He only stares at her a beat before striding through the crowd toward the exit. I don’t wait to see her decision, I haul the girls out. Ellie tries wiggling free, but I don’t let her down until we’re outside.
“Ordered us an Uber,” Tanner informs us.
I’m not sure what to say, so I keep quiet as Ellie fusses over Pacey.
“I’m sorry, Pacey,” Tanner says, his eye twitching as he inspects her face again. Looks a little worse in the glow of the streetlights.
“Shit, Pace, I’m sorry. I was trying to block it.” I pull her into my chest, but she laughs, shoving me off.
“I’m fine. This really brings the whole experience full circle.”
“Tanner!” Katie comes running from the club, mascara shit streaming down her face as she sobs.
I growl under my breath. Fuck, I thought we were done with her. Tanner meets her before she can make it over to us. I can’t hear their hushed argument, but Tanner gets into an Uber with her, and I climb in with Pacey and Ellie.
To avoid any more conflict, I lead them through the lobby and to their room, knowing this is also the same place Katie is staying. Pacey promises to ice her face, and I tell them goodnight. Everyone but Liam and I gets a cushy bed tonight. Doesn’t matter. I’m not even a little bit tired. The Adderall and adrenaline pumping through my veins are going to make sleep impossible.
Now that the girls are safely in their room, I could go back out and find some company for the night, but that doesn’t really sound appealing. I hit the button to summon the elevator when footsteps sound behind me.
“Travis, wait.” I spin around and see Ellie jogging toward me.
“It’s past your bedtime,” I tease, earning an eye roll from her.
“I can’t sleep.”
“It’s been three minutes. Have you even tried?”
“Well, no, because I know I won’t be able to. I’m too amped up. Pacey already passed out, poor thing,” she says, wincing. I know she feels guilty about what happened, but it wasn’t her fault. She was just standing up for Tanner, which shouldn’t make me feel itchy, but it does. I chalk it up to a side effect of the pills.
“Not your fault, Ellie,” I repeat for the third time.
“I should probably learn to keep my mouth shut, huh?”
My tone is firm and I shake my head. “Don’t ever change.”
The elevator doors open, and she steps on. “Are you going back to the bus?”
“I was.”
“That’s lame. I thought rock stars could party all night.”
I chuckle. “You know damn well I can go all night.”
Her head tips back with a throaty laugh, but she doesn’t blush. “There’s a bar downstairs,” she points out.
“Well, let’s go.”
She leads the way, her arm linked through mine. We drop down at the stools, the place relatively dead at this hour. Ellie orders us a shot and a beer after I promise her I’m not taking any sleeping pills tonight. We throw the shot back instantly. I consider this might be a bad idea—us alone, drinking—but quickly flick it away.
“So...” She trails off, taking a sip of her drink.
“So?”
“How are you feeling?”
My head rolls back and I groan. “Christ, Ellie, I wouldn’t have come if I knew this was going to be a therapy session.”Seriously, when did she become so concerned with my feelings and shit?
“I’m just being nice, asshole!” she scolds playfully. “Tours are hard. I mean, at least for me, and I’m not doing half as much as you guys. Just wondering how you’re handling it all.”
