“Yeah, Bax. You keep your mind in the middle and your ass on them bulls.”
“I will.” It was bullshit, but he’d try. He needed the money. If he could earn enough to sit out a couple of events, all the better.
“Good. Don’t let Momma give you shit; you just go on. I’m managing.”
“She wasn’t giving the man shit. She was trying to help, and you boys ought to be a bit nicer to her,” Jack said, eyeing them both.
Only Jase couldn’t see it, so it was up to Bax to hang his head.
Jason, though, he just snarled. “If she’s miserable having me here, she can just come on and tell me.”
Well, shit.
“Come on, Jason. Walk me to the truck.” Hefting one bag and rolling the other, Bax nodded at Jack, who had puffed all up, but was deflating now. They all knew how damned hard this was, and Jason could be a bear when he was hurt.
He waited until they got outside before stopping, letting his bags drop. “It’ll be three days, man. I’ll be back. And you know your momma’s not wanting you gone. She’s just scared.”
“I know. I’ll be here.” Jason sighed, squeezed his arm. Fuck, this sucked. “Good ride, man.”
“Thanks, Mini.” The urge to kiss the man goodbye shocked him, and Bax settled for a quick, hard hug before he backed off. “You got the path back in okay?”
“Yeah.” Jason waved once, then turned around, moving slow and careful, looking old all of the sudden.
Goddamn it all.
Bax tossed his shit in the truck, punching the backbumper hard, cussing under his breath. He didn’t want to leave Jason behind. Not one bit. But he had to ride.
The driveto the airport and all the shit to get his gear through security passed in a blur and Bax slept all the way to North Carolina, determined to stop thinking, even if for just a few hours.
And it was just his fucking luck to meet up with Nate and Coke and AJ in the line for the hotel shuttle.
“Andy!” Coke grabbed his arm, frowning up at him. “What the fuck is going on with Jason?”
Asshole, thinking he could just get to know because… Oh, hell. Coke thought Mini fucking hung the moon.
“He’s banged up, man. Needs a few weeks off.” There. That was all he was allowed to tell. Officially.
“Uh-huh.” Coke’s lips twisted, those gray eyes staring him down. “You tell him that if he needs anything, anything at all, call, yeah?”
AJ nodded, bouncing like a jack in the box. “You know it, Andy. We got y’all’s backs.”
“Hey, you.”
Oh, yay. The gang was all here.
Nate chuckled, clapping him on the back. “I bet you’re sick of people asking, huh?”
He just shook his head. “I just want him back on tour.”
He got three somber nods, then another couple of guys coming over, worried and offering help. Jesus, it was good to know and deeply fucked, all at once.
Bax finally broke free of everyone but Coke at the hotel, smiling and nodding until he figured his face mightcrack. Damn.
“C’mon, cowboy. I’ll buy you a beer. You look like you need one.”
“You gonna badger me about Jason?” He wanted that beer, but he sure couldn’t take anymore hard poking. He stared right into Coke’s eyes, serious as a heart attack.
“Nope. I’m gonna gossip with you about Kynan and them Brazilian boys and possibly tell you a terrible joke we heard last week.” That rough hand took his elbow, Coke moving careful-like toward the bar.
