The Greatest Show (Willow Son #5/Brothers of Rock #20) (15 page)

“
Good.
Thank you.
”

“
I
can
’
t believe you
’
re worrying. It
’
s
…
nice.
”

“
That
agreement we made was a bad mistake. But I know I can
’
t change what happened. I told your father today I
’
m going to prove it to everyone.
Okay?
”

“
You
said that to him?
”

“
Yeah,
I did. I care about you, Emma. I care about Seth. You two never left my mind.
Maybe somewhere inside me I was secretly waiting for you to contact me. I mean,
not with bad news about Seth, but just to
…”

Emma moved forward and planted her
lips against Brantley
’
s.

“
Okay,
okay,
”
Erik
’
s voice boomed from out on
stage.
“
I want all the
lights turned off in this place. We have a surprise for everyone.
”

The crowd cheered.

“
We
have special guests and they wanted to say hello. Is that okay with you?
”

They kept going wild.

Emma and Brantley kept kissing.

Brantley broke the kiss and stared
at her.
“
To be continued. I
have to go be a rockstar right now.
”

“
Does
that make me your groupie?
”

“
No,
sexy moves
, not at all. I don
’
t
want you as a groupie. I want you as everything.
”

Brantley then hurried away from
Emma, leaving her dangling.

She felt her heart pounding hard.

As she walked forward, she saw
Willow Son standing at the side of the stage.

Then the lights went out.

The crowd cheered wildly.

A couple guys with flashlights
stood there, guiding the band onto the stage.

Emma kept moving forward, toward
the darkness. There was something to be said about it. Going into the darkness,
knowing it would become light.

On stage, when the light came on
and the fans realized it was Willow Son on stage with After the Run, it got so
loud, Emma had to cover her ears. She cringed at the piercing sound.

“
Is
this okay?
”
Erik yelled
into the mic.

It was okay. The fans approved.

And Emma got to stand on the side
of the stage and watch her man perform.

Brantley started with a guitar and
ended up behind the drum kit.

Somewhere in the back of her mind
she pictured Seth standing on the side of a big stand, giant headphones on his
ears to block the sound. A crowd of twenty thousand people screaming for Willow
Son as they played.

That dream used to terrify Emma.

Suddenly, it felt right.

At that exact second, Brantley
turned his head, still drumming, and looked at Emma. He smiled big, looking
genuinely happy.

That was the reason why Emma left
Brantley all those years ago.

But now he was back. He wasn
’
t going to go anywhere again.

Emma had always loved him
…
and that wasn
’
t going to end.

(14)

The private jet took off just
before one in the morning. Emma was tired but thankful the night had gone to
plan. Spending time with Brantley was amazing. Watching him become a rockstar
was damn sexy. Then watching him talk to the other band and all but shake hands
on a deal was even sexier.

She looked at Brantley as they sat
next to each other and opened her mouth to say something.

But he was right there, a step
ahead, and kissed her.

The plane was comfortable, mostly
dark, and they were completely alone.

The second his hand touched her
leg, she shuddered, knowing this was going to go someplace very interesting.

She managed to get out a sigh
before Brantley
’
s hand
touched the button on her jeans. His lips eased to her neck and kissed  her there.
“
Your job right now is to
relax,
sexy moves
. I can
’
t
wait any longer to have you.
”

“
Someone
might see,
”
Emma whispered.

“
It
’
s for you, Emma. Just relax. I
’
ve got it covered.
”

Emma put her hands to the arm rests
and looked around.

The private jet was private. But
there were people on board.

Brantley gently kissed her neck
again. Emma let out a shaky breath and put her head back. He kept kissing her,
working back to her mouth. Their lips touched and flirted, just as he opened
her jeans.

Their eyes met and Brantley
’
s eyes were on fire with lust.

His fingertips touched the top of
her panties and then slid inside. As his fingers crept down and curled around
against her sex, she groaned under her breath and felt herself thrust against
his touch.

“
I
love how you feel,
”
Brantley whispered.

His fingers made circles against
her damp folds, slowly applying more and more pressure. She then felt his
fingers touch against her center and with a thrust, he broke her open.

Emma gripped the armrests even
tighter. She felt herself exhale, trying to hold back on making too much noise.

Brantley pressed deeper and then
turned his fingers, curling, pulling from her. He brought with him wetness and
a tingling pleasure.

