Across the Miles (The Not So Bad Boys of Rock #1) (36 page)

“You don’t know how happy I am to have you back home.” I covered her hands with my own, not turning to face her as she nuzzled me. “How did you get back so soon?”

“I took an earlier flight,” she mumbled into the leather of my jacket. I politely excused myself as both men
watched with growing interest. Chris knew the story, but this fool probably thought she was just another random chick. I didn’t bother correcting him, his opinion didn’t matter anyhow.

We found a quiet corner, away from everyone else, and busied ourselves reacquainting our lips. Brooke’s lips are one thing that I wouldn’t want to go without. Her kisses make me feel as if I could conquer the world. Each press of that soft flesh tells me that she believes in me, that she’s there for me, that she wants me, and best of all, that she loves me. Her hugs run a very close second, but it’s her kisses that literally steal my breath.

“Sebastian, take me home.” Without another word, I took her hand, and made my way through the throng of people, heading out the door to my waiting car, driving to the place I had longed to be all evening.

CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

“Happy Birthday to you.” I sang to him, waking him bright and early from a blissful slumber. The smile that spread across his sexy face told me that he was glad I woken him. At this moment, he looked too good to be true. His dark hair was a crazy mess, sticking out in all directions. His lips were reddened and full, most likely from being smashed into the pillow, silver studs peeked out below the fullness, beckoning me to kiss them.

“Come here, you.” He pulled me on top of him, tickling me in the process. I giggled nervously and tried unsuccessfully to squirm away. This is how we had woken up most days since I had moved in. We were happy and doing our best to make up for lost time. I still hadn’t told him about me leaving, I knew it was deceitful, but I hadn’t been able to bring myself to say the words. With the launch of his album, his birthday party, and then leaving to kick off his tour, I may never find the perfect time. The longer I waited to tell him, the harder it became, because I knew he would be hurt that I wasn’t honest, and that I hadn’t discussed it with him before I
said yes. Not only would this decision affect my life, but his as well. I knew that, and I was sure he would point that out to me somewhere along the way. I guess one reason that I hadn’t told him had been that I was afraid he would think I wasn’t committed to our relationship. After pondering this over for the past four days, I came to a painful conclusion. I am a selfish bitch. It hurts like hell to admit it, but it’s the honest truth. I realized this because, when presented with the opportunity to achieve my dream, I never once considered what it would do to those who loved me.

“So, what do you want to do today, birthday boy?”

“Oh, I don’t know. I think we could stay right here and I would be okay with that.” He chuckled.

“Don’t you want your present?” I asked slyly, trying to motivate him out of bed.

“I’ve already got my present.”

“Oh yeah, what was it?” I arched my brow in confusion.

“You.” He kissed me lightly on the lips. “You packed your bags and moved out here to be with me. If that’s not the perfect birthday present, I don’t know what is.” And with that, I felt like the biggest fake that ever walked the face of the earth. This was my opportunity to come clean, break the news and try my best to convince him that we could get through another separation. He was leaving for a five-month tour, so technically it was only four months that we would be apart. He was already prepared to be gone on the tour, we had worked it out so that I could join him during certain stretches, and even though it was going to be hard we knew we would survive. He could join me in London after the tour was over. I would have a place of my own that would serve as our temporary home away from home. This wouldn’t be that much different,
other than my tiny omission; things weren’t as bad as I had projected. So why had I still not come clean?

“Come on, I want to give you your present, but it’s in the living room.

“Argh,” he groaned, reluctantly letting me go. I scurried out to the living room to stand beside the enormous box that was topped with a big red bow. When he stepped into the room and saw the gift, he stopped walking and scratched his head, intensifying the sexy mess. “What the heck is that?”

“You have to open it to find out,” I teased, clapping my hands together in front of my face. “I hope you like it, you’re a hard one to buy for. You already have everything.”

“Yes, I do.” He approached the box carefully, unsure of how to proceed.

“Just attack it,” I encouraged. “I remember you mentioned at time that you’d never had one so I thought it would be the perfect choice.”

