“It does. Fucking clients is not—”
“I knew you’d do this. Don’t throw this shit in my face. We ironed that out. And it won’t happen again.”
“Fine. Then leave Kay Ashford alone.”
I didn’t answer. And maybe I was chicken, but when he went back into the room, I rolled my eyes, and when the door shut behind him, I flipped him off. With both hands. Because fuck him. He’d been doing this to me my entire life. He was an overprotective asshole. How the fuck was I ever going to stand on my own two feet with him? Plus, Kay wasn’t a client.
The dressing room door opened, and Kay walked out. “Hey. Did I get you in trouble?”
“No, not really.”
He stood there a minute, letting the energy between us turn awkward. He dug the toe of his combat boots into the baseboard and looked away. “Can I tell you something?”
“Uh, sure.”
“I lied to you. Back there.” He nodded toward the dressing room.
“What do you mean?”
“I remembered exactly who you were before I came over to talk. I remember and relive every moment we spent together at Rocktoberfest, Don. I had such a good time with you.” He snuck a glance at me. “I was pretending to be a cool rockstar. I wanted…hell, I don’t know what I wanted.”
“Don’t pretend with me, Kay. Please, be straight up. I like you.”
“I like you back.” He sounded years younger, and I wondered…no, it was probably more like hope. There was no way Kay was a little, like me. He was only teasing.
I winked at him. “Good. Then after the show, maybe we can hang out?”
“Yes! I’d love that.”
Before the conversation continued, the door opened again, and his bandmates poured out. Dave, the bassist, threw an arm around Kay’s shoulders. “Come on, dude. Heading to the stage. We’re on in ten.”
Kay waved and gave me a closed-mouth smile as he walked away with the rest of Bramble Punk.
Chapter two
Kay
2024 Midnight Hunt Tour – Richmond, VA Music Festival
Two things about this festival. First, my band, Bramble Punk, wasn’t playing. There wasn’t enough space for two bands, and Midnight Hunt was the best. They weren’t actually headliningthe festival, but they had the last spot before the headliners came on. Some group called F-Holes. They had fucking cellos. What a riot. But they were good, topped charts, and sold-out stadiums. I wasn’t going to hate on them. Nope. What I was going to do was enjoy the break. I pulled out a lawn chair and let down the awning on the side of the bus and popped open a cold bottle of water.
The second thing was that we weren’t getting hotels. Instead, we were hanging out on the buses and heading from the festival straight to the next venue. The way things played out, I had a spot on Wolf’s bus along with Donavan and his brother.
Don and I hit it off well; he’d become my best friend in record time. I told him everything. Almost. I couldn’t tell him or anyone my biggest secret. It would not go over well and probably ruin my career. No one wanted to imagine a big rock star acting like a kid. Well, a little kid. There was a difference. I wanted to color, play with LEGOs, or dinosaurs and racecars, or go to the park and swing. I liked dump trucks and My Little Pony, and two Barbies. No one needed that information. I kept it to myself. Everything else, though, Don knew.
The rest of the band was off enjoying the festival and watching Midnight Hunt. They were always my favorite band, and I loved them more since I’d gotten to know them, but I need some quiet and to decompress. It didn’t surprise me when Donavan strode over. He waved as he got closer.
“Hey, Don!”
“Hey. Why aren’t you watching the show?”
I shrugged. “Needed quiet time.”
“I get it.” He did—he always did. “It’s fucking hot out, though. Can we get on the bus?”
“Yes. Here, don’t dehydrate, man.” I handed him the bottle as I followed him up the stairs, checking out his ass as he went. Okay,maybe a second thing I hadn’t told him, but I was pretty sure he knew. We had great chemistry.
Don talked to the driver for a minute. He kicked the AC up for us, and we made our way to the center of the bus. We both had single bunks with him on top, then Wolf and Harrison had the big room at the very back. In the middle was a public space that could serve as either a dining room or a living room, depending on its configuration.
