Page 99 of Tracing Holland

“You scared the shit out of a lot of people,” I explain, studying him in the rhythmic flashing of passing headlights and street lamps.

“Dammit, I know, I just…” He presses his palms to his eyes, and I soften a bit at his obvious distress.

“Here, drink this,” I command, passing him the bottle of water I brought.

He gives me a sheepish look as he accepts it and starts inhaling the contents.

“That was epically idiotic,” I continue.“You get that, right?You want to party, fine, but there’s a right way and a wrong way.Landing in a fucking tunnel with a crowd of junkies—wrong way.”

“I know, it’s just…”

“Shut up for a second and listen to me.”

I wait until I have his attention and hold up four fingers.“The number of times I ended up in the hospital after a night of partying.”Seven fingers.“The number of times I woke up in a completely different place than where I thought I was.”Two fingers.“The number of times I was probably drugged and have no idea what happened after that.”

I draw in a deep breath.“It’s not cool, man.It’s not worth it, and it’s not you.”

He looks away, clearly conflicted, and I sigh.“Look, first thing you do any time you leave the group is tell someone your plan, then you don’t veer from it unless you send an update, ok?Second rule, never take a hit you didn’t buy yourself.Better to stay away from that shit completely… but I get it.”He looks back at me.“Third rule, stay on your turf as much as possible.Bring the girls back to your bus, your dressing room, whatever, but for fuck’s sake don’t follow them to abandoned tunnels.”I shake my head.“And dude, seriously, that chick?You’re a freaking epic talent, man.Aim way higher or don’t bother.I’m serious.You got nothing from that girl you needed, did you.”

I can tell I’m right when he leans back and closes his eyes.“I know.I’m sorry again.”He opens them and turns back to me.“Thanks for coming for me, man.I mean it.When I woke up…” His eyes search mine.“I was scared, dude.Really scared.”

“Yeah, so were we.Don’t do it again, ok?”

He lets out his breath.“Not a chance.”

I jab his arm.“Good.And delete that chick’s number from your phone.I guarantee it’s in there.”

I can tellKenneth is livid when we get back.Our impromptu road trip put us almost two hours behind schedule, but he holds his tongue as I climb back onto my bus after depositing Jesse on his.The Limelight guys were beyond grateful, solemn as they exchanged greetings with their drained and apologetic lead singer.

I have some concerned messages waiting for me from Holland as well, and return them to let her know I’m ok, just helping out a friend.In an update to her drama, Wes has been hiding in his bunk since Holland boarded their bus so she hasn’t confronted him yet.Casey is waiting for me on mine.

“Parker told us what happened,” he whispers, waving me to the back.We close the partition and I drop to the couch, totally exhausted.

“He’s a good kid, he’s just got a mountain to climb before he figures this out.”

“Really?We don’t know anyone like that,” he jokes, and I give him a look.

I close my eyes.“I wish I’d kept a journal.I could probably just hand it to him as an instruction manual.”

Casey grunts.“More like a violent warning.”

I grin.“Exactly.”

I open my eyes and glance back at Casey.“Do you think he’s got a prayer?I mean, do you believe it’s possible to avoid that road for guys like us if you have help?”

“Which road?Your road?Or mine.”

“Your road would have been a lot better if I hadn’t dragged you down mine.”

He shrugs.“Maybe.But we both got through it, right?”

I sigh.“Did we?”

“Your road brought Callie into my life.You won’t hear me complaining.”

My heart starts to fill as I glance over again at my best friend.“Case, you know how important you are to me, right?You and Callie, and now Holland…” I shake my head.“Anyway, I love you, man.I don’t know if I’ve ever said it, but you need to know that.That’s all.”

I can feel his grin and let my own slowly spread across my lips.Snide remark in three…two…

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