Chapter 36 - Roxie
Roxie
“Does this mean you’re not taking me on our Denver date?” I whispered into the calm that settled over us afterward.
Milo practically hopped up into a sitting position, causing the mattress to bounce up and down. “Helllllllll no. You’re still on the hook for that date. How else will you find out that I know how to treat a lady right?”
“You treated me plenty right just now.” I grabbed his arm and tugged him back down to the pillow. “And I’m glad. I’m still looking forward to the date.”
“Even though we spoiled the ending?”
“Is that how the date’s going to end?” I narrowed my eyes. “Awfully presumptuous of you to assume I’d put out that fast.”
“Don’t even try it,” Milo replied, stretching his back like a cat and then relaxing into the sheets. “I’m a professional jokester, which means you can’t pull a fast one on me.”
“Darn. I guess I’ll save it for Riot and Cash.”
“Yes, right, good answer. They’re both as gullible as children sometimes. Not Vi, though. She’s used to my shit and sees right through it every time. Is it weird that I mentioned them? Right after we boned, I mean?”
I stroked his cheek with a finger. “Nope. I’m kind of glad we got it out of the way.”
“It needed to get gotten out of the way?”
“Well… not exactly. But I didn’t want to avoid the subject.”
“Why would we avoid it?” he asked. “We’re not doing anything wrong. Everything’s good. Really good. Right?”
I kissed him on the cheek and said, “Really really good.”
“Two reallys? Wow. I’m better than I thought.”
I glanced at my watch. I was acutely aware that we were both naked on top of the sheets in the back of the bus. If the rest of the band returned right now, they’d see us.
“Should we move this cuddle party to the bunk?” I asked. “So nobody sees us naked?”
“They’ve all seen me naked plenty of times,” Milo bragged. “And not just, you know, when we were doing sexy fun times with Vi. I’ve gone streaking more times than I can count. Wait, no. I’ve streaked seven times. I can definitely count to seven.”
“That’s a relief,” I said. “I only sleep with men who can count to twenty or higher. There’s a quiz later.”
“I’ll start studying now.” He scrunched his eyes shut in concentration. “One. Two. Three. Shit. What comes after three? Give me a hint.”
I laughed, and he opened his eyes and grinned.
“And I don’t think we need to worry about protecting your modesty, if you don’t mind me saying so. You’ve already slept with Riot and Cash. And seeing you naked would be a big treat for Vi.”
I feigned a gasp and put my hand to my chest. “Are you calling me… a slut?”
“Nice try! That’s not gonna work on me. Professional jokester, remember?”
“Right. Damn. I need to study for the Jokester Exam so I can get my Jokester License.”
“Once you’re certified,” Milo said, “give me a call.”
“Okay, then no joking. All seriousness.” I cleared my throat. “Is this weird? Me… being with all three of you like this?”
“What? Fuck no. I don’t think it’s weird. And I’m good sharing. I learned it when I was barely old enough to walk.”
I frowned at him.
“Shit. Wait. I was talking about normal sharing, like with toys and blankets and stuff. I’m a team player and always have been, is what I’m trying to say.”
“So this thing I’m doing with you, Cash, and Riot… It doesn’t destroy your idea of what a normal relationship should be?”
“I have no idea what a normal relationship is,” he revealed while staring up at the ceiling of the bus. “Like, logically I know what one is. But I’ve never seen one in real life. Vi and Dana are probably the closest thing.”
“What about your parents?”
“Don’t have any,” he said cheerfully. “None that I actually know. Mom gave me up when I was a baby. You know how you hear about babies getting dropped off at the fire station? That was me!”
I stared at him in confusion. His happy tone didn’t match the sad story he was beginning to tell.
“I grew up in the foster system. Bouncing between foster parents and orphanages. They don’t call them orphanages anymore, they have some newer term that doesn’t sound so depressing, but it’s the same thing.
Eventually I ended up with a foster family that stuck.
I was about ten years old then. As far as foster parents went, they weren’t so bad. ”
“And they weren’t a normal, loving couple?”
“Hah! Fuck no.” He rested an arm behind his head.
“They hated each other. Argued all the time. Knock-down, drag-out fights that made the whole house shake. I don’t know why they ever got married, or why they stuck together so long, but they never took it out on us kids.
We learned to tune them out. Me and my foster siblings played Clue to distract ourselves.
Colonel Mustard was my favorite, but that was also Becka’s favorite, so I always let her have it.
Believe it or not, Clue is a great game to play while your parents are having a fight.
We could pretend that it was the actual murder in our game. Like background noise.”
“I don’t know whether to say that’s funny, or depressing.”
“It can be both!” Milo said. “A lot of life is both funny and depressing, if you ask me. Anyway, the point I was trying to make is that I have no goddamn idea what a normal relationship is supposed to look like. I have some ideas of what it’s not supposed to be, like my foster parents.
