“Because he doesn’t think I’m the enemy.” The words were barely a whisper; her eyes locked on my mouth as I wiped away more water with my palm.
The tight space suddenly felt claustrophobic. The urge to do something I might regret overwhelmed me until alarms blared in my subconsciousness. Taking a step back, I slicked a hand over my saturated hair, trying to regain my composure so she wouldn’t know how epically I’d lost this round of whatever game we seemed to be playing. As she shifted, a dark spot on her hip came into view. Maybe the girl next door had a wild side.
Pasting on a smirk, I leaned against the door and gave her a slow once over, channeling my inner De Beaux to make me look like a proper asshole.
“Nice ink.”
For the first time, she seemed to realize just how much was on show.
With an indignant squawk, she grabbed the nearest bottle—maybe the offensive conditioner from earlier—and threw it at my head.
As I ducked out the door, a weird noise bubbled out of my throat.
It almost sounded like a chuckle.
I needed to get laid.
It wasn’t like I was a monk, but unlike others in this band, I could usually contain my baser urges.Usuallybeing the keyword.
I glared at my cock, silently berating it for refusing to soften despite two separate sessions with my hand since this morning’s incident.
Luckily, the roadies had almost finished bump in, and we had the night off.
“Get dressed. We’re going to a bar.”
Harvey jumped to his feet, practically launching his guitar across the bus in his eagerness to get his dick wet. A place where women were drinking, where he might be recognized and fucked because he was part of the band, was his idea of nirvana.
Otis glanced up from his notebook with a small frown creasing his brow. “Has Tatum okayed this?”
I snorted. “It’s our day off. You can come and babysit if you want, but I’m going. And it looks like Harvey’s in. How about you, brother?” I glanced over at Toby, half of me hoping he would stay put because I needed a break, and I wouldn’t be able to relax if I was watching him write himself off all night.
“Sounds good. Let me get a jacket.”
“At least let her know where we’re going,” Otis urged, reaching for his sneakers without breaking eye contact with me.
The last thing I wanted to do was have a conversation with our little manager.Hey, Tatum. I can’t seem to get rid of the hard-on I got checking out your naked body this morning, so I’m going to go find a random hole to stick my dick in. Wanna watch?
I snorted again and rolled my eyes for Otis’s benefit. “If you’re so worried, tell her yourself.”
Without waiting for a response, I jumped down out of the bus and went to find a man about a car.
The bar we chose was the kind of dive that promised the drinks would be as cheap and nasty as the patrons, and people would have a memory as long as their next shot. Harvey and Toby whooped as we breezed through the doors, each as excited as the other to satisfy their vices in the dark, dank corners of the establishment. Otis followed slowly, with a fretting Tatum on his heels. The whole gang had come along for the ride. Sliding up to the bar, I ordered a round of beers and took a moment to check out the prospects. It was still early, but I hoped that as the sun went down, more opportunities for debauchery would present themselves.
I didn’t have to wait long.
A disturbance at the front of the bar preceded the entrance of a gaggle of young women. Wannabe influencers, if the posing and creative phone angles were anything to go by. The loudest was a small blonde—her hair was completely blonde, not the half and half shit that a certain manager wore—who was cute enough and perused the crowd with a critical eye until she landed on me. Her plump lips curled into a predatory smile I pretended not to notice as I gave her my own quick once over before turning away. I knew this game.
My eyes caught briefly on Toby, who had dragged Lainey onto the dance floor. Their movements were erratic, not quite with the beat of the music, but I could tell that at least for the time being they were just having fun. Otis would watch over them while I was busy, and I didn’t intend to be gone long, only the length of time it took to get off, and then I’d go back to my role of stick in the mud, keeping them all alive for another day. Fuck Lainey. She knew better than to supply shit to my brother.
“You here alone?” The southern drawl crawled over my shoulder in a way that could have been attractive if I’d had any interest in attraction at all.
My smirk was tight, but convincing enough, as I turned slowly, pretending I had all the time in the world to decide whether she was worth the effort.
“Doesn’t look like it.”
She tittered, flicking a glance at her group of followers who were watching intently from a table nearby.
“I can keep you company, if you like. This can be a dangerous place for rockstars, you know?” She tilted her head, fluttering her lashes in a way I was sure she thought appealing.
