You got to Me (Love on Tour #3) (9 page)

11

“Hey, Hank.”

“Don’t fucking ‘hey, Hank’ me. Get the fuck away from Lisa.”

Ken stepped back. Hank took a step toward him.

“Hank,” I said.

He didn’t look at me. “You alright, Lisa?”

“I’m fine. We were just messing around.”

“It looked like a little more than that to me.”

“Hank,” I said, tugging on his t-shirt. “It was my idea. I brought Ken out here.”

“So?”

“Hank, don’t kick my ass, please,” Ken pleaded.

He looked so pathetic that I kinda hated myself for making out with him.

“Just let him go, Hank,” I sighed.

“Fine. Go,” Hank waved his hand. “Get out of here before Sean shows up.”

Ken ran off the loading dock and into the night.

Hank turned to me. “We’ve been looking all over for you.”

“God, I’m sorry.”

He walked over to me and pulled me into a big hug. “You okay?”

“I’m fine, Hank,” I said against his chest. “It’s not like something traumatic happened to me. I just made out with an ass.”

“Yeah, but when I came out it sounded like he was–”

“I took care of it.”

He let me go and looked at me. “Okay.”

“Okay?”

“Yeah.”

“And you won’t say anything to big brother?”

He shook his head. “I promise.”

“Where are they, anyway?”

“All over the place, we split up to find you.”

“Shit. I’ve been gone a while.”

“Long enough to create panic.”

“Shit. We better go calm them all down.”

I followed Hank back into the building. “What’s the story?”

“I don’t know. Maybe you were sneaking a cigarette on the loading dock like Baby used to do.”

“She still does that?”

He laughed. “Not since she got pregnant. But before that, yeah.”

I shook my head. “Some things never change.”

****

“So what happened in Minneapolis?”

I sighed. “There are a lot of chairs here.”

I looked around the little private terminal. It was completely empty except for us. Sean and Hank were standing at the window waiting for the plane. Mike was off somewhere on the phone again. And I was stuck here with Sam.

He ignored my quip. “You were gone for over a half hour.”

I ignored him.

“Come on, Lisa. You know what happened with Bell and Baby on the last tour. We freaked out.”

He was referring to the time my sister and Bell were trapped in a bathroom stall by six crazy groupies. Mike, Hank, Sean, and every one of their band members had scoured the building looking for them, the fear of a kidnapping, or some other very real danger hanging over them all.

“I’m sorry, okay. I feel bad enough.”

“I know your story’s bunk. I don’t buy it for a second. So what’s the deal? You dragged Ken off somewhere to make out, didn’t you?”

“Shut up, Sam.”

“Did you have sex with him?”

I turned to look at him. “Maybe I did.”

“I don’t think so.”

“Why not?”

“Because we didn’t see him again. And I just don’t buy that you would fuck some guy on a loading dock and never see him again.”

“How do you know he didn’t come to my hotel room last night?”

“Because I know that Sean made you sleep in his bed while he crashed on the couch in his suite.”

Damn it.

“I figure you made out with him and he didn’t quite meet your standards, so you sent him packing.”

“Maybe I didn’t meet his standards?”

“Please. I’ve kissed you, and you meet everyone’s standards, Lisa.”

I tried not to blush.

Sam leaned back in the plastic chair and it let out a little groan. “I think you did it to make me jealous.”

“You are ridiculous. How many times do I have to turn you down before you get it?”

“A lot more than you have so far.”

I watched as Hank started to bounce up and down on the balls of his feet, and I knew that the plane had landed. I stood up and walked over to them. Unfortunately, Sam followed me.

Dani and the baby, followed by Bell, walked down the little staircase coming from the plane and across the asphalt. They came into the building and through the security area. Then they were scooped up by Hank and Sean.

I watched them. Bell was engulfed in Hank. He buried his head in her neck and whispered something to her. Sean grabbed little Henry, tucked him into the crook of his arm, and pulled Dani to him with his other arm. He leaned over and kissed her for what seemed like a good ten minutes. Eventually he let Dani go, and she made her way over to me. I pulled her into a tight hug.

“God, I missed you, big sister.”

“Me too, Dani.”

She looked at me. “Thank you so much, for everything.”

I kissed her cheek.

“Miss me?” Bell asked, bounding toward me.

I hugged her. “Yes. It’s boring around here without you.”

We were all moving toward the door, but Sean was missing. I looked back, and saw that he was completely engrossed in his son. He was leaned over Henry, his face just inches from the baby.

“Sean, honey, we don’t want to hang out in the airport all day,” Dani called.

He looked up. “Okay, sorry.”

With Henry still tucked into his arm like a football, he walked slowly toward us. We all piled onto the bus.

“So what’s the plan?” Dani asked.

“We’re headed to the hotel first. We have a couple hours before the show,” Sam said. “Mom and Dad are meeting up with us at the venue.”

“And Lisa’s thing is tomorrow, right?”

“You don’t have to go to that,” I said.

“Are you kidding? Of course we’re going.”

“You haven’t seen your husband in a week.”

“We’re going to your lecture,” Sean said.

“I’m looking forward to it,” Bell said. “And Hank’s going to actually learn something.”

Great. I was doing what was probably the most boring thing possible when compared to a rock concert, and they were all coming.

****

“There isn’t anything in this world cuter than this baby,” Gloria cooed.

