Reckless (57 page)

I was shaking when I sat down in my seat. Some of the girls pounded on the glass while the cameramen captured it all. I discreetly locked my door. The driver said a few harsh words to the crowd
and I turned my attention to Gibson. She was positioned backwards, and she was looking at me. She had the cutest, softest chubby cheeks. Ignoring the malicious girls outside, I placed my finger on
Gibson’s palm; she immediately closed her hand around it.

As the car pulled away, the fans smacking it a few final times, Anna murmured, “Jesus. Are you okay, Kiera?”

When I looked over at her, a tear fell down my cheek. I was still shaking from head to toe. Pushing away the confrontation, I nodded at Anna and looked back down at Gibson. “My niece is
holding my hand. I’m perfect.”

I felt Anna’s finger drying my cheek. After a moment of silence, she said, “I love you.”

I exhaled a long, low breath, and finally stopped shaking. “I love you too.”

The drive took a lot longer than expected. We had to stop a couple of times for Gibson. Once she needed to be changed, once she needed to be fed. We also hit some heavy traffic along the
way—some accident that narrowed the freeway down to one lane. As we passed by the wreckage, I noticed that Anna wouldn’t look at it. Instead, she ceaselessly kissed her daughter’s
hand. I could only imagine that she was thanking fate that Gibson was safe beside her . . . and that she hadn’t given her up.

By the time we got to the venue, the concert had already started. Anna and I were beat, so we didn’t go into the arena. Once we got cleared from security, we immediately headed for the
busses. I wanted sleep. Badly.

Since all of the guys were inside playing, no fans or photographers were outside to bother us as we emptied the car. A good thing, because I didn’t think I could handle being yelled at
again. It felt so good to be back on the bus, like we were coming home. All of the familiar sights and smells were there when we stepped through the doors—leftover beer bottles on the tables,
crusty socks in the aisle way, Evan’s giant D trophy hanging from a noose above a window, and a bowl of half-eaten . . . something . . . on the couch. It was the cluttered mess that I had
grown to know and love.

Anna looked around with a scowl on her face. “These boys are pigs. They’re going to have to clean up after themselves now that Gibson’s on board.” Her sudden concern over
the cleanliness of our bus made me chuckle. Up until today, she’d contributed to the mess just as much as the guys had.

With Gibson still in her car seat, we made our way to the back bedroom. Like an overwhelmed cartoon character, my jaw dropped to my chest. The bedroom was . . . babified. There was a narrow,
portable playpen crammed between the bed and the one-way window, and a mobile attached to the top had stuffed musical instruments hanging off of it. A couple of stuffed animals were on the
makeshift crib, along with a pink blanket that looked plush enough for a princess.

On the other side of the bed was a slim dresser. The drawers would be impossible to open, but the top of it had a built-in tray that held a curved mattress with a belt, perfect for diaper
changes. Attached to the ceiling above the table was a cute, fabric diaper holder, also decorated in musical instruments. As Anna giggled in delight, my eyes settled onto the bed. It was littered
with shopping bags, and I saw nothing but pink spilling out of them.

Anna set the car seat down and rummaged through a bag. Squealing as she removed a soft pink, plush guitar, she said, “Don’t I have the best husband ever?”

I was so shocked, I couldn’t even respond.

I helped Anna put away the mountain of clothes that Griffin had picked up for his daughter. Since they’d already bought a bunch of stuff when they’d believed Gibson was a boy, there
was nowhere near enough room for everything. We ended up cramming clothes and toys all over the bus. Every available cubby had something stuffed into it. We even stashed some burp rags in the
pocket in the bus driver’s door. Once Anna and Gibson were comfortable and crashed, I crawled into the cubby I shared with Kellan. It had never felt so wonderful. I sighed after I inhaled our
blanket; it smelled like Kellan. As I drifted off to sleep, I wondered if I smelled like Kellan too.

Arms wrapping around my body and legs tangling with mine woke me up. The bus was still, silent, but I had no idea if we’d reached our new destination, or if we were still
in Jersey. Smiling, I stretched as best as I could, then cuddled into the chest behind me.

“What time is it?”

“Late,” he murmured. “They’re still tearing down the show. We’ll leave sometime tomorrow. I missed you last night. I couldn’t sleep without you next to
me.”

