Page 74 of Animal Beats

His reply is swift. “You sure did.”

Because he doesn’t appear ready to give out any additional information, I ask, “Any idea where I can find her?”

“She’s at the arena. Dealing with the fallout from your stupidity this afternoon.”

Shit. Luke appears pissed, so I don’t dare bother him anymore. With a quick nod, I leave him and approach Coop. “Hey. You were right. She wasn’t in my room.”

“Not surprised.”

Coop’s my best friend and we’ve been through it all. He’s seen me drunk off my ass, deep in some chick, and fighting with Pop. I was there when his world collapsed around him. Yet, I don’t want to share my feelings about Hayden with him. Maybe it’s how I feel about her, or how he feels about love, that gives me pause. Better keep this to myself.

“Are you ready for the concert tonight? The nap was just what I needed to clear my head. Thanks for suggesting it!”

“I had an inkling you’d find it helpful. I’m looking forward to rocking Lisbon again. We had a fabulous crowd last night.”

“We sure did,” Tris enters our conversation. “I love this city. Caught a light show last night that was off the chain.”

Walking up, 007 smacks Tris. “What was off the chain? Your mother’s meatballs?”

Tris gives the bassist a dirty look. “No, douchebag. A light show I caught last night.”

“What about a light show?” Bennett joins us. “Jenna’s mentioned she loves them.”

“It was really cool,” Tris replies. “Images of Portugal were projected onto the walls of a courtyard, which were timed to some traditional music. I highly recommend it.”

“I’d love to take Jenna to see it after our show tonight.”

“No excursions after the show, boys,” Luke interrupts. “We’re off to Ireland after tonight’s gig.”

“Crap. When will we be back here?” Bennett addresses our manager.

“Probably not for a while. Why?”

“Tris just told us about a light show. Which he saw all by himself and now none of us can go to see it.” He crosses his arms.

For his part, Tris raises his hands in the air. “How was I to know it would be so awesome. And that you all would want to see it?”

Usually, Luke would join in our banter, but he’s not having any of it tonight. “You’ll have to come back here on your own time, B. Right now, I need to talk with you guys before we get to the stadium.”

This sounds ominous. We move over into a darkened corner of the lobby, away from any prying eyes. Coop looks at me, I shrug.

“I’m not going to keep you in the dark,” Luke begins. “Seems like Río here got into some hot water. Literally.”

All the guys stare at me. I take a step back. “What am I accused of doing now? I swear, I didn’t do anything.”

“Except get drunk on a boat on the river around Lisbon and fall off it.”

“Oh, that.” Why make a mountain out of this little molehill? “It wasn’t a big deal. There was a wave and I fell in the river. Used the boat’s ladder to get out. End of.” Except Hayden jumped in after me and helped my sorry ass out. Another reason I love her—even when she doesn’t like me, she still helps me.

Why is the fact I love my babysitter calming?

“This so-called ‘small deal’ is all over social media. Videos are everywhere of you wasted and flailing around in the river.” He taps on his cell and shows us one of the, apparently, many videos.

After it plays, I grin at my fellow bandmates. “Harmless fun.” Inside, though, I try to come up with ways to make it up to Hayden. This is bad.

Coop puts his hand on my shoulder, and stares at the video. “Is that Hayden in the river with you?”

“Yeah. She jumped in to help me.” When the guys’ mouths hang open, I add, “She has open water training.” Because her down syndrome sister wanted to go out into the ocean. I shut up.