CHAPTER THIRTEEN
“So far, Jules and Mark are both out of the pot,” Dan said, settling into his seat in the lounge. “That just leaves me and Alex to duke it out over the money.”
“You’re going to have to wait two months after the tour for that,” Alex pointed out.
“Not if she breaks up with him right at the end of the tour,” Jules countered. “Then he wins by default.” A few feet away, I watched Olivia working on another piece for the magazine.
“What happens to the money if all of you are wrong?” She asked idly, not even looking up from her screen. “I mean, what if two months passes after the tour and Nick and I are still together?” Four other sets of eyes turned to look at me.
“What are you looking at me for?” I shook a cigarette loose from my pack and brought it to my mouth quickly, fumbling with my lighter for a moment before I could get it lit.
“I’m just trying to figure out if you’re really serious about going the distance,” Dan said, shrugging.
“Same,” Alex agreed.
“I wanted to see if you were going to start blushing. I was totally right,” Mark told me with a smirk.
“Everyone else was doing it, so I figured why be the only one left out?” I rolled my eyes at Jules’ deadpan.
“I’m not trying to get, like, a confession of love or something,” Olivia said, finally glancing up from her laptop. “I’m just curious about the status of the betting pool if everyone loses.”
“Money goes to Nick,” Alex ruled.
“But he didn’t even bet!” Mark scowled at him.
“Technically he did,” Dan said. “He bet without actually putting money on it that he’d…like, make it last or whatever.”
“You’re just saying that because you still have money on the line. Nick didn’t put any money in so he shouldn’t win any money either.”
“But you can’t have a betting pool with no winner,” Jules pointed out.
“We should ask someone in the mob,” Mark suggested. “They probably have betting pools where no one wins.”
“Right, because based on Alex’s status with the Miami drug dealers, they’re totally going to cooperate with any of us if we start asking questions about illegal gambling.”
“You could ask one of those casino places,” Olivia suggested, turning half of her attention back onto her computer. “Though they’d probably say the house keeps the money. And there’s no house here.”
“Do you want me to get the money or not?” Olivia glanced at me and grinned.
“Ah, she’s fucking with us,” Jules said, grinning even as he shook his head. “She’s trying to get material for her articles.”
“A fight in the band over money would be a good scoop,” Dan agreed.
“A better scoop would be catching Jules drunkenly grabbing Mark’s ass,” Alex said. “Anyway, I vote that if Nick’s able to keep his dick away from strange and actually manage to keep Olivia satisfied…” everyone snickered, “then he’s earned the money.”
“You’re just saying that because you’re the only one in the band with a girlfriend slowing you down, and you want to bring Nicky into your shame,” Jules suggested. He shrugged. “Whatever. He can win the money if he manages not to chase her off two months after the tour ends.” Olivia glanced at me, one eyebrow raised.
“I’ll split the money with you,” I told her, grinning. She rolled her eyes.
“I’m not just going to stay with you for money, you know,” she said.
“I know,” I told her, nodding. “But the money’s a good bonus, don’t you think?” I saw her lips twitch even as she struggled not to look at me.
“We’re about fifteen minutes from the hotel,” Ron announced, coming into the lounge from the back room on the bus. “Check-in should be smooth, but I want to make sure you’re all ready when we get there. We have a pretty tight schedule today.”
“Nick’s got an even tighter one,” Jules noted quietly. He shot me a little grin. “He’s got to fit in fucking Olivia at least three more times today.”
“Whatever you guys do in your free time, as long as you’re not getting arrested for it, is none of my business,” Ron said, holding up his hands. “But we need to go over the schedule. You’ve got the radio interview in about an hour and a half; that’s going to take up at least an hour. Then we go to the venue, set up while you guys talk to another radio station on the phone, and sound check. You get some time after that for dinner and hanging out, and then the show.”
“And then back to the hotel, debauchery—except for Alex and Nicky—and on the road tomorrow?” I rolled my eyes at Mark’s question.
“Back on the road tomorrow,” Ron confirmed. “You’re all getting a day off in another three days, though.”
“So, if you don’t want to spend your entire day off doing laundry, might as well get some of it done tonight,” Hannah suggested.
“Alex can do it,” Jules said, grinning at our lead singer. “He’s going to be on Skype or phone with Mary all night after the concert anyway.”
“Not all night,” Alex protested. “Just for a little while.”
“Says the guy who was on the phone with his girlfriend for six hours yesterday,” Mark said.
“In any case, busy day today, travel day tomorrow. Make the most of the time you have.” Hannah shrugged and turned to head to the back where the luggage was.
“We’re right around the corner from the hotel,” Ron said. “Get ready to check in.”