Free Hated (Rock Star Trilogy) by Mercy Amare

can’t wait for them to see it. I’m kind of sad that Alec can’t come with us. He says he has stuff to do here, but I know what he’s really doing… He’s giving Bridgett space like I told him to do. It makes me smile, because I know that he really would do anything for my sister.
    Stephan and I are packing our suitcases before we leave.
    “I feel like I never get to spend any time with you,” he says.
    I know exactly what he means. “It won’t always be like this. Plus, if everything goes well, I’ll have some free time before the tour. You and I can spend some time together. Alone .”
    “I’d like that.” He puts his arm around my waist and pulls me closer. “So we get to spend some time together tomorrow, right?”
    “Yep. Well, all of us. I thought we could do some touristy stuff in New York.”
    “Maybe you could pretend to be sick, and we could just head back to the hotel room.”
    I like Stephan’s idea. “It’s your first time in the city, and you want to spend it in a hotel room?”
    “Yes. I do.”
    “We’ll have plenty of time for that later.” I gently push him away. “You need to finish packing.”
    Stephan steps into the closet and pulls out some more clothes to put in his suitcase. “So basically we are going to have to schedule time to have sex over the next year?”
    “You would be correct. But I warned you.”
    “I know you did. It just sucks. I really want to just throw you on the bed and spend the rest of the night making love to you.” He looks at me and gives me his seductive smile. “Maybe we could just fly out early in the morning.”
    “I have to be there at four in the morning. Which would be one in the morning our time, which means we will have to leave… at nine. Yeah, so basically I’m already getting zero sleep as it is. As much as I want to have sex with you, I can’t. I haven’t slept more than five hours every night this week, and I’m exhausted from all the sex we’ve been having.”
    “You have a lot of sleep to catch up on this weekend,” Stephan says.
    “I wish.” I frown when I think about having to be up at five Saturday morning for a photo shoot. “I have the photo shoot early Saturday morning.”
    “Right. And then we’re going on the yacht.”
    “Yep. And I’m going to take a nice long nap on the boat.” I sigh dreamily just thinking about it.
    “So, when you say you’ll have free time before the tour… How much free time are we talking about?”
    “Two or three weeks,” I answer. “I’m taking a week off for Thanksgiving, and hopefully two weeks off for Christmas. To do that though, I’m going to have like zero free time for anything else between now and then. I still have to finish recording my new album, promotion, and I have to get pictures taken for the cover. Also I have rehearsals for the tour. I have to pick a set list, and Alec and I still have to pick a theme for our tour.”
    “Can I help with any of that?” he asks.
    “Actually, I think MTV wants you to do some promotion for the documentary. You and Mona are going to be doing that next week, so you’ll be pretty busy.”
    “Wow.” He zips up his suitcase. “I really had no idea what I was getting into.”
    “Are you regretting it yet?” I ask.
    “Never.”
    I zip up my own bag. I didn’t pack a lot. My stylist, Monica, lives in NYC. She already has my outfits ready for me. “I wish I could teleport.”
    “That would be nice,” Stephan says. “I have spent more time in an airplane since meeting you than I ever have before in my whole life.”
    “Since I turned fifteen, I’ve spent probably thirty percent of my time in the air.” I can’t help but laugh. “I used to be scared of flying. And I always heard about rock stars and celebrities dying in plane crashes… It didn’t help my anxiety. It took me months to get over it.”
    “You don’t get nervous at all anymore?”
    “Nope. Not even a little.” I grab my acoustic guitar case. “Otto wants