Sighing, I rubbed my hands against my temples, feeling another headache starting up. “What are we betting? What does the winner get when they win?” I asked.

“If you win, I’ll take over your job for a week and you can take a vacation,” Marissa told me and I nearly fell out of the roost.

For real? She would take on my twenty-four-seven job for an entire week and I could go on an honest vacation? “Holy shit that would be awesome.” Okay, okay. Things just got real. I was determined to win now. Emmie would trust Marissa to take over my job for a week. She would let me go radio silent for an entire week and I could go sit on a beach somewhere and soak up the sun and just relax. It didn’t even have to be a beach. I could go anywhere. I just wanted the break.

“Alright,” I agreed. “And if you win, I will switch rooms with you.” That seemed like a decent trade. I didn’t care which room I had in our apartment, but I knew that Marissa liked her space. She was used to a freaking huge house and a gigantic farm. Not a three-bedroom apartment in one of the most overcrowded cities in the world.

Marissa promptly held out her hand with a grin. “Deal!”

“What is the timeframe? How long do we get to accomplish everything?” Maybe I should have asked that first. If I only had a week then I needed to jump on it—or rather jump on Devlin—as soon as possible. But if I had a few weeks then I could harden my heart a little better against him before starting to work on the bet.

“Everything has to be accomplished by the end of the tour,” Marissa said after a moment’s hesitation and I blew out a relieved sigh.

“Okay, then. Deal.” I shook her hand with a determined smile.

This was going to be interesting.

Devlin

“If you come looking for your kid and can’t find him, it’s because I already buried the body.”

I couldn’t help but snort at Jesse’s statement as I dropped down on the couch in his living room. “Where’s he at now?” No sooner had Lucy and Harris found out that we would be touring together this summer they had announced that Harris would be staying on the Thorntons’ bus. I’d been more than a little relieved to have my son on another bus than my own. Especially when I was mere feet from temptation in the form of an elfin beauty. Plus I knew Lucy would keep Harris out of trouble—for the most part.

“He’s off with Jenna, but I told him to be back before midnight so that Layla doesn’t worry.” Jesse’s gaze went to the sleep area at the back of his bus and he blew out a frustrated breath. “She’s pissed at me.”

I grimaced as I lifted the bottle of beer to my lips and took a long swallow. “Why? What did you do this time?” I meant it as a joke, though. Jesse and Layla didn’t argue often, their relationship was a close one. My friend pretty much worshiped the ground his beautiful wife walked on. If Layla wasn’t happy with him then something big was going on between them.

Jesse rubbed a hand over his bald head. “She’s been talking about having another baby. I think with Lana’s pregnancy showing and Dallas announcing hers just a few days ago that she’s getting baby fever.”

“So go fuck your wife and get her pregnant, man. I’m pretty sure you’ll both be happy after that.” I took another swallow of beer, thankful that I didn’t have to slow down anytime soon since we were going out a little later.

Jesse glared down at me. “Another baby would be great, Dev. But it’s the nine months leading up to the baby that I’m scared shitless of. You remember what happened with the twins. I don’t ever—ever—want to go through that again. Layla is my world. I can’t deal with the thought of losing her again.”

“Dude,” I shook my head, “Layla was carrying two behemoths last time. If she doesn’t have twins I’m sure she will be fine.” But I completely understood where he was coming from. Even I had been worried about sweet, beautiful, feisty Layla waking up during those two-plus days that she had been unable to wake up after the emergency C-section with the twins. It was a wonder that the poor man hadn’t had a nervous breakdown at the time because of all the hell he was being put through. Not only had he had to worry about his wife and his twins, but also the chance that Lucy would be taken from him.

“I still don’t want to chance it. The twins and Lucy are more than enough for me.” Jesse tossed his empty bottle of Corona in the trash and then held out his hand for my now empty bottle. “Let’s go get something harder, bro. I need to unwind.”

As we stepped off the bus, I saw a limo pulling up in the parking lot just outside where our buses were set up. Jesse went to tell the others it was time to go and I climbed in. If I was already in then Natalie wouldn’t be able to bail when she saw that I was going with them to the club. At least that was the plan.

It wasn’t long before the limo’s door opened and my friends started piling in. When Natalie climbed in she didn’t even look in my direction, just took a place right beside Rhett Fucking Tomlinson. When they started whispering back and forth and she giggled, I was seriously contemplating punching that fucker in the face. Instead I turned and punched the partition that divided us from the driver. “Let’s get the fuck moving,” I yelled.

The driver showed how smart he was by pulling out into traffic and starting the slow ride to the club in downtown Chicago. Beside me, Linc rearranged Marissa on his lap and I saw Wroth’s jaw clench so hard that it was a wonder his jaw didn’t crack. Linc might have been gay, but that didn’t matter when a guy who looked like him had his hands on your girl. I could see the strain on my friend’s face and figured the same was mirrored on my own as Natalie and Rhett continued to snicker and laugh about whatever they were whispering about.

Natalie’s laugh was like a silky glove caressing my spine, making my entire body come alive with the soft little giggles and the amused twinkle in her blue-gray eyes. Rhett’s laugh counteracted against that caress, making each caress instantly feel like nails on a chalkboard. I clenched and unclenched my hands into fists as I reminded myself that I would have to face Emmie’s wrath if I started pounding on the walls of the limo.

By the time the limo pulled to a stop in front of the club, my hands were aching from clenching them so hard. Since I was in the back corner of the limo I had to wait for everyone else to get out, and as I watched Natalie climb out ahead of Rhett it took every ounce of control I had to not put my fist through the partition when I saw his fucking hand touch her ass.