From My Heart (9 page)

“I’ll have to remember to get some stocked up in the freezer on the bus.” Cale kissed just below my ear.

“You want me fat?” I joked, turning around so I could see him. The expression on his face was priceless. I loved seeing his smile when he showed it off.

“I would love you no matter what,” Cale said. “So eat whatever the hell you want.”

I shook my head and buried it into his neck.

“We talk about the most random things when we’re in bed,” I said. “Do you realize that?”

“So what? We’re still getting to know each other,” Cale replied, reaching for the remote control on the nightstand by me. “And now I think it’s totally curl up with your boyfriend and watch a movie time.”

“What did you have in mind?” I asked as he got up to look at my movie selection.

“Well…seeing as you don’t have many guy movies…wait…” He paused, grabbing a movie that was stashed behind all of the others and waving it around. “You have
Saw
?
”
Damn, he found the movie! I went out and bought that secretly just for the guys the next time they came over. I didn’t want them to give me shit about not having any ‘guy’ movies lying around.

I nodded, and he immediately took the disc out and slipped it into the DVD player.

“Sorry. I was going to let you pick,” he said. “But at least if you get scared it’s a good excuse to cuddle up extra close and hold onto something…”

I threw one of my pillows across the room at him, hitting his side as he attempted to dodge it. “You have a dirty mind, Cale Pelton,” I shouted, and he ignored my comment as he bounced back onto the bed.

“I know.” He winked.

Of course he
knew.

Ever since the day after the photo shoot, I had sworn to the guys that I would be done with the pills. I told them I flushed the remainder of what I had down the toilet, but I tucked them away in my bag for the tour bus just in case I ever had chest pains. It was easier said than done. This tour was going to be a clean start for me.

But after I planned my apology surprise for Bryn, nothing made me smile more than to see the look on her face when I walked into her loft playing “Iris.” I had a bunch of other songs in my head and couldn’t decide which one I wanted to play, but Luke suggested that since apparently a lot of girls think it’s a ‘mushy’ song. I didn’t care. I just wanted Bryn to know I was sorry for agreeing to that shoot with Kallie.

“Dammit, are they here yet?” Vince asked impatiently. We were awaiting Gina, Bethany and Bryn’s arrival to the warehouse. We were all meeting up there, since that’s where Hal had parked the bus.

I scratched the top of my head and shrugged. “They’re girls, dude. What do you expect?” I had seen Bryn go through a morning routine of using a hair straightener, blow dryer, eye shadow, mascara, and stuff I’d never even seen my sisters use. It was insane to me how badly a girl could rely on makeup. But Bryn promised me she’d tone it down this time and not spend so much time getting ready. She said that her mom use to have everything laying out for her and expected her to always leave the house wearing the nicest clothes and every inch of that face covered with something.

My personal opinion was fuck the makeup, but I’m just a guy…what the hell did I know?

“I texted Bryn and she said they were on their way though…” Raptor was starting to whine like a little girl so I kicked his shin and he landed in a snow bank in the parking lot. He laid there clutching his shin and letting out a string of cuss words. “Why’d you do that?”

“Chill out, that’s why. You’ll have plenty of time to eye boggle her poor friends the next few months, Raptor. Maybe even get some if you’re that lucky, but with how you sound like a preschooler with your whining…I doubt it.”

He knew I was only busting his chops, but Raptor got pissed easily. He shot a dark glare my way and managed to get up, brushing snow off of his body.

“Better watch your back, Pelton. I’ll be getting your ass this time around…” Raptor chuckled, patting me hard on the back before shoving me hard into the same bank he fell into. The cold snow hit my bare skin and I kept shouting, “Shit, shit, shit!” I was stupid for not wearing a winter coat or even something besides a flimsy t-shirt.

“Ohhh let the fun begin.” I stuck out the middle finger in his direction, and everyone started howling laughing. I glanced over to see a Hummer pull into the parking lot, and sure enough, there were the girls. I could hear cheesy pop music blaring on the speakers as Bethany got out of the passenger’s seat and shot us all a smile. I looked next to me as I got up and saw Raptor with his mouth open all the way to the ground; I swore I could see drool dribbling down his chin.

“Keep your dick in your pants.” I nudged his shoulder, snapping him out of whatever he was thinking.

“Shut the hell up. I was just admiring the view, boys,” he said so the girls couldn’t hear him. Bethany was the first to approach the rest of us, while Gina and Bryn were getting their luggage out of the back of the vehicle.