He pulled on the ribbon and the sides of the box began to give way, revealing the large, black crate underneath. “What the hell?” He asked, just as a soft whimper erupted from within. He bent down and was greeted with a wet kiss between the metal bars. “You got me a puppy?”

“Well, yeah. It seemed like a good idea at the time. You don’t like it?” I asked apprehensively.

“Are you crazy? I love it! Come here buddy.” He called, opening the crate door. “Is it a boy or a girl?” The puppy pounced on him, covering him with precious puppy kisses, yapping happily as Sebastian rubbed his belly.

“A boy. I fell in love with him instantly, and it reminded me of how quickly I fell in love with you. I
knew he was the one.” I stooped down to pet him, scratching lovingly behind his floppy ears. I love Golden Retrievers; they are such kind and loyal dogs. Part of the reason I bought the puppy was to keep Sebastian company while I was working late at night. I had originally bought the dog before my trip to London. He had just become old enough to leave his momma so last night I had Chris pick him up and drop him off this morning. Natalie was going to keep him while the guys were on tour and I was working, though she didn’t know that I would be working far away and her babysitting was going to turn into a full-time task. Even with the knowledge of my leaving, I didn’t have the heart to tell the owner I didn’t want him, as I said, I had already fallen in love with his soulful eyes.

“He’s perfect, babe, thank you. I’ve got something for you too, but you’ll have to wait until tonight at the party.” His mischievous grin made me very suspicious.

“No, how about now?” I gave him a toothy grin.

“Nope, you’re going to have to wait. The timing has to be right.” He scooped up the puppy and held him high in the air. “You’re so cute. I think I’m going to call you Gibson.” He announced, bringing the pup to his face so that he could plant a kiss on his wet nose.

“Why Gibson,” I grimaced. “That doesn’t sound like a cute puppy name.”

“I’m naming him after my favorite guitar,” he scowled as if I should know this kind of stuff. “Duh.”

“Duh,” I mimicked. “Sorry, I guess I’ve got a lot to learn.” I twisted my hands together, preparing myself for the conversation that I didn’t want to have. “Listen, we need to talk about something.”

“Hey, can it wait until later? I’ve got to head over and pick up Natalie and Olivia, Travis is off running an errand
for the party and mom wants to meet her over here so that they can help you get things ready.” He quickly pulled a shirt over his head and hopped on one leg as he pulled on his jeans.

“Sure, but I really think it shouldn’t wait any longer.” I was afraid if I didn’t get it out I would chicken out later, and I wasn’t about to tell him something like this with an audience around us.

“I’m sure it’ll keep a bit longer sweetheart. Be right back.” He gave me a quick peck on the cheek and dashed out the door, leaving me alone with my fears and a sweet little puppy named Gibson.

“Well, little guy,” I said, picking him up in my arms. “I’m not sure what will happen after tonight but I do know that I’ll miss watching you grow into these gigantic paws.” He licked my face until there was no longer a trace of the tears that had slipped out.

Sebastian~

I looked around the living room filled with all the people that I loved and trusted and I couldn’t imagine sharing a moment like tonight with anyone else. This was a big night for me, and hopefully for Brooke, as I was planning to ask her to marry me. The only one missing was Jade, and according to her last text, she was almost here.

I had been planning this moment for the last three weeks, probably longer if I was honest with myself, and keeping a secret like this from Brooke had been no easy task. We tell each other everything, that’s one of the things that I loved and respected about her, she didn’t like to play games. If something was on her mind, she would say it and expect the same of me in return. It was so refreshing, finding a woman like that, I knew how lucky I
was and that was why I wanted to make her my wife.

I fingered the ring in my pocket, slipping it over the tip of my pinky. Her hands were so tiny, and I had almost gotten caught sneaking out of the house the other day with one of her rings to take to the jeweler for sizing. This afternoon, when I made a mad dash out of the house, I was on my way to pick up the ring, the jeweler had texted me to let me know it was ready.

