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“I’ve got some leftover pizza in the fridge in my room.”
“Oh,” Riley tried not to let her dejection show. She was not used to people not wanting to hang out with her. Her friends back home always jumped at the chance to hang out. But obviously, Harlow was different. Riley would have to work harder to befriend her, otherwise the tour was going to be longer than it really was. “Well, that sounds good. I hope you enjoy it. I think I’m going to grab some dinner and then call it a night early. I need to pack before we leave Thursday.”
“That sounds like a plan.” Harlow smiled as she tucked her hair behind her ear. “Well, I’ll see you later.”
“Yeah, see you later.”
Riley watched Harlow walk up the stairs and disappear into her room. For a moment, Riley wondered what would happen if she went after Harlow. Would they eat leftovers pizza together while watching a movie? Or would something more happen? She wasn’t sure which she’d want to have happened.
Yeah.
It was going to be a long summer.
Chapter 5
Harlow
Harlow looked around the hotel room to ensure she hadn’t forgotten anything. Her two packed suitcases were by the door, along with her laptop bag and a backpack. The Uber she’d called to get to the venue in Los Angeles should be arriving any minute, and she was thankful to be getting out of the small hotel room. It had been a fine enough place to work the last few weeks, but the view of the pool in the center of the C-shaped hotel wasn’t doing it for Harlow anymore.
Granted, she at least had a positive memory of the pool now. Watching Riley make a complete dork out of herself the other day had kept Harlow bemused for hours. She watched Riley over her sunglasses, careful not to let her catch her staring. But it was so damn hard.
Riley was stunning. Harlow hadn’t noticed just how beautiful she was until two days ago at the pool. Prior to that, Riley had just been a person Harlow occasionally passed on her way to or from the vending machines at the hotel. She never thought of Riley beyond someone she was working with. After all, Harlow rarely had a crush. If she could even consider what she was feeling to be a crush.
In her thirty-three years, Harlow had only been interested in a few women. And even then, most had been middle-aged actresses she had no chance with whatsoever. She’d dated a few women, but it was never serious. Harlow usually dipped out of the relationship when things started to heat up or move quicker than she was ready for.
As Harlow watched her friends all get married and start families, Harlow wondered if something was wrong with her. Surely something had to be messed up in her brain for her to feel little to no attraction to anyone. While her friends could fall in love with anyone at the drop of a hat, Harlow never felt those same feelings for anyone. Not even the women she’d dated. The first time she’d had sex had been so awkward and uncomfortable that Harlow didn’t really care if she ever had sex again.
It wasn’t until her therapist proposed she might be asexual that Harlow truly started to understand herself. She spent days reading every article and watching every video she could find on asexuality. Although Harlow still felt she had much to learn, she at least no longer felt she was broken for not feeling attracted to anyone.
Well.
Until Riley, that was.
Harlow had spent the last two days trying to get the image of Riley in that green polka dot bikini out of her mind. But every time she closed her eyes, there it was. It annoyed Harlow to no end. She wasn’t attracted to Riley, not sexually at least, but she found herself wanting to get to know her. Even if that meant she’d have to make dreaded small talk with Riley. She was intrigued by her; maybe that was a better description than a crush. At least they were going to be spending every day together for the next few weeks.
In a bus.
By themselves.
For hours and days and weeks on end.
She knew that if her friends were in her shoes, they’d be sleeping with Riley. But Harlow wasn’t that type of person. Even though she was feeling slightly attracted to Riley for some reason, Harlow knew better than to mix work with pleasure. Nothing good could come of that and there was no way Harlow was risking her job for some summer fling. The last thing she needed was for that reputation to be set for her.
So, no, there would be no commingling between the two of them while on tour. Sure, they’d share a bus, but they’d be working or sleeping most of the time anyway. It would be no problem at all for Harlow to push her burgeoning feelings aside. Besides, she wouldn’t see Riley after the tour anyway. She’d return to whatever Disney movie she’d fallen out of and Harlow would return to her little isolation bubble in Colorado.
Maybe then her world would be back on its axis again.
Harlow’s phone buzzed, signaling her Uber driver had arrived. The drive to Los Angeles was picturesque, and Harlow enjoyed the view out the Suburban’s window. She needed to get used to the scenery passing her out a window; it would be her view for the next few weeks. But Harlow would be lying if she said she wasn’t excited. There was something about the thrill of living on the road that Harlow missed. Eating meals from paper bags, sleeping at weird hours, and working around the clock exhilarated Harlow like nothing else. So much so she hadn’t realized how much she’d missed it.
Arriving in LA, Harlow greeted the band as they gathered between the buses in the parking lot of a hotel. She passed out schedules to everyone, despite the fact she’d emailed it to them weeks ago. Harlow just couldn’t part with paper. Harlow watched Riley as she studied the schedule intensely as she bit her painted nails.
“Everyone ready?” Johnny stood in the center of the group, looking around at everyone. “It’s going to be a great tour. We’re all sold out, which is a testament to how awesome Maine Event still is. I know this is going to be a great tour. So, let’s hit the road.”
Harlow lingered back as everyone loaded onto their respective buses. Someone had already taken her luggage to the smallest bus, and Harlow stepped inside the spacious motorcoach. There was a small kitchen, a table, a couch, a bathroom, and a bedroom that Harlow could see. The driver’s portion of the bus was shut off from the living quarters, which added privacy for them.
Not that she and Riley needed privacy. They wouldn’t be doing anything private. And Harlow was sure the company Johnny hired the drivers from all passed background checks. But still, Harlow liked the separation.
Wait. Is there only one bed?
