She's Still The One: A Brother's Best Friend, Rockstar Romance, Kaci Rose [latest books to read .TXT] 📗

Landon heads upstairs, and I join Austin at the sink. "You wash, and I'll dry?"

"Sounds good." She smiles at me. We have a dishwasher, but we all grew up washing dishes by hand, and I know for Austin it's therapeutic. I also knew she'd hand wash them, so she could start thinking through her plans for the tour.

I grab a towel and stand beside her. Bumping my shoulder into hers, I say, “I’m really glad you’re coming with us."

We make quick work of the dishes, but neither of us says much else. There has always been a comfortable silence between us. Rarely is there a need to fill it, and it's one of my favorite things about our relationship.

"I'm going to head to my room and give Dave a call," I tell her, and she offers me a soft smile.

"I should start planning what I'm going to pack. I need to find everything anyway."

We walk upstairs together, and like a gentleman, I let her go first. It's not because I want to stare at her ass on the way up the stairs. Really, it's not, but I can't tear my eyes away. The way those yoga pants grip every curve of the heart-shaped mounds makes me want to grab hold of her.

Crap, I need to rein my thoughts in, or the next six to eight weeks on tour will be torture and just plain weird. This girl is my best friend’s sister and not even interested in me.

It must be because I haven't gotten laid in the last six months. My normal meaningless hook ups just don’t appeal anymore. I want to settle down, have a family, and kids. I want sex to be about connecting with someone on a deeper level, not just about chasing my release.

The problem is everyone around me wants the playboy. They want to fuck a rock star and have a story to tell. I used to not care, but now, it bothers me. I just don't know how to break the cycle and turn my image around, and I'm not ready to talk about it, because I don't know if I could even explain it to Landon.

I close my door and flop down on my bed, hitting Dave's number, but it's Mitch who answers. He's our assistant manager and takes over, whenever Dave isn't around.

"Hey, Dallas. Getting ready for this tour?" Mitch asks.

"Yeah, that's what I was hoping to talk to Dave about. Is he around?"

"No, he had to go out of town. Some family thing. You’re stuck with me on the first leg of your tour, I'm afraid."

Huh. We have been with Dave for six years now, and never once, has he ever had a family thing or put anything. before the job. I hope everything is okay, but I know better than to pry.

"Listen, we were talking tonight, and Austin is back in town. Well, we were thinking of having her come on tour with us. Nothing big, but maybe a song or two, during the bigger shows. She's going to come either way to spend time with us, though, it might be something to advertise."

"Oh, I like that idea. She has her own little following. Fans love the brother and sister duet between her and Landon. They eat that up. We’re pretty much sold out with the exception of a few venues. This might push the rest of the sales. I'll get on it. Only one song each show?"

"Yeah, somewhere in the middle. She won't want to open or close the show, you know her." She hates being on stage, but she would hate opening or closing even more, so it’s not an option. “So no, we won't make her do it.”

"Sounds good. I'll get a press release going and push it out on social media. Maybe, you guys could share some of the old videos of her on the tour a few years ago and get fans excited on your social media, too."

"Good idea."

"Alright, thanks for giving me more work. I was getting bored. Talk soon."

We hang up, and I go online and grab a link to the video I love the most of Austin. I have it bookmarked, because I watch it more than I should. It was taken two years ago, when she did a few tour stops near Washington, D.C. with us. This was the stop where Landon wasn't feeling very well, so I filled in on the duet, and the fans went crazy. So much so, that the record insisted she and I do a duet together.

The spark in her eyes as she looks at me. I know she was doing it for the fans, playing up to the mood, but even from this fan's video, you can see the emotion in her face, as she sings. At that moment, it was just her and I. The rest of the arena fell away, and I had never wanted to kiss her as badly as I did in that moment. I know after that I hurt her, because I had to put space between us. If she knew my thoughts, she'd have freaked out.

Those few moments on stage also made it impossible for me to be with another girl for months. I felt like I was cheating on her when I tried, which was crazy.

I share the link on my social media, and it gets comments immediately. Fans are so excited she’s touring with us and are begging people who have tickets to record her song and share it.

I watch the video again, before tossing my phone aside on my bed. I’m thinking of different outings I can take Austin on, like spending a whole day at The Biltmore Estate.

I’m still making plans in my head, when there’s a knock on my door.

"Yeah?" I call out, thinking it's Landon, asking if I called Dave, but when Austin steps