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Some of the roadies are also eating, and their plates are loaded with two or three sandwiches each. I’ve noticed they’ll eat anything because they’ve been here since morning, setting up, and will be here until after midnight, taking everything down. Two of them come over and introduce themselves as Chris and TJ. I’m asking them questions about the concert setup when my phone vibrates in my pocket.

I dig it out and see a text from Sam. Wow. He’s texting me now. We must be getting along.

We’re on the bus. Gary’s ready so we’re taking off early.

Whoa. I’d planned to watch the next two concerts, but I drop the last bite of sandwich, tell the roadies good-bye, and head out of the stadium into the parking lot.

Inside the bus, Green Day blasts from the stereo dock. Gabe and Justin are already playing a video game. Romeo is in the back room on the phone, talking to Riley, I’m guessing. And Sam is at the counter, mixing drinks. Big shocker there. Well, at least this new Sam I’m getting to know.

“Whiskey and Coke?” Sam holds up a glass in my direction. I frown as I sit down on the couch under the TV. I try to steer clear of sugary drinks made with hard liquor. “No, thanks. Not in the mood to puke.”

He rolls his eyes. “Beer, then?”

I give him a thumbs-up. The bus starts rolling and he pulls a Corona out of the fridge. He pops the cap, and a second later my hand is freezing from holding an ice-cold beer.

“Dude,” Gabe says to Sam, “you ready?”

Sam hands him a drink in a plastic cup. “Slow your roll. Set Peyton up with a player.” He hands another drink to Justin.

Beer catches in my throat. “What? I have no idea how to play.”

“It’s just a fighting game. You kick and punch.” He sets his drink behind the couch. “Scoot down, Justin.”

They all move down, saving the end of the couch for me.

Reluctantly, I go over to the couch across from the TV and sit next to Sam, since the TV is swiveled toward the longer couch. I know next to nothing about video games.

“Here.” Sam hands me a controller and his leg brushes mine. “Just push the X to kick and the circle to punch.”

Ignoring the strange sensation along my thigh, I stare at the cartoon-looking characters on the flat screen. “Who am I?”

“Fat Princess,” Gabe says with a laugh.

Fat Princess?” I say, instantly recognizing the character in a pink dress and crown in between a muscled man and some other guy in a flowing cape.

“Hey,” Justin says, “she’s the only girl.”

I hit X and my character’s short leg hits the caped guy. “This fat girl is going to kick some butt, then.”

The fighting commences. I lose big, every time. But they keep bringing me back. Finally, after three more beers and five lost fights, I move on to the next round.

“Suck on that, Ninja Justin.”

Justin snorts, stands, and heads off for another drink.

I’m pushing buttons furiously, fighting caped man, when raccoon guy—Sam—helps me destroy Gabe.

“Okay, jackass,” Gabe says, throwing his controller on the opposite couch. “She ain’t gonna give it up ’cause you let her win.”

“Fuck you,” Sam says.

“Yeah, fuck you,” I say. “He’s not going to ‘let’ me win, because I’m going to legitimately kick his butt. And no one’s getting laid on this bus, so keep the giving-it-up comments to yourself.”

“I don’t know about that,” Sam says. “Romeo’s getting phone sex as we speak.” On the screen, Sam’s muscled guy smacks my princess in the chest.

“Gross. I sleep back there, you ass.” My Fat Princess kicks his raccoon guy in the face. “Like I want that visual in my head. I need some brain bleach now.”

Sam’s jump knocks my pink princess over, and she lands on her well-padded belly. “Now that’s gross. I didn’t say he was spanking it, just talking it.”

“Spanking it?” Since I know zero sweet moves, I power up on the weird orb things I’ve been collecting and saving. “What are you, fourteen?”

“Twelve.” His character hits mine again. “My brain is forever stuck at age twelve.”

“Well, I was trying to be nice, but I was thinking twelve.” I let my Fat Princess’s power loose, and Sam’s character flies off my chest, slams into the wall, and falls down. I jump off the couch, bouncing up and down. “I did it! I won! Me! The worst suck-ass player of video games in the world won!” I do a little dance, shaking my elbows and butt, then toss the controller on the couch before I gulp down the rest of my beer.

Romeo comes out of the back room. “Turn the music down. Gary doesn’t need to hear that shit.”

Gabe flips him off, then turns down the volume on the console next to him on the wall.

Sam stands. “You ready to lose some money, bitch?” he asks Romeo.

Romeo jerks open the fridge and pulls out a beer. “Get the cards. Talking smack ain’t going to save your ass.”

Sam looks to me. “You in, Peyton?”

I raise a brow.

“Poker?”

I laugh. “Ah, no, I work my butt off for my money.” Literally. Waiting tables can be harsh. “I’d rather play it safe. Plus,” I say, setting my empty beer bottle in the sink with the others, “I need to make a few calls.” My mother and grandfather first, then Jill and Bryce.

Sam’s mouth thins as I walk toward the back. Before I can pull the curtained door shut, I hear him and Justin arguing about who’s going to deal first. Gabe joins in and the argument turns into yelling.

Sometimes I forget I’m on a bus with four college guys. Other times . . . they are all such boys.

Chapter 10

When I wake, the bus is still. I stretch until the leather beneath me creaks, and my body slips off the couch. I get up and peek out the little window and immediately start squinting. We’re parked outside a hotel, and bright sun gleams off the marble entrance. Bellhops in burgundy suits and little hats are hauling out suitcases from the storage compartment of the bus to a grand revolving door. I pull the blind shut.

New Orleans!

And we’ll be here four days. The past few days passed in a whirl of bus, sandwiches, sound checks, concerts, and back to the bus for a crappy shower and then bed. Dallas, Oklahoma City, and Little Rock passed by in a blur. The pace was exhausting, and I wasn’t even performing. Though traveling in general is exciting, New Orleans and New York are highlighted in bright pink in my copy of the itinerary. Other than fulfilling my band responsibilities, I plan to spend the next three days sightseeing.

Making a quick trip to the bathroom, I see the guys are still sleeping, so I’m quiet as I pack up my stuff and get dressed. When I head out of the back room again, everyone is up. Bags and other items are already piled by the front of the bus. Romeo’s up there by the driver’s chair, talking with Gary. Sam and Gabe stand in the kitchen area, digging cereal out of bowls.