Page 82 of Reverb
“No, you don’t.” Zavier took a pull on his beer. “That is, in fact, Ray’s job for all of us.”
“Hey!” Ray looked indignant, and David couldn’t help laughing.
Mish downed a gulp of Adrian’s whiskey, then chased it with a swallow of beer. “Damn, I needed that.” She snuggled in closer to David. “Need this, too,” she said.
If the others heard, they were polite enough to pretend they hadn’t. Which, David guessed, was bus etiquette. He put his arm around her. Given that Ray was pretty much draped over Zavier, he suspected that was fine.
Zavier gave David a little grin and stroked Ray’s hair.
True to Dom’s words, once the bus was moving and they’d consumed their drinks and babbled for about a half hour, everyone slinked off to their racks. David had thrown his bag on one of the empty berths, figuring that’s where he’d end up. After they’d all gotten changed, Mish pulled him into the lounge in the back and closed the curtain.
“If the curtain’s drawn in the middle of the night, chances are there’s something going down.” She paused. “Or someone.”
“Don’t think I have the energy, darling.”
“I know I don’t.” She did cup his face and kiss him. “I’m glad you’re here, though. It’s—better. As long as it’s okay with you.”
He took her hands from his face and held them in his own. Because he had to be honest with her. “Mish, what’s going on between us is wonderful. Amazing. No idea where it’s going, but I want to see.”
“But?” She had a wry look.
“I’m still here to do a job. To keep you safe. To keep the band safe. I’d be lying if I told you I wasn’t worried that getting this close, feeling what I do, is gonna get in the way of me staying sharp and keeping you—all of you—out of danger.”
“But?” Her look had softened.
“I’ll be where you need me to be. I can’t help what I feel.” Sometimes he saw years and years when he looked into her eyes. “You want me here. I’m here for you, princess.”
Her next kiss had passion and longing and everything David was afraid to name. He knew what the tumble and lurch in his chest meant. Understood exactly why his soul soared every time Mish touched him.
He was falling in love with his rock queen.
They left the lounge and moved to their respective racks. Not enough room to share one comfortably, though they both eyed Mish’s with the same thought. In the end, David put Marly in her hands. “I think he enjoys you better, anyway.”
She’d laughed and kissed David once more before slipping into her berth.
Once he’d settled in his own rack, he didn’t think he’d fall to sleep given how he was turning the day over and over in his mind, but the sound of the road cut through his mind, slipping him out of his thoughts. That’s all it took for slumber to find him.
So weird to be in a venuethisearly for a concert. It wasn’t even noon yet. Mish had already sucked down several cups of Adrian’s coffee in the greenroom and was on another now. Somehow, Adrian had managed to insist that he provide the beans and make the joe, rather than relying on the catering service the venue used. Guess being a big-name band helped smooth over that.
Twisted Wishes had never been obnoxious in their needs, so insisting on their own coffee was probably way low on the Band Diva list.
After the tumult of the day in Boston and the show that’d blown all of them away, they’d played another stellar show in Philadelphia. Now they were between Baltimore and DC for a stop at a music festival, as one of the headlining big-name bands.
Five Asylum was there, too, and that was also strange—to be meeting up with them as equals this time, not as their opening act. On social media, Adrian was all over the two bands meeting again. He’d been strategizing with the woman who was his counterpart, along with Marcella and a man she recognized as Five Asylum’s band manager.
Gregor Daye, Five Asylum’s lead singer, pulled Ray aside for a private chat, and both men returned with smiles, though Gregor’s was more subdued. He also took a cup of Adrian’s coffee—then lobbied to hire Adrian for himself. “What the hell you put into this? And how much do I have to pay you to leave these louts?” It was all said with humor and amusement.
Adrian grinned. “The ingredients are top secret.”
“And he’s mine,” Domino said. “Or I’m his, or whatever.”
“And Dominic is priceless,” Adrian said.
“Oh god.” Gregor mock grimaced. “Aren’t you two stinking cute?”
Mish, though, had kept away from most of the action. Everything felt off. Nothing had happened at the concert in Philly, and both David and Adrian swore up and down that no new messages had come in. Marcella backed them up on that.
“I’d tell you,” David had said. “You know that.”
