“Would you like an escort to your trailer, so the bogeyman doesn’t try to kidnap you?” I ask jokingly.
Bonnie smiles. “Honestly, I’ve always been fond of the bogeyman, but I’ve never considered having company in the kidnapper’s van. That’s a new twist,” she says playfully. She turns on her heel, and I follow behind her down the steps, admiring the view I’m so fond of.
She’s still sweating, her hair still damp from the absolute chaos of being behind that kit. The cropped sweatshirt she threw on backstage is hanging off of her shoulder, showing off her traditional-style rainbow skull tattoo that sinks over her arm and down her right shoulder blade.
“Was that your first Decay show?” Bonnie asks me.
Every show I’ve ever been to flashes behind my eyes.
“Yeah,” I lie. “It was epic.”
“Oh, so, you werenotprepared for Reed, then,” she says with a laugh.
God, that fucking laugh, the way she’s smiling at me right now.
“I was not,” I admit. “James had warned me, though.”
“I feel like even a warning isn’t enough when it comes to Reed,” she replies. “Like even watching him perform. I still wouldn’t be prepared for the absolute embodiment of chaos that he is.”
I chuckle under my breath. “You are not wrong,” I mutter. “Is every show that wild?”
“DeathFest is a special occasion,” she says. “It’s like coming home, I think. It was the first festival that ever gave us a chance. We kind of grew up on that stage. Opening up the fest today…” She lets out a long sigh. “Fucking dreams,” she adds with a serene look.
I want to memorize that gaze.
“What about you?” she asks. “Is this the dream you thought you’d live when we were teens?”
I scoff. “Not fucking hardly,” I say. “Parents thought I would be a doctor or some shit.”
“So you became a professional bodyguard instead,” Bonnie says. “Totally natural progression.”
“Definitely,” I chuckle. “What person doesn’t go from learning about diseases to wanting to get in fights for a living?”
Bonnie’s laugh meets mine, and the quiet smiles we exchange make my heart skip.
We reach her trailer then, and Bonnie uses her phone to tap the passkey and open the door.
“Do you… do you want to come in? Catch up?” Bonnie asks, hesitating on the top step.
I press my hands to my hips and smile at the ground, amused at my luck that she’s already inviting me into her private space. The notion twists my insides, still, I force myself to play it cool.
“Ah… Yeah,” I say, screaming inwardly. “Yeah, that would be—”
“Hey, Gem,” a deep voice calls from a few feet away.
Fuck.
I almost forgot that I’m working.
I glance over, finding James nearby. He jerks his chin to the left. “You ready to go over tonight?”
“Yeah, give me a sec,” I call back.
“Are you in trouble?” Bonnie teases.
“Probably didn’t like me handling the prized pony like I did,” I say about snatching Reed up. I take a few steps back and smile her way, stomach fluttering at the way she’s watching me. “Raincheck on the catch-up?” I ask.
“Yeah,” she replies.
