Reese plucks the brown strip off the table, tips his head back, and lowers the drippy meat into his mouth.
“You disgust me.”
“I heard a rumor you two dated.” Reese’s eyes dart to me, before settling on Vee again. “Maybe you’d likemybacon better than his.” He melodramatically chews his bacon.
“Oh my”—Vee picks an orange wedge off her plate like she’s going to throw it at his head—“gross.”
“She liked my bacon just fine,” I say. She turns shocked eyes my way. Finally! And as the orange flies inmydirection, she’s smiling. It only lasts a second, before she’s squinting her eyes at me again. It’s so quick I’m not sure I didn’t imagine it, but it’s something.
“You guys are weird,” Pax mutters.
Vee points her fork at him, “You’ll regret that comment when I’m the one prepping you for your big interviews,” she teases.
I keep forgetting that Vee actually came on tour to work. “When do you start working with the publicist?” I ask. “It’s Jenn, right?”
“Probably tomorrow, when production starts, right?” She’s looking to Logan like he’s got all the answers. Logan who secretly invited her onto the bus. My friend, Logan. At least I thought we were friends, before he turned my life upside down again.
“Is it weird that I haven’t gotten details yet?” Vee nudges him when he doesn’t say anything.
“Right,” Logan’s eyes are fixed on the pile of eggs he’s poking at, like he’s digging for buried treasure. “I’m sure they’ll give you all the details tomorrow.” He sounds nervous. I think deep down, we’reallfeeling the pressure of what happens tomorrow.
By the end of dinner, everyone is talking about the cities they’re looking forward to. Anders wants to see whale sharks at the Georgia Aquarium in Atlanta, and Logan wants to swim in the Atlantic Ocean for the first time in North Carolina. Pax is happy to be in any city where he can get out of the bus, away from his newly paired-up bandmates, Sid and Jaclyn. Reese is holding out for—no surprise—Sin City; the semifinals. Now all we have to do is actually stay in the game long enough to make it all happen.
***
It’s after midnight and, like most nights, I’m lying wide awake in my bunk. Tomorrow it all starts. The cameras roll and we begin rehearsing at the first venue, in Houston. Pulling back my curtain, ready to head back to the bathroom, I stop when I see the soft glow coming from Vee’s bunk. She’s lying on her bed, her face illuminated by her Kindle. And for the first time in days she isn’t wearing earbuds or surrounded by other people. The bus is moving and she’s in her pajamas. She can’t run. I lie back down, crossing my hands behind my neck and focusing on the bunk above me. I have to keep this casual.
VIRGINIA
“I got a tattoo.” His voice startles me out of the silence, and before I can stop myself, I’m looking at him. He’s lying on his bed in a pair of blue pajama pants and a thin gray T-shirt that clings to him everywhere. Everything about him is bigger than I remember.Why am I even thinking about this?Thankfully, he’s fully dressed. Most of the guys sleep on the warm bus in nearly nothing, and I’ve seen more than my fair share of guy parts. Having to mill about in close quarters with ten guys who have just woken up—it’s a constant game of divert-your-eyes. I pity the editing crew who will have to ensure the American public doesn’t catch a glimpse of any of the private parts of the tour bus—or the band members.
Cam pulls up his sleeve to reveal an intricate black tattoo that wraps around his defined bicep. It looks like twisted lines of musical notes. It’s a blur in the darkness. “A couple, actually,” he says.
“Um, congratulations?”
“I bought a new guitar.” He nods toward the case lying in the lounge of the bus, leaning against the black leather couch.
I turn and finally look right at him, maybe for the first time since I boarded this bus. “Cameron, just stop.” No one else is awake, and this is the last chance I’ll have to stop pretending. I don’t want to do this thing where we pretend like we’re two old friends catching up on the last year of our lives.But when it comes down to it, isn’t friends all that we were, really?I just need to get that through my head, and this will all get easier.
“I tried fish.”
“Excuse me, what?”
“I tried fish.” He shrugs his shoulders. “And for the record, I hated it. Just like I knew I would.”
“Great.” I let my eyes wander around the bus, looking intothe sleeping cubbies that line the walls, out the windows, at the floor; anywhere but his face, or the tiny black curls of ink that I can see peeking out of the back of his shirt, creeping up his neck. Another tattoo.God, I’m curious.
“Your turn.”
My eyes are still fixed on the tiny curls of ink.Stop looking!“For what?”
“Three things since I saw you last.”
Three Things.Hell, no.He thinks we’re actually going to go back to playing this flirty little game? I don’t think so.
“I’m tired, and we have a big day tomorrow.” I grab hold of the curtain next to me and give him a tight smile, reminding myself that soon the cameras will start rolling. And once my internship starts, I’ll need to put on this show 24/7. “Goodnight, Cam.” I try to keep my voice even as I say the words, even though the familiarity of it hurts my heart. “Congrats on the tattoo… and the fish.”
CHAPTER FOUR
