Chapter 6
CONOR
Whatever excuse Noelle was ready to offer flew out the open window, drowned out by...screaming.
Cupping her head with my hands, I asked for the second time that day, “Are you alright?”
“I’m good. You?” She patted my chest, peering at me above the glasses that had slipped down her nose.
“Hit my elbow on the bedframe on my way down, but I’ll live. You didn’t bang your head again, did you?”
“How could I? I’m on top of you.”
She sure was. With her soft tits crushed against my chest and her pouty lips centimeters from my mouth, she felt right at home—a perfect fit.
My hand rested on her hip. I really didn’t have any other place to put it. The bus made a sharp turn, and my hand migrated to her bum. “Why the hell are we moving, and what’s all that screaming?”
Granted, the screaming seemed to be fading out, but the bus hadn’t slowed down.
She said, “I don’t know. Maybe Ham decided to take it for a test spin, but we need to make the driver, whoever it is, aware of our presence.”
Noelle wriggled against me, and I froze as my cock came to life from all the sensations bombarding me. I lifted her hips with my hands. “Can you stand up?”
“Yeah. Open your legs, so I can get one of my knees on the floor of the bus. I don’t want to dig into your thigh or...”
I spread my legs. “Yeah, yeah. Gain some purchase down there.”
Wait. That didn’t sound right.
With pink cheeks, she placed her hands on either side of my shoulders and wedged her knee between my legs.
She hoisted herself up, the neckline of her T-shirt hanging open, giving me a clear view of her delicate cleavage in a lacy red bra.
When did Noelle start wearing lacy red bras?
I reckoned the same time she started carrying a jumbo pack of condoms in her bag.
The bus made another turn, and I grabbed her waist. “I hope this isn’t our driver for the tour, or everyone’s gonna be hurling out the window.”
“If they’re looking out the window and not lying on the floor like we are, they should be fine.”
That’s right. Noelle used to have a little motion sickness on the bus until I told her to sit by a window and focus on the passing scenery.
She clamped a hand around a metal bar securing one of the bunks and pulled herself to a standing position. “Do you need a hand?”
“I’m afraid if we do that, we’ll end up in the same position at the next wild hairpin turn.” I rolled to my side and scrambled to my feet. Ducking, I peered out the window. “Yeah, we’re definitely on the road. A plane’s taking off right above us.”
“No screaming.”
“No screaming, but I’m going to find out what’s happening.”
“I’m coming with you.”
Noelle took the hand I held out behind me, and I led her down the stairs.
Hamish glanced at us in the rearview mirror. “Oh, hey. You two okay up there. That was a close one.”
“Close one?” I hopped off the last step, my fingers still threaded through Noelle’s. “Why’d you take off like that?”
Ham’s big shoulders rounded. “I don’t know how this stuff gets out, but someone spread the word that you were at the studio lot.
I stupidly left the gate open when I went to check on something in the bus, and I’m gonna get my ass chewed out for that.
Anyway, one of the sound engineers was taking a smoke break outside and saw a swarm of females bearing down on the lot.
He called me to get you out of there. No time to sneak you into the studio, so I did the next best thing—I put ’er in gear.
Nearly took out a few of your fans on the way out the gate, but man, those chicks are relentless. ”
“I know.”
Noelle placed a hand on my shoulder and peered over it. “Where are you taking us, Ham?”
“Nowhere in particular. Just getting away from the studio until things calm down. The women chased down the bus for half a block.” He shook his head. “Feral bunch.”
Noelle snort-laughed, her breath a puff of warm air on my neck. “You have no idea. Didn’t know you commanded that level of devotion anymore, Con.”
I didn’t either. Maybe there was something to the fake dating story.
“How are we going to get back? We can’t drive around the city in this thing for long without attracting more attention. I’m at the Beverly Hills Hotel. I took an Uber to the studio, so at least I don’t have a car back there and don’t have to worry about getting ambushed.”
“They won’t be on the lookout for me. Maybe if Ham can get us back, I can sneak you into my car before anyone notices.”
“You think no one will notice this bus?” My eyes nearly popped out of my head. “Did you get a look at it?”
“Rather loud, isn’t it. Odyssey obviously wants to make sure everyone knows we’re coming to town.” She leaned her chin on my shoulder, and her sweet scent filled my nostrils. “Any ideas, Ham?”
“I can drop you two off somewhere and take the bus back to the studio. They can scream all they want at an empty bus. I’ll take your car and get someone from the studio to follow me on my bike.
