Page 32 of Love on Tour
“Hey, Matt. How’s Christine?” Austin asked, hugging the blonde chick draped on his arm.
“She’s okay. I’ve got her in the lounge. There was no way she’d make it into her bunk.”
“Damn. I was going to use that room. Oh well. We can fit in my bunk, can’t we, sweetheart?” Austin nuzzled the woman’s neck.
“Whatever you want, Austin Garrett,” she said.
Christine rolled her eyes.
“Can you keep an eye on Christine tonight?” Austin asked.
“Of course,” Matt said.
Christine watched Matt reach into her bunk. He grabbed her pillow and blanket and started walking toward her. She fell onto the couch and pretended to be asleep. She knew Matt wouldn’t do anything with her now that Austin was on the bus, and she didn’t want to be turned down again. Matt came into the back lounge, put the pillow under her head, and covered her with the comforter. He sat down next to her, pulled her legs into his lap, put his head back, and fell asleep.
CHAPTER FIVE
Christine opened her eyes. She was alone in the back of the bus. Her head pounded and her throat was parched. What the heck? She’d only had two shots of Fireball and a wheat cookie. She paused and questioned why Brandy had a wheat cookie. Oh God. Had she misunderstood and Brandy had said weed cookie? That made much more sense. How stupid to think she’d said “wheat.” Christine had gotten drunk and stoned. She groaned, wondering what else she had done.
She concentrated hard, trying to remember. She recalled dancing in the vibe room with Brandy. Had she done a striptease? She had a vision of Matt taking her to the bus. She felt her entire body blush. Matt. Did she really climb on his lap and kiss him? Had she dreamt that she’d begged him to be with her, or had she actually been that bold? God, she hoped it had been a dream. Otherwise, she’d be mortified.
They’d already arrived in the next city, and she needed a shower. She left the lounge, made her way through the darkened bunkroom, opened the door to the front lounge, grabbed her suitcase, and left the bus. The touring ladies’ dressing room waseasy to find, and a hot shower helped her feel human again. She had no energy to go through the process of straightening her hair. Today it would be natural curls. She put some gel in it, then dried and styled it as quickly as she could. As she walked out of the room, she bumped into Matt.
“Christine. Good morning. How ya feeling?” He reached out for her.
Christine launched into the speech she had prepared. “I have no idea what got into me last night. I am so sorry. Can we just never mention it again?” She was so caught up in her embarrassment that she didn’t notice Matt’s smile fading away. “I thought she said ‘wheat cookie,’ but now that I’m sober, I think it was a weed cookie. I’ve never been stoned in my life. I just wasn’t in my right mind.”
Matt dropped his arms. “It’s cool, Christine. Nobody knows anything, and I’ll make sure nobody finds out.”
“We can just pretend it didn’t happen?” she asked.
“Of course we can. Not a big deal.” Christine noticed a different tone in his voice. He sounded disappointed. She felt horrible that her antics had disappointed him.
“And please don’t tell Austin.” Christine was worried he’d fire her for being unprofessional.
Matt nodded and closed his eyes. “Yep. I won’t tell him. I got it. It was no big deal.”
“Thank you.”
Just then, Austin came walking down the hall. Wearing a smile, she turned toward him.
“What’s up, girl? Have fun last night?” He grabbed her up in a hug.
She squealed. “Remind me to never come out here again,” she said.
“Oh, hell yeah you are. Dancing queen.” He put his arm around her and they walked away, leaving Matt behind.
WHEN SHE RETURNED HOME FROMthe tour, Christine met Julianna and Phoebe for a songwriter’s night at Exit/In. With its concrete floor and metal pillars, it always reminded Christine of a frat house. It smelled slightly of beer at all times, like the alcohol had sunk into its pores.
Social media was lighting up, again, about her and Austin. As much as Christine tried to ignore it, she couldn’t. Especially one post that looked ominous:I’m seriously tired of seeing that ugly bitch’s face everywhere AG is. I’m ready to hunt her down and take her out.
Christine put her phone down, air escaping through her lips. “This is scary. Why are people threatening me?” she asked.
“They want what you have,” Phoebe said.
“That’s never happened to me before.”
“Well, it’s happening now,” Julianna said.
