AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Bryan and Stella. Nausea rose again, and Cassie curled forward over her tea, trying to ease the jagged wound in her chest. Was this really it? The end of all they’d had together? What did a life without Bryan look like? Without him, she had no one. She’d be all on her own.
Again.
More hot tears splashed down her cheeks. But it seemed she was all cried out because soon, all that was left were dry, wracking sobs.
Eventually, even those tapered off.
Cassie stood on shaky legs, tipped her lukewarm tea down the sink, rinsed the empty mug, and placed it on the counter. She returned to the couch and curled into a little ball. She considered putting a movie on to distract herself, but suddenly the effort to even pick up the control seemed like too much. Her eyelids were heavy, and she let them drift closed, needing to rest for a bit. Wanting to escape this horrible day for just a minute.
She partially roused when the distant, raucous sound of excited fans leaving the venue floated into the bus. She needed to find somewhere to sleep. When the after-party was over, the band would be back. As kind as Zac had been, she couldn’t bear facing him again right now, knowing he’d witnessed her life falling apart.
But exhaustion had her eyelids slipping closed again.
In a minute, she’d leave and find a spare bunk on one of the other buses.
She just needed a minute.
Just one more minute…
* * *
The steady rumble of the engine seeped into Cassie’s consciousness. Her eyelids fluttered open, and she blinked into the dim morning light, wondering why her eyes felt so swollen and gritty. And where was Bryan? She always woke up curled around him.
Cassie’s heart gave a hollow thump, and she buried her face in the pillow. Something was hovering. She could sense it ready to hammer down on her if she acknowledged it. Maybe if she let herself drift off again, she could pretend for a few more minutes, a few more hours, that everything was still right in her world.
But it was too late. Her chest compressed. Her throat grew tight. There was no escaping the memory of what had happened—what she’d seen. No escaping that the one person she’d relied on since she was a teenager had betrayed her in the worst possible way. Cassie curled herself into a ball and tugged the soft blanket over her shoulders with shaking hands. But a sudden realization distracted her from breaking down again.
This wasn’t Blacklite’s bus. And she had no recollection of leaving and finding another bunk to crash in the night before. She might have been exhausted, but not enough to stay asleep while being carried off the bus and through the cool night air to another one. Which meant…
Cassie groaned quietly to herself. Which meant she must still be on Fractured’s bus.
In one of their bunks.
Her cheeks flared hot, and she had to fight the renewed urge to pull the blanket over her head and pretend the world didn’t exist. But pretending had never worked for her when she was a child; it wouldn’t work now. The bus was still moving, so they hadn’t arrived in Denver yet. Which meant she couldn’t make a rapid exit.
There was only one thing to do. Get up, deal with the awkwardness, and graciously thank Zac and the other members of Fractured for letting her stay the night. The sound of muffled voices came from the living room, so at least a couple of people were awake.
Cassie sat up in the surprisingly spacious bunk and did her best to comb her fingers through her long hair. She still wore yesterday’s clothes—a pair of jeans and a tank top. Not the most comfortable thing to sleep in, but not the worst either. And at least no one had tried to undress her. It was bad enough thinking that one of the band members had carried her to bed. Had it been Zac? The thought made her cringe with embarrassment.
She took a deep breath, pulled the privacy curtain open, and climbed out. She spent a couple of seconds straightening her clothes, then made her way down the short corridor.
The first person she saw was Zac. He sat on one of the couches, looking at his phone, his long, muscular, denim-clad legs extended out in front of him and crossed at the ankles. A vintage AC/DC T-shirt stretched across his broad chest, emphasizing the width of his shoulders and the toned muscles of his arms.
A quick scan of the rest of the area showed her that the only others currently awake were Connor, Fractured’s lead singer, and his pretty wife, Lexie.
Zac noticed her first, his hazel eyes rising from the cell phone to meet hers.
The way his jaw tightened made Cassie wonder how bad her face looked after hours of crying last night.
“How are you feeling?” he asked.
Connor and Lexie both turned to look at her, and Cassie’s cheeks warmed again. She forced a smile. “I’m okay, thanks. And, um, sorry for falling asleep on your bus. I know I was only supposed to be here until the end of the after-party, but, um…”
“Don’t be silly.” Lexie stood and walked over to her, a warm expression on her lovely face. “You must have been exhausted. And there was no way we’d kick you out without somewhere else to go.”
Zac must have filled everyone in on what had happened with Bryan. How else would he explain what she was doing on their bus? Cassie darted a look at him. He was leaning back, watching her, his brows drawn together. Her pulse sped up. She couldn’t quite read his expression, so she gave him another little smile, hoping it conveyed her gratitude. He gave her a nod of acknowledgment.
“Would you like some breakfast?” Lexie put her arm around Cassie and led her to the booth-style kitchenette table where she and Connor had been sitting.