Then I can give him a ride back on my bike.
” Ham scratched his beard. “I just don’t wanna take the bus too far. ”
“I have an idea.” Noelle poked me in the back. “Remember when you said the best thing about LA was eating at In-N-Out? There’s one right by the airport. We can even sit outside and watch the planes come in. Ham, do you have something he can wear? A hat? A jacket?”
“I have a flannel. Might be a little big, but that’s the point, right? Get lost? I have a baseball cap, too.”
It had been a while since I had to go out in disguise. I had a few fans approaching me, but usually they were chill. I had no idea what happened back there.
“What do you think, Con? Dinner at In-N-Out?”
Dinner with Noelle on an early summer night in LA? Couldn’t think of anything better. “Let’s do it. Not too much trouble for you, Ham?”
“I gotta make amends somehow. My boss is gonna be pissed.”
Noelle said, “If you do this, we’ll put in a good word for you. You did save us from a pack of rabid fans.”
“In that case...”
***
Fifteen minutes later, Noelle and I sat at a round table beneath an umbrella on the patio of the best fast food burger joint in the city, waiting for our number to be called. Ham dropped us off a block away at an airport parking garage to avoid making a grand entrance with the bus.
When I heard our number over the loudspeaker, I jumped up to collect our food. With Ham’s oversized red flannel flapping over my T-shirt and his trucker hat pulled low on my forehead, nobody gave me a second glance.
I grabbed the box crammed with two burgers and a mess of fries with one hand and a bag loaded with more burgers for Ham and his accomplice.
When I went back outside and approached Noelle, I tipped my head to the side, toward the grass that led to the sidewalk.
Noelle grabbed our drinks and followed me to the grass. I sat down and put the box on the ground. “I figure we can watch those airplanes.”
A plane descended above our heads, drowning out my last word.
As Noelle started to sit, I said, “Wait.”
I shrugged out of the flannel and placed it on the grass. “You can sit on that. I don’t think anyone’s going to recognize me. It’s not like I have any noticeable tattoos like the other lads.”
Her searching glance trailed down my bare arms, giving me goosebumps. “After all these years, you’re still afraid of the needle.”
“Now it’s just become my trademark.” I rubbed my arms under her scorching gaze. “The only member of Five2Go without tattoos.”
Or at least without visible tattoos, but Noelle didn’t need to know about that...yet.
She snatched a fry from the box and waved it in the air. “Makes coming out like this a little easier.”
“Or I’m just not as popular as the others.” I shoved the edge of the burger in my mouth, wishing I could take back those pathetic words and making sure I didn’t continue down that pity path.
Her lips puckered around her straw as she tilted her head. “I don’t know why you guys always have to turn everything into a contest and compare your careers or your popularity. You’re all different, and you all concentrated on distinct aspects of your music and careers.”
“I don’t even know why I said that.” I dragged a napkin across my face.
“We’re really not in competition with each other, even though the press keeps pushing that narrative.
Couldn’t be happier for Ian’s success. He deserves every bit of it after what he went through.
And Charlie’s killing it with his songwriting.
He and Devon just penned a hit for an up-and-coming country artist. Sam’s movie is a hit and now he’s back to making an album, which I’m sure will be another hit. ”
“And Jay?”
“Jay’s doing what he wants, keeping a low profile.” I snapped my fingers. “Maybe you can help convince Jay to do a reunion tour. You always had a way with him...with all of us.”
“I don’t know about that. Haven’t talked to him in years.” Noelle patted my knee. “You forgot to mention your own successes.”
“Me?” I grabbed a handful of fries. Where was the vinegar when you needed it?
“You know you’re the most popular judge on that show. Your previous album did solid numbers. You may not win a Grammy for it, but we both know that award is a stamp of approval from the industry and doesn’t have much to do with real, good music. That’s what you produce, Con, real, good music.”
I licked some salt from my fingers and wiggled them in the air. “Ah, you fell for my ploy—talk shite about myself, so you could jump in and stroke my ego.”
Throwing a fry at me, she said, “That’s literally my job.”
“So, you didn’t mean a word of it?”
“That’s for you to figure out, I guess.”
“I’m telling your boss that you are slipping in your duties as an assistant publicist. Your sole purpose on this tour is to make me feel good.”
Noelle choked and pounded on her chest as she reached for her drink.
Why did my words always come out wrong with Noelle? I felt like that nineteen-year-old goof with crooked teeth and a bad case of stage fright who connected with her on a tour bus.