The bus pulled up on Monday morning and I locked my door behind me. Gareth opened the bus door and grinned at me.

“Good morning, sweetheart!” he cooed.

“Ugh, don’t call me that.” I climbed onto the bus and grinned at the guys sprawled out on the couches. I’d spent Sunday moping around thinking about Jayden. I needed to relax and unwind with my buds. Gareth studied me intently and then sidled up beside me.

“What’s wrong?” he asked in a hushed tone.

I shook my head, but Gareth wasn’t having it. He dragged me to the back of the bus and pushed me down in one of the swiveling chairs. Hammer sat across from us, earbuds in, doing something on his tablet.

“Talk.” Gareth pointed at me.

“I had sex Saturday night,” I blurted out.

“Okay, that’s not exactly ‘stop the presses’ stuff.” Gareth raised his brows.

“It was with a guy.”

“Hmmm. Still not major news.”

Hammer chuckled and my head snapped toward him. He winked at me and went back to what he was doing. What the fuck? The guy never speaks but he winks? Gareth snapped his fingers in front of me and I turned back to him.

“What do you mean ‘not major news’?” I asked curiously.

“Hello? You’re talking to little Gareth O’Donovan, remember? I was at your house a million times as a kid. I remember your secret CD collection and your love of Lance Bass.”

“Could you keep your voice down?” I leaned forward, trying to see the other guys up front.

“Whatever. What do you care what they think? They’ll have your back, and you know it. You were my hero when I was a kid. You’d always talk to me about the guys and the newest album you got. Hell, you loaned me one of them. You always had time for me.”

I stared at Gareth and he smiled. Damn, the kid had grown so much. I still couldn’t believe he was married. It seemed surreal.

“It was because of you that I realized I wanted to have sex with Justin Timberlake,” Gareth chuckled.

Hammer busted out laughing at that point and we both turned to stare at him. He shrugged his shoulders and grunted.

“Is your music even on?” I demanded.

He pulled one of his earbuds out and sure enough, music was blasting from it. He grunted again and went back to his tablet.

“Okay, weird.” I shook my head.

“Look.” Gareth moved across from me. “Whatever you do, you know the guys will back you. None of us care who you bang as long as you’re safe about it.”

“I used a condom,” I assured him.

“Was he hot?” Gareth grinned, waggling his brows.

“You’re not going to believe this, but it was the guy from the mall. Remember him?”

“Perky ass? Oh yeah, I remember that ass,” Gareth snickered.

“His name is Jayden.” I glared at Gareth.

“Oooh, already protective, huh? So, what happened?”             

“He left Sunday morning. No note, no nothing.”

“And he’s smart.” Gareth laughed.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“I’m sure he knows your love-them-and-leave-them habit, so he did it first.”

“Yeah? Well, I don’t like it,” I scowled.

“Getting a taste of your own medicine.” Gareth took my hands in his. “Look, I know what you went through growing up. Ransom’s told me a lot, but I saw first-hand how you were treated by girls when you were young. They’re not all like that, though, Jinx. You can’t treat them all like they’re disposable just because a few of them fucked you over.”

“You sound like my mother.” I blew out a sigh.

“Thanks!” Gareth grinned.

“When did you, our baby boy, get so grown up?”

“Right about the time I was thrust into the limelight. I don’t regret any of it, though. I would never have met Axel if none of this shit had ever happened.”

Achilles walked past us, stopped, and stood in front of me.

“What?” I asked suspiciously.

Hammer coughed and Achilles glanced at him. A look passed between them and then Hammer lowered his head. Achilles pressed on his ear mic and began smiling.

“Oh come on!” I snapped. “Is he talking to you?”

Achilles squatted in front of me and tilted his head to one side.

“No one cares, Jinx.”

My mouth fell open at the tone of his voice. It was so … soft. Who would have thunk it? Big, badass Achilles was soft-spoken. He stood, righted his shirt and went to the front of the bus.

“Jesus, that man is walking sex,” Gareth mused.

Hammer snorted.

“Oh for fuck’s sake! Stop pretending like you’re not listening when it’s obvious you are!” I pointed at him.

Gareth chuckled, placing his hand on my shoulder. “I’m here for ya. I think I always knew you were bisexual.”

“You couldn’t have said something?”

“Nope. Everyone comes to realize who they are in their own time. When you were younger, I don’t think you associated the way you felt about Lance Bass as ‘gay.’ I think you just thought he was handsome and you wished you looked like him.”

“Are you a shrink now?” I cocked a brow.

“Nah. I just read a lot.” Gareth snuck a peek at Hammer. “Take Hammer, for instance. He’s a very handsome man. Tall, dark, and scary, but under the surface, you can see that he’s a very caring man. I also think he’s Italian.”

“He does look Italian, doesn’t he?” I agreed.

Hammer turned his head slightly and cocked a brow.

“I also got the skinny on him from Axel. They call him hammer because that’s what it feels like when he hits you.”

“It’s annoying, huh?” I glared at Hammer. “Having people talk about you while you’re sitting right there.”

Hammer shrugged and went back to his tablet.

“Ugh.” I dragged my hands down my face and looked up at Gareth. “I also liked Kevin Richardson.”

“Yep. I remember. He was hot. That black hair and blue eyes combo,” Gareth sighed.

“I can’t believe we’re sitting here talking about guys,” I chuckled.

“You think you’re the only one of us who finds guys hot or who messed around? Um, hello? My brother and Paul?”

The subject of Paul changed my mood immediately. I wrung my hands and glanced at Gareth.

“Speaking of Paul, I was, um, hoping to go visit him when we’re in Cali.”

“Sure, you can ride with me.”

“You’re going?” I asked, my eyes wide.

“Look, whatever Paul did, he’s still Paul. We grew up with him; he’s been a part of all our lives. He’s getting help, and that’s all that matters. I actually talked to him on the phone when he was finally allowed calls.”

“How’d that go?”

“Good actually. Axel wasn’t happy about it; you know how he feels about Paul. He actually told Paul if he ever hurt me again, he’d bury him somewhere in Alaska.”

“Ouch!”

“That man is so funny,” Gareth beamed.

“Yeah, right. Funny.”

It was hard to see little Gareth as a grown man, married to a former killer. Somewhere along the way, I’d missed out on Gareth coming into his own. He was sweet, caring, and obviously very forgiving. I spent a lot of time with him when he was a kid. Between the guys and the band, Gareth was around a lot. I mussed his hair and gave him a genuine smile.

“You’re a good guy, Gareth.”

“Yeah, well.” Gareth struck a pose.

“We’re stopping for gas!” Stan shouted from up front.

“Cool, I need some candy or something.” Gareth stood and I took his hand.

“Hey, thanks for the talk.”

“Do what makes you happy, Jinx.”

 

Eight hours later, we pulled into the Hilton at Universal. I stepped off the bus and an eerie feeling passed through me. My life was about to change and I had no clue how.