29. Chapter Twenty-Nine

Chapter Twenty-Nine

The morning was clear and cool as Kinsey pulled open the windows. She leaned out into the sea breeze, the ocean as blue and calm as a lake. Then she turned back to the real view. Morning light spilled over Rosalie, her lovely hair a little wild, nothing but a sheet covering her body as she sipped a steaming coffee. Kinsey realized for the first time what the feeling that kept welling up inside her was.

"What's that smile?" Rosalie looked up and caught her gaze.

"None of your business," Kinsey said, slipping back between the sheets and picking up her own coffee to sip. Rosalie narrowed her eyes, but stroked her hand over her thigh under the sheets. "When do you have to go back?"

Rosalie hesitated.

"I mean," she said, then she bit her lip. Kinsey raised her eyebrows. Rosalie looked skyward. "I have work on Monday," she started again. Kinsey waited.

"It's Saturday morning," Kinsey pointed out. "Do you have a flight to catch?"

"I kind of don't," Rosalie admitted. "I got as far as booking a flight to see you, but I didn't know how this was going to go. So I just… didn't plan."

"Are you telling me I get to keep you for a whole day and another night?" Kinsey had forgotten how to play it cool, her entire body turning to look at her.

Rosalie tucked her hair back, a small smile on her lips at Kinsey's barely held in excitement.

"I guess I am."

"We're headed up to Providence later this afternoon-"

"I know," Rosalie interrupted, "I stalked your tour dates to figure out how to find you."

Kinsey's grin spilled out unstoppably.

"Rosalie Carlson. Are you angling for a ride on the fucking tour bus?"

"Ugh," Rosalie said, pulling her down on top of her to kiss, "shut up and just take me with you."

They ate breakfast in a little cafe at the waterfront, then wandered the beach past the lighthouse, Kinsey literally nearly dying when Rosalie slipped her fingers through hers as they walked.

They picked up Rosalie's bag from her completely unslept-in hotel room and met the tour bus right before it was due to depart. They had just boarded the steps together, when a voice shouted down the bus at them.

" Kinsey! " Coral yelled, "what are the fucking rules?" Kinsey blinked, hesitating, as Coral arrived in the aisle midway down the bus, her hand on her hip looking ferocious. " No groupies on the tour bus! "

Rosalie laughed out loud, her green eyes sparkling bright. She grabbed Kinsey's hand, jerking her into a pair of empty seats and pulling Kinsey against her body like a human shield.

Coral stalked down the aisle, pushing her way into the seat behind theirs. Her expression cracked immediately into a blinding smile as Rosalie nudged Kinsey away from her to stand up so the two women could embrace tightly over the back of the seat.

"Never really pegged you as a cougar," Coral teased Rosalie who rolled her eyes. "Suits you though. You're glowing. " Coral cocked her head at Kinsey. "What did you do to her?" Kinsey simply raised her eyebrows and Coral laughed.

" That's why you scared the crap out of me and ordered me out the door last night," Kinsey said, turning in her seat to gape at Coral.

"Yeah, that was an orchestrated ambush," Coral informed her with a smirk. "She's into you, but not enough to wait out in the cold all damn night."

"What did she even say to you?" Kinsey wished she'd been a fly on the wall for that conversation.

"She called and told me she needed to seduce my opening act drummer and have her way with her." Coral shrugged. "Standard Rosalie shit. So I threw you to the lions."

"Well," Kinsey said, deliberately widening her eyes to look as doe like as possible. " Thank you."

Coral cackled and Rosalie sank down in her seat, more than a little pink, pulling Kinsey in close again. The bus jerked into gear and Coral went back to her seat.

"It's possible you're enjoying this a little too much," Rosalie said.

"It only just hit me how ridiculously cool you are," Kinsey said. "Friends with both Savannah Grace and Coral Sanchez before they even got famous. You like to disguise it but you're a fucking hipster," she accused.

Rosalie laughed and Kinsey couldn't stop her smile at how much she liked this version of Rosalie, the one with the mischievous eyes who was more than comfortable on a tour bus full of musicians. She tugged her in and kissed her.

"I honestly have no idea how I didn't notice you two were fucking." They pulled back to see that Cassidy had arrived into the seat in front of them, sitting up on her knees to observe them. She fixed her blue eyes sharply on Rosalie. "Did she give you hell?" she asked hopefully.

"She did," Rosalie said, her face completely straight. Kinsey wondered if for Rosalie just being invited to talk about her inner self was in fact, her idea of hell. She loved that she had done it anyway.

"Okay good," Cassidy approved. "So you're sorted?" She looked from one to the other. Kinsey met her eye and nodded, barely able to hold back her happiness. Cassidy smiled widely. "Great. Because you look fucking amazing together. It took me a minute to get my head around it, but now that I see it… I really see it."

"She's like, obsessed with you," Lane announced, sliding in beside their girlfriend. "She's got your whole lives together planned out for you now, in case you need any pointers."

Rosalie quivered slightly beside her, but when Kinsey turned to look at her she saw that it was with held-back laughter.

"I do not," Cassidy huffed. "All I said was that the two of you are a good match. Kinsey could do with a mature, stable partner when our lives start to get insane soon enough and Rosalie could use the excitement."

Rosalie burst out laughing, her hand sliding into Kinsey's.

"You know, Cassie," she said, "I'm pretty sure you're right."

