Chapter 19
Jodi Castle
Norway
Jodi slid beneath the curtains enclosing the bunk she and Nash were sharing to search for her jeans and failed to find them.
Gentle snores came from the bunk across the aisle, and a hairy leg dangled over the edge of the topmost bunk above where she’d slept.
Balin had her jeans tucked under his head.
Damn.
She blew out a breath and tugged the shirt down lower. It’d be fine. It wasn’t like any of them were awake.
The Ghost Boys had played four gigs across Belgium and Germany, before taking the ferry from Kiel to Oslo to rendezvous with Black Halo for the next eight months.
Their label owner cum manager, Harry Storm had insisted the extra shows would ensure they were on top form ahead of playing to the bigger crowds Black Halo pulled.
While Equinox had been a highlight for the guys, Jodi had enjoyed the more relaxed atmosphere of the smaller venues they’d played since.
Everything was just a little more ad hoc, a little more down to earth.
Also, it’d given the guys a chance to adapt to their new situation, and her a chance to get to grips with her new role as their personal assistant.
No more dragging their own amps out of the back of a van or replacing broken strings for themselves.
There were a team of roadies to do that.
Of course, there were downsides too. None of them could just run to the shop anymore—that was now her job—as there was always a tidy group of fans around no matter the time of day. It kept their two security guards busy.
The last ten days had also given her and Nash the time they needed to work through their insecurities and spend some quality time together. Hopefully, catching up with Black Halo later today wouldn’t unravel them again.
She tiptoed through to the tiny bathroom, fixed her hair and face, and scrubbed her teeth, before heading up front to give the cats their breakfast. Mel and Zar were draped over different sections of the banquette, with Lee stretched out between them, while Flugwhump was sitting in the sink of the tiny kitchenette waiting for her to turn the tap on.
He’d taken to drinking straight from the source since their arrival on their new home on wheels.
“Weirdo,” she chided, giving his furry head a scratch.
“If you’re making coffee, yes please,” Lee called.
Dutifully, she picked out the last two mugs in the cupboard. By the time she’d finished making their drinks, Lee had rolled onto his front and was leaning over the edge of the seat, playing phone games one-handed.
“Anxious about later?” he asked, as she sat on the floor, level with his mobile, and pulled her shirt over her knees.
“You’re the one playing.”
He wrapped his hand around the mug and took a big swallow before letting out a contented sigh.
When he put the cup down, it was half empty.
Jodi blew on her own drink, as the cats came up and rubbed against her.
Lee insisted on having so much milk in his brews, they barely remained warm for more than a minute or two.
She, on the other hand, had mostly got out of the habit of adding milk.
It wasn’t the easiest thing to transport when you lived out of a backpack, and she’d had a couple of accidents in the early days with spillages that left everything stinking for weeks.
“Rock Giant,” Lee prompted.
Yeah, she knew what he’d meant. Rock Giant was never far from her mind.
She was antsy about seeing him. How could she be anything else?
She’d woken the night after the festival gig, to find Black Halo had already departed.
Seemed they’d come off stage and left within the hour.
The guys had helped her strike camp and dispose of the stuff she seemed to have accumulated, then, she and Nash had found their way back to one another about an hour after that.
She’d been up at the standing stones, hanging with Jez as he jotted down lyrics, saying a sort of farewell to them while the roadies packed the last of the Ghost Boys equipment up.
She’d been beheading daisies, when Nash crouched down before her, and holding a buttercup beneath his chin asked, “Do I like butter?”
There was indeed a golden glow visible on his skin. “It’s down to the anatomy of the petals,” she told him. “Nothing to do with whether you like butter or not.”
“Right.” He sat cross-legged before her. After a moment, he stole one of the daisies. “She loves me. She loves me not. She loves me. She loves me not.” White petals scattered on the breeze.
“He loves me. He loves me not,” she countered.
“He loves you,” he insisted, delivering the denuded disc florets of his daisy to her as proof.
Jodi lifted her gaze, meeting his muddy blue eyes.
He offered her an apologetic smile. “Oh, Jo. I’m sorry about last night.
I don’t know what the fuck got into me. No, that’s not true.
I do. I’m a jealous arsehole, and apparently, I don’t take care of my woman properly.
Assuming you haven’t decided to be done with me completely, I promise to do better on that score. ”
Beside them, Jez shot them a glance over the top of his notebook, but dropped his gaze again the moment he figured they’d noticed him.
“How are you going to do better?” she asked, chewing on her lower lip.
Honestly, it was a relief to know he was still speaking to her, and that they weren’t breaking up.
She hated discord, but she also knew better than to try and talk to him before he was ready.
Also, she’d be lying if she said she hadn’t been panicking over the possibility of them all leaving without her.
Sure, the guys had helped her pack up her stuff and had merrily bad-mouthed Nash to her, but if it came down to it, Nash and the band would totally win over her and the cats.
“Tongue exercises?” Nash stuck his tongue out and contorted it several impressive ways.
Jodi showed him, that she too could roll her tongue. “I was overly harsh. It wasn’t unreasonable for you to seek reassurances from me considering everything that’s happened since we got here.”