I was slightly nervous about proposing, although I was fairly confident of her answer. I had called Donnie last week and asked for his blessing. He was the closest thing that Brooke had to a father figure, and I figured it was the respectful thing to do. We talked on the phone for nearly an hour, in the end I think it impressed the hell out of him that I had actually taken the step to do that. I wasn’t nervous about everyone being present; I worked better before a crowd. I just didn’t want to mess anything up, you only get one chance to make it right, and this should be a special night for her, after all that she has been through in her life, I wanted this to be a memory worth keeping.

I heard the front door open and close, then saw Jade’s dark head of hair appear as Dek had found her and lifted her high in the air. It was so cool that the two of them had fallen in love. Who would have ever thought that my best friend and Brooke’s best friend would have ended up together? Now all we had to do was convince Jade to join us out here in California and then we would be able to double date like normal people do.

My palms started to moisten as I steeled myself to approach her and get down on one knee. Hey, don’t judge, I would crawl on my knees if that’s what it took to get her to say yes. I made my way across the room, spotting her over by my mom and Natalie. She was
holding Gibson, and he was staring back up at her with those soulful eyes, full of love, and I could totally relate to what he must be feeling at that moment. Just before I reached where they were standing, the doorbell rang.

“I got it!” I called out, sidestepping my way through the crowd to open the door. A man stood there, clipboard in hand, holding out an envelope with the emblem of a popular airline on the cover. What the hell?

“Max Wolf asked for these tickets to be personally messengered over to Brooke Caldwell, does she live her?”

“Y-yes,” I stammered, holding out a shaky hand to accept the envelope. “What is this?” I signed the line marked with an X.

“Miss Caldwell’s tickets, her flight departs on the eighteenth. Thank you, sir.” He turned and made his way down the stone path, as I stood there holding the envelope, afraid of what was inside, and too angry to turn around and face her.

“Sebastian, who was that?” Brooke came up behind me, peering around me to look outside. When I didn’t respond, she placed a hand tentatively on my arm, and I flinched, alerting her that I was upset. She looked at what I held in my hand and then back up at me, tears in her eyes. “I can explain.”

“That’s great, because I would love to know what this is about.” I crinkled the envelope, unable to control the shaking in my hand. By now everyone had stopped what they were doing and had turned to stare in our direction, this was not what I had pictured when I wanted the audience in the first place.

“Can we please go somewhere alone to talk? I don’t want to do this in front of everyone.” She pleaded softly.

“Sure, whatever.” I followed her into our bedroom, a place where I used to feel safe, now, I wasn’t too sure.

“What is this about?” I handed her the envelope, dropping it in her hand as if it were suddenly burning my skin.

“I wanted to tell you from the very beginning, but I didn’t know how. Every time I started to tell you, I was afraid of what would happen.”

“So tell me already!” I demanded, voice cracking as I fought to maintain control.

“I’m moving to London for nine months to take over Max’s restaurant.”

“You’re what?” My mouth hit the floor. “You’re leaving me? You just got here.”

“I know, the timing isn’t ideal, but it was an opportunity I couldn’t pass up.” She reached a hand out for mine, but I pulled away, not ready for that kind of connection, leaving her hand to drop limply at her side. “I know that you’re angry, you have every right to be upset.”

“Upset? You think I’m upset? I’m pissed off right now, Brooke.” I turned and pulled at my hair, wishing like hell that I could rip it out. I paced the floor between us, fear pooling in my gut. “You made this decision without even talking to me. I know we’ve only been together a short time, but I would never do that to you, to us.

“It’s only for nine month’s baby; you’re going to be away for most of that time. We survived that long apart before; we can do it again. I’m sorry that I didn’t talk to you, but this is something I have worked very hard for. I’ve never had to ask anyone’s permission to make decisions before, Sebastian, and I’m not about to start now.” Her voice remained calm, and her words were methodical. At this moment, standing right here, I hated that about her. Hated that she could appear unaffected when I felt as if my world had just come crashing down on me, not because we would be apart, but because she
hadn’t respected what we had to include me in her decision. I slipped a hand in my pocket, touching the delicate ring that now sat there like a heavy stone.

“How long have you known about this,” I grimaced, afraid of the answer.