“There they are!” Milo announced when he saw us. “We were about to give up on you. Have you finished our next album?”
“Not yet, but we’re making progress,” Violet said, heading straight for the bar.
“They explained your creative process to me,” Roxie said. There was a lazy tilt to her eyes that meant several of the empty drink glasses were hers.
“We work well together,” I said as I sat next to her. She had a gravitational pull that was difficult to ignore. “I see the three of you are getting along nicely.”
“Alcohol is like super glue,” Cash said. “It helps people mesh together.”
“I can’t believe you got my bass player drunk,” I told Roxie.
She twisted to face me, looking offended. “It’s not my fault! They gotmedrunk!”
Violet returned with a fresh round for everyone. “Get used to it, Muse. They’ll blame you for getting drunkat leastthree more times before this tour is over.”
“She’s a very bad influence,” Milo whispered, although his volume was so high anyone in the bar could hear him.
Roxie let out a playful gasp. “Unbelievable. I was just telling these two how I got into graphics design.”
“Start over,” I said, taking a long pull from my drink. “I want to hear it from the beginning.”
We shared some drinks and laughed as Roxie regaled us with stories about her middle school artwork. I smiled at each person at the table. Group dynamics were a tricky business. Everyone needed to get along with everyone else, or the vibe would feeloff. We were lucky that the four of us in Cherry Midnight were basically best friends now. Adding a fifth person on tour was a massive gamble.
But Roxie had blended in like she belonged.
It was yet another reason why I felt so drawn to her. Why I couldn’t take my eyes off her when she was in the room, and why I constantly thought about her when she wasn’t.
I smiled and pushed down the intrusive thoughts that were rapidly jumping into my mind, all of which involved the curve of Roxie’s hip brushing against mine when I scooted over to make room for Violet.
I thought about it more the next day while running some errands around Fort Worth. This was only our second city of the tour, and it was already taking alotof my willpower to resist kissing Roxie. Especially because I knew she wanted to be kissed. I’d noticed the way she looked at me. It was the same gaze all the fans in the front row of our shows had. Awe, adoration, and desire all mixed together into a sexy cocktail.
I prided myself on not being tied down. That’s how the rock and roll lifestyle was: sex, alcohol, and a different city every night. And a differentwomanevery night.
Or women, plural.
But the way I felt about Roxie was new and intense. It was totally unlike the way I thought about all our female fans who threw themselves at me after a concert. I couldn’t explain it. I wish I could. It was all I’d been able to think about since that final Rainknife show in Austin.
And unlike most other women who adored us, I felt creatively inspired every time I looked at Roxie. I thought that feeling would only last a single night, but here we were, two cities later, and she still made my pulse race with only a smile.
The Fort Worth venue was smaller than Houston’s, but the crowd was more energetic. I fed off that energy all night, moving around stage like I was born to do it, and they loved every second of it.
It helped that when I glanced over my shoulder, I saw Roxie watching in the wings. She tried to remain inconspicuous by hiding behind a stack of equipment boxes, but I was drawn to her like a moth to a porch light. If she was in a crowd of thousands, I was certain I could pick her out instantly. That’s the kind of presence she carried with her everywhere she went.
I was exhausted on the drive to New Orleans the next day. I wasn’t the only one; the bus was quiet while everyone worked on their own stuff. I tried to tweak the music for one of my new songs, but it was a futile effort.
Eventually, I put my notes down and walked to the front of the bus. Cash was alone up here, the road rushing by in the windows while he drove.
“Can I help you?” he asked without taking his eyes off the highway.
“Just taking a break.”
“Uh huh.”
“What?” I asked.
Cash glanced over at me. “You remember the favor you asked me?”
He didn’t need to be more specific. I knew exactly what he was talking about. “I do.”