I turned around to face him. Due to the confined space, it took some effort. I bumped my elbow against the wall and almost kneed Kellan in the groin again. He was prepared for it this time
though and nimbly backed away just in the nick of time. When we were facing each other, we melded back together.

Kellan cupped my cheek. “Hey.”

Pulling him tight, I smiled against his lips. “Hey.”

Kellan’s lips danced against mine, his tongue lightly probing. Hoping we were the only ones on the bus, I clutched at his shirt, wanting it off. Leaning over me, Kellan helped me out and
pulled it over his head with one hand. I shoved it in the corner and ran my hands up his bare back as he settled over me. “Hey,” I said again, my smile brighter than before.

“Always so eager to undress me,” he whispered, his lips traveling to my neck.

I suppressed a giggle as I closed my eyes and savored the feeling of his body over me, around me. I loved getting lost in him. As his fingers traveled under my shirt and across my ribs, he
breathed in my ear, “Any troubles leaving the hospital?”

Hyperaware of his hips above mine, separated from me by multiple layers of clothing, I sucked in a ragged breath. God, I really hoped no one else was awake. “Aside from some fans telling
me that they wished I’d never been born? No. No problems at all.”

The tips of his fingers paused at the base of my breast. “What?”

He pulled back to look at me, concern in his eyes. I shook my head and tried to scoot down so that his hand would move up. Didn’t work. “It was fine. I’m fine.”

Kellan slid off to my side, his hand retreating. Knowing our moment was over, I sat up on my elbow. “They threatened you?” he asked, an edge to his voice.

I shook my head. “No . . . they just expressed their dislike. Nobody touched—” Remembering being shoved a couple of times, I changed my sentence to, “Nobody hurt
me.”

Kellan sat up as much as he could. It wasn’t very much. He leaned over on his elbow as he rested on his hip. Even though it was dark, I could tell that he was deep in thought.

“Kellan, nobody hurt me.”

He peeked up at me, his lips in a hard line. He was pissed. “This time. Nobody hurt you this time.” Looking away, he muttered, “This is such bullshit. You’re my
wife.” He looked back at me. “Tory had us doing this meet-and-greet/concert for a high school that won some contest to have us there. It took all goddamn day. I was so freaking busy
that the only person I had time to talk to was you. I hate that this has festered for so long. My silence isn’t helping anything.”

He looked angry and frustrated that he couldn’t stand up for me yet, that all of this was snowballing so fast and he just didn’t have time to react. Kissing him, I pulled him back
down on top of me. “It’s only been two days, and it’s not your fault.”

Kellan didn’t answer me, just tentatively kissed me back. I could tell he was still stewing over the problem, a problem that I knew would still be there in the morning. Being together was
what was important, and I wanted to enjoy the current moment with him. Threading my fingers through his hair, I pulled him into me. He let out a soft groan and kissed me back with a lot more
intensity.

When his hips were in line with mine again, grinding into me at a delicious tempo, I let out my own exhale of ecstasy. Damn, I didn’t care if we weren’t the only ones there anymore.
The guys all had iPods, anyway. I needed Kellan, and he needed me too. His hand slipped down the back of my lounge pants, under my panties. I arched my back as much as I could in our confined
space, silently begging him to touch me. In my ear, Kellan growled, “I want you.”

That did me in. While the ache building in me pulsed to life, my hands slipped down to Kellan’s zipper. Wanting to snuggle with me, Kellan hadn’t gotten ready for bed yet. I was more
than happy to help him finish undressing.

Groaning as I unfastened his jeans, Kellan husked out, “But I want you . . . safe.”

I paused and looked at his face. His eyes were blazing with desire, his lips were parted, and his breath was fast. I knew he wanted me, but I also knew he was still concerned about me.
“Kellan, don’t worry—”

He cut me off. “I heard you talking to Denny about fleeing back home. You were joking, but . . . maybe that’s a good idea. Maybe you should head home until I have a chance to set
this straight.”

I couldn’t believe he was actually suggesting that. “No, I want to be with you. Home is wherever you are.”

