Page 21 of The Rocker

Now we were headed to the studio, where a tour bus was waiting for us. Everything was moving so fast; I could hardly believe we had recorded our first album. Tonight, we would be loaded up on the bus and driven to our first gig under Titan Records. One of the opening acts for Tragic Phenomenon had to drop out, and when we were asked if we’d like to take their place, we jumped at the chance. Never in my wildest dreams did I think I’d have the chance to open for one of my favorite bands.

We pulled into the parking lot of Titan Records, and parked out front was a huge black bus. All of our faces were glued to the windows as we took in what we hoped was our tour bus.

“Is that ours?” Kenton asked in awe, his jaw nearly to the floor.

“That is fucking sweet,” Cross drew out the word. His leg bounced with excitement.

“I can’t fucking believe it,” Greer muttered from beside me. I looked at him from the corner of my eye, wanting to get a look at him. He had the faintest upturn of his lips as he tapped out a tune on the armrest. I couldn’t remember the last time I saw even the semblance of a smile from him. Maybe he’d be better. Happier. I only wished I knew why he was an epic asshole most of the time. As if he could feel me staring, Greer glanced my way. I was surprised when he actually full-on smiled at me. “We fucking did it.”

I clapped him on the back. “Hell, yeah, we did. All those years of hard work paid off.”

The second the car stopped, we all piled out and ran to the bus. The door was open, and we pounded up the short set of stairs. We halted when we found Pen standing in a small kitchen area with a wide smile on her face. “What do you think, boys?”

“Is this ours?” I rushed out. If it wasn’t, we were going to be sorely disappointed after seeing this beauty.

Pen spread her arms out to her side and twirled around in a circle. “It’s all yours.”

“Sick,” Cross pushed by Pen and started inspecting every inch of our new home.

Everything was black, the furniture, the countertops, the tables. Even the wall of beds was black. There was a TV hung up on the wall with a couple of gaming systems underneath it. I wasn’t much a gamer, but the rest of the guys were. It was smart to give them something to do during our downtime besides trash the place and drink.

“Pick your beds, and when you come back, we’ll draw for who gets the bedroom in the back for a week.” Pen pointed to the closed door at the end of the bus.

“Hey, there’s already a bag on one of these beds,” Kenton shouted as he patted the top bunk. “This one right here is mine.” It wasn’t surprising he wanted the top; Kenton was one tall motherfucker.

“Do we have another bandmate we don’t know about?” I asked as I eyed the bag on the bottom righthand bunk.

“That’s mine.” Pen’s gaze flashed to mine before she looked away. Why hadn’t she mentioned this before? “I won’t always ride with you, especially during the day, but I was hoping you’d let me sleep here instead of the van.”

Cross nodded his head as he took the middle bunk above hers. “Yeah, of course. We won’t make you sleep in a van every night.” He tapped his chin as he bit back a smirk. “What if we want to bring someone on board?”

“Well, they won’t be spending the night unless you plan to drop them off at the next venue.” Pen tapped her fingernail to her pink-painted lips. “Something you might need to think about.”

“Fuck, that never crossed my mind. There’s no way I’m bringing someone with me.” Cross shook his head rapidly as if spending more than the time required to fuck someone was appalling to him. “Just make sure to give us time before we leave, so we can get our— “

I slapped him in the back of the head before he finished his sentence. “I think she gets it. You don’t need to be so crude.”

“What the fuck?” Cross rubbed the back of his head like I’d damaged him in some way.

“Suck it up. It wasn’t that hard,” I grumbled.

“Damn,” Cross moaned, walking toward the front of the bus. “I’m going to go get my shit.”

Pen trailed behind him. “You can put most of it underneath. There isn’t room for much in the bunks.”

Cross gave her a thumbs up and then glared my way. He flipped me off before he descended down the stairs.

“I guess we should go get our stuff,” Kenton mumbled as he passed by.

Once everyone else was off the bus, Pen turned to me with turbulent golden eyes. “You didn’t need to do that. I’m a grown woman and know what happens on and off the bus. I don’t expect them or you to be celibate on this tour. In fact, I encourage it.”

I cocked my head to the side. “You encourage it. Really? Are you saying you won’t care if I’m with someone else? I think that’s a lie, my sweet Penny.”

“I’m not saying that.” She leaned back against the kitchen counter and crossed one leg over the other. “What I’m saying is it will be better foreveryoneif they don’t have any pent-up sexual frustrations.”

I stalked the few feet that separated us. My mouth brushed against her pretty pink lips as I said. “Does that mean you’re going to be fucking me on the regular?”

“I shouldn’t,” she shook her head and looked toward the front. “If we keep this up, we’re apt to get caught.”

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