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Cassie gave the older man a warm smile. “I’d like that.”
Zac nodded gratefully at him and received a wink in reply. Dan hadn’t questioned Zac when he’d asked him to step in for Cassie last night, but he obviously knew something was up. He must have figured it out since Zac had spent the last twenty minutes loitering by her side. Not to mention Bryan was being anything but subtle as he moved restlessly around the stage, his attention on her.
“Yeah. I’ve got to get going for an interview,” he said. “I’ll leave you two to finish up.”
Cassie’s sapphire-blue eyes caught his as he got off the case to let Dan take his place. He was strangely reluctant to go, but he had a busy afternoon and a late night ahead of him. He needed to get moving. “I’ll see you later.” Hopefully, that would be the case and she wouldn’t end up throwing it all away and leaving the tour.
The memory of her parting smile lingered with him as he headed back to the bus for his second interview of the day. He tried to put it out of his mind. He had far more pressing things to think about right now. Like writing a whole damn album in the next couple of months with his band half the country away.
Thank god staying focused was never a problem for him.
ChapterTen
Cassie plugged in the new cable for Zac’s in-ear monitor system and placed it carefully back in its case, ready for tonight’s performance. A throat cleared behind her and she turned, looking up—and up—at a mountain of a man. Cassie stood, trying to equalize their height slightly. He must have been at least a foot taller than her.
He held out his huge hand. “I’m Will. Fractured’s head of security. Lexie asked me to come and assist you in getting your things off Blacklite’s bus.”
“Oh, hi,” Cassie said. His hand engulfed hers as she shook it. Nerves quivered through her. This was really happening.
Charlie had found her half an hour ago and broken the news that he hadn’t been able to find anyone willing to give up their bunk.
“There’s nothing to stop the same thing that happened to you, happening to them,” he’d said. “Then they’d be the ones on their ass.” She’d thanked him and when he’d asked her if she’d figured out an alternative plan, she’d let him know she’d be moving onto Fractured’s bus. His eyebrows had shot to his hairline, but he hadn’t said anything.
Not long after that, Lexie had swung past to check on her and to grab some lunch. As soon as Cassie had let her know what Charlie had said, the photographer had told her that she’d get someone from Fractured’s security team to help her get her stuff off Bryan’s bus.
She hadn’t been expecting their head of security though.
Suddenly, what had only been hypothetical a few short hours ago was now all too real. She was removing herself from Bryan’s bus—from him. Cassie steeled herself for the pain to hit, and it did, a part of her rebelling against the thought of never touching him again. But the burn of her anger was stronger. She blinked back any tears that threatened to fall. She didn’t need tears. She needed to be strong. She needed to remember the lessons she’d learned when she was young. The lessons she forgot when she met Bryan. Comfort, security, love; you couldn’t rely on those things.
Cassie’s spine stiffened, and she gave Will a tight smile and a nod, then hurried to catch up with him as he strode off.
She walked next to his stoically silent form until they arrived at Blacklite’s bus. It was smaller than Fractured’s, with no band name written on the side. She hesitated, but Will didn’t, thumping loudly on the door of the bus.
A few seconds later, it opened with a hiss, and Terrence, Blacklite’s driver, stared out at them blearily. Cassie felt guilty for waking him from a much-needed nap after he’d been driving all night, but his face brightened when he looked over Will’s shoulder and saw her standing there.
“Good to see you’re okay. Bryan was worried about you last night.”
Her smile was strained. She wondered if he’d known—if they’d all known—what Bryan and Stella were up to behind her back. Bryan had told her that last night was the only time he and Stella had slept together, but you don’t just go from zero to one hundred overnight. There must have been something between them for a while. “I’ve come to get my stuff,” she said.
Terrance’s face sobered, his gaze drifting to Will. “Right. Does Bryan know—”
“Bryan will figure it out,” she cut him off, feeling bad again when his forehead creased. But he didn’t hold them up any longer, moving back up the stairs to make way for her and Will.
As she stepped back onto the bus, memories wormed their way into her chest: sitting with Bryan’s arms around her as the bus rumbled underneath them, cuddling together in his bunk, watching him as he joked with his bandmates and loving the thought that he was hers and she was his.
But other memories flooded back, too. The hushed conversations and laughter between Bryan and his bandmates that so often excluded her. Being brushed off withit’s band businesswhen she tried to join in or offer her thoughts. Stella’s subtle condescension. All of those things had rubbed Cassie the wrong way, but she’d said nothing. Now, there would be no more making excuses for the band and how they’d made her feel.
Cassie hurried to the sleeping area while Will stood in the living room, which was smaller by half and far shabbier than the one on Fractured’s bus. Thankfully, none of Blacklite were there.
She grabbed her small suitcase out of the storage cabinet and started gathering her clothes and dumping them in. Normally, she was a neat packer, but she didn’t want to linger any longer than she had to. The last thing she wanted was to risk a run-in with any of the band members.
She emptied her drawers, then dug her hand down the side of the bunk where she kept her notebook. She hadn’t wanted to leave it out where one of the others could potentially find it. It was too private to let anyone see. She’d only ever shown it to Bryan a couple of times. And after the second time, she hadn’t bothered again. Not when he’d been so dismissive.
Back then, she’d excused his lack of care. He simply didn’t understand what her writing meant to her. He didn’t understand that before she’d had him to share her feelings with, there was only her notebook. But now, her rose-colored glasses were off—or more like smashed on the ground. She could finally admit what she hadn’t then. His lack of interest had hurt.
After that, she mainly wrote when he wasn’t around, preferring to keep that one little part of herself separate. She’d been all in with him in every other respect. But not this. Not this essential part of who she was.
Cassie gave the bunk one final check but stilled when voices came from the front of the bus. Her breath caught when she recognized Stella’s aggravated tone, followed by Bryan’s deeper voice.