Removing his hand from her body,
Brantley then tugged on the top of her jeans.

He nodded and whispered,
“
It
’
s
okay. I promise.
”

“
Holy
shit,
”
Emma whispered.
“
I
’
ve
never
…”

“
It
’
s okay.
”

Emma couldn
’
t believe this was happening. Not just with
Brantley, but on a private jet high in the sky in the middle of the night. It
was crazy.

But it felt so good.

Brantley took her jeans down to her
knees. His hand then slid up her leg and cut to her inner thigh. Emma looked
down to watch, seeing as Brantley moved her panties to the side so he could
pick up where he left off.

He thrust his fingers deep into her
again.

Emma jumped and suppressed a cry.

“
Get
ready,
”
Brantley said.

When Emma looked up at him, he
kissed her.

A second later, his thumb grazed
her sensitive clit.

“
Right
there,
”
Emma groaned.

And that
’
s right where Brantley stayed. His fingers
exploring her depths while his thumb flicked, circled, and pressed against her
nub. Emma quickly caught herself rocking with his movements. She reached with
her left hand and touched his leg, then moved for something else. Brantley was
bulging inside his jeans, growing thicker by the second.

“
I
want you,
”
Emma said.
“
I want you so bad.
”

“
I
know,
”
Brantley said. He
rubbed his nose against hers.
“
This
is about you, for once. Come for me, Emma. I want to feel all of you.
”

Her hand tightened its grip against
his thickness through his jeans. She put her head back and felt herself
beginning to peak. This was far beyond her wildest dreams, but it was coming
true.

She was coming.

The rush from deep inside her core
left her gasping for air.

Brantley groaned each time her body
pulsed against him.

“
It
feels so good to feel you like this,
”
Brantley said.

Emma moved her right hand to
Brantley
’
s wrist and
squeezed.
“
Slow. Fuck. Slow
…”

Brantley slowed more and more until
he was just touching her.

They kissed once more.

“
Now
tell me if you
’
ve done that
before,
”
Brantley said.

“
What
do you think?
”
Emma asked.

Brantley kissed the tip of her nose
and took his hand away.

He helped Emma get her pants
situated again.

“
How
long until we land?
”
she
asked.

“
Maybe
another hour, I think. Why?
”

Emma grinned and turned sideways.
Her fingers touched the button on Brantley
’
s
jeans.
“
Because
…
it
’
s my turn now.
”

**

Everything about Emma was perfect
and crazy all mixed into one. He never experienced anything like her, before
and now.

His left hand gripped the armrest
and right hand spread across her back. The swirls of her tongue had him on
edge, her mouth sliding up and down him at a torturous pace. When he thrust
himself up at Emma, she accepted him, never backed away. In fact, she made
everything feel better by groaning. The vibrations against Brantley
’
s thickness made him grit his
teeth.

Then Emma gripped him at the root
of his cock and stroked as her mouth took care of the rest.

That was all Brantley could handle.

He
’
d
been waiting hours to have Emma. Not to mention touching her beautiful body set
him into a state of overdrive. There was no way in hell he was going to calm
down from touching her. The only way was to get his own.

Which he did
…

“
Ah,
fuck,
”
he groaned as the
surge rushed through his body.

Emma stayed right with him as he
came, feeling her tongue cut left to right against him as he pulsed over and
over. She then started to move slow, all the way down, all the way back up.
Brantley felt his legs flex as he watched her, realizing that out of the
wildest things he
’
d ever
done in his life, being with Emma was it.

The real deal.

The forever kind of feeling that
wouldn
’
t go away.

When Emma sat back up, she did so
with such a little grin on her face that Brantley wanted to go at her again.
She faced forward, fixed her hair, and kept grinning.

Brantley was still catching his
breath, shaking his head.

He reached for her hand again and
used his other hand to fix his jeans.

Their next stop was home. Back to
reality. And this time, they were going to work everything out.

(15)

Brantley wrote a few more words and
folded up the piece of paper. He stood up and walked it to Colby.

“
Don
’
t read it now,
”
he said.
“
Check it out later. It
’
s all I
’
ve got. You take it from there, brother.
”

“
Okay,
”
Colby said.

“
Should
we talk about the show?
”
Van asked.
“
It
’
s been a while since we
’
ve all been in a room together.
”

“
I
love breaks,
”
Ryker said.
“
But sitting around in the sun,
drunk, only goes so far.
”

“
You
would say that,
”
Jett said.

