“I’m used to taking the blame, but not sure this is on me, camera girl.”
Mikey? What the fuck? I roll out of my bunk, landing on my feet with a loud thump, not sure who’s more surprised by it, me or them.
“What the hell are you two doing?” My brow furrows as I absorb the fact that they are both on their hands and knees a few feet from the bunk hallway, frozen in place as they stare wide-eyed back at me.
“What the hell are you doing?” Mikey rises off his hands, his butt landing on his heels as he leans back.
“I was sleeping until you two assholes woke me up.” I cross my arms over my chest and glare down at them. “What the fuck are you crawling on the floor for, and why the hell are you with her?”
“We dropped my bottle,” she blurts, like she’s just reminded herself why she is in fact on the floor, and reaches for something before lifting it triumphantly in the air. It’s a bottle of Patron. But of course, it is. She is with Mikey after all.
“And, I think you’ve had enough of that for tonight.” Mikey snags the bottle from between her fingers before she can protest, a pout pulling down the corners of her mouth when she realizes her hand is now empty.
“I found her in the lobby.” Mikey rises to his feet, directing the explanation to me, placing the tequila on the counter behind him, before looking back at her.
“Come on, let’s get you to bed.” He bends down and grabs her under the arms to lift her to her feet, which I now realize aren’t too steady.
“I can put myself to bed when I’m ready.” She tries to push his hands away, but he holds firm.
“Camera girl, trust me when I tell you, you’re ready.” Mikey slides a hand behind her legs and back and swoops her up in one motion.
“Whoa!” She giggles. “You just swept me off my feet!”
“She’s a lot nicer when she’s drunk,” Mikey mumbles as he plows past me toward her bunk.
“I’m nice all the time,” she chides, her eyes narrowing when they land on me. “Unlike him.”
“What the hell did I do?” I snarl, my frustration at the scene unfolding in front of me flaring to life.
“Dude, just help me get her into the bunk,” Mikey interjects, nodding his head toward the closed curtain of her bed. I yank it back, then do the same with the covers, before he deposits her as gracefully as he can on top of the thin mattress.
“Night, camera girl.” Mikey pats her on the head like she’s a dog, rolling his eyes at me as he turns to stride back to the front of the bus.
“I don’t want to go to bed,” Sadie protests, while attempting to sit up, her head slamming into the top of the bunk. “Ow!” Her hand slaps against her forehead as she falls back onto the pillow.
I can’t help it, I chuckle. “Go to sleep, Sadie.”
“Not tired.” She yawns, still rubbing her fingers against her brow.
“No, but you are drunk,” I offer.
“At least I’m not naked,” she mumbles, her blue eyes blinking up at me as she smirks. I look down at myself and remember I slid into my bunk naked earlier. “It’s okay, at least now I know what I’m missing.”
My brow shoots to my hairline. Did she just say what I think she did?
Mikey was right; she is nicer when she’s drunk. I decide to take this one as a win, and before she can say anything else, I slide the curtain to the bunk closed. Surprisingly, she doesn’t protest.
I wait a minute to make sure she’s not going to try and escape. When she doesn’t, I stop where I dumped my clothes earlier and yank my jeans on over my hips, then make my way into the main cabin to find Mikey.
“Well, that was fun,” he says, the Patron bottle between his fingers, his lips glistening from a recent drink.
“What the hell are you doing hanging out with her?” I drop down into my usual spot, dragging a hand over the rough stubble on my neck. “You know she’s off-fucking-limits, right? She could ruin us.”
“Calm down, bro.” He takes a swig from the bottle after shaking his head. “I was heading back here to crash. She was in the hotel, hanging out in the lobby with some of the crew. When she saw me, she came at me like a damn laser beam in the dark.” He shrugs. “I wasn’t going to leave her there. She was drunk. I’m not a complete asshole.”
“So, you didn’t fuck her?” I persist, because I wouldn’t put it past Mikey.
“No, I didn’t fuck her.” He chuffs. Loud. “You worried because of who she is, or because of how you feel?”