That night, they all hung out backstage before they were due to go on and Kinsey felt like her heart could burst. Her band was about to play, Cassidy and Lane were goofing around looking adorable and Rosalie was sitting in her lap, eyes lit up, laughing at something Coral said, sparkling with happiness and so damn pretty Kinsey could die.

It felt like everything.

Just before they were due to play, Rosalie kissed her on the mouth in front of everyone, then dragged Lane with her to go smoosh into the crowd and see them play from the audience. When the lights came on and the crowd gave them a roar Kinsey found she could barely stop smiling. They played a great set, Kinsey understanding now why Cassidy lit up on stage so brightly, knowing there was someone out there in the crowd with eyes only for you.

Afterward Rosalie stole her away into a dark corner backstage to make out.

"I love your band," she said from under her lashes. "Want to come home with me?"

They fled for the hotel.

Rosalie took a flight home the next afternoon, Kinsey kissing her goodbye as the cab driver tapped her fingers impatiently on the door frame.

"Wait for me?" Kinsey teased her, as if she were staying away for a year. Rosalie smirked, her fingers still hooked through the belt loops of Kinsey's jeans.

"I'll consider it," she said. "If you remember to call once in a while."

Kinsey shrugged. "I mean… I'll try."

"Cool, whatever." Rosalie shrugged back.

She got into the cab and Kinsey watched as it disappeared, then she pulled out her phone and called. Rosalie picked up instantly.

"I'm in love with you," Kinsey said, unable to stop smiling. She listened for exactly one, sharp inhaled breath, and then she hung up.

Two seconds later, her phone rang. She let it go to voicemail a handful of times, but Rosalie kept calling.

"You asshole ," she said when Kinsey eventually picked up. She waited for a beat, then took a breath. "I'm in love with you too."

They listened to each other breathe for a minute. Kinsey was pretty sure she was smiling so loudly Rosalie could hear it.

"Cool," she said.

Two weeks later the tour bus arrived back in Nashville and as Kinsey stepped down off the bus, she saw Rosalie in the early evening light, leaning back against her car, waiting for her. She straightened up when her eyes found Kinsey's, lips parting in a smile that made her heart crack. Kinsey pressed her all the way back against the car, kissing her deeply, hearing Coral call get a room on her way past as Rosalie's hands pulled her in slightly lower than appropriate and stayed there.

Suddenly Rosalie pulled back.

"Hey, Cassidy!" she called and Kinsey looked over to where her bandmate was walking by, hand-in-hand with Lane. "What's Kinsey's last name? She still refuses to tell me."

Cassidy laughed.

"Ugh," she said, "it's Fox," she rolled her eyes dramatically.

Rosalie gave her an incredulous look.

"Are you serious?"

"I know, right?" Cassidy agreed. "Apparently Hot Bitch was already taken when her ancestors arrived."

"That's ridiculous," Rosalie narrowed her eyes at Kinsey, looking thoroughly put out, even as Kinsey laughed.

Rosalie took her home to her own apartment and looked around the place as Kinsey flicked on lights and opened windows, the space already feeling more lived in just by having her walk through the doors.

"Huh," she said, as Kinsey dumped the entire contents of her duffle bag into the washing machine. "It's cute. Practically looks like a grownup lives here."

Kinsey rolled her eyes. "And," she added, "not a single roommate."

She kissed Rosalie's smirk and left her to poke through her things while she put fresh sheets on her bed. When she came back out Rosalie was on the couch, her bare feet stretched out in front of her, phone in hand.

"I was going to order us takeout," she said, "since I can only assume your cupboards are alarmingly bare." Kinsey hung in the doorway, just looking at her, a crooked smile on her face. "What?" she said, when she looked up. " What?" She started to laugh as Kinsey still didn't speak. "Surely you didn't miss me that much, it was barely even a couple of weeks."

Kinsey came over and climbed on top of her, kissing her down into the cushions.

"Did you even notice I was gone?" Kinsey asked, as Rosalie slid her hands into her hair, kissing her back, her eyes both warm and definitely hungry.

"Barely," she denied, then reached down to pull Kinsey's t-shirt up over her head, a small sound of desire escaping her throat as she ran her fingers over her torso. Kinsey swallowed a gasp as she cupped her through her bra, already teasing her with her thumb.

"So you can wait then?" Kinsey asked. "I don't need to take you to bed any time soon?"

Rosalie's eyes flicked up to hers for just a second before Kinsey started kissing her throat making her breath catch.

"I…" she managed, before Kinsey kissed her again and her hips tilted up against her, legs coming up to wrap around hers.

"What I'm hearing you say, quite clearly, is that you'd like me to make you come with my actual mouth, rather than just the words that come out of it," she said, referencing the sheer amount of phone sex they'd had in the last two weeks. Rosalie's gaze became extremely focussed all of a sudden. She frowned.

"Can't it be both?"

Kinsey smirked and pulled her up off the couch.

Rosalie looked every bit as good in Kinsey's bed as she'd daydreamed she would, her pale skin bare in the fading light, her gaze locked to Kinsey's face as she gasped with pleasure, her red hair tumbling over the pillows as her spine arched. The expression in her lovely eyes as she clutched tight to Kinsey afterward made her heart want to explode. A realization hit her like a flaming arrow.

"This is really happening, isn't it?" she whispered, holding Rosalie tight, her chest filling with awe.

Rosalie looked up at her. She bit her lip, then smiled.

"Yeah," she said slowly, like a revelation. "It really is."