Page 90 of Tracing Holland

“Seriously, dude.Are you paying for this or what?Do I need to call my manager?”

“Fuck!”Sweeny cries in exasperation, pulling out his wallet.“No, I got it.Fuck!Give him your card too,” he barks at Eli who still looks monumentally confused.“We’re splitting this.”

“What?But…”

Sweeny points to the Limelight boys, and Eli’s eyes widen.“No!Those little shits!”

I can’t hold it in anymore and the laugh escapes before I can stop it.They turn on me, eyes blazing, and I hold up my hands.

“Dude, I had nothing to do with this!I swear!”

They curse again and exit the bus to properly confront the delivery guy and claim their bounty.I’m still laughing as I glance back at Holland, startled by her giant grin.

“Wait…you?No…” I whisper in disbelief.

She just shrugs.“I may have helped with the brainstorming session.”

All lingering doubts are removed when Jesse and Parker emerge to exchange a casual fist bump with Holland on their way to the door.

“Be prepared to run,” she advises them, and they give her a grin.

“We got this,” Jesse assures her.They begin their descent, and we rush to the window to watch the coming confrontation.

“Oh, sweet!Is that pizza?I’m starving!”

I had no clue musicians could run so fast.

The meetand greet is particularly tiresome tonight.It’s this void in my head, normally a vacuum I can fill with whatever present is necessary for survival, but now is increasingly filled with Holland.Her smile, her music, her incredible mind, and yes, the way she feels when my hands slide over her addictive body.The way my own ignites when she claims me every chance she gets.I’m aching for her, and the constant stream of attention from women who aren’t her is becoming more than I can bear.

I don’t know how many autographs I sign, photos I take, and invitations I turn down, but it can’t be more than every other night.It’s still an eternity by comparison.

“You ok, man?”Casey asks when it looks like we’re finally about to be released for the night.

“Yeah, fine, why?”

“Um, well, for starters you almost made that one girl cry.”

My brain does a quick index but comes up with nothing.“What are you talking about?What girl?”

He seems annoyed.“I don’t know.The girl with the…the…” His emphatic hand gestures are certainly earnest, but do nothing to turn air into nouns.“I don’t know what you call those things.The old man hat.”

“Fedora?”

“Sure, whatever.That girl.”

“She was upset?”I ask, surprised.I do remember her now.Her name was Evie I think, and she wasn’t wearing a fedora, but some newsboy cap looking thing.I made a comment about it, which I feared she misinterpreted as interest when she invited me to a club later with her friends.I thought I nailed the rejection, but maybe not.

Casey shrugs.“She called you an asshole as she walked away.”

I wince.“Yeah?Well, sorry I didn’t want to go out with her friends.Or any of the other twenty offers I got.I thought I was nice about it.”

“Anyway, whatever, you just seem off right now, that’s all.”

I’m not sure what he means by “off,” since my “on” has never exactly been well-documented.But I do know I’m not interested in finding out at the moment.“I’m going to go meet Holland,” I say.“You getting Callie?”

He nods.“Yeah, I think we’re all heading into the city tonight.”

“Oh yeah?Do you know what you’re doing yet?”

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