“You’re leaving your own party early?” Eric said to Mark who had his arm slung around Jen’s shoulder. Mark handed Eric his duffle bag he’d stashed up in his office for him.

“We still need to pack and get things ready for the move. Someone distracted me this afternoon, so we didn’t get everything done that we should have before the party,” Mark said, kissing a blushing Jen on the top of the head. Jen rested her hand on his chest and her head on his shoulder. A pang hit him in the chest. He thought he’d had something like that, but all he got was a kick in the teeth. “When are you back on tour?”

“I have a meeting with the label tomorrow and if all goes well there, I’ll be back with Uncharted day after tomorrow.”

“That sounds great. Be sure to leave some tickets for us at Will Call if you go through NYC.”

“Of course, I will, man. And I can’t wait to play at your new bar once it opens. Be sure to save a spot for me.” With how quickly life was changing, he liked to keep real friends close and Mark was turning into one of those.

“I’ll clear the whole week for you, as long as I’m in the US, if you want. That would be one hell of an opening.” Mark let go of Jen and pulled Eric in for a hug, patting him on the back.

“Have fun on your tour man, not too much fun though,” Mark said, chuckling and slapping him on the shoulders.

“You know me, man. I’m pretty chill compared to the guys in Uncharted. The things I’ve seen,” he let out a low whistle. “I’m the tamest one there.”

“Says you,” said Jen. “I’m sure you have some stories of your own.”

“I’ll never tell,” he singsonged. He may have taken advantage of the copious amounts of women that flung themselves at him with his rise. They screeched to a halt once Talia was on the scene, but after the break up being on tour with Uncharted was just what he needed. Those guys were insane and there were no shortage of women willing to hook up, even with the opener like him. But part of him was resentful. He was the same guy he was before. He hadn’t changed, yet now women wanted a piece of him. It was enough to put him off the whole groupie thing before he really jumped into the deep end.

“We need to get going. See you later Eric,” Mark said, checking his phone for the time.

“Bye Eric,” Jen said, giving him a hug and a kiss on the cheek. The pair walked back through the kitchen, probably to check on Rox.

Eric said his goodbyes to everyone else in the party and sent a text to the label’s car that he’d been given. With his guitar and duffle bag, making a speedy exit wasn’t easy. Hands reached into his pockets, and past a few phone numbers slipped into his pockets by women as he wove his way through the crowd to the front door. Stepping out into the summer heat, felt cool after being in the busy bar under the heat of lights on the stage. He couldn’t believe he’d missed the chance to get her number.

He’d hoped to get her number before she left, but she ran out so quickly he couldn’t even get the words out. Probably for the best anyway. Maintaining any kind of relationship was hard enough when you travelled, but they could always try to keep things casual. Hell things hadn’t even worked out with Talia and they’d been on tour together, but with Keira there was a connection there. She was someone special and he knew that didn’t come along often. His time on the road taught him one thing, it’s hard to make connections, even harder to maintain them, but they were what made all this worthwhile.

He stopped abruptly as a crowd gathered in front of the bar cleared. There she was, standing on the curb. She’d done a number on him tonight. He hadn’t sat down and had a conversation with a woman in a while. He knew she was a friend of Mark when she showed up at the bar, so he hadn’t reverted to his tour whore ways, but that didn’t mean he didn’t want to get to know her better.

He’d turned up the charm and she’d backed off. He thought she was playing hard to get, but she hadn’t dropped any of the usual hints, like a way to contact her. If she was playing hard to get, she was taking it to another level.

She stared at her phone and rocked back and forth on her heels. Her caramel curls bounced around her head as she moved.

“Waiting for a taxi?” he said, making her jump as he came up behind her. She gripped her hand to her chest. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you.” He put his hand on her shoulder to steady her as she swayed a bit. He didn’t remember her having that much to drink, but with all that happened back there, maybe she’d had a few and he missed it. He doubted it. When she was around, he couldn’t help but notice her.

“It’s okay,” she said. Then got a strange look on her face as she stared past him. It passed and she glanced back up at him with a strained smile on her face.

“Are you alright?”

“Not feeling too well,” she said, resting her hand on her stomach.

“Too much to drink?”

“I only had three all night.” He resisted the urge to reach out and touch her forehead to make sure she was okay.

“Those Bomdshells are pretty strong.”

“Yeah, they are, but I’m not that much of a lightweight. I think it might have been something I ate before I got here tonight.”

His car service pulled up and he stepped up to it.

“Do you want a ride? I’m sure you don’t want to be waiting out here for a taxi.”

She glanced down at her phone, bit her lip. Touching her screen, she tapped it a few times and, she nodded her head.

