CHAPTER FOUR
A jackhammer in Derek’s head woke him with the painful reality of last night. He didn’t understand why seeing Travis with two girls bothered him so much. He barely knew the guy. Althoughthey shared an intense few moments in each other’s arms on a mountaintop, and a heartfelt conversation in the SUV afterward that took Derek by surprise, they’d only known each other for less than a week. Maybe that’s all it took to form a meaningful connection with someone. When two people hit it off, neither needed to work at establishing a bond. The invisible strings of fate took hold and tiedthem together. That’s what Derek felt with Travis, and he knew Travis felt it as well. Or maybe Travis opened up the way he had on the way home that night because he was wasted. The revelation made Derek’s queasy stomach flip-flop, and he thought he might vomit. Thinking about the mixed-up emotions made his head throb, and he needed to stop.
He squinted at the light that sliced throughhis interlocked fingers and threatened to burn his corneas. He had no idea what time it was. He didn’t even know what fucking day it was at this point. The foul smell of puke burned his nostrils and the sour taste in the back of his throat felt like paste. He only hoped he wasn’t lying in a puddle of vomit, and grudgingly lifted his head. No puke on the bed as far as he could tell, so it mustbe on the floor, because the rancid smell grew stronger. He looked down at his T-shirt and jeans, and wrinkled his brow with confusion. The vague memory of entering his bedroom with some random dude last night popped into his head, but that obviously didn’t work out.
A cold shower was usually an instant cure for his throbbing head, but it didn’t totally chase away the pounding inhis skull. A generous sudsing washed away the grime of last night, and he scrubbed the sour taste from his mouth with his toothbrush. As he towel-dried his thick hair, he felt surprisingly better, and his tummy grumbled looking for breakfast. As soon as he opened the bedroom door he heard Felix’s voice, and it compromised his brain. He had no problem dealing with Jeremy and Alan while he recuperatedfrom his hangover, but dealing with Felix was entirely too complicated at this stage.
He listened to Felix ramble on about the day’s itinerary, as if they needed play-by-play instructions. The band’s anal-retentive manager texted the day’s schedule to each of them daily, left a copy in the suite or the tour bus, and had Cam on top of the agenda, so there was no excuse for any of themto be unprepared. As far as Derek could remember, they were free until late this afternoon when they were doing an acoustic set at a local radio station. Thank God, because he wasn’t prepared to listen to Alan jackhammer those fucking double bass drums as if his life depended on it.
Derek walked past the living room and gave a salute to Jeremy and Alan, who were practically sittingin each other’s lap. Honestly, those two were getting nauseating with their displays of affection.
Felix never paused to take a breath. He simply turned his head in Derek’s direction, raised a brow as if to say, “Nice of you to join us and I’m glad you’re still alive,” and continued going over the short set list the band would be performing at the radio station. They had already agreedon the tracks they would play a few days earlier, but Felix seemed to find a need to go over them again, since he had Jeremy and Alan’s attention.
The welcoming scent of coffee drew Derek to the kitchen, where he filled the largest cup he could find with the dark brew before adding milk and sugar. He kicked back half of it before taking a seat on the bar stool at the kitchen island.Now that his bloodstream was in high gear from caffeine, he was ready to fill his rumbling belly. He cupped his hands around his mouth and interrupted Felix. “Where’s the food?”
“I am not a short-order cook,” Felix replied, a hand on the hip of his sports jacket.
“But you always order us food.” Derek pouted like a little boy.
“Of course I do.” Felix huffed.“The hotel staff is sending up a large order. I don’t know what you’d do if I wasn’t here to constantly order your meals.”
“We’d be forced to pick up the phone and order it ourselves,” Jeremy answered, with an amusing lilt to his voice.
Alan draped his arm around Jeremy. “I could order you food. Whenever you’re hungry, I’ll call and order you room service. You just letme know.”
“Aww.” Jeremy snuggled closer to Alan. “You’re so good to me.”
Derek gagged. “Can you two at least wait until I have some food in my stomach? Jeez!”
Felix joined Derek at the kitchen island, taking the seat directly across from him so he had to sit eyeball to eyeball with the band’s ornery manager.
“Good God.” Felix’s gaze washed overDerek, with a judgmental crease furrowing his brow. “What the fuck now, Derek?”
“What do you mean?”
“When the hell are you going to calm down? Look at Jeremy and Alan. They didn’t overdo it last night, and they used to be just as bad as you. They went to bed at a decent hour. They were up early. They already ate breakfast. They showered—”
“I showered.”
“Thank you for that, because I smelled the vomit that is no doubt soaked into the bedroom carpet as soon as you opened the door.”
Derek shrugged one shoulder. “I drank too much. It’s happened before and it’ll happen again. You think them two are done drinking too much?” He motioned to Jeremy and Alan with his chin. “Nope. They’re just slowing down a little. Or maybe they’rejust getting old. I’m—”
“No one’s getting old!” Jeremy yelled from the couch.
“We’re just maturing,” Alan said, with an overly-fake sophisticated accent.
“Thank you, Alan,” Felix replied. “That is exactly what I mean. They’re acting like mature, responsible adults. Maybe it’s time you do the same, Derek.”
Derek narrowed his eyes and one sideof his mouth drew back.
“Do you know where Brandon is right now?”
“On his third wet dream?” Derek’s voice was pure sarcasm.
“No. Jogging.”
Derek jerked his head back. It was the last thing he expected Brandon to be doing. “Jogging? Brandon? Bullet?”
