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“I’m totally calling Carolyn ‘Rafiki’ from now on,” Augie said when he finally stopped laughing long enough to breathe again. Egged on by his hysterics, Lauren was laughing almost as hard as he was.
“Pull your shit together, Giggles,” Lauren said. “Let’s go make the rounds. We gotta get on the road.”
Behind her, Augie sang “Ah-seh-kenya.”
It took them thirty minutes to say their farewells and thank everyone for coming. Both of their mothers cried. Both fathers pretended not to. Lauren managed to say goodbye to Cole and her family. When she got to Joey and Vinny, she told Joey to get a picture as she put her arm around Vinny. Then she planted a kiss right on Vinny’s lips. He turned a shade of scarlet she didn’t realize was possible. A few more hugs and handshakes later, the room only had a handful of stragglers left.
“You ready?” she said to Augie. “Boston’s waiting.”
“The world’s waiting. Let’s do this.” His bright smile, full of anticipation, vanished. “Oh, fuck me.”
“Augie?” Lauren turned to see what the problem was.
Danny stood in the doorway.
ChapterFifty-Three
Everything around Lauren clicked into slow motion. During that last night together, she’d made her peace with their relationship ending. Now, as she saw the look in his eyes, she wasn’t convinced Danny had done the same. He came straight to her.
“Lauren…”
His voice was full of hope.Not again,Lauren thought.We’ve been down this road.
An uncomfortable silence followed until Lauren looked at Augie. “Give us a minute?”
“The bus is waiting.”
“I’ll be right there,” Lauren assured him.
“The bus?” Danny asked as Augie reluctantly walked away.
“We’re doing part of the tour old-school—with actual tour buses,” she said, pushing some hair behind her ear. “Probably a dumb-ass decision for the Northeast in January. We’ll mostly use them down south and in Cali. Although I have to say, these tour buses are a lot cushier than the first ones we ever got to use. Our manager’s made a whole promotion out of it.” She knew she was talking too much, but it was better than the uncomfortable conversation that was barreling towards her.
“Hey! Lauren! Sorry to interrupt…” Still shirtless, Dario D’Scala barged in. He gave Danny an unconcerned glance that said he wasn’t sorry at all. Planting a kiss on her cheek, he slid an arm around Lauren’s waist.
“Dario, this is Danny.”
“Oh.Danny.” Dario’s eyes lit in a way that said someone had told him exactly who Danny was. “Anyway. Lauren. Baby doll. Great show tonight. Our tours are going to overlap in a few places. You game for a guest shot like we did tonight? Maybe in Chicago?”
“Of course! Have your manager call Tony and we’ll figure it all out.”
“Stupendous.” Dario gave her another kiss, Danny another dismissive once-over, and sauntered away with enough rock-star swagger to stop a train. Danny was too busy glowering at Dario’s back to hear Lauren’s question.
“Hey! I’m talking to you.” She snapped her fingers in front of his face, and he reddened. “I asked what you thought of the show.”
“Absolutely amazing,” he said.
The praise pleased Lauren more than she was willing to admit. “I’m glad you came, but I didn’t think it would be…” She almost said “allowed” but swallowed the word, not quite sure how to say it.
“I almost didn’t come, but I knew it was my last chance.”
Last chance? Oh, shit,Lauren thought. She took a step back. They’d already been through this. She didn’t want to do it again. The answer was going to be the same.
“Lauren, shake a leg,” DJ said as he and Ox came up to them. “We’ve got to get rolling if we’re going to be on time for Boston.”
“I’ll be there in a second,” she assured both. She lifted her shoulders and let them drop, trying to relax a little. Augie and Stevie were waiting by the exit on the opposite side of the room, and her cousin was looking anywhere but at her.
DJ looked Danny up and down. “Everything okay here?”