He licked her on the nose. “It’s okay. I forgive you for picking a fight.
And I’m sorry I wasn’t where you expected me to be the other night.
” He nodded his head at the standing stones as if her memory might need jogging.
“I’d probably have chomped a shed load of mushrooms too, if I’d been noodling about this place for hours. It’s bleak.”
Actually, with the dappled autumn sun over it, it was rather lovely, especially within the circle, where the breeze only tickled, and the world beyond seemed out of phase with that within.
“You should make him grovel more,” Jez remarked, eyeing them over the lip of his book.
“Cheers, mate.”
“Any time, arsehole.”
Jodi snorted at their snipping. “I’d rather get along than draw things out,” she said to Jez.
He shrugged.
Nash dropped a kiss on her brow, then moved in for more of a smooch.
“Urgh! If you two are going to get soppy…” Jez’s shadow fell over them as he stood. “It’s more than my stomach can handle.” He made puking noises. “See you back at the bus. We leave in forty, remember.”
Things had been okay since then. They’d gone back to making vague wedding plans.
Hadn’t quite agreed on a date yet. The whole of Nash’s family had to be consulted, and their availability tallied with the Black Halo tour dates, plus promotional appearances, a video shoot for an upcoming single, plus Harry had the Ghost Boys booked in to start work on their second album the moment the tour ended.
Their lives seemed to have been timetabled into the distant future.
“It’s usually the constant travel that wears artists down,” Brian had told her the day before, but the Ghost Boys had all been digital nomads/fruit pickers/backpacking wanderers prior to becoming a band. Travelling wasn’t the hard part. Sticking to a set schedule, that was the tricky bit.
She, Nash, and Balin had taken off yesterday afternoon while they were in Kiel to see the U-boat submarine museum and arrived back a teeny bit late.
Result—they’d almost missed the ferry across to Norway.
Had been forced to board as foot passengers, as the tour bus had left ahead of them, and thus, had been yelled at by Harry Storm over Zoom, and given an in person ticking off from both Brian, and the overall tour manager, a scary guy named Samson.
She’d been mortified. The guys—not so much. Balin and Nash had spent the rest of the evening mucking about, spying on people with a cardboard periscope they’d picked up in a tourist gift shop.
“I’m sure it’ll be fine,” she eventually said to Lee. “We’ll probably barely see Black Halo. I bet it’s a myth that bands on tour hang out together. And he’s probably forgotten all about me. He’s a world-famous bassist, after all, and I’m just me.” She shrugged.
Lee met her gaze. “That’s just it, Jo. You’re you. You’re amazing. It’s not a surprise that the guy’s into you, only that he’s being so chill about it.”
Both their heads turned towards the door to the bunk room as Nash emerged, yawning sleepily.
“Piss off, Lee,” he demanded. “I want some private time with my woman.”
“Should I stay, or should I go,” Lee asked her out of the side of his mouth.
“Go,” she mouthed back. “And give us half an hour.”
“Okay, girl.” He rose, giving her shoulder a squeeze, then brushed past Nash. “Morning, cunt.”
“Still opting for the bum fluff, I see.”
Lee had started growing a beard, but it barely constituted stubble yet. He rolled his eyes. “Least I know how to find a woman’s.”
“Women don’t... Fuck off.”
Lee laughed and closed the door between them. Within seconds, music was blaring loudly enough there was no chance of anyone in the bunk room overhearing whatever she and Nash said or did.
Jodi rose from the floor. “Morning,” she greeted Nash with a kiss.
“Let’s make it a good ’un, eh?” He grazed his lips against the shell of her ear. “Fancy kneeling for me?”
Jodi knelt on the banquette, facing the window. It absolutely wasn’t what he meant, but…
“Babe!”
She wiggled her arse at him.
“Oh my, God, are you bare under that?”
“Someone stole my knickers last night. Can’t think who or why, mind.”
His reflection in the window while faint was visible enough for her to make out his grin.
He’d insisted on her undressing and touching herself on their bunk with the curtains drawn, while he watched through the periscope he’d picked up from the museum.
She’d been shy about it, but when Nash had finally crawled into the bunk alongside her, he’d been seriously hyped.
The rest of the band hadn’t turned in until long after they were done and dozing. Thank God.
“You were so fucking hot last night, Jo. I woke thinking about it.” That would explain why his hand was straying inside his shorts. “Are you planning on staying there?”
The windows were tinted. From outside you couldn’t see in, which meant it was safe to watch the world rolling by without fear of being observed, even if it seemed like they were rolling by in a fish tank on wheels.
“In the arse or the pussy?” he asked, chin prodding her between the shoulder blades.
“Bit presumptuous, aren’t you?”
“My cock needs its Jo-Jo fix. Are you wet?” He wrapped an arm around her hip and slid his hand over her mons. “Or do I need to frig you a bit?” He gave her clit a pet.
“Nash, we’ll be arriving soon.”
“Right. I’ll just stick it in, then.”
She gave another wiggle, eager to get this over with. “Be quick, yeah. I don’t want to get caught.” Nor did she want to reek of him when they met up with Black Halo.