Page 4 of Too Little Too Soon
Unfortunately, that meant he didn’t get laid very often, but that was okay. He put all his blood, sweat, and tears into drumming. That was all he needed.
Like he said, his life was fucking perfect right now.
His phone pinged, and Travis snagged it off the bedside table. A text from Parker.
Going jogging.Want to join me?
Travis usedto be a strictly weightlifting in the gym kind of guy, but after befriending Parker, who went jogging every damn day, he’d picked up the habit himself. He wasn’t as diehard as Parker, but he couldn’t deny the way he felt during and after a solid pavement pounding.
Still, he fired off a snarky reply.
We’rein NYC in December. It’s fucking cold.
Travis had been bornand raised in Texas, and while he had zero desire to ever move back home, he doubted he could be persuaded to move someplace where it was below sixty degrees for half the year. He’d much rather sweat his ass off jogging in ninety degree weather than feel his lungs burn from the inside as he sucked in below-freezing air.
Parker’s reply was quick.
It’s forty degrees outside.Don’t be a pussy.
Travis grinned.He and Parker busted each other’s chops all the time, all in the name of fun. When they had first formed the band, though, he’d been pretty pissed off at his now-probable best friend. Parker and Lacey had been sleeping together and hadn’t told anyone else in the band. It broke Travis’s cardinal rule. And he’d damn near left the band before they even got started.
Fine,he tapped out.I’ll go. Maybe I’ll meet some actual pussy while we’re out.
Parker repliedwith an eye roll emoji.
Travis wasn’t really that crude, and Parker knew it. But he had to admit, it would be nice to find a hookup for after the concert. His cock buried to the hilt inside a willing woman who understood this was only a one-time thing would be the perfect end to what had basically been a perfect year.
He admitted as much to his friend while they were jogging through Central Park.
“I’m glad I’m not single,” Parker said between puffs of frigid air.
For the record, it was colder than forty out here. If Travis had taken the time to actually look at a weather app before heading out, he’d not have joined his buddy. But now that he was here, he could admit that the brisk air woke him up and got those endorphins charging probably even better than the hot, dry air he dealt with when they jogged in LA, which was currently home base for the various band members.
“I’m glad I am single,” Travis shot back. “Sure, you and Lacey make love look vaguely interesting, but you’re an anomaly.”
A frosty cloud burst from his mouth as Parker laughed. “What about Oz and Maria?”
“Maria’s not in the band, so it’s not quite as bad, although now that she’s our PR guru, it does make me nervous. Think about her ex and his threat to take away her kid.” It had all worked out in the end, but for a minute there, Oz had thought Maria was going to leave him and go back to her old life.
After Travis and Suzie split, he’d kept tabs on her through social media, mostly because he was curious as to whether the band would be able to continue their success without him.
They should have been fine. They were a talented group of musicians, and they had been big enough to attract a solid drummer to replace him.
But Suzie continued her downward spiral, her addictions only getting worse and worse, to the point where Travis had quit following because he’d been afraid the next headline would be announcing her death via overdose.
“Maria and Oz can overcome any damn thing,” Parker said as their running shoes beat a steady rhythm through Central Park. “And her ex has settled down now. Hell, Oz dropped Riley off for her last visit because Maria had a meeting she couldn’t get out of with Silver Lining. He said Vic was totally chill. Even invited Oz to share a beer with him.”
Thank fuck Travis had never knocked up Suzie. What a mess that would have been, especially given her inability to stay away from substances that were bad for her.
“I know you were burned, man,” Parker said, “but relationships aren’t all bad. Look at it this way: you can’t do any worse.”
Travis snorted, the cold seeping up his nose and damn near freezing his brain for a minute. Fuck, he hated winter. “You’re right,” he agreed. “I can’t do any worse, so long as I stick to one-night stands.”
Whether he liked her relationship with Oz was beside the point; Maria was a fucking fantastic PR person. She’d grown their success so fast in the last six months that Travis couldn’t help but be impressed. He just hoped like hell she and Oz stayed together, because he didn’t think there was a better publicist out there.
Parker shook his head. “That’s what you said before that chick started stalking you last summer.”
“Yeah, well, I only hook up with women who have no clue who I am.”
