Or in my case, to try and patch things up with Iggy.
We stepped out through the automatic doors and walked until we found a wooden bench a short distance from the entrance. Riff sat first. I dropped down beside him, crossing one leg and resting my ankle on my knee. For a while, we didn’t talk. Just took a few pulls from our vapes and listened to the hum of passing cars.
“Go on, then,” Riff said eventually, waving his vape in a lazy circle.
I dragged a hand through my hair and leaned back, staring up at the overcast sky.
“Iggy and I had a fight,” I said. “Well. Not really a fight. But something... kind of like a fight.”
Riff frowned. “How the fuck do you have something kind of like a fight?”
I did my best to explain what had happened, skirting around the details about the painkillers. I didn’t want to betray Iggy’s trust. When I finished, Riff hummed low in his throat.
“Okay,” he