Syn's Deep In My Blood - Book 2

Lovin' Undercover

Emily kept staring at her phone and checking it from time to time before they could hit the stage in Portland for the last concert there. Just waiting for a promised call that would never come. Zack was waiting for that too, but he had a big bottle of Jack just beside him to help him with the wait. After all, Matt had to allow him to drink at least a little before the concert this time, or he just wouldn't hold it together. He was a mess.

He was in absolutely no condition of playing tonight. In fact, none of them were. They had barely slept, were physically and mentally exhausted, and damn worried about Jess. Emily would give anything for Larry just call it all off, ask the fans to accept their money back, and go home. But he wouldn't cancel anything unless it was about the death of one of the band members.

Jimmy had been sleeping on Emily's shoulder for too long now, and it was starting to get numb, so she moved him to the side slowly and stood up, stretching her tensed back muscles right after. The backstage room was so silent she could hear everyone's breathing, so different from what was happening outside with their crowd.

When she was about to go to the back to gather with her band, she heard a really well-known breath coming closer.

"How are you holding up?" Brian asked quietly, trying not to get so close and trying not to sound so worried. After all, they were still supposedly mad at each other.

"I sincerely feel like helping Zack end that bottle right now, so..." they both observed him and noticed how hopeless he looked, sunk on that couch, staring at nowhere with his phone in hands.

"Maybe she'll be... better off without all of this, you know?"

"Yeah, she definitely will be. Life on the road is just too tough for anyone to handle. Even for the strongest person."

"Agree with that. Hey, you know what?" Brian moved his eyes quickly to Jimmy, apparently out on the couch, and faced Emily again. "I bet I can put a smile back on those lips." he had to travel his tongue on his mouth.

"Really? Try me. I'm made of steel right now." Emily wasn't aware he was staring intently at her lips. She was far from thinking about anything sexual now. And as much as he wanted her, he wasn't thinking about sex either. He just wanted to make her feel better.

"Come here." he grabbed her hand and pulled her through the corridor next to the couch, where their guitars and equipment were kept. "Look." he opened his box of guitars and pointed to a particular one, the red and black Schecter. Her favorite. And there was a white tape with a letter written just below it.

"E? Okay, standard tuning. Nothing new there. You gonna have to do better than that." she crossed her arms, and he smiled sweetly.

"No, you silly. It's E for Emily. I finally decided to name her before the beginning of this tour. In fact, I decided to name her just after our first night together." He said it quietly, almost in a whisper, and now she was the one with eyes stuck on his lips, feeling so flattered from head to toe. "She's feisty and explosive. I can barely handle her. She just messes with all my technique and only responds to my commands when she wants. I can't find a way to dominate her. But somehow, all of this makes me like her more, you know?"

His speech penetrated her skin like a magical breeze. She could feel passion at each letter he pronounced, and she knew he wasn't just talking about guitars now. He was describing her. How couldn't she smile at that?

"You like the challenge, huh?" she smirked and led her thoughts away from her concern for Jess for the first time since she had left.

"Yeah, I do." He smirked back, and before they could get dragged inside the trance of their gazes for too long, Emily interrupted the silence.