“We should probably head up to the skybox, Mom. It’s going to get loud in here, and Henry won’t like it,” Sam said.

“Well, where are his parents? I’m sure they want to say goodbye to him before we take him away for a couple hours.”

I was pretty sure that was not an issue. Sean and Dani had disappeared as soon as they’d handed little Henry over to his grandparents, and no one had seen them since.

“Sean’s getting ready for the show, Mom. Let’s not bother him.”

Sam ushered his mother and father down the hall. Mike followed behind them, the diaper bag on his shoulder.

I turned to Bell. She was still tucked under Hank’s arm. But I didn’t care. “God, I missed you. It’s been a hell of a couple days.”

“Tell me about it.”

“They give you a rough time?”

“Ugh. I guess I gave myself a rough time.”

“I can’t believe those fuckers made you talk about the douchebag in Vegas,” Hank said.

She looked up at him. “I’m sorry I did that, sweetheart. It’s just that… I wanted to help and–”

“You threw yourself on your sword.”

“I guess I did.”

“Yeah, it seems a lot of people did that for me, Sean, and Baby.”

She gazed up at him. “It wasn’t so bad really.” She turned back to me. “Other than the two hours at the magazine office, we had a great time.”

“What did you do?” I asked.

“We mostly hung out by the pool, and played with little Henry.”

“And now that you’re back you can play with big Henry,” Hank said.

Bell slapped him on the chest playfully. “We have plenty of time. I’m not going anywhere.”

She pulled away from him and sat down on a piece of equipment. I sat next to her. Hank looked dejected.

“So, are you okay, Lisa?”

“She’s a total badass,” Hank said. “She about took that reporter apart.”

“Yeah?” She smiled. “Good for you.”

“Actually, everyone was pretty rough on the guy. Hank almost hit him.”

He shrugged. “I thought about it.”

“Even Mike got pissed at him.”

Hank laughed. “I don’t think he’s pissed anymore.”

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“Haven’t you noticed that he’s been on the phone with that dude constantly since the interview?”

“I thought it was for the article.”

“I did, too. Until I overheard him making kissy-face with him on the phone.”

“Kissy-face? Mike?” I said. “I find that very difficult to picture.”

“Me, too,” Bell said. “What did he say, exactly?”

“I’m not repeating that shit. It was dirty.”

“Oh please. No one’s dirtier than you, Hank.”

He walked toward her. “You know, we have quite a bit of time until I have to go on.”

“We have all kinds of time, Hank. Don’t be in such a hurry.” She said it casually, but she had a look on her face like she wanted to eat him up.

“Did you hear about how big brother Hank saved me from an octopus last night?” I asked.

“What? No!”

I looked at Hank. “You didn’t tell her?”

“No. You asked me to keep it a secret.”

“Tell me,” Bell said.

“I made out with the photographer.”

“The one that came with the reporter?”

I nodded.

“Was he hot?”

“Yeah. He had dimples.”

“He was a midget,” Hank said.

I shrugged.

“And?”

“And, he got handsy. And that’s when Hank showed up and saved me.”

“Actually, Lisa had it pretty well covered by the time I showed up.”

“Well, it’s nice to see that you two are getting along better,” Bell said.

“I didn’t say I liked him. I just said that he was handy in a pinch.”

****

I had little Henry for the night while his grandparents got some sleep, and his parents got naked. He was fed and burped, and I’d just changed him. We were lying on my bed. He had my finger in his little fist.

Henry really was adorable. He had Sean’s hair and Dani’s eyes, and the cutest little smile. He made me happy and sad at the same time. But my problems were not Henry’s fault, or Dani’s.

“I am going to be the best aunt ever, Henry.” I told him. He gurgled at me. “I mean, I’m sure you’ll like Stacey, too. But I’m going to be your favorite aunt.” I kissed the top of his fuzzy head.

There was a knock on the door.

“I wonder who that could be?” I said to Henry, as I picked him up. “Maybe your mommy or daddy coming to check on you, or your crazy grandma.”

I opened the door, and Sam was standing there.

“What do you want?”

He wormed his way into the room and shut the door behind him.

“I came to see my nephew.” He leaned over and looked at Henry. “Hey, buddy.”

Henry grabbed his face and smiled.

“See, he likes me.”

“That’s because you look like his dad.”

Sam walked over to the bed and sat down. I followed him.

“I can’t believe you are weaseling in on my time with him.”

I put Henry down in the center of bed and lay down next to him, propping myself up on my elbow.

“He’s my nephew, too.” Sam copied me, lying on the other side of Henry.

“You’re moving to Malibu soon, though,” I pointed out. “You’ll get to see him all the time.”

“Yeah, I will.”

Sam was here, and I wasn’t sure how to get rid of him. So I decided to just play nice. “Are you looking forward to it?”

“The beach in California? Hell, yeah. It beats Michigan winters, that’s for sure.”

“Have you ever lived anywhere besides Kalamazoo?”

“Sure. I went to law school in Ann Arbor.”

“Pretty tame life there, Sammy.”

He looked at me. “Don’t call me that.”

“Sammy? You don’t like it?”

“No. I don’t. I’ve just trained Sean to quit calling me that. Don’t make my life hard.”

I wanted to laugh at him, but he looked so serious.

“What’s the hang-up?”

“Not important.”

“Oh see, now I want to know.”

He shook his head.

“Come on, Sammy, tell me, or I’ll just keep calling you that.”