“Only you could keep a straight face and call it work when you’re sleeping with the entire band.”
I had no comeback for that. Technically, Otis hadn’t tried to touch me since that first night when I turned down his kiss. It felt like a lifetime ago, and I still wondered if I had made the right decision. Given the new development in his relationshipwith Harvey, maybe it was better I let him decide what he needed. But that wasn’t my story to tell, and if Ruby had heard anything about Otis’s moment in the headlines, she didn’t mention it.
We hung up a short time later, and I let my arm drop to the bed as a quiet knock came at the door.
A riotous head of blonde curls preceded Otis’s angelic face, and I gave him an inviting smile.
“What’s up? I was just thinking about you.”
He slipped into the room and paused, his eyes traveling over my body under the sheets.
I was still naked. Shit.
“I…uh…” Hiking the sheet a little higher, I sat up, trying to work out where my clothes had landed.
“It’s okay. I can…” He hiked a thumb at the door.
“No. No, it’s all right. I just don’t want to make you uncomfortable.”
He ran his eyes over the sheet again, then shook his head. “Trust me, I’m fine.”
“Are you?” I’d been wanting to have this conversation with him for a while, but the timing had always felt off. The man who had begun as the easiest one to relate to had become a stranger overnight.
He considered my question.
“Honestly, I spent a long time feeling sorry for myself when I should have just had a conversation. I’d spent years waiting for Harvey to notice me, and then you rejected me.”
“I—”
“No. You were absolutely right to. It was unfair of me to put you in that position when your life had just fallen apart. But when you proposed this arrangement, it felt like I’d lose my chance with both of you and…well…I guess you could say I didn’t take it well.”
He shoved his hands into his pockets, dropping his gaze with a self-deprecating grin.
“Otis.” I patted the mattress beside me and moved over to give him room as he took a seat. “I never meant to make you feel like that. It’s not an understatement to say I wouldn’t be here without you. I should have made more of an effort to talk to you. To work this out. A lot changed between that first night and when I made that proposal—which I’m still not convinced isn’t going to blow up in my face. I just want everyone to be happy.”
Otis had the most expressive face of all the men in Goats and Vandals. His eyes spoke volumes as he took in my words and chose to believe them.
“Do you remember what I said to you that first night in your empty apartment?”
I thought back to a warm box of pizza on a hard wooden floor. Messy spreadsheets and an invitation of friendship from a virtual stranger.
“You said you guys need me as much as I need you.”
He nodded. “I was right. Probably more than I realized back then. This won’t blow up, because I think we were always meant to find each other. Do you believe in fate?”
