Love on the Rocks (Love on Tour #1) (4 page)

“Was it rough?” My voice was soft.

“The streets of L.A. were mean,” Henry said in a matter-of-fact tone. “But I survived. I learned how to fight from the bastard boyfriend, so I did alright by the time I was on my own. When I was 16 I got stabbed.”

Henry lifted up his shirt and showed me a long curved scar on his lower rib. My mouth dropped open.

“So I ended up in the hospital which sent me to the state, and I ended up in foster care. I got placed in a good home. My foster father was a good guy. He liked music and we played together, listened to tunes. He even took me to concerts. Anyway, I stayed with them until I got my GED, and a little after even. I played with his band. They played oldies in bars and shit. I met a lot of other musicians, and eventually ended up with my own band. We played a lot of hard gigs, but then we got ‘discovered.’” He used his fingers to make quotation marks in the air.

Henry told me about the adjustments he had to make to a rock and roll lifestyle, the drinking, the money, the girls. “I was in a bad way when I met Sean. I was so drunk most of the time I couldn’t see straight. When I wasn’t drunk, I was high. I was all fucked up. I’d completely broken away from my band and gone out on my own. I was surprisingly successful, given that I could barely keep my shit together. This one time I went into the studio to record, but it was three days after my scheduled session. Anyway, Sean was in there, working on his second album. The first album was good, but didn’t sell worth a shit. I have one of the five copies in existence. It was folksy, you know. He’d just gotten done playing with oldies bands when he recorded it, and that was his style. But it was the 21
st
century and nobody wanted to hear that crap from a young guy.”

“I was having a rare sober day and I was ornery and honest. I took him aside and told him he had to harden that shit up. We worked on some songs and I helped him put together a killer album. It went platinum.” He gave me a crooked, cocky smile.

“We became friends. Fuck, more than that. Sean saved my life. He’s the one that drove me to rehab, then he drove me back when I walked out early.”

I didn’t have anything to say to Henry’s incredible story. So I put my hand over his and looked out over the crowd.

4

Henry was an incredible showman. I’d heard people talk about his stage presence, and I’d read about it, but I never really understood until I saw it for myself. I watched Henry fling his body around the stage, enjoying myself so much I was surprised when his show ended and he and the band moved toward me.

I sat on a large black piece of equipment. I wasn’t sure what it was, but it was huge, my feet were at least four feet from the ground. Henry made his way straight to my little perch. He was sweaty and panting. He stretched his arms out, placing his hands on either side of my knees and looked up at me.

“What did you think of the show, Baby?”

“I absolutely loved it!” I gushed.

“She did. I saw her bopping away up there the whole time,” Mike said.

Henry grinned. “I’m glad you liked it.”

“You’re sweaty,” I said.

Henry laughed. “Yes, I am. See you in a bit, Baby.” He walked away.

Mike looked up at me. “Wanna beer, Baby?”

“Sure.”

Mike left, and I found myself alone watching the roadies change out the stage. The sounds coming from the crowd became the prominent noise in the arena. I leaned back on my elbows and smiled. I was looking forward to Sean’s show.

“Hey there.”

I sat up quickly to find a man standing in front of me. He was of average height, so he had to look up at me. I stared at him. He was one of the roadies. I’d been watching him move a drum set just a few minutes before.

“I’m Jon.”

“Hi.”

I’d taken my sandals off sometime during the show, and now my bare feet swung just inches from Jon’s stomach.

“You must be the chick they picked up in Nevada.” He leaned on my seat, placing his hand less than an inch from my thigh.

I folded my toes under. “Yep. That’s me.”

“They were right. You are different.” He leered at me.

“What is that supposed to mean?” I asked.

“You’re hot, but in a kinda regular way. We’re not used to chicks like you around here. I bet you’re smart, too.”

“Yeah, I’m smart. Smart enough to know to stay away from guys like you,” I retorted.

He grinned and winked. “Feisty, too. That is such a turn on.”

It was like slow motion. I watched as his hand moved to my thigh. Without even thinking about it I kicked, hard. The kick landed in his gut and he fell back, just barely catching himself with his back foot.

“Hey, what’s going on?” Mike showed up then, two beers in one hand, a bottle opener in the other.