Kellan slid to my side again. “I want to be with you too, but I can’t stand the way people talk about you. It makes me want to kick every single one of their asses. And I don’t
want you around me if it’s dangerous for you.” I started to object, but Kellan cut me off again. “I saw that girl slap you, Kiera, so don’t tell me it’s not
dangerous.”

I closed my mouth and changed what I’d been about to say. Voice calm, I told him, “You said we needed to carve out time for each other, otherwise none of this mattered. You remember
telling me that?”

Kellan sighed. “I know, but that was before things got so messed up.” He ran a finger across my cheek. “And who is to say that anything will change when I do make another
statement. They’re so curious about my life, they might still hound you. They might still hate you, call you names. I can’t handle that. I can’t do my job if I’m constantly
worrying about you. I just want you safe, even if that means we have to be apart.”

He looked really guilty at playing the job card, but I knew he was frustrated with the situation and was being totally honest with me, and I respected him for that honesty. My answer to him was
just as forthright. “And I just want to be with you. I can handle being mobbed. I can handle being photographed. I can handle being ridiculed. And I can even handle being slapped . . . on
occasion.” I grabbed both of his cheeks. “What I can’t handle is people forcing us to behave in a certain way. People forcing us to be apart. We’re not playing their game
anymore, remember? We’ve fought too hard to be together. It’s us against the world, Kellan, and they don’t dictate our relationship. We do.”

A slow smile curved Kellan’s lips. “This attitude you’ve got right now is very attractive.”

I laced my arms around his neck and brought his lips down to mine. “Then stop trying to send me away, and make love to me.”

Eagerly returning my kiss, he finally helped me take his jeans off.

When I woke up sometime later, I was naked. I felt around for my clothes, but couldn’t find them anywhere. That was alarming, since there weren’t a whole lot of
places for clothes to hide in our small cubby. Opening my eyes, I looked around for my pajamas. It was lighter, so I could clearly see everything around me, and I still didn’t see them
anywhere. Sitting up on my elbows, I noted that the bus was moving.

Kellan was asleep beside me; if I’d woken up before him, then he really hadn’t slept well the night before when I was away. His clothes were nowhere to be seen either. What the hell?
I clearly remembered shoving our clothes in the corners, because I didn’t want them falling in the aisle again.

I nudged Kellan in the ribs. He made a noise that sounded like, “What?” but he didn’t open his eyes.

“Kellan? Are our clothes on the floor?”

Maybe we’d been so caught up in the moment last night that they’d fallen out despite my precautions. Kellan cracked an eye open, then yawned. “What clothes?”

I laughed at him. “The clothes neither one of us are wearing.”

Kellan smiled and rolled over to put his head on my chest. “Those are my favorite kinds of clothes.”

His hands started traveling up my body, and I closed my eyes. Mmmm, his hands felt nice. Feeling playful, Kellan grabbed the blanket with his teeth and exposed my chest. Before I could stop him,
his mouth was sucking on my breast.
God, what was I missing?
Forcing his head away so I could think clearly, I glared at him. “Could you take a peek and see if they’re on the
floor?”

Kellan’s eyes were locked on my chest. “You sure you want me to do that?”

Giggling, I pushed his shoulder away. “Yes, please find them.”

Kellan peeked his head out of the curtain, then instantly returned. He was frowning. “There’s nothing out there.”

I sat up, looked at all four corners, and even under the sheet. There were no clothes. “Where’s our stuff then?”

“I don’t—” Kellan stopped talking, then sighed. “I’m gonna kill that fucker, new dad or not.”

My eyes went wide as I tucked the blanket under my armpits, completely covering my chest. “Griffin stole our clothes?”

Kellan cocked an eyebrow in answer. I wanted to be mortified that Griffin had peeked in on me while I was sleeping, and I really hoped I’d been fully covered by the blanket, but Griffin
being a jackass was so wonderfully normal that I ended up bursting out laughing. Normal was good. Normal was great. I almost wanted to kiss Griffin. Almost.

The look Kellan gave me made it clear that he thought I’d officially lost my mind. Maybe I had, but Griffin’s mischief was so much better than a complete stranger telling me I was
worthless garbage.

Giggling, I pushed Kellan’s butt with my knees. “Go get some new clothes for us.”

Kellan groaned as he stuck his legs out of the curtain. “You want me to go out there naked?”