Chapter 8
“Please wait here, and I’ll see what the holdup is.” Sully gingerly squeezes my knee and flashes a grin that awakes a flurry of butterflies inside me.
“Okay,” I reply as he steps out of the limo and closes the door. The rest of the band stands in a group with their luggage at their feet next to a bright red private jet with a whiskey logo of their tour’s sponsor splashed across its side.
My body trembles from head to toe. I can barely hold my phone without dropping it. While waiting, I call Alice to let her know I’m still alive and not to wait up for me. She’ll rake my body over the coals in a few days for my disappearing act and not spilling any details about it.
Holy shit, I can’t believe this is happening. What am I doing? Never in my life have I jumped the gun and gone on a trip with a stranger. It takes me weeks to plan anything, and I don’t even have a change of clothes. This is madness.
The phone ringing in my ear grounds me back to reality. On the fourth ring, she yells, “Where the hell are you? You call, and then you hang up on me! I call back, and your voice mail comes on. Who—”
As she rants, I lean forward, checking to see if Sully is still talking with his band, then settle into the leather seat, running my fingertips over the stitching where Sully was a moment ago. “It’s a long story. My phone died earlier. I’m safe.” I think. “But I’m not coming home this weekend.”
“Wait, what?” Alice screams into the phone, forcing me to pull it away to save my eardrum.
After a couple of heartbeats, I say, “I’m with Sully.”
“Sully?” She pauses as the name clicks and she sucks in a breath. “Holy shit! You called him? You hooked up with a bass player? I told you he—”
“Yeah. I put myself out there, and it was…” Thrilling? Mind-blowing? “Rewarding…”
She snorts. “I bet. In all kinds of ways,” she chuckles.
“Alice, please,” I say while peeking out the window.
Sully and his bandmates greet another guy dressed in black who appears to be the pilot.
A nervous breath escapes my lips. My middle finger and thumb run along my eyebrows over and over, trying to help me gain control over my anxiety, but it’s not working.
My skin crawls as my nerves snap like livewires.
My left leg won’t stop bouncing, and I’m sweating too much.
It’s not even hot, but my bra feels like a swamp, the curse of big boobs.
I can’t be this spastic on the plane with the entire band in small quarters; they’ll think Sully picked up a stray from the mental hospital.
The line muffles as Alice shouts, “My roommate isn’t dead!” Her voice isn’t directed at me. I hear a female voice in the background but can’t make out what she replies.
“Who are you talking to?” I ask, trying to keep my voice from cracking.
“Oh, Emily,” she laughs. I can picture her waving me off like it’s no big deal. “She came over after The Rainbow Pony and since you weren’t home...”
I bet she was real worried about me when she noticed I was gone. So much so that she cried on her girlfriend’s shoulder. Yeah, right.
“She wants to come to the restaurant and see your show. Being a marine biologist, it’s great research and—”
A frown bends my lips. “Is that a mermaid joke?”
She snorts. “Duh! But she really does want to see the restaurant. You were kidding about leaving this weekend, right? Because we’re thinking of ordering in. Do you—”
“Actually…I’m at an airport right now,” I say, twirling a piece of hair around my fingers until my heartbeat pulses in my fingertips.
“We’re going on a quick trip to Vegas.” I glance out the window, watching Sully laughing with his band as the rest of their gear is loaded.
He steps back, motioning to the limo. He’s going to walk over here and open the door any second now.
She chokes and coughs. “What? Seriously? With Sully? You don’t have anything packed. I checked your room earlier and—”
“Yes. I know…” I drag a hand down the side of my face. “But…umm…I have that handled.” I hope anyway because I need fresh underwear and a new outfit. A toothbrush wouldn’t hurt either.
“Okay. You’re being cryptic as hell.” She pauses and then gasps. “Emily thinks you’re being held against your will. Say a kind of cookie if that’s true.”
“Please tell Emily I appreciate the concern but I’m okay. Here of my own free will. If I wasn’t, would he let me call you?”
I hold the phone away as they squeal like a couple of gulls.
“Your hookup was that good? Damn, girl,” Alice laughs. “But why Vegas?”
“That’s where their last show is.”
“My BFF and roomie is a glorified groupie now!” I hear her high-fiving Emily and roll my eyes, swallowing my reply.
The term “groupie” digs under my skin, I hate that term, but that is what I’m doing. Having sex with a musician the same night you meet them and then flying off to see their next gig. God, how did I get myself tangled in this web?
A different voice takes over. Alice must’ve put me on speaker. “Girl, you rock! I met bands before, but you’ve gone beyond the veil. Tell us what it’s like when you come back,” Emily says excitedly.