Jon rubbed his stomach. “I was just trying to be friendly.”

Mike put the beers beside me and stalked toward Jon. “Too friendly, I bet.”

Jon put his arms up in front of him. “Hey man, I didn’t know she was taken.” He glared at me. “Besides, she can take care of herself.”

“Get back to work, asshole.” Mike looked up at me. “You okay?”

“Yeah, he’s the one who got hurt,” I said defensively.

Mike smiled. “Hell yeah. Nice kick by the way.”

I grinned.

Even though Mike stayed by my side throughout the intermission, somehow word got around that I’d taken Jon out. And by the time Sean and his band made their way backstage I was being congratulated and called a badass by band members and roadies alike.

Sean’s reaction was a little different, though. “Where the fuck is Jon?” He asked Mike the minute he came into view.

Mike shrugged. “He took off after he set up. Probably scared of you.”

“Hey Sean, I took care of it,” I said.

“Oh yeah?”

“Yeah, I kicked him in the stomach.”

He unfolded his arms and walked toward me. He didn’t say anything, but looked at me carefully as he moved. He was tall enough that we were at eye level, even with me way up here on this thing. Without speaking, he took both my feet in his hands, and much to my surprise, began to examine them.

“Barefoot, huh,” he muttered. “Did you hurt your feet?”

“No. I pulled my toes back, like this.” I demonstrated.

He released my feet and looked up at me again. “Nicely done.”

****

Sean’s show was spectacular. My already deep appreciation for Sean’s voice turned into a great admiration for his ability to make music. Live, I could really hear the way his voice changed pitch and tone throughout a song. When listening to his CDs, I never paid too much attention to the guitar. But Sean was an exceptional guitar player as well. Watching him made the sounds so much clearer.

By the end of the show I was exhausted. I watched Sean and his band come off stage and wondered how they looked so much more energetic than me. I hopped off the big piece of equipment, thinking the show was over. But then Henry appeared and greeted Sean just off stage.

“Let’s do this!” He shouted.

They both returned to the stage together, along with Sean’s band, and did an explosive encore.

By the time the show ended for real my eyelids felt heavy, and I knew I needed to get going. I still had to find a place to stay that night, which meant getting in a taxi and heading further into town. My internet research had revealed that the best cheap to mid-range hotels were at least five miles away.

Sean and Henry both paused where I stood. Henry was grinning. “Liked it?”

“Loved it! Thank you so much for letting me stay. And for everything,” I gushed. “It’s been an amazing ride. I hope the rest of your tour goes smoothly.”

“You’re not saying goodbye, are you?” Henry asked.

Sean folded his arms over his chest and his left eyebrow puckered.

“I can’t stay any longer. I’m exhausted. So I need to go find a hotel now, before it gets any later.”

“You’re leaving?” Henry asked, with great incredulity.

I looked at my watch. “I really should get going. It’s after 11.”

“Where are you going?” Mike asked.

“To a hotel. I’ll worry about buying a car tomorrow.”

“That is not happening,” Sean said forcefully.

I stared at him.

“You’re dead on your feet and you want us to just let you walk out and find some seedy hotel in the middle of the night? No way,” Henry said.

I sighed. I could not afford to stay at their hotel. I mean technically I could, but it would cost what I had budgeted for a week on the road. And I just couldn’t do that.

“I can’t let you pay for my hotel room,” I said softly.

“Who says you get your own room,” Sean retorted. “I still have mine. You were so tired this morning you didn’t even notice that the couch pulls out into a bed.”

I stared at him. He was serious. He wanted me to share his hotel room again. All three men watched me while I considered my options. I was too tired to go across town. It would be so much easier to stay in Sean’s room. And I’d already done it once. Besides, I was absolutely certain that Sean was not interested in me.

“Or you could stay in my room,” Henry suggested.

Henry, on the other hand, was dangerous.

“No thanks Henry, I’ll stay with Sean.”

****

When we reached the hotel I noticed that the couch had been pulled out into a bed and was made up with blankets and fluffy pillows. There was even a corner folded down. After brushing my teeth, changing into shorts, and removing my bra, I gratefully sank into the bed. It wasn’t the most uncomfortable sofa bed I’d ever been on, and I fell asleep before I heard Sean turn off the shower.

