Chapter Fifteen

Indie

 

 

When I woke up the next morning, it was early enough to take a quick shower and pack up my one small suitcase before we had to be on the bus for the next city. But all I could think of was yesterday.

That run-in with Eric Drinkswine had left me feeling unsettled enough that I’d had a hard time falling asleep last night. I didn’t even go watch the show because I didn’t want him to corner me backstage again—and not wanting to see him at all outweighed how much I wanted to watch Cross perform.

I was looking forward to dinner, though. They had a show, of course, so it had to be an early dinner, but I didn’t care about what time we ate. I only cared that we were going and honestly, I was probably more excited than I’d been in a really long time. Whether it was a date or not, spending any time with Cross meant it was going to be a good day. Unless he was an asshole, but I had excellent instincts and they were telling me Cross was one of the good ones.

Cross Rhodes could make for a fun summer, but it couldn’t really go anywhere after that. I didn’t think. Once August came, I’d go back to school and he’d still be on tour with Kissing Cinder. And who knew where he’d be after that? No. I was just going to focus on now and not think about August.

The bus came to a stop as I sat on the couch reading a book while Dad was at the table writing. His cold had finally started to subside and he only had a small cough left. Watching him as he worked was interesting, to say the least and I snapped at least half a dozen great shots of him being creative on the drive to Lexington. He never even looked up from the notebook.

“What are your plans today?” he asked as he shoved that notebook into his messenger bag.

“Same as always. Take a bunch of pictures.” That wasn’t right. I usually told him everything, yet I’d left out dinner with Cross and had no idea why. That wasn’t us.

I wrote the decision not to mention it off as me not knowing if dinner meant anything. I didn’t always fill Dad in on my day to day activities so I didn’t feel the need to now. I’d tell him about it if and when there was something to tell.

“Well, I have to head to soundcheck,” he said as he stood up.

“What do you think of Courting Chaos?”

He dropped back across from me. “Each of them specifically or all together?”

“How about the band as a whole first?”

“They’re good. I think they have staying power if they don’t fuck it up.”

This much I knew, but still, I had to ask. “Fuck it up how?”

“I think that guy Drinkswine is going to be a problem for them. Hell, I think he already is.” He paused, then added, “They’ll need to do something about that. Sooner would be better than later.”

“Why him?”

“Look”—he moved over to sit beside me—“I’ve been around this shit for a long time. I know trouble when I see it and that guy is trouble. So do me a favor and steer clear.”

I snorted and looked over at him. “The last person I want to hang out with is Eric Drinkswine. Gross.”

Dad chuckled and ran a hand over his face. “Good to hear.”

“What about the rest of them?” I steeled my nerves to hear whatever he might say that I wouldn’t want to hear. Dad would be honest. There was no getting around that.

“The rest are good, I think. Dixon is a little squirly from what I know. Not in a bad way. He’s just more… introverted, I guess, which, honestly, isn’t all that odd. Ransom likes the life, but like a normal amount, if that makes sense. Cross… He makes me think of Manny. I’ll see you later?”

“Yup.”

He leaned down and kissed the top of my head, then left the bus.

There were so many worse things in life than to be compared to Manny. Cody might’ve been Dad’s best friend since… forever. But Manny… they used to call him “Pastor Manny” because he didn’t let himself go very often. He didn’t drown himself in the women who threw themselves at the band. Manny was stable though somehow still single. I would’ve thought he’d have been the first to settle down.

There were definitely worse things to be.

Dad leaving almost as soon as we arrived gave me more time than I needed to get ready for dinner with Cross. Still, I skipped soundcheck to use that massive amount of time wisely. We’d have to have dinner at five, which was pretty early for my normal days but became exactly what I did when on tour. The bands couldn’t eat later when they’d have to be on stage and nobody liked to go on feeling completely full.

I had the television on so loudly that I almost missed my phone ringing. When I heard it and reached out to grab it, the phone slid off the table onto the floor. I had to crawl under the table to reach it.

“Hello?” I said breathlessly without checking the caller ID and sliding out from under the table. I hit my head on the corner on the way up. “Shit,” I muttered and rubbed the spot.

“Have you heard from Maggie?”  Bellamy Harper’s voice shrieked in my ear.

I pulled the phone away from my head. “Shit, Bellamy, that was loud.”

“Oh sorry,” she said with a giggle. “I figured you’d be deaf from all that music.”

“Not yet. So what’s this about Maggie?” I sat back down at the table and checked the spot on my forehead that was already bruising in the mirror.

“You know she went Ireland with her mom right?”

“Yeah.” We all knew. She wanted to go but didn’t want to go at the same time.

“Well, apparently she’s stuck there. She can’t leave.”

“What?”

“Yeah. Her purse was stolen or she lost her passport. Something like that.”

Oh, man. She’d only gone on the trip because her grandpa had kind of guilted her into it. He was supposed to go with her grandma, but her grandpa had broken a leg or a hip. I couldn’t remember.

“I guess there are worse places to be stuck,” I said. “Hot guys with Irish accents.”

“That’s what I said.” She giggled again. “But who are you to talk? I seriously need some details on Courting Chaos.”

I groaned. “That’s a whole other conversation. One I don’t have time for right now because I want to call Maggie before I leave for dinner.”

“Dinner? It’s still afternoon.”

“You know we eat early on show days. But hey, if you’re so curious about Courting Chaos, you should come on tour for a little while. You’ve got a week to spare, right?”

“I will figure it out. Does it matter which week?” Bellamy had gotten a summer job before the semester ended but said it was pretty flexible. It’d be nice to have another girl around for a little while.

“Not really.”

“You live a charmed life, Indie Cinderstone, and I don’t think you realize it.”

I couldn’t help but laugh. She’d said that to me so many times over the years. The fact was that I did know it, though. I told her to work out her schedule and get back to me, then ended the call so I could get a hold of Maggie.

She confirmed she was stuck in Ireland due to not having a passport to get back into the United States. I offered to smuggle her out, but she wasn’t down for it. She did, however, tell me about a possible male distraction for her to pass the time with. By the sound of her voice, I knew said male was nearby. She didn’t want him to hear what she’d say about him. I’d have to wait until she had more privacy.

Cross and I hadn’t made any specific plans other than to have dinner, so I didn’t know if he was coming to the bus to get me or if I should meet him inside. All we’d agreed on via text was that we were going to leave around four thirty. Courting Chaos was the opening act, so they had to be ready even earlier than Kissing Cinder.

I grabbed my purse and checked my lip gloss one more time on my way to the door. I’d just find Cross and we’d figure it out from there.

And then I slammed right into him when I got to the bottom step on the bus.

“Sorry,” I said, laughing. “I feel like I keep literally running into you guys. Somebody’s going to get hurt one day.”

“More than all right.” The deep chuckle that rumbled inside his chest vibrated against mine before he took a step back. “But who else did you run into?”

“Ransom,” I said while rolling my eyes. “In the venue the other day.”

“Maybe you should wear a bell,” he said with another laugh. “You ready?”

I nodded and shut the door behind me. This wasn’t a dress-up kind of date and we’d have to get back for the concert, so I’d chosen comfort over cute, though I hoped I still looked pretty cute. Skinny jeans, a tank top, converse, and cross body purse. I could go right to the venue without changing. Plus, we were walking, so comfortable shoes were a must.

“Sorry we have to go so early,” he said when we turned the corner.

I didn’t know where we were headed, but I’d go where he led. “No problem. I grew up with this, remember? I totally understand the schedule.”

“Yeah.” He nudged my arm with his elbow. “I do actually forget that you probably know more about life on tour than I do.”

“And some of it I don’t even want to know that I know.”

He stopped in front an understated steakhouse and pulled the door open for me. Cross hadn’t worn the ball cap like he had at the coffee house—perhaps this time he didn’t care if someone recognized him. Then again, why would someone? We were eating at senior citizen hours and most of Courting Chaos’ fans were probably already at the venue.

As the waitress led us to a table, she glanced back at Cross several times and chewed on her bottom lip but she hadn’t looked at me once. That’s when I knew we weren’t going to slip through this meal without him being recognized. Cross hadn’t requested the high backed booth but the universe knew we’d need a bit more privacy than most.

“Your waiter, Matt, will be right with you,” she said after handing us menus. Then she continued to stand there.

Cross dove into the menu so he didn’t notice that she’d stayed. I glanced at him, then her. Then I gave him a little kick under the table and his gaze popped up at me. I raised my eyebrows, then nodded her way so he’d look up at her as well.

She didn’t need any other encouragement. “I just have to say that I love you guys. I’ll leave you alone, I promise, but I can’t believe you’re in here.”

“Uh… thanks,” he said back and I did my best not to giggle at how uncomfortable he’d become.

I’d seen Cross with fans. He was a natural. With this girl, I thought he’d been caught off-guard.

“Maybe you should get a picture,” I offered, bringing a scowl from him. I had to hide my laugh behind a hand.

“Ohmigod,” she said excitedly. “Would that be all right? I’m not supposed to have my phone on me, but I do.”

“Yeah,” he said. “Sure.”

The hostess, whose name I’d missed when we’d come in, wasted no time in dropping into the bench beside him, practically onto his lap. Cross shifted away from her uncomfortably.

“Did you want me to take it?” I asked, this time getting a scowl from the hostess.

She looked utterly disgusted, which I’d have said was an overreaction but then she said, “That wouldn’t be a selfie.”

I raised my hand in defense because she wasn’t wrong. It wouldn’t be a selfie if I took it. Though I didn’t see what difference it made, I wasn’t going to argue with her. Once she snapped it, she hopped up, thanked him, and then kept her promise to leave us alone.

When Matt arrived, we placed our food and drink order at the same time. Cross settled on a burger and fries, but I ordered a petite steak. Hey, I didn’t have to perform in a couple of hours. I could eat whatever I wanted and I thought Cross was going to regret that burger. As soon as he took our menus, Cross tried to hide a yawn behind his hand.

“Tired? We could’ve rescheduled so you could nap. You need to shine on stage in a few hours.”

“I’m fine.”

“Late night?” I asked.

“Ransom had a girl in the room last night. Didn’t want to deal with it, so I slept in a chair in the lobby.”

I burst out laughing. Couldn’t help it. That chair probably wasn’t all that comfortable but I would’ve thought Cross wouldn’t have had much of a problem with his roommate bringing an overnight guest. It was likely Cross himself had had a girl in the room more than once, which I didn’t want to think about.

“Ah, gotta love the girls that come with the music, huh?” I said instead. Cross shifted his weight on the bench. “You know you don’t have to avoid the topic with me.”

“What?”

“The girls that are part of this life. What’d Eric call them? Medics for sexual healing. I get it and you don’t have to avoid talking about that part.”

Though I for sure didn’t want to hear about him with other girls. That would hurt, but I hadn’t seen him around with any, which I could not say for the other guys or the guys in Dad’s band either. Except Cody. He was firmly married.

“He’s a dick sometimes.”

“Seems like he’s a dick all the time.” I took a long drink of my water and watched him for a reaction. “But seriously, I’ve been on tour with my dad for a long time. I’m not stupid and I’m not fragile. You guys are going to do what you’re going to do. I can handle it. Though if there’s anything you can do about it, I’d like to never get another offer from Eric to fuck in a closet.”

“I’ll make sure he’s crystal fucking clear,” Cross growled. “I couldn’t find him last night after the show.”

“Do that because if my dad has to, it’ll ruin everything.”

I wasn’t kidding but also couldn’t guess the number of times he glanced down at my mouth as I spoke. I wasn’t sure he was completely focused on what I was saying.

“So why the lobby?”

“I told you. Ransom had someone in the room. Didn’t really want to witness it.”

“Wouldn’t be the first time, right?” I shrugged at his visible surprise over my question.

That was just part of being on the road. But if I were honest with myself, I wanted to see his reaction, get an indication of his opinion of road hookups and maybe of me. Because again, if I were being honest, I was really beginning to like Cross way more than I wanted to.

“I’ve heard more stories than you could imagine,” I said to keep the conversation going, then cringed as some of the memories popped in my head. “Some I should never have heard. I get it. Rock stars are a different breed. What’s acceptable on the road probably wouldn’t be if you had a normal life.”

“But this is my normal life.”

“Yeah, I know,” I said with a sigh. “Hey, if you ever need a place to stay, come find me.”

“Say again?”

I giggled and reached across the table to slap his arm.

“I mean, I’m always somewhere with extra sleep space. In hotels, the couch usually pulls out into a bed. On the bus, even if Dad’s there, we have at least eight extra places to sleep. Hell, the floor counts as number nine.”

After a long pause, he said, “That’s quite the offer. Not sure your dad would like that, though.”

I rolled my eyes. “Please. He really won’t care, especially if we tell him why. My bus usually ends up with random stragglers. As long as it’s someone Dad trusts, he doesn’t care.”

“And he trusts me?”

I nodded slowly. “Mostly. He doesn’t trust Eric, though. Like… at all.”