Sully knocks on the limo’s back window, scaring the crap out of me. I open the door and step out, placing a mask of maturity over my fear. Hopefully, the band will see me as more than a fuck buddy or a devoted fan bordering on stalker.
“Gotta go. I’ll call later.”
“Take your time! I’ll get Chloe to cover your next shift.”
Shit. I spaced about working tomorrow.
“Thanks. I didn’t—”
“Enjoy your Almost Famous movie moment!” Emily says.
Alice clicks her tongue and adds, “Be safe but have fun. Remember what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas.” They laugh then the line clicks dead.
I shove my phone into my purse and give a small wave to the band as we walk up to join their little group.
Sully hooks his arm through mine. “Do you remember Veronica?”
Charlotte tilts her head, studying me. “You were one of the fans we met after the show last night.”
“Yes,” I say, swallowing my pounding heart. Hopefully, they can’t hear its thundering beat.
“The more the merrier!” Lars shouts in his thick Irish accent, smacking Sully on the back. Sully winces but smiles at his bandmate.
Ben kisses Charlotte’s cheek, holding her close to his chest. “Just in time, we’re ready to board.” He motions toward the plane’s stairs. “Ladies first.” Charlotte pinches his ass before grabbing my arm and pulling me up the stairs.
She places me beside her like I’m her favorite doll. “I love your hair color,” she says, admiring a strand of my hair in the sunlight.
“Thanks.” I fight the urge to hide behind a curtain of hair.
How many people board a plane with their favorite band? This is my chance to ask them anything. To get to know them on a level no one else does, not even those who interview bands for a living. My excitement lessens my anxiety a little.
“Do you usually take jets? Isn’t that—”
“Expensive?” Charlotte answers, nodding.
“Extremely, but our sponsor came through since the man who owns this plane happens to be wrapping up his holiday in Las Vegas.” She gestures toward the white leather seats and the bar.
“It’s lovely in here compared to our cramped tour bus.
We’ve been on that bus for a little over two months driving across your beautiful country, taking in the sights and tasting interesting food. ”
“You Americans like everything fried,” Ben interjects, snorting, sitting across from us. He kicks his legs onto the couch, lies down, and places an arm over his eyes.
Charlotte shushes her husband. “Don’t interrupt.
” She stretches her legs, kicking off her heels.
“Anyway, we had two interviews this morning. One for a rock magazine and another for a radio station.” She leans forward, shooting daggers at Sully, who drinks greedily from a water bottle and looks at the carpet with too much interest. “But Sully didn’t bother to show up for either interview. ”
Sully shrugs and sits next to Lars, who ignores everyone as he hunches over and scrolls through his phone. “I texted I couldn’t make it.” His voice rumbles and heat creeps up my neck when his eyes lock on me.
I sink a little deeper into my seat. I’m the reason he ditched those interviews.
“Dude, say it, don’t spit it on me,” Lars halfheartedly laughs, wiping his arm and glaring at Sully.
Ben sits up and throws a shoe at Lars’s leg, hitting his knee. “That’s not how you say that.”
“Hey! That hurt!” Ben shouts, throwing the shoe back at Lars, who blocks the flying object with his arms covering his head.
Sully smirks at me before turning his attention to Charlotte. “You’ve always handled the interviews brilliantly. I never talk anyway.”
“Yes, but someone might’ve noticed you were missing.
Rumors start as a whisper but can unfold into a nightmare if you’re not careful.
You’re lucky Amy’s in New York visiting her daughter and Mark’s already in Vegas.
Do you want them breathing down your neck again?
You know they hate it when anything takes the focus off our music. ”
Sully shrugs, not caring about those people. I look between them confused.
Charlotte pats my arm. My expression must give away how lost I am. “Amy is our PR rep, and Mark’s our tour manager. They’re not fans of Sully’s habit of slacking off or disappearing.” She narrows her eyes at him. But he leans back in his seat, unbothered, with his hands tucked behind his head.
“Don’t know why they always care what I’m doing. It’s not like I’m destroying hotel rooms or passing out in clubs.”
“But your cold attitude gives our band a bad rap. Fans talk and—”
“I don’t care about their opinions and neither should you.” He rubs the back of his neck like he’s had this fight before. “My private life is just that…private.”
Charlotte wrinkles her nose like something smells foul but drops the subject.
She grumbles something in German and drums her slender fingers on her thigh.
She tsks and grabs my hand, inspecting my fingernails.
They’re not polished and a couple of the tips are chipped, and based on her frown, she’s upset about my lack of self-care.
“We’re getting manicures before soundcheck. ”
“Okay.” I glance at her hand, and her nails are perfectly polished a fiery red. I’m not going to argue.
I glance nervously at Sully. He smirks. “Looks like you’re part of the family now.”