“Hey guys. Thanks for letting me tag along.” Bethany smiled sweetly, giving each one of us a hug. She looked really pretty with a long purple sweater dress going past her ass and black leggings that went underneath her winter boots. Her strawberry blond hair was stick straight under her black beanie, and once again I heard Raptor talking to himself under his breath.

“Well it’s
our
pleasure for you to come along,” Luke boasted, puffing out his chest. “You’ll have fun standing beside me off stage, or else we could skip watching the shows and just go back to the dressing room…”

Bethany didn’t seem to oppose. Her eyes lit up, but then she quickly shook her head. “Sorry, Luke. I’ve missed way too many of my best friend’s shows. I’m going to stick around for all of them.” She patted him on the shoulder and kissed him on the cheek.

“Damn. Give poor Luke a chance, he’s been awfully lonely since we haven’t seen you girls.” Raptor frowned, running a hand through his freshly cut hair. There was no more Mohawk—a first in years. When I saw Raptor for the first time after he shaved it off, I barely recognized him. Minus his tan, tattooed skin, probably no one else would recognize him on the tour besides us. He kept the little bit of hair he had back at his natural light brown color, which reminded me of our days back in middle school.

Gina and Bethany came our way with their bags, and I hurried up to take them, but Raptor beat me to Gina’s.

“It’s the least I could do since you’ll be my bus buddy and all,” he flirted with Gina, and she flipped her brown hair to the side, sticking her tongue out at him.

“Feed me a better pick up line and we’ll see about that last part,” Gina retorted, whispering in Bryn’s ear. Her green eyes were on mine and there was life inside of them that I hadn’t seen in a while. I knew the feeling. After touring so many times and coming back home for a bit, I was always itching to go back out and play music. The first day of tour was always my favorite day; today was no exception. We were headed to Indiana, where we were playing a venue that we hadn’t been to before, so my nerves were slowly taking over. Usually I was pretty calm when it came to just minutes before going on stage, but for some reason I felt different. But I had to shake that feeling because it was going to be the most kick-ass tour Everlasting had ever been on.

“Ready?” Bryn came up to me, wrapping her arms around my waist and hugging me tight. Bryn’s hugs were the best as far as I was concerned. Our bodies fit together perfectly, especially when her head rested against my chest (away from my shot wound), and she could hear my heart beating. I let one of my hands rest in her hair while the other linked around her waist.

“Mmmm of course. Now that you’re here.” I let go of her and kissed her forehead before grabbing her bags and loading them onto the bus. “Did you girls bring enough stuff?” I commented. The bags were heavy as shit.

“Well you see…” Bethany started to say, pursing her lips, “There’s hair straighteners, curling irons, makeup to last the next few months, my laptop…”

“Plus enough girly movies so we’re not bored to death,” Gina added.

I rolled my eyes jokingly. Maybe this was a bad idea bringing not one but two more girls on the bus with us for the tour, but I knew it made Bryn happy to have her friends by her side. That’s really why I agreed to it. The other guys had their own reasons, and I was sure I was going to literally “hear” their reasons at some point. I told Tyler I gave it a week, and Raptor and Luke would have the girls in their bunks for sure. I shouldn’t say girls are easy because that would make me sound like a complete dick, but really, it was the truth. At least from my experience.

“It’ll be fun,” Bryn promised as she lightly squeezed my hand. “I’ll share a bed with you at least.”

I pulled Bryn into me, kissing her on the lips. “You’re damn right,” I growled. “That back room is ours and no one else’s.” I watched Bryn’s cheeks turn red from embarrassment and she playfully slapped me away. “Kidding. I guess we can share.”

Bryn leaned up on her toes to kiss me again. “Thank you.” We all climbed onto the bus, and gave Gina and Bethany the grand tour.

“Shit this is ten times prettier than our apartment.” Gina’s eyes widened as she walked towards the bunks and eying just how big the bunks actually were. “I could get used to this pretty quickly.”

“You’ll probably get tired of it quicker though.” Bryn linked arms with Gina. “These guys are serious video gamers on certain days. I’ve been roped in a few times, but it’s not so bad.”

“Video games?” Bethany made a face. “I’ve never even touched one of those in my life.”

“Well, doll face, you’re going to learn,” Luke ordered, sneaking up behind her, causing her to squeal. “Pretty soon you’ll be like a pro.”