I woke in the morning to the door of the hotel room opening. I looked up to see Sean coming in. He was dressed in shorts and a tank top. His hair was pulled back in a ponytail, and he was sweaty. He held a cup of to-go coffee in each hand.

“Hey,” I said, sitting up and rubbing my eyes.

“I didn’t mean to wake you.”

“You didn’t,” I lied. “Is that coffee for me?”

“Yeah, Mike said you liked lattes, so that’s what I got.”

I had gotten a latte at a coffee stand on the street when we’d first arrived at the venue the night before. Mike had been with me. Still, I couldn’t believe he’d squirreled away that little detail, and then bothered to pass it along to Sean.

I reached for the creamy cup of caffeine gratefully. Sean perched on the side of my bed and sipped at his coffee.

“What time is it?” I asked.

“Around eight-thirty, I think. I don’t wear my watch to the gym. We slept late.”

“What time do you get up to work out?”

“Usually six, but I didn’t crawl out of bed until seven today. That was a long haul from Vegas. Should have slept more on the bus I guess.”

“I should get going. I need to get to a car dealership before it gets too late if I’m going to make it to a campground tonight.”

Sean turned to face me. “What exactly is your planned route?”

“It’s not very ‘planned’ really,” I admitted. “But generally, I was going to start at Saguaro National Park then head toward New Mexico, maybe drop into Texas, then eventually head north and end up at Rocky Mountain National Park. I have friends working up there, so I’ll stay with them. After that I’ll head over to California and get to Death Valley in time for the summer season.”

Sean scratched his chin and nodded his head. “Well, here’s the thing. We’re headed to Saguaro ourselves tomorrow.”

“You are?”

“Yeah, we have a free day tomorrow and then a show Friday night in El Paso, so we have plenty of time to stop. Mike and I wanted to check out the park. Lyle and Raif were into it, too. It would be very cool to have a park ranger with us.”

Sean looked pointedly at me. I started to say something to hedge, but he continued before I could get a word in. “After that we hit Austin, Dallas, and Oklahoma City. Then we head back west and go to Albuquerque. From there we head towards Denver. So I guess my point is, we are going your way… sort of… for a while. And I think you should come with us.”

I was stunned. I had no idea what to say. I sat there with my mouth open like a fish. Sean took the opportunity to talk more. He took a deep breath and continued. “You could jump off anytime you wanted. They’re all major cities where you could get a car. And don’t give me some crap about paying your way, that’s bullshit. You can stay in my suites, and you don’t owe us anything for the ride. Actually, we owe you.”

I pulled myself together enough to speak, at least to ask one of my questions. “What exactly do I bring to the table?”

“Entertainment, Baby,” he said, as if this were the most obvious thing in the world.

“You really want me around?”

“I wouldn’t ask if I didn’t.”

“What about everyone else?”

“Are you kidding?”

“I’m not sleeping with anyone.”

Sean actually grinned. It was an interesting thing to see. He definitely didn’t look scary with a mischievous grin on his face. In fact, he kind of looked like a naughty kid.

“That is, of course, entirely up to you,” he said. “But it won’t have any effect on your invitation to travel with us.”

I felt like I was in a bizarre dream that I couldn’t wake up from, and I wasn’t entirely sure that I wanted to. Sean waited patiently while my brain skipped around, trying to process this generous, but confusing proposal.

I told him I needed to think about it and escaped to the shower to be alone with my thoughts. As the hot water poured over my shoulders, I realized that while it felt good it didn’t hold the usual promise of relieving tension, because I wasn’t tense. In fact, I felt more relaxed than I had in months.

When I examined my reasons for turning down Sean’s offer they seemed to melt beneath the arguments. Why couldn’t I travel with them a little longer? I enjoyed their company. I could stay with Sean and it would ease my conscience a little about having them pay my way. Besides, I could leave some money on the bus when I left, and there wouldn’t be anything they could do about it.

The one problem was my insecurity. My lifelong companion reminded me that I didn’t really have anything to offer rock stars, which meant that they might get bored with me after a while, especially since I planned to keep my legs closed. But I could leave at any time. By the time I was dried and dressed I had made my decision.