"Welcome home dickhead!" Chance greeted me with a one-arm hug and a slap on the back. His once green Mohawk was now electric blue.
"It's good to see that some things haven't changed," I said and laughed as my other band brothers did the same one-arm hug.
"Welcome home, Linc." Her voice sounded like heaven, as it rightfully should because she looked like an angel, standing across the room with the sun's rays filtering through the blinds, forming a glow around her body. I couldn’t control the smile that came across my face. I was not going to question why she was there rather than at school. I was just glad that she was. She crossed the room and stopped in front of me with a big smile on her face. "You look good," she said as she stood on her tip toes and kissed my cheek.
God that felt so good. My dick twitched at the contact between us. I had to fight the urge to wrap her in my arms and give her a proper hello, but with her brother standing close by, that probably was not a very good idea.
"I hope you're hungry, because we have lots of food in the kitchen," she told me. "I gave Levi the simple task of ordering pizza, and I think he ordered enough to feed an army," she laughed and started walking toward the kitchen. My eyes automatically followed the sway of her perfect ass as she turned and walked away.
"Have you forgotten how much we eat? You're brother alone can polish off a whole pizza. I was just looking out for Linc, you know. I wanted to make sure he at least got a slice," Levi remarks.
"Oh please! You mean, you were planning for a cold pizza breakfast tomorrow," she replied, giving him a wink. "You see, I do remember how you guys eat," she said, and he laughed with a guilty look on his face.
"Cold pizza is the best," Jinx said as he stepped into the kitchen behind the other guys.
Damn it's good to be home!
We grabbed a few slices of pizza before taking a seat at the dining room table. Everyone except Honesty.
"Enjoy your pizza, guys. I've got a test to study for," she told us and walked toward the door.
"But, what if we need something?" Chance asked her with a pouty face that looked ridiculous. Another thing that hasn't changed.
"You're big boys. Get it yourself," She giggled and walked out. I had to laugh myself, when I saw his pout turn into a frown. I loved her playful side.
"Okay guys, I was going to wait until later to discuss this but, I guess now is as good a time as any," Court announced, looking around the table at all of us. "You guys have a couple more weeks off before we head to Washington," he said to the group, as he stared at me. I wondered if this was the part where he would tell me that I was being kicked out of the band. "Linc, we've thought long and hard about your situation and all the things that you would be faced with while on the road, and we've all decided that it would be best if you stayed here and continued your outpatient treatment. We will be gone six months and should return around the Thanksgiving holiday. We already have some dates scheduled for after the first of the year, which is when you'll join us, that is; if that's what you still want to do. We also thought about what it would be like for you to have to stay here while we are gone, so we hired a sober companion for you. You know, someone who would be by your side 24/7," he told me, and then paused for my reaction.
I didn’t know what to say to that. I was glad that I still had a job, but I was not too excited about having a fucking babysitter. It was just something I would have to just suck it up and deal with, I supposed.
When I didn’t respond, he continued, "Your sober companion will stick by your side day and night".
I would like to fucking throw something at him, maybe my fist. Realizing they had hired someone without my approval fucking sucked. "
You expect me to spend 24 hours a day, seven days a week, with someone that I don't know and be okay with it? If I wanted to be followed around by some dick who might ask me to piss in a cup anytime he feels like it, I would have stayed in rehab," I told him, my voice sounding a little harsh.
"We found the perfect person for the job, of course we had to really work on the family to get them to agree, but they finally did, and felt that it would actually be best if Honesty took the job," Court said.
I had to shake my head to clear my thoughts. Did I actually hear him right? I looked across the table where Jinx was sitting, staring at his plate. His face was void of any expression so I couldn’t tell how he actually felt about the news. Honesty is my new babysitter? Hell yeah!
"You're okay with this Jinx?" I asked him. The last time I checked, he wasn't my biggest fan.
He took a deep breath and looked up from his plate of pizza. I could practically see his jaw tighten before he spoke. "Honesty is a grown woman. She can make her own decisions, and once she met with us, and Court presented her with the contract, she agreed. It was her decision, and regardless of how I feel about it, it was her decision, and I respect it," he responded.
I gave him a nod in appreciation. Wow. I guess some things truly did change while I was gone.
"What about school? I don't want her quitting school just to help me out," I responded. I would never be okay with that. I screwed up my chance at college; I won’t be the cause of her doing the same.
"She's taking classes online. She has been this whole time. She wanted to stay close to us all, so she has been living here for the last six months. The only way I would be okay with it was if she stayed in school. So now she's taking online classes. It has worked out great so far. I have been able to spend time with my sister, watch over her, all the while she gets her college education," he said, and grinned like the proud brother that he was.
We spent the rest of the afternoon catching up on what the guys have been doing for the past six months. I filled them in on my day to day routine in rehab. I told them about the wonderful detox process, the endless hours of nausea, vomiting, and aches and pains that went along with it, the hours spent in group meetings and one-on-one therapy sessions. I told them of the decision I had made to turn my life around and make the most out of it, and I promised not to let them down after being given the opportunity to stay with the band. That in and of itself said a lot about how they felt about me. It showed that they believed in me, which was more than anyone had ever given me before.
Once we had finished eating and discussing band business, I grabbed my suitcase and headed up the stairs to my room, only to find that it was no longer my room. It was Honesty's, and she was lying across the bed on her stomach with her silky, brown hair fanned out over her arms and shoulders. Her book was lying off to the side, and her eyes were closed. I smiled to myself as I took in the tanned skin of her bare legs, and I remembered how silky and smooth they were the last time I touched them. I had to hold myself back from trailing my fingers up and over her calf, and along her thigh.