“What are you doing? I need to grab my stuff.”
“I have a present for you.”
He sighs and gives me the wounded puppy expression when I refuse to get on the bus with him. “I’ll wait right here.” I promise, firmly planting my feet on the asphalt.
A few minutes later, he returns with a black T-shirt. “I just got a new order of these in and wanted you to have one.”
“Oh, thank you.” I unfold it and chuckle at the Vicious Vandals cartoon on the front. Andrew’s happy face, smack dab in the middle. “Did you draw this?”
“Yeah. Someone else did the shading and had them printed up for me, though.”
“You’re multi-talented, huh?”
He points to the right side of his head. “Yeah, but only left-brain stuff, you know?”
I bite down on my lip, trying not to laugh. “I know.”
“Will you wear it to the show tonight?” His mouth stretches into a slow smile. “Please?”
He has done an awful lot to help Kickstart out. Wearing his shirt for one night seems like a simple way to say thank you. “Maybe.”
Chaser
Peter’s lengthy meeting to warn us not to fuck up our Rolling Stone interview this afternoon doesn’t improve my mood.
Rolling fucking Stone wants to put Kickstart on the cover. How the fuck did that happen?
“They want to talk to Mallory, too. That won’t be a problem, will it?” Peter asks.
“Nope.”
“Just steer clear of any questions about Bloody Revolver. We don’t want that to become an issue again.” Peter was so scandalized when he found out I’d beaten Davey Revolver bloody in England, he can’t stop bringing it up. Apparently, he’s a big Bloody Revolver fanboy. One more reason I hate this dude.
“Why?” Alvin asks. “The world should know what a sleaze bucket he is.”
Peter glares at him.
“Oh, that’s right, Alvin,” I drawl. “Then we’d have to explain that our singer is just as sleazy.”
“I thought we’d moved past this?” Jacob says.
I shrug. “Peter started it.” I shoot a glare his way. “Why the fuck would I ever bring up that fiasco?”
“It may be a respectable magazine, but they still want to dig for dirt.” He huffs and flips through the papers in his lap. “Talk up the tour with Vicious Vandals. Your friendship with Andrew and the guys. Fans love hearing that their favorite bands are friends and hang out behind the scenes, so talk up that angle.” He flips through a few more pages.
“Anything else?” I’m not thrilled about leaving Mallory alone with Andrew on the loose.
“Please don’t fuck up this interview. It’s a big fucking deal.” He casts his murderous manager face at Jacob. “Do not show up drunk or high. There are enough rumors about your addictions swirling around without you confirming any of them.”
Jacob has the nerve to act insulted. “I never drink before I go on stage. Well, anymore.” He rubs his hand over his throat. “I can’t do much talking at the interview anyway. I need to preserve these babies.”
“I’m sure they’ll pick up your slack.” He nods to Garrett, Alvin, and me.
Once we’re set free, I hunt Mallory down and find her stretched out in my bunk on the bus, reading a book. “Ready to blow this cage?” I ask.
“Thank goodness, I was starting to wonder if Peter locked you up before the show.”
“He can try.” I drop down on the sliver of mattress available and run my hand over Mallory’s legs up to her shoulders. “Would you like to go somewhere we have some privacy?”
She closes the book and rolls to her side. “More than anything. I’m all packed.”
I pick up her duffel bag, find my own and stuff a few things inside, then take her hand. “Peter arranged early check-ins for us.”
Outside, Mallory stretches her arms toward the sky. “I’m looking forward to a real bed.”
“Me too.” Not even for carnal purposes. I’ve got so many kinks in my neck and back from being jammed into the tiny bunk for so many nights, I’m not sure I’ll ever walk straight again. “Andrew behave himself after I left?”
She snort-laughs. “He’s crazy. He gave me his apple, and when I mentioned I wanted peanut butter to go with it, he stole a giant tub of it from the kitchen.”
Not sure I like any man—but especially Andrew—feeding my woman, I simply nod. “That’s nice.”
“I think it was his way of apologizing for last night.”
“Sure.”
“This has been a good tour for Kickstart, right?”
There’s no denying we’ve gained a lot of new fans. Robbie has been manning our merch booth and swears we sold more T-shirts than Vicious Vandals the other night. A big deal for the opening act. “Yeah, it’s been good.”
“I’m so happy you’ve found the success you deserve.”
“Ahhh.” I take her hand and spin her around the parking lot a few times until she’s laughing uncontrollably. “Success can never be owned, little dove. We only rent it. If we want to hang on to success, the rent’s due every day.”