Page 52 of After Care

“I’m not worried.” That’s all I had to add. I wasn’t. He tipped his head, directing me to come to him, and I stood. I stopped before him, and his hands grabbed the back of my knees, forcing me to straddle him. I cupped his face after I sat on his lap.

“It’s been a shit day, Edie.” Calling me by my name emphasized the seriousness. “And I’ve missed you.” His mouth reached up for mine, slowly dragging my lips with his. A tug. A peck. Then his tongue pressed forward, and he was in his capturing mode where he conquered my mouth and demanded my tongue. I kissed him back as if it had been weeks instead of hours. I’d missed him, too. Missed him so much, I wanted my kiss to give him all the words I couldn’t say. I wanted him to feel how much I missed him.

“No more freak-outs, darlin’,” he muttered to my lips, although I’m not certain if he meant me or if he was reminding himself. “It wastes precious time,” he said between kisses.

“Then we better make up for it,” I replied back with my lips pressed to his. He stood with me in his lap and I wrapped my legs around his waist. I let out a yelp as his hands hooked under my thighs and he hitched me upward.

“You can’t carry me,” I laughed, still holding his cheeks, as he stood with me latched onto him.

“I’d carry you to the ends of the earth and back, darlin’, as long as you keep kissing me.”

I kissed him again while he stood with me wrapped around him, but eventually, he set me down. We decided it would be faster. That way, we could race to his room.

10

Sway with me

Sitting in the warm tub, I looked up as Tommy entered the bathroom, a glass of wine in his hand.

“Thank you, baby. This is sweet,” I said, looking up at him, and his face split with a smile. He sat on the closed toilet, and I crossed my arms on the edge of the tub after taking a sip from the glass he offered me.

“You’re sweet,” he said, staring down at me. We smiled at each other a moment, recalling the make-up sex we just had. He’d been rougher than before, spurring me with precious words as well as the stiff length of him.

Can’t get enough.

Don’t want to let go.

Missed you all day.

He was sweet, I amended in my thoughts, and I had the same sentiments as him. I didn’t know how I’d let him go.

“So,” I hesitated, taking another sip of wine and lowering the glass to the floor outside the tub. “Want to tell me what that was all about with Jared?” Their fight had brought out some negative vibes and ugly words. Tommy shrugged and looked away from me.

“You know,” I gently pressed. “You can talk to me.” While we didn’t really have that kind of relationship—the kind where lovers with history share other things besides sex—I wanted him to know he could trust me. He’d already told me secrets about Ivy and the history of his sister.

“Being in a band is like being in a family. Tempers run high. Love digs deep. Hatred can exist although you try to keep it tampered.”

“Why would Jared hate you?” I asked, slightly aghast at the thought. Tommy seemed to do plenty for the boys, above and beyond what I thought a manager would do.

“He doesn’t actually, but he resents me. He wanted the band to get everywhere on their own, proving themselves. It stems from his old man, but when my sister died and then Cash killed himself, we were all at a crossroads. Collision had been an opening act for Kit with Colt45. I saw their potential for so much more. I went to them with advice, and Gage asked me to manage them. I didn’t need the money. I didn’t need a job. But I saw what I could do for them. I saw me in them. The young Lawson Colt of Colt45, who wanted to take the world by storm.”

“You did take the world by storm,” I protested, but Tommy only snorted in response.

“My band was a mess. Too high, too fast. We crashed, and Kit was there to pick up the pieces.”

“You said you picked them up for her, with her ex…her whatever…when he overdosed.” I didn’t know if Kit officially married the man who was Ivy’s father, but I recalled that he’d died from drugs.

“That’s true, too. I guess Kit and I were always there for each other.” His head lowered, and I sensed the memory of his sister haunted him.

“Anyway, when I saw Gage getting involved with Ivy, pursuing her, I worried. She wasn’t in a good way with her mom dying, and her mother wanting her to finish to school. Taking on the management role meant I could watch over the relationship.”

“Is that why you won’t quit, like Jared demanded?”

“No. I won’t quit because I fronted the money for them. I’m their silent producing partner. It’s my money on the line if they don’t succeed.” The generosity and seriousness of this investment was hard to grasp. Curiosity got the best of me.

“Why did you do it?”

“Because I knew they needed a break. I wanted to give them the one I never had.” I didn’t fully understand. Tommy Carrigan as Lawson Colt had been very successful in his own right. I sensed he felt like a one-hit-wonder as Colt45, the band from my high school days, but as Kit Carrigan and Chrome Teardrops, they’d been a tremendous success.