Colin looks surprised. “Caleb did what now?”
I laugh. “I don’t blame him. I was such a shit show, at first. I would have wanted to get rid of me, too. But what Caleb didn’t realize was that the weirder his demands got, the more determined I became. Until one day, out of the blue, Caleb goes, ‘Holy shit, dude. You’re actually damned good at this shit!’” I giggle. “Is it embarrassing to admit that was one of the best days of my life?”
Colin looks thoroughly confused. “I’m shocked Caleb gave you such a long time to prove yourself. The C-Bomb I know wouldn’t bother sending a shitty assistant on a single wild goose chase—he’d tell her to hit the road or get her reassigned.”
I shrug. “For the entire first month, that’s what I thought was going to happen to me. But it never did.”
“What did you do that was so terrible at first?” he asks.
“Oh my God, Colin. I was so star-struck around Caleb and the rest of the band and any celebrity who happened to come backstage after seeing the show, I couldn’t speak or control my limbs half the time. I walked into walls and tripped over my feet and dropped things with astonishing regularity. I got simple food orders bizarrely wrong. Oh, and I spilled hot coffee onto Caleb’s lap the very first day of the tour!”
Colin has been guffawing throughout my entire description, and the sound of his belly laughs sends tingles skating across my skin. But before our conversation continues, the wedding coordinator yells above the din, “It’s time to head to the restaurant now! If you need the address, I’ve got it here!”
“Did you drive here?” Colin asks. And when I nod, he asks, “Would you mind giving me a ride to the restaurant? You can tell me your best tour stories during the drive. I promise I won’t tell anyone you technically breached your NDA by telling me.” He winks. “You can trust me, Ames. I promise.”
Swoon.
“Okay, I’ll take a gigantic leap of faith and trust you,” I tease, sounding remarkably calm and collected, compared to how I’m feeling. “Just don’t expect my stories to ‘wow’ you. Anyone else would think my stories are bomb. But to a guy who’s toured the world as part of—” I gasp and clutch Colin’s tattooed forearm. “Luke. He’s coming over here. Please—"
“Amyyyyy!” Luke booms, and a second later, my brother’s friend is wrapping me in a bear hug that squashes my boobs against his chest. “So great to see you again, pretty lady!”
“Hi, Luke.” I disengage from him and motion to Colin, hoping my eyes are sending the latter a telepathic S.O.S. “Luke, this is Colin Beretta, our next-door neighbor growing up. Colin, this is Luke . . .”
“Hammond.”
“That’s right. Sorry. Luke Hammond, my brother’s roommate during law school.”
Luke shakes Colin’s hand vigorously. “Great to see you again! We met a few years ago, backstage at your show in Seattle. Logan brought me backstage with him.”
“Oh, yeah,” Colin says, though I can’t imagine he actually remembers Luke. “Great to see you again.”
“That was a great show.”
Blah, blah, blah, Luke says, and Colin nods politely.
“Too bad you couldn’t make the bachelor party,” Luke says.
“Yeah, I was bummed to miss it. I had a work thing.”
“Well, you missed a great party!”
“I’m sure I did.”
Luke babbles about the “amazing” bachelor party for a bit, which seems stupid to me, considering the mind-blowing parties Colin must attend. Until, finally, Colin’s eyes meet mine and I know, without a doubt, he’s reading my mind.
“So, hey, brother,” Colin says, “we’ll see you at the restaurant. Amy and I have a lot of catching up to do.”
“Oh, are you giving Colin a ride to the restaurant?” Luke asks, looking at me. “If there’s room in your car, I could use—"
“Actually, sorry,” Colin interrupts. “I want Amy’s undivided attention during the drive. We haven’t seen each other in years, and I’m dying to hear some of her stories from the RCR tour she worked. With me being signed to the same label, Amy’s allowed to tell me anything, despite her NDA, but she can’t talk about that stuff when anyone else is around.”
I feel dizzy. Like my insides are melting. The man’s a genius.
“Oh, yeah, sure,” Luke says. “No worries. I’ll grab a ride from Logan.” He winks at me. “Save me a seat at the restaurant. We’ll catch up then.”
“Aw, shit. I’m such a dick,” Colin says, his tone jovial. “I’m calling dibs on Ames at the restaurant, too. Just ‘cause it’s been so many years since I’ve seen her, and she’s always been like a little sister to me, you know?”
Womp, womp. And the beginning of Colin’s comment was so promising, too!
Luke says he understands and he’ll find me later. At which point, Colin slides his arm around my shoulders and escorts me toward the exit of the church.
“Did you see the look on Luke’s face as we walked away?” Colin says, once we’re out of earshot. “Hilarious.”
“Hilarious,” I agree. But I’m not feeling all that amused, to be honest. In fact, I’m feeling downright disappointed, thanks to that comment Colin made about me being his little sister, despite my low-cut dress and fancy new push-up bra. Despite the amazing chemistry I thought we were both miraculously feeling.
Damn! I’m terrible at reading body language! I would have sworn Colin felt at least a glimmer of physical attraction to me! But I guess this situation is the same as the very beginning of the tour, when I thought several crew guys were super interested in me, and it quickly turned out every last one of them viewed me as nothing but a little sister too. A funny, amusing friend, a sort of tour mascot, but not someone they’d ever consider banging. Not even when I thought I’d made it pretty dang clear I was open to having some casual fun, for the first time in my life.
I smile at Colin as he continues escorting me through the crowd, toward a closet where he apparently stowed his suitcase. “Thanks for helping me out with Luke. He always comes straight for me.”
“Not my first time at this particular rodeo, sis,” Colin says. “I used to do the same thing for Caitlyn and Chiara, once I got big enough to pass as their boyfriend.”
Seriously? That’s three rapid-fire references to Colin thinking of me as his little sister in the space of as many minutes! Okay, Colin, I get the message, loud and clear.
Several people stop Colin on our way to grab his bag, so it takes us a while to get to our destination. But, eventually, we’re able to collect Colin’s suitcase and make our way outside and into the parking lot, just in time to see Luke getting into my brother’s car, along with Logan’s future wife, Kennedy, who’s sitting in his passenger seat.
Colin and I wave at the trio as Logan’s car passes, and the minute they’re gone, Colin says, “Does Logan have any idea he’s got a monster in his backseat?”
I chuckle. “I wouldn’t call Luke a monster. More like an annoying, clueless blowhard. At Thanksgiving last year, he sat next to me and talked my ear off about cryptocurrency the entire meal.”