“
The
rest of us are writing tunes,
”
Colby said.

“
Not
Brantley,
”
Ryker said.
“
He
’
s
playing Daddy.
”

“
Playing?
”
Brantley asked. He puffed his
chest out.
“
Hey. I
’
m trying to work this all out
here.
”

“
Take
it easy,
”
Ryker said.
“
I
’
m
messing around.
”

Brantley wasn
’
t taking anything easy. Sleeping
on the couch at Emma
’
s
house was getting to be a pain in the ass. Sleeping in bed with her was great
but they had to set an alarm so Brantley could sneak out of bed and go back
downstairs.

He and Emma were half flirting,
mostly having great sex.

Brantley donated blood to be sent
for testing to make sure he was a match for Seth. That had his stomach in a
wicked knot at the possibility that a call would come telling him he wasn
’
t a match. If that happened
…
what would he do then?

“
Hey,
you here?
”
Van asked.

“
Yeah,
”
Brantley said.
“
Just waiting on a call.
”

“
About
the kid?
”
Colby asked.
“
Everything okay?
”

“
Yeah.
It
’
s good. He
’
s doing good now.
”

Seth had a mild fever two nights
ago and it sent Emma into a terror. They ended up calling the doctor and making
an emergency run to the guy
’
s
office to have Seth looked at. The doctor determined he was just a little
dehydrated. No need for the hospital just yet, so he sent them home and Emma
spent a couple days making sure Seth didn
’
t
get worse. Luckily, he didn
’
t.

As of this morning, he was back to
fighting crime throughout the house again, keeping everyone safe. It was first
really cool to watch Seth set up the bad guys and take them all down. But the
more Brantley watched the more he realized Seth was doing that as a way of
talking. He fought the
bad guys
which were stuffed animals as a way to
control a victory of his own. It was deep thinking, but Brantley saw it.
Another thorn to Brantley
’
s
heart was that Seth did that because he was already understanding his role as
the man in the family. Every time Mike crouched, his bones popped. He could
barely pick Seth up without turning red and looking in pain.

All Brantley wanted to do was tell
Seth who he was. That he had nothing to worry about in life. Brantley would
always be there. Always take care of him, no matter what. But Emma wanted to
keep holding off.

She always had an excuse.

“
Hey,
”
Jett said and slapped Brantley
on the back.
“
What is it?
”

“
Emma
won
’
t tell Seth who I am,
”
Brantley blurted out.

“
Oh,
”
Colby said.
“
Damn.
”

“
Sorry,
”
Ryker said.

“
I
mean, I get it. I don
’
t
deserve any credit in all this. I merely had sex with her and then bolted. But
every time we get together, it
’
s
so good. We
’
re so close. I
really care about her. I, uh, I love her. I love the kid, too. I just want it
all to be right. For him to see us together, to know who I am. To get that he
doesn
’
t have to be alone as
a guy in this world.
”

“
Shit,
”
Jett said.
“
That
’
s a heavy load to carry, man.
”

“
I
know,
”
Brantley said.
“
That
’
s why I haven
’
t
pushed at her about it. She did everything for Seth. She gave birth, cared for
him, so I don
’
t want any
attention. I want Seth to be happy.
”

“
What
can we do?
”
Colby asked.

“
Nothing.
Thanks for listening to that for a second.
”

“
Hey,
we
’
re here,
”
Ryker said. He grabbed Brantley
by the shoulders.
“
We don
’
t have to get along all the
time, brother. But we
’
re
here. It
’
s going to work
for you. I can
’
t believe
you
’
ve jumped into this
like you
’
ve done. You
’
re a good person, B.
”

“
Thanks,
Ryker. Now get your hands off me.
”

“
I
’
m going to throw it out there,
”
Van said,
“
and say we better get After the
Run on tour.
”

“
Bro,
Brantley
’
s talking,
”
Colby said.

“
No,
it
’
s good. Let
’
s talk business. I agree. We get
After the Run on tour. I say we do fifteen shows. The biggest venues across the
country. Each concert is its own event. No long stretch tour. Just major
events. Turn it into a press thing, whatever. But we do fifteen.
”

The rest of the band looked at
Brantley.

“
Okay,
”
Ryker said.
“
That
’
s good.
”

“
Listen,
”
Brantley said.
“
It
’
s
an event. We should hang around for a couple days. Do acoustic sets for contest
winners and stuff. Sign autographs. I mean, make it into something. Hell, put
up a second stage and have local bands play.
”

“
That
’
s great,
”
Jett said.

“
So
it
’
s private but big,
”
Colby said.
“
You might be on to something
here.
”

“
I
always am,
”
Brantley said.

Harry then showed up to give the
news that talks with Jeff had been great. After the Run was really interested
in touring. Once Brantley threw the idea to Harry about the fifteen dates, that
seemed to please Harry.

“
Portis
is pushing back,
”
Harry
said.
“
But if I can pull
some numbers to show that this could be really lucrative, it could work.
Especially if we can let him throw a few of his projects on that second stage.
”

“
Whatever,
”
Colby said.
“
Just no more junk bands like
what happened before to us.
”

Jett
’
s
lip curled. That was an old memory but a fresh scar.

“
Hey,
Brantley, can we talk?
”
Harry asked.

“
Sure.
”

“
Oh
shit,
”
Ryker said.
“
What happened now? Does he have
another kid hidden somewhere?
”

“
Fuck
off,
”
Brantley yelled.

Harry led the way from the practice
building to outside.

“
What
’
s wrong?
”
Brantley asked.

“
I
dug around into that thing you wanted me to do,
”
Harry said.
“
I got a name
and an address, Brantley. But it
’
s
not
…”

Brantley
’
s cell phone started to go off.

It was Emma calling.

He took the call, worried about
Seth.

“
Hey,
”
he said.
“
Is Seth okay?
”

“
Seth
is fine. I need to ask you a favor
…”

Brantley looked at Harry. He
reached for the piece of paper in Harry
’
s
hand.

“
I
have to go,
”
he whispered
to Harry.
“
Thanks for this.
”

Brantley then started to jog toward
his car.

“
It
’
s okay, Emma,
”
Brantley said.
“
I
’
ll be there soon.
”

**

Emma walked back into the bar and
saw Seth spinning on a stool. He had half a burger in front of him. All the
fries were gone, along with half a glass of chocolate milk, which was Seth
’
s favorite. Fries and chocolate
milk.

“
Eat
up,
”
Emma said.
“
Finish your burger.
”

“
I
wanted a cheeseburger,
”
Seth said.
“
Pop got it
wrong.
”

“
Pop
did not get it wrong. You don
’
t
like cheeseburgers.
”

Seth pouted and faced his food.

Emma touched his head.
“
You have to eat, Seth.
”

Behind her, Emma heard her father
cough. She turned and saw him leaned forward, touching his chest as he hacked
up a lung.

“
Why
don
’
t you just close up?
”
she asked.
“
Is it really that bad if the bar
doesn
’
t open for one night?
”

“
Yes,
”
her father said.
“
This is called commitment.
Nobody knows what that is in this world anymore.
”

Emma sighed to herself. She hated
when her father was sick because he became grumpy. She went to the bar and
leaned against it.

“
You
’
re a pain in the butt, Dad.
”

“
That
’
s okay. I
’
ll be fine. If I go sitting around, I
’
ll get worse. If I keep moving,
my body will fight it off. It
’
s
a damn cold, Emma.
”

He turned and then grabbed his
right leg.

“
How
’
s the leg?
”

“
Working,
”
he said.
“
You want a drink?
”

“
I
have Seth with me.
”

“
Then
go home.
”

“
Thanks,
Dad.
”

Her father turned, glass in hand,
and filled it with soda. He put it on the bar for Emma.

“
What
is it? You only bring Seth here when something is wrong. So what
’
s wrong?
”

“
I
think I need to say something about Brantley to him.
”

“
The
truth?
”
her father
whispered.

“
Yeah.
”

“
Wow.
That
’
s heavy. How does Brantley
feel about that?
”

“
He
brought it up a few times. When we
’
re
all together, it feels right.
”

“
Emma,
I don
’
t know what I
’
m supposed to say in all of
this,
”
her father said.
“
Coming around is great. He shows
up, plays, does whatever, that
’
s
great. How long
’
s it been?
”

“
I
know
…”

“
What
happens in a few more months? He rushed here in a panic because you called.
That took guts. He
’
s stayed
true to everything he
’
s
said to you and Seth. That
’
s
good. But he
’
s going to do
his thing. Wasn
’
t it his
thing that made this happen to begin with?
”