“Sure, thanks,” she said, looking like she would keel over any minute. He opened the door for her and let her scoot across the backseat of the car. She rattled off her address and he let the guy know they would be going there first, then to his hotel. He dumped the duffle in the trunk and gently laid his guitar case on top. Climbing into the backseat, he sat back and glanced over at Keira. She did not look good. Her skin was a nice shade of green. The car pulled away from the curb and she rested her head against the glass of her window.

“So, are you going to be teaching this summer?” he said, suddenly incredibly awkward in the back of the taxi with a sick woman. She held up one finger.

“Can you pull over, please?” she practically shouted at the driver. He cut off two cars and got to the side of the road in record time. The second the car came to a stop, she threw open the door and stuck her head out, puking all over the concrete. The distinct sound of puke hitting the ground filtered back into the car. He reached over and gathered up her long hair to try to keep it out of the way. He’d been in enough bars and backstage parties to know that’s the kind of stuff you did for a puking woman. After what seemed like a voluminous amount of puke for such a small woman, she reached back for her bag on the seat. He pushed it toward her and she mumbled some thanks, head still outside the car. She pulled some napkins out of it and wiped her mouth.

“Thanks,” she said, turning back to him.

“No worries, we’ve all been there.” He gave her a smile and she closed the door and rested her head against the back of the seat. The driver seemed reluctant to pull away in case there was any residual up-chucking.

“She’s good, go ahead. Let’s get back on the road.” He hoped she’d be okay. Did she have a roommate? Someone who could make sure she’d be okay tonight?

The driver pulled back into traffic and continued on to the address she’d given earlier. Keira rested her head against the window and when they pulled up to her apartment complex she was out cold. He shook her a few times and her eyes didn’t even flutter.

“Keira? We’re at your apartment, Keira,” he brushed her hair back from her face. “Keira,” he said, shaking her. She grumbled, but didn’t even bat an eyelash. The apartment complex was huge and he had no idea which apartment was hers. Should he go to the rental office? It was probably closed. Go through her bag? Making a split decision, he told the driver to turn around and just take him back to the hotel.

She stayed completely passed out for the entire drive there. He reached out and wrapped his hand around her wrist. Her pulse pounded under his fingers. Relief washed through him and he pushed one of her curls back from her face. She wrinkled her nose, but other than that, didn’t move a muscle. He couldn’t help but smile. The driver pulled up to the front of the hotel and a doorman opened the door Keira leaned against and she nearly tumbled out of the car. He grabbed her shoulder and held her against him.

“Just get the guitar and bag from the back,” he growled at the doorman when the guy reached for her. She could have fallen out of the car and cracked her head on the ground. He wrapped one arm around her shoulders and tucked another under her legs, until she was cradled in his arms. Picking her up, he climbed out of the car and walked into the lobby of the hotel. Everyone in the lobby froze as the doorman held the door open for him. Shit! This did not look good. The studio was going to flip their shit if this ended up in the tabloids. Formerly heartbroken musician whisks passed out woman up to his hotel room for who knows what on the news at eleven. He didn’t really see what other options he had other than dropping her off in the grass outside her apartment complex and he wasn’t going to abandon her. He couldn’t do that to her.

It was a testament to the professionalism of the hotel or maybe the shadiness of LA that no one batted an eyelash after their initial look of seeing him carry an unconscious woman through the lobby. A bellboy met him at the front desk with a key in his hand and directed him toward a bank of elevators. The ride up to the fifteen floor couldn’t have been more awkward as he shifted Keira around, readjusting his grip on her. She must have popped a mint into her mouth after the puking because she smelled just like peppermint. He hadn’t realized he sniffed her until the bellboy glanced over his shoulder at the two of them.

Eric gently laid Keira on the couch once they got to his room. He grabbed his duffel and guitar from the bell boy, giving him a generous tip before closing the door. He dumped the bag by the door and carried the guitar into the living room. He hadn’t even known hotels had rooms with living rooms, let alone stayed in one until this tour. But they all blended together after a few months on the road.

Keira grumbled on the couch and he strode over to her. This was not a good idea. A girl like her was a complication he didn’t need right now. No matter how much he might want it. He brushed the hair back from her face. She wasn’t green anymore, so that was an improvement. He grabbed a trashcan and put it in front of her on the floor. Taking her shoes off, he crouched down in front of her.

“Keira,” he said, shaking her shoulders. “Keira, it’s me, Eric. You’re here in my hotel room. You got sick and I couldn’t take you home. I’m going to move you to the bed now, okay?”

He picked her up again, her head resting in the crook of his arm and he heard it before he felt it. Her head lurched toward his chest and she smacked her forehead off his shoulder and puked all over his shirt. Standing in shock for a few seconds, he didn’t know quite what to do. She looked up at him completely disoriented before passing back out. Shit, now what did he do?