Page 49 of Not the Punk

“Who the fuck are you to say shit?” Pierce practically snarled.

Joe stormed off without a word.

Fuck. I made it worse. “I care about Joe, and he cares about this.” I waved my hand at them. “So grow up, dude.”

Pierce started to answer, but I didn’t stick around to hear what he said. I went after Joe. Pierce needed a seriously firm hand, and it wasn’t mine. My responsibility was my Little-rocker. “Joe. Stop. Wait up.”

He turned to glare at me. “What?”

“I was trying to help. Calm things down.”

“I know but you can’t be the hero all the time. You show up doing that.” He flicked his hand at me. “But when I really need you, where are you? I go days without even hearing from you.”

“I’ve had to do a lot of four-on shifts so I could have more time with you. But all of that’s changing. I’m here now, and I promised to talk about how to make it permanent.”

“You didn’t tell me that. In fact, you haven’t told me anything since I asked you to move in with me.”

“Joe. I’m here now and I love you.”

He sighed. “I know. I love you, too, and I’m sorry. I don’t know why that upset me.”

I pulled him to me, hugging him tight. “I’ve got you. It’ll all work out.”

“What are we doing, Colten?”

“I don’t know, but whatever it is, I want to do it together. When we get home tonight, we’ll talk more. For now, let’s enjoy the party. You’re celebrating here.”

“True.” There was the smile I’d been looking for. No, we hadn’t worked everything out, and I still wasn’t sure what to do with my career, but Joe meant too much to me not to try.

Chapter twenty-five

Joe’s Last Chapter

A Few Months Later

I pulled the pillow over my head, wishing I had more time to sleep, but I had to get up and go to the studio. We were recording and prepping for the next tour, and I should have been super excited. Okay, I really was, but Colten was in my bed, being all warm and snuggly. I stuck my cold feet under his leg.

“Hey…stop that.”

I giggled. “No.”

He flipped over and pinned me to the mattress. “Don’t be a brat.” Then he kissed my forehead, my nose, and then my lips before he tucked me up against him.

I wanted to stay there forever. Trent’s trial was coming up soon, but I wanted to think about that even less than having to get up and go to work. We would deal with whatever happened later.

Together, though. Everything together with Daddy Colten. Since he moved in, every day started just like this one, and I couldn’t have been happier about it.

Colten was doing some consulting around the area at various businesses and teaching some classes to newbie firefighters. I told him he didn’t need to do any of that if he didn’t want to. But he said he didn’t want to do nothing. No way could a Daddy be a kept man. And unlike Saxson, he had zero talent for anything else. He did like teaching and helping others learn about fire safety, and he had a bunch of certifications he’d done before we started dating. As far as I was concerned, that was a whole lot better than being an active member. No fires to fight. No danger. No long shifts.

He even sold his truck to make moving here easier, so I planned on buying him a new one as a special treat before our next tour started. For once, he would be the one to be surprised, and I couldn’t wait for that. I loved him so much, I’d do anything for him, and he proved that he’d do anything for me.

While he was playing with all of that, I was playing with the band. My life was turning out to be perfect. Our last album outshone the first, well, technically the second. But the first one didn’t really count, since it was mostly just Kay, and the one we were currently working on was even better. I lived for the music and performing and genuinely liked the members of our band. Even Pierce.

I showered and dressed, then kissed Daddy long and slow before heading out for another day of making music.