I blinked. “Share it?”
“I mean, like, rotate who sleeps there,” he quickly added. “Violet gets it tonight, then you the next time, and so forth. But if you ever want to squeeze in with me when it’s my night, I can probably make room.”
He laughed, then raised an eyebrow at me. “I’m mostly joking. Mostly. The bathroom is in there,” he pointed to the door. “It’s actually really nice. Has a shower and everything. Violet’s partner did a good job.”
“Her partner?”
“She hates the word wife. Says it has too much baggage and gender expectations attached to it,” Milo explained. “But she’s married, and her partner/wife/fuck-girl’s father owns the dealership that gave us this bus. That’s her outside.”
Out the nearest window, I could see Violet hugging a woman with dark skin and a long braid that ran all the way down her back. Their embrace went on a long while, neither person letting go, both of them whispering to each other with their eyes squeezed shut.
“They’re a great couple, and Dana is really good for Violet,” Milo sighed happily. “But don’t tell Violet I said that. We like to give her shit about how she’s not as hardcore of a rock star now that she’s settled down. Besides, I doubt we’d be able to afford this awesome tour bus without Dana. We’re notthatfamous yet.”
“Can you afford a graphics designer, then?” I asked.
“Sure! I mean, I assume so. Cash is the one who does all our finances, and he says we can afford you. Anyway, that’s the full tour. Get comfy, because Cash wanted to get on the road ten minutes ago.”
I settled into one of the big chairs, which had a hook on the wall for my laptop bag. The rest of the band filed onto the bus—Riot glancing at me for a moment before looking away, Cash nodding politely at me before buckling himself into the driver’s seat, and finally Violet wiping a tear from her eye while shoving past the others.
The bus rumbled to life, then Cash drove out of the alley and onto the main road.
I was terrified by what might happen over the next three months. How could I not be?
But as I glanced at my new tour mates, I couldn’t help but feel overwhelminglyexcited.
7
Roxie
The drive east from Austin to Houston was going to take about two and a half hours. After staring out the window for the first few miles, I opened my laptop and peeked at the tour schedule.
Sept 7– Houston, TX
Sept 10– Fort Worth, TX
Sept 13– New Orleans, LA
Sept 16– Atlanta, GA
Sept 19– Nashville, TN
Sept 22– Charlotte, NC
Sept 25– Washington, DC
Oct 1– Philadelphia, PA
Oct 2– New York City, NY
Oct 6– Boston, MA
Oct 9– Toronto, ON
Oct 12– Detroit, MI
Oct 15– Chicago, IL
Oct 18– Minneapolis, MN
