Erik obviously knew something, but did he know this? Could it be something he kept away from the rest of the band? It affected us all. And Louis… What the hell did Louis have to say about all of this? We needed him. If he bailed, then we would be stuck on tour without a drummer, and it wasn’t like Isla could step in.
I swore.
Isla. Fucking Isla. Did she know? I couldn’t even imagine what she was going through if she did. Isla had loved Dion since they were kids. In her head, it was always meant to be them, forever. Yes, she had fucked up and messed around on him, and no one could blame Dion for getting out of a relationship that had made him unhappy for as long as he had been in it. But still… Isla was my friend, too. I wanted her to be ok.
I wanted them both to be ok.
“She didn’t show...” Without warning, Dion doubled over. His vomit hit the carpet and splattered across both of our legs. He didn’t seem to care. But I fucking did.
“Fuck.” I took an involuntary step back, looking behind me at the two bodyguards that were bringing up the rear. I’d had enough. I loved Dion. He was closer than a brother, but I was no babysitter. If he wanted to get so wasted that he spewed on my shoes, then he was on his own. “Take him to Erik’s bus. He’s on babysitting duty tonight.” I gave them a nod, but I didn’t need to watch them to know they would do their job. It was one reason we used them. Unquestioning and loyal. They didn’t bat an eye at any of the shit we got up to. Most probably because they were getting up to worse.
Leaving my intoxicated and possibly married friend in their care, I pushed my way out of the fire escape and across the fenced parking lot to the bus that Dion and I usually shared. Tonight, it would just be me. And honestly, I needed the alone time to try to digest everything that happened.
Tours were always brutal, especially to someone like me who valued their privacy. I enjoyed my alone time, and that was always scarce on tour, where you pretty much lived on top of each other. I loved it though, lived for it. We all did.
I needed to mull over what Dion had just said as well.
Dion married.
Although he hadn’t said that exactly, he said he had asked her. On a whim. After knowing her for only a few hours. And after knowing him for as long as I did, I couldn’t picture any woman ever saying no. They never said no to him.
No wonder he was all messed up.
No wonder…
Stepping up onto the bus, I paused long enough for my eyes to get accustomed to the light that had come on automatically, and any thought of spending some alone time vanished.
One tanned slender leg hung out of the bed, and a mass of dark curls was barely visible through the drawn curtain of one bunk.
I groaned.
Fucking groupies sneaking onto the bus was the last thing I needed. It was the last thing Dion would need plastered over the front pages as well.
“Up ya get, Goldilocks.” I stomped towards her, only coming to stop when I was hovering over her. She was in the topmost bunk, which put her almost at eye level. Flicking back the curtain angrily, I tried again. “Goldilocks, you’re in the wrong bed.”
Brown eyes blinked sleepily up at me, confusion dulling the golden flecks in them.
“I...” Coming awake suddenly, she shifted her weight, and it drew my attention to one breast where it had fallen loose from her silky tank top. There was a dusting of freckles across the swell.
I didn’t get to take in anything else as she let out a shriek. Batting me away like I was some attacker in her house, and she wasn’t some desperado on my bus. “You’re not Dion! They told me this was Dion’s bus.”
I rolled my eyes.
Was this seriously happening again?
TWO
Elodie
Jax Turner had just seen my tit. Sure, I had scooped the wayward appendage back in as quickly as it had popped out, but I knew he had seen. I had plainly seen the flash of interest in his eyes. There was surprise as well, which made no sense. Surely, he had been told to expect me?
“You’re not Dion,” I mumbled. Sleep was taking too long to leave me, and it was making me dumb. “They told me this was Dion’s bus.”
His eye roll was epic. Clearly something he had perfected over the years.
“Up ya get, Goldilocks,” he said again, and this time my hand went to my hair, tugging the tangled curls into what I hoped was some kind of order. Without a mirror, I was facing a losing battle, but I had to try, because this was not how I wanted my first meeting with my new employers to be. “Dion isn’t here, and even if he was, he wouldn’t thank you for sneaking in and taking your clothes off.” The corner of Jax's mouth twitched. “Well, maybe in the past he would have, but not tonight. Maybe try one of the other buses. He isn’t here, and I am too tired.” He gave a shrug.
It took me maybe ten whole seconds for his words to make sense.
