Page 20 of Too Little Too Soon
The next concert was on Friday, in Boston. Since they had nearly a week off, everyone was heading their own way tomorrow. He and Cash were flying back to LA; the others were taking off to stay with their families.
Travis had known all this when he’d told Ava he wanted to see her after the show.
Now he wished they were heading out of town tonight.
Damn it.
“Make sure you have an escort,” Lacey called out.
He gave her a backward wave as he left the dressing room. Normally, he wouldn’t need an escort from the venue to the tour bus, since it was parked in an area off limits to anyone who didn’t have credentials hanging around their neck, and there was always a security guard posted at the venue door leading out to the bus. But now that his stalker was back, yeah, he was nervous enough to heed Lacey’s advice.
He snagged the security guard at the door, convinced the guy to escort him uneventfully to the bus, and then he had to pound on the door to wake the driver so he could climb on board. Guess Teddy wasn’t in the mood to celebrate New Year’s Eve. Although there were still two hours to go, so maybe he was taking a power nap.
Whatever. Travis didn’t really care. He just wanted to collapse on the surprisingly comfortable couch in the living area and chill. Maybe write. Everybody was expected to bring fresh, new music to the table when they began producing their next album, and so far, he hadn’t written much they could work with.
He wasn’t too worried though. Touring meant long hours on the road doing a whole lot of nothing. It also meant lots of opportunity for inspiration, as each city they visited would be different crowds, different feels. While Parker and Lacey tended to write songs about love, Travis tended to write more about life. Being a rock star. Being on the road. Being alone.
He’d just laid down, had just plopped his reading glasses onto his nose, when his phone rang. He tugged it from his pocket; Maria’s name was on the screen.
“Yeah?” he answered.
“Oz says you’re on the bus,” she replied.
“Yep.”
“I need a favor.”
He groaned, even though yes, he’d do whatever she needed.
“It’s easy, I swear.”
“What is it, Maria?”
“I forgot to bring in the party favors with the band’s logo on them. I wanted to give them away tonight. Can you please grab them and bring them to the meet and greet room?”
Well, hell. His entire purpose for heading to the bus early was to avoid Ava, and now he was going to have to see her after all.
“Please,” Maria whined into his ear. “They’re the perfect way to kick off this tour. Demigoddess Revival’s logo will be all over social media after tonight.”
He couldn’t say no, no matter how much he wanted to avoid Ava. Promoting the band was too important at this juncture. They were on the cusp of breaking out. The show they’d just done had been top notch; they needed to keep the momentum going.
Hell, Maria had already helped get them into Madison Square Garden on New Year’s Eve, a huge North American tour, and they hadn’t even yet celebrated a full year together as a band.
So when Maria said she needed a bunch of party favors, Travis really had no choice but to comply.
“Where are they?” he asked with a sigh.
She squealed, burbled her thanks, and then told him they were in the luggage compartment in a black roller bag.
He found what he was looking for and headed toward the venue, no security escort this time. There wasn’t anyone around anyway. Everyone was either hanging with the rest of the members of Demigoddess Revival or watching Panic Station up on stage. If his stalker were still here, she was likely sitting front and center watching Holly and Sam’s band.
“Travis.”
He turned toward the unexpected sound of his name. A woman stepped out of the shadows behind the temporary fence set up to keep people from milling around this entrance to the venue.
She was short, a couple pounds on this side of chubby, with big eyes and dark hair mostly stuffed under a stocking cap. Maybe that was how no one else had recognized her; she’d changed her hair. It used to be blonde. She’d lost a little weight, too.
But Travis recognized her. Short of plastic surgery, he was pretty sure he’d recognize her no matter what.
