Page 145 of Fame & Chaos

“Uh… I don’t think that’s a good idea considering I’m back with Indi,” I reply carefully.

She exhales softly. “Yeah, I figured. Thought I’d ask anyway.”

Unease twists in my stomach, but before I can really think too deeply about it, Annie appears in the hallway.

“Cuz! Stop flirting on the phone and get your ass in here. We’ve got jammin’ to do.”

I laugh while Annie disappears back into the music room.

“Look, Sasha, I really appreciate what you did for me, but Indi and the band need my focus now. I’m sorry.”

Silence.

Then finally… “Okay. I get it. I’ll catch you around.”

The call disconnects.

I stare down at my cell for a second before running my hand through my hair.

Yeah…

Pretty sure I just dodged a massive fucking bullet there.

***

After rehearsals, I drive straight back to London so I can be home when Indi finishes her night shift. By the time I crawl into bed, I’m exhausted, but there’s no chance I’m actually going to sleep before she gets here.

She told me not to wait up.

Told me she’d be late.

But there’s no way in hell I’m falling asleep knowing she’ll be walking through that door eventually.

After a ridiculous amount of back-and-forth earlier, I finally convinced her to take a key to my place. She kept insisting it was ‘too soon’ for that kind of thing, while I argued that I wasn’t getting out of bed at four in the morning every time she came over.

Which, okay, maybe that was reverse psychology.

But it worked.

The second I mentioned not wanting to drag myself out of bed, half-naked, to answer the door, she snatched the key from my hand and informed me that, obviously, I shouldn’t have to do that, and that maybe having a key was practical after all.

Sometimes, gently manipulating Indi’s stubbornness is the only way to get her to see reason.

So now I’m lying here half asleep, listening to some terrible early morning television show playing quietly in the background, when I hear the front door creak open.

I glance toward the bedroom doorway and rub my face quickly, trying not to look as exhausted as I feel when she walks in.

A second later, she peeks her head around the door, and she appears completely drained. Dark circles sit beneath her eyes, her shoulders are slumped, and she looks so tired I immediately want to carry her straight to bed.

Sitting up, I pat the mattress beside me. “Hey, baby.”

She smiles weakly as she steps into the room and places her bag on the drawers. “Hey. You should be asleep.”

As she slips off her shoes, I push myself off the bed and walk over because she honestly looks like she might collapse standing up.

“You okay?”

“Yeah,” she sighs tiredly. “Just drained. Tonight was exceptionally busy. My feet are killing me.” She pulls off her cardigan and looks around for somewhere to put it. Taking it gently from her hands, I toss it neatly onto the clothes basket before turning back to her.