Page 110 of Ravaged For You

“Agreed,” Caspian replies.

“I’m going back to my room,” Bishop announces. “Tell Lucas to call me.”

“I’ll walk with you,” Caspian says.

Drake follows them out the door. “This is it, guys. The moment we’ve waited for.”

I wave goodbye to the boys and sit down on the couch with a sigh. I’m stressing out and I’m not even a member of the band.

“I can’t imagine what’s going through your head now,” I say to Axel. “I’d be going crazy if I were you, but you seem so calm.”

Axel saunters over to me. “Breakfast? I’m going to order some for myself.”

“Yes, please.”

He smiles and picks up the phone for reception. “I’m always hungry when I’m nervous.”

“Okay, you order something, and I’ll have a shower. I need to do something to take my mind off all this, even if it’s just to wash my hair.”

I take my time in the bathroom. I keep expecting Axel to burst through the door with news from Lucas, but it never comes. I just close my eyes and run the warm water over my face and try to drown out all the stress on my mind.

I hope today goes well. For Axel’s sake.

I emerge from the bathroom to see a sight arrayed before me.

“You’ve ordered everything on the breakfast menu?” I ask Axel, open-mouthed.

The suite’s main table is covered with all the dishes that the hotel has to offer in the morning. Axel stands there at the side of the table proudly.

“I did tell you I get hungry when nervous,” he says. “I couldn’t decide what to get, so I got everything.”

“How much did this all cost?”

“I don’t know, and I don’t care. I have enough money for a hundred lifetimes.”

“You’re crazy, Axel. You know that?”

“Sorry, but I’ve already started eating,” he says. “I couldn’t wait any longer. You take long-ass showers.”

“That’s because I’m a girl and actually clean myself, unlike you.”

I take a seat at the table and help myself to bacon and scrambled eggs.

Axel grins at me from across the table. He thinks he’s so cool by doing all this. He’s so excited that he’s like a boy on his birthday. Well, at least it keeps him from stressing out over the album’s release.

There’s a loud ring. It’s Axel’s phone. He takes it out of his pocket and puts it on loudspeaker for me to hear.

“Hi, Lucas,” he says. “It’s Maddie and me here.”

“Hey guys.”

“You’ve got news?”

“I have.”

“Well, tell us. Quit being so dramatic.”

“It’s good.”