It’s sometime later after I’ve wished my mom a good night that I’ve changed out of my wet clothes into a tank top and shorts. I’m up in my room on the edge of my bed and just put my phone on the charger. It lights up with messages right away. Apparently, I missed a call and a text from AJ, who wants to catch up with me and see what’s going on. He probably still feels guilty about the road trip thing. Maybe it’s just my mood, but I’m almost ready to forgive him for everything. If it weren’t for his selfishness, I never would’ve met Austin, right?
Speaking of: a message from Austin asking me to call when I’m back home. Or should I start calling him Chase now?
He answers right away. “Made it back in one piece?”
“If you don’t count the one or two I left with you,” I answer.
He sighs contentedly into the phone. “I ain’t giving ‘em back.”
I chuckle, then glance at the window when it flashes, tears of rain running down the glass. “You on the road already?”
“Yep. But couldn’t sleep ‘til I knew you made it back.”
I smile. “That makes two of you. My mom stayed up waiting on me. I sorta scared her half to death ‘cause my phone died.”
“Said you should’ve called her before you left.”
“I know.” I lie back on my bed with my phone, its cord pulled over my chest from the wall charger. “I still can’t believe I made it out of there undetected.”
It was a bit of a heist in reverse. When we finished consuming each other in that musty dressing room—apparently we had thirty minutes on the dot, courtesy of the drummer, who is completelyinon my existence—Austin poked his head out of the room, saw the coast was clear, and told me to follow him. We had four close-calls, causing me to have to duck behind a trashcan or slip behind a wall before finally reaching some sidedoor. The rain did not let up one bit, but I assured Austin I’d be fine with a little wet jog around the building to the parking lot. He fought with me on it for a minute until the sound of footsteps forced us to make a move. I put a kiss on him, said something cheesy like, “Call you later, hot stuff,” and hurried out into the rain. I sorely underestimated how large the building was, taking me a full six minutes before I finally reached my car, got inside soaked down to the underwear, and enjoyed a blissful moment of wondering who the hell I was.
Who am I, really? What is this life I’m living lately?
I don’t recognize it at all.
“Where are you headed to now?” I ask.
“No idea the name. Starts with an H. I think. Let me just pull it up.” His fingers tap along on his screen. My phone buzzes with a notification. “Sent you a pin.”
I pull my phone away and check. “Ooh. That’s about an hour south from me. Your tour’s drawing a circle around Spruce.”
“Doin’ a slow-motion do-si-do,” he confirms. I hear the smile in his voice. “I’ve got a day off after tomorrow.”
“Any plans?” I ask coyly.
“Let me ask my secretary, andnope,” he answers immediately. “Got the whole day off.”
“Sounds like an opportunity.”
“That it does.”
Silence falls over the line as we listen to each other breathe. I bet the silence is as filled with thoughts and questions for him as it is for me. Like, is this really going to work? Are we crazy for even trying? Or are we for once doing the right thing in our lives?
Even if it scares the shit out of us?
“If we hadn’t … been interrupted …” I start to ask.
“Hmm?”
“In your drummer’s dressing room. Raj’s room. Tonight. If we, uh … didn’t have just the thirty minutes.” I bite my lip,wondering what it is I’m hoping he’ll say. “What would we have done?”
“If we … had all night?”
“Yeah.”
“Well, let me think ‘bout that for a minute.” His voice is low. I hear him shift over bed sheets. I wonder what it’s like to sleep on a tour bus. Does he have an actual bed? Or one of those built-into-the-side bunks? Do just his bandmates share the bus with him, or does it also house crew? “Let’s think about that for a nice … long … hot minute …”
I run my hand down my chest. “Your minute is taking a long time. Is someone … listening in?”