But compared to them? This weird thing we’ve got going with Riot and Cash is fucking dope. ”
“Emphasis on the fucking,” I joked. “I like that perspective. You have a nice way of looking at the world.”
“It’s what got me through the foster system,” he agreed.
I remembered old conversations we’d had about Milo not having a car or cell phone until he was an adult.
Everything suddenly made a lot more sense.
My heart broke for him, for everything he had been through, but I didn’t voice that out loud.
He seemed to have a good perspective on the whole thing now that he was older.
And he seemed like the kind of man who didn’t want any pity.
“What I really care about,” Milo said, “is that we do this again. At some point. Not right now. Unless…?”
“We probably don’t have time,” I replied. “The others…”
Up at the front of the bus where the door was located, we heard someone loudly knock on the glass.
“Speak of the devil…” I said.
“Nope! That’s my pizza.” Milo leaped out of bed and hastily pulled on his underwear. Only his underwear. “I ordered it when you cleaned up in the bathroom. I’m fucking starving. I was supposed to be eating dinner with the band—”
“Instead of eating me?” I offered.
An easy smile split Milo’s face. “Bingo. Ah hah hah. This girl’s got jokes.”
He jogged to the front of the bus and down the steps. I heard him chatting with the delivery guy for a few seconds before he reappeared with two pizza boxes.
“Didn’t know what you wanted, so I got one cheese, one meat lovers.”
I reached for my clothes and started dressing. “I’m a pepperoni girl, but I’m easy.”
While placing the pizzas on the table at the front of the bus, Milo glanced sideways at me with a mischievous glint in his eyes.
“Don’t you dare make a joke about me being easy,” I warned.
“I was debating between that and a joke about you not being a meat lover, in spite of all evidence to the contrary.”
I joined him at the front of the bus and said, “Thank you for showing restraint.”
Suddenly, he smacked his forehead and cursed.
“What’s wrong?”
“I just realized that the bed is mine tonight.” He pointed toward the back of the bus. “We could’ve been fucking on it instead of in the cramped bunk.”
I shrugged. “I actually kind of loved doing it in the bunk.”
Milo flashed a boyish smile and said, “Me too.”
“Want to play a game of cards while we eat?” I asked. “I promise not to get grease on your cards.”
“They’re Vi’s cards, so you can fuck them up as much as you want. So long as you don’t blame me.”
We dealt the cards out and started playing, taking bites of pizza in between turns.
“Weren’t you meeting the others for dinner?” I asked. “That’s why you came back to get your wallet, right?”
“I don’t even remember,” he replied while frowning at the cards on the table. “Everything in my brain has been overwritten by the filthy things we just did.”
“Same.” I wolfed down the last bite of my pizza slice and grabbed another. “I was starving. This is the most food I’ve had since getting sick.”
“You can pretend that your appetite is because you’re not sick anymore. But I’m pretty sure it’s from the workout we just did.”
“I wish I’d tracked it on my Apple Watch. I probably burned a few hundred calories.”
“At least.” He smiled across the table at me. “I can’t get over how fucking cool you are.”
“Me? All of you are the ones in a rock band. That’s, like, a professional level of coolness.”
Milo shook his head. “Nah. That’s our secret. We try to be cool. We pretend. But we’re mostly just a bunch of dorks.”
“A bunch of dorks who fake it well,” I replied.
“Riot’s pretty cool, I guess,” he admitted. Then he jabbed a finger at me and warned, “Never tell him I said that. I’ll deny it and call you a liar.”
I laughed. “I can keep a secret.”
“But yeah. Riot’s got that aura about him. The rock star vibe. That’s why we stick him front and center.” He cocked his head to the side like he was listening to something. “Speak of the devil…”
I heard their voices a moment later, and then the door to the bus opened. “The fuck are you doing?” Violet scolded him when she saw us playing cards. “You said you were just getting your wallet. We’ve been texting and calling for the past half hour.”
“A better opportunity came along,” he replied. “Someone who actually wants to play cards with me.”
Riot and Cash were behind her. The tall lead singer stopped next to the table, glanced at both of us, then grinned. “It smells like sex in here.”
“Nice,” Cash said. “About time.”
“You two finally fucked?” Violet asked.
Milo and I shared a look, then nodded at the same time.
“Thank God. Now we can all act normal,” Violet said.
“You weren’t acting normal before now?” I asked.
“I was normal, because I can handle my shit without being weird. But I was getting sick of these guys all drooling over you and not doing anything about it.”
“We weren’t drooling,” Milo said.
“Ehh,” Cash said. “You were drooling a little.”
Riot leaned down and kissed me on the top of the head. “Glad you’re feeling better. And I’m glad we can all stop holding back and do whatever we want.”
Whatever we want.
I liked the sound of that.
And based on the looks the three men on the bus were giving me?
They did, too.