“You’re really trying hard, aren’t you?” She looked Luke square in the face, but I saw her smirk just a little. I felt bad for him…only slightly. He was going to have his work cut out for him with this girl. She seemed nice, but I remembered her and Gina grew up in the same kind of family as Bryn had, meaning they were pretty sheltered. But that wouldn’t stop Vince from getting her if he really wanted her.

Luke grinned like a little kid. “Maybe…”

“Come on!” Bryn dragged the two girls with her towards the bedroom in the back. “I say we totally take over the king sized bed and pull up a movie to watch.” Bryn turned around to wink at me and the three of them took off like giddy school girls.

“Dammmmnn I wanted that bed,” Tyler said as he plopped onto the couch facing the flat screen TV.

“Suck it up, buttercup we’ll have to just take turns.” Luke sat down beside him, turning on the screen to one of the HBO channels. “But the girls can’t hog it up.”

“Relax, boys. This is going to be our best tour yet.” I clapped with enthusiasm. More so fake. I was itching for something that was stowed away in my bag that I placed on top of my bunk. So much for being on the right track. I had to think of a distraction quick. “Why don’t we get out the old school Tony Hawk shit and see who has to buy dinner who first?”

Perfect.

As Hal revved up the engine, the bus finally got rolling. I could hear the girls laughing away from the bedroom as I was kicking Tyler’s ass at skateboarding. Before we stopped at our first rest stop on the edge of Indiana and Michigan, Bryn came out for some air, landing straight onto my lap.

“Well this is a nice surprise,” I said, setting my controller down next to me so I could wrap my hands around her waist. “What are you guys watching back there?”

“
10 Things I hate about you,
” Bryn replied.

“How did I know?” I said sarcastically, wrinkling my nose to the sound of it.

“Well it wasn’t my first pick, but it’s almost done now. Then we’re going to watch mine.”

“Let me guess…” I started to think of what movies I knew Bryn liked to watch.
Magic Mike?

Bryn tipped her head back and laughed like a hyena.

“You know me too well…” she teased, lowering her face to my level as we bumped foreheads. I loved being this close to Bryn. She was the reason I wanted to make myself a better person. Hopefully someday I would be lucky enough to be her husband, but now I was getting way too ahead of myself.

“Of course.” I winked, kissing her cheek as she got off of my lap. “Now go back to the male strippers.”

Bryn put her hands on her waist. “Trying to get rid of me already?”

I shook my head. “No course not, babe. Why would you even think that?”

She giggled, not saying another word as she walked back to the bedroom, where I heard Gina and Bethany hooting and hollering at the movie, I assumed.

After stopping at the rest area to stretch our legs, we only had another few hours to go until we were at our destination. I had been to Indianapolis before, and barely remembered any of my time there, so I was ready to make some new memories with my friends and my girlfriend. We pulled into the area of the venue where the other tour buses were, and the excitement was starting to set in.

It was a brand new tour. New crowds, hopefully some familiar faces. I couldn’t wait to rock their damn faces off with the music we had been working on for so long. I heard people screaming our names as they saw the buses pull into the gated, secluded area, and that was when Bryn and the girls finally reappeared from the bedroom.

“It’s about time,” Bethany groaned, stretching her arms above her head, showing off her tanned stomach underneath her thin long-sleeve shirt.
Damn, if I wasn’t with Bryn,
I quickly thought to myself. “I can’t wait to see you guys play.”

“You sure you don’t want to stand in front as opposed to the side where all the roadies are?” Bryn asked them, and they shook their heads.

“I feel more special watching you from the side of the stage. Makes me feel like I’m
with
the band,” Gina replied, slipping on a pair of what reminded me of hooker boots. They came all the way up to her knees and she wore a skirt that probably would show all of her goods if she sat down. I tried not to gawk because I had my beautiful girlfriend standing beside me looking especially breathtakingly sexy tonight. Somewhere along the way she had managed to change into black leggings and a black and white stripped t-shirt that fit all of her curves snuggly, going past her butt, thank goodness. I knew guys out there were going to think Bryn was scorching hot…because truthfully she was.

And she was real. She wasn’t like that fake-ass Kallie Cooper who put on an act like she was tough shit, when really she was just an alcohol abuser who ran away from home. But who was I to judge? All I cared about was that she didn’t try to come onto me or any of the other guys and I’d be happy as can be.

“You look absolutely stunning,” I murmured into the crook of Bryn’s neck, causing her to turn so I had more access. I fingered the fabric of her long shirt and said, “Do you realize what this skin tight stuff does to me? I’ll take you back in the dressing room right now and put up the ‘do not disturb’ sign. I’m this close.”