Free Ballad (Rockstar #5) by Anne Mercier Page A

should be taking care of yourself better than this. We don’t need you getting sick because you’re not eating, on top of everything else you have going on,” I scold.
    Coley huffs. “Geez.”
    “Don’t you ‘geez’ me, little girl. Do I need to have someone following you around making sure you eat?” I give her a glare—the one that works very well in interrogation.
    “Fine. I promise to eat better, okay?”
    “Lose the ‘tude. It doesn’t look good on you.”
    “What’s your problem?” she asks.
    “I don’t have a problem. I care about you, Nicole, and I want to keep you healthy and safe. That’s all,” I tell her, then pull her in for a hug.
    “Ugh,” she protests but wraps her arms around me as well.
    “Here he comes. Oh, that looks gross,” I say when I see the protein drink he’s carrying.
    “I love those!” she tells me, already licking her lips.
    “What is wrong with you? Who actually likes those?” I shudder.
    “Me. These are chocolaty goodness.” She reaches for the cup Cage hands her then takes a huge gulp. I shudder in disgust. She makes a pleasurable sound.
    “Do you know what he puts in those?” I ask. Cage smirks.
    Coley nods. “It’s all the stuff you need without having to eat all the food to get the nutrients. Imagine being on chemo, so sick your eyeballs hurt, and when you move your nausea overwhelms you.”
    I’m starting to feel like an asshole.
    “Then you get this cold, chocolaty drink that not only tastes better than some of the shit they give you in the hospital, but it’s cold against your hot, dry throat. Chemo is some seriously nasty shit. No lie,” she says, taking another drink then heading inside the building.
    “Well, damn,” I mutter, blinking back tears.
    “Yeah,” is all Cage says as he pulls me into his arms. We stand that way for a few minutes before I notice Ben leaning against the wall, his head hanging down. This is a Ben I’ve never seen before. This Ben is sad and unhappy. This Ben is denying himself the chance to turn that around for himself. I sigh. But, like me, Ben has to figure things out for himself. He and I are too much alike and I feel his pain. I truly do. And while I sympathize with him, I also want to walk up to him and smack him upside the head. He’s wasting time that could be spent making memories. He and I are some stubborn asses.
    “He’ll figure it out,” Cage tells me softly, rubbing my back.
    I’m not surprised he knew what I was sighing about. “Yeah, I know, but will it be too late?”
    “No one has those answers, Fee.”
    I sigh again. “He’s in love with her.”
    “And she’s in love with him. Give him time to figure out that he’s miserable without her and that, lately, the only thing that makes him smile is her.”
    I look up at Cage. “Is that what you did?”
    “No. But you did and, like Coley is doing with Ben, I gave you your space and didn’t push.”
    “And it worked,” I tell him, grinning.
    “Not so much.”
    “What?” I ask, confused.
    “You ran away and left me no choice but to go after you and take what we both knew was mine from the beginning,” Cage tells me with a smirk.
    I nod, remembering. “That night on the beach was so hot.” I’m getting warm just thinking about it.
    “It was.”
    “We’ll have to do that again sometime.”
    “After this tour, Fee. We’ll get away for a while. Just you and me. No phones. No interruptions. Just me and my beautiful wife making love over and over until we fall asleep from exhaustion.”
    “And then start over again,” I whisper against his lips.
    “And again, and again, and again,” he tells me, then kisses me hungrily, pulling me tight against him, so tight it’s as if he can’t get close enough. I can feel his erection against my belly and my body fills with want and need.
    I look up into his nearly black eyes and tell him, “Soon.”
    He nods, kisses my forehead, then slaps my ass before walking away with a grin on his