Chapter Twenty-Nine

Indie

 

Finding Cross shouldn’t have been that hard. There weren’t that many places to go around here. Even inside the arena—while it was empty anyway.

I shoved the picture I’d found in my back pocket as I crossed the parking lot to his bus. Yet when I pounded on the door, no one answered. OK, time to head inside. Right then I really wished I had my phone to help locate him. But the only place I could think it would be was in his bedroom. I’d looked everywhere else that came to mind. Hopefully, Cross had found it and had it with him in the arena.

Once inside, I went straight for their dressing room and banged on that. This time someone yelled out, “Yeah,” so I pushed forward, letting the door shut behind me.

“Cross, I found a… ” And that was where I let my words die off.

It wasn’t Cross who’d spoken. It was Eric Drinkswine.

“You found a what?” he asked.

“I’m looking for Cross. Is he here?” I glanced at the door to measure how far in I’d gotten before noticing him. A quick dash and I should be able to make it to the door before he could get to me if I needed to.

“Just me.”

“OK.” I turned toward the door.

“Hold on.” He began stalking toward me like he was the predator and I was the prey. “Maybe we should discuss some things.”

“I have nothing to talk to you about.”

“But I think we do. I want the rest of your pictures.” He was getting too close to me.

“I don’t have any pictures of you, Eric.”

“I should be the judge of that. See, the band used to be about playing gigs and getting women. For some reason now the women part is actually frowned upon. This tour specifically and I think you and your dad have a hand in that.”

“Nobody cares who you fuck. They only care that they’re actually women and not young girls.”

Eric lunged at me. Right as he got close, I lifted a knee hard into his balls. He groaned, cupped dick, and staggered back, giving me the chance to bolt. I turned the handle and got it open an inch before he slammed his big hand against the wood and slammed it shut.

“Let me go, Eric.” I stepped away because I couldn’t take the alcohol on his breath blowing in my face.

His face was etched with pure hatred. Instead of letting me out, he slowly staggered my way. And there wasn’t a fucking back exit to this room that I knew of. Yet still he came closer and closer. Right when I was about to knee him again, another set of hands grabbed his shoulders and pulled him back.

“What the fuck are you doing?” Cross raged at Eric. “You don’t fucking touch her.”

“Oh, so you’ve got rock princess pussy now and you think you can tell me what to do?” Eric sneered at me, his eyes narrowing, and his chest puffing out.

“Fuck you, Eric.” Cross waved his hands in front of him like a broom. “You’re done.”

Eric cocked his head to the side and a hard smile spread across his face. “You don’t get to decide that.”

“The hell I don’t,” Cross shot back with confidence.

As they yelled at each other, they took steps closer and closer, getting in each other’s faces.

Eric drew back and punched Cross. Cross reacted and all hell broke loose. I needed to find a way around them to get to the door. To get help.

There was an opening and I took a chance. They scuffled right into me. An elbow hit my face and pain exploded around my eye. I slammed into the wall and slid down onto my ass. Fuck, that hurt.

“Shit, Indie. Come here.” That wasn’t Cross’ voice. Strong hands lifted me off the ground and helped guide me as I stumbled out of the room. “Sit.” My savior lowered me onto a step.

There was only one staircase in the area that lead up to the rafters, so I could visualize where I was without looking around.

“You all right?” Ransom asked. He was the one who had gotten me out of the dressing room.

“I think so.” I carefully pushed against my cheekbone. “I think it’s just bruised, not broken.”

“I’m gonna get you an ice pack.”

Lawson yelled from the other room, then Cross stomped out and came right for me.

“Are you all right?” he asked. There was blood smeared under his nose and sweat dotting his forehead.             

“Are you?”

“Yeah,” he said, pulling up the hem of his shirt and wiping the blood away.

“Here ya go.” Ransom stood back in front of me offer an ice pack.

“Thanks,” I said, taking it from him and gently touching it to my cheek which made me wince. The coldness was soothing but any pressure on the injured area was uncomfortable.

“Thanks, man,” Cross said, looking at Ransom.

“Yeah. I’m going to go see what we’re doing next.” He began to walk away but then looked back at us. “Where’s Drink?”

Cross shook his head but kept his eyes on me. “Last I saw he was still in there with Lawson.”

Ransom walked away, leaving us as alone as we could be in an arena full of backstage people.

“What happened?” Cross asked. He brushed a thumb over the non-ice-packed cheek.

“I was looking for you. I thought you were in the dressing room. You weren’t.”

Cross sighed. “I was looking for you. I sent a few texts this morning and you never answered.”

“I think my phone fell out of my pocket in your room. I couldn’t find it this morning. Then I went shopping with Dean.”

“Shopping?”

“Yeah.” I shifted myself on the stair. “New camera, computer, printer. Everything that asshole broke.”

“I said I’d take you shopping.”

“I know,” I said with a nod. “But when I got back to my bus this morning my dad was waiting for me.”

His eyes grew wide. It would’ve been funny if my cheek weren’t throbbing so intently.

“He knows you stayed on my bus last night?”

“Yeah. It’s fine. He isn’t mad.”

“I don’t care if he’s mad or not. I just thought maybe I’d talk to you about last night before you talked to your dad about it.”

I giggled at his concern. “No worries. I gave you good marks.”

“Christ.” He sighed and scrubbed a hand on the back of his head.

“I’m kidding. He knows that’s all. But he insisted I go replace everything today. You can still take me shopping some other time.”

“Plan on it.”

“Oh!” My eyes popped open wide as I remembered why I’d been looking for him in the first place. “I found a copy of the picture wedged under the table. It’s the one of Eric and that girl.”

I pulled the picture out of my pocket and handed it to him. He’d already been angry when he’d sat down, but pure rage burned in his eyes. To soothe that, I placed a hand on his cheek and turned him back to face me. Then I leaned in and pressed my lips to his.

This. This is what I’d needed today.

“What the actual fuck?” Dad’s voice echoed against the walls.

“You said he knew,” Cross said to me.

“He does.” I stood up and waited for him to get closer.

“Did you do this to her?” Dad pointed at my cheek.

Cross sprung to his feet. “Fuck no.” But Dad wasn’t stopping.

“Woah, there.” I slid in between them before this misunderstanding got out of hand. “Of course he didn’t do this.” I pointed at my cheek. “There was a thing with Eric and Cross jumped in. I caught an elbow as I was trying to get out of the room. Then Ransom brought me out here.”

It took a good thirty seconds of Dad staring at me, his nostrils flaring with anger, before he looked over to Cross and said, “Did you kick his ass?”

“Yeah.”

Dad nodded. As he turned away, he motioned for me to follow.

“Should I tell him it was your elbow?” I whispered to Cross.

“Fuck,” he muttered and stopped dead. When I turned back he asked, “Was it?”

I snorted. “I don’t know. I wasn’t watching the body parts. Come on.”