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I cleared my throat, feeling my cheeks go warm. Where else would I be besides on this bus? “Hi.”
Axel pointed at the headphones in my hand. He was wearing some of his rings this morning, including a slim silver band on one thumb. “Put those away,” he commanded. Then he crooked his finger at me. “You’re riding with us.”
I didn’t even think to argue. The headphones dropped back into my bag and I crossed the bus toward him.
“Beeyotch,” Stephanie said under her voice as I passed her, and I only half thought she was joking.
“To what do I owe this honor?” I asked Axel as we crossed the parking lot between my bus and his.
“I need a babysitter,” was Axel’s reply. “That’s you, right?”
“I guess so.”
He smiled at me, one of his genuine, knee-weakening smiles. “So babysit me,” he said.
He was in a good mood this morning. That line had sounded flirtatious, and Axel never flirted with me.
“You’re happy to be on tour,” I observed.
“I missed it,” he replied. “I also have six hours to kill, and I’ve decided to kill them with you. I’ve gotEmerald Questloaded up on the video game system.”
I gasped. “You do not.”
“I do.”
I rubbed my hands together, villain-style. “Perfect. I almost have enough gold coins for a new suit of armor.”
Emerald Questwas a game Axel and I had discovered a month ago. It was a two-player game, and sometimes you worked with the other person as a team, while other times you tried to best them. It was the back-and-forth that made it so fun to play. I’d thought we would pick up our ongoing game after the tour, but it looked like we wouldn’t have to.
“Has anyone warned you about the journalist yet?” Axel asked as he knocked on the band’s bus door and waited for it to open.
“I know there’s a journalist,” I said. “I haven’t met her. That’s about it.”
“Sienna Maplethorpe,” Axel said as we got on the bus.
“Where?” came a sharp voice. “Don’t let her on here.”
“Relax,” Axel said to Stone, who was sprawled in a seat and had looked up from his phone, alarmed. “She isn’t here. I’m just warning Brit not to talk to her.”
“Good idea,” Neal said from his own seat, a paperback book in his hand. He turned to me. “Hey, Brit? Don’t talk to the journalist.”
“Under pain of death,” Stone added.
“Sure,” I said. “That’s easy to agree to, considering I’d rather jump under this bus than do an interview.”
“I like her,” Stone said to Axel, a scowl on his face. “She can stay.”
“Fuck you very much,” was Axel’s reply.
Their bus was even more luxurious than mine. The TV was better and it had a video game console hooked up. The seats were comfortable and the kitchen was better equipped. The Road Kings had spread out as far away from each other as they could, which wasn’t all that far. Stone was in one corner, headphones around his neck and his phone in his hand like he was going to spend the trip listening to music. Neal was in another corner with his book. Denver was in a third corner, silent in his seat, looking like he hadn’t slept. Axel and I took the seats by the TV.
Neal nodded toward the kitchen counter. “Help yourself to breakfast. I had it delivered.” There were bagels, cream cheese, and coffees on the counter. I helped myself to one of the takeout coffees. Axel grabbed one, too.
I sipped my coffee, then cleared my throat, deciding to get it out of the way. “I should warn you guys. I’m not very sociable. I’m really bad at small talk. Don’t take it personally if I don’t say much.”
Stone lifted his scowly brows. “She’s antisocial? Now Ireallylike her.” To me he said, “Feel free to be silent as much as you want. That’s my favorite kind of person.”
Denver lifted his takeout cup. “My voice is shot from last night,” he said. He did, in fact, sound like he’d just smoked two packs of cigarettes. “I’m going to drink tea and sit in silence, so it’s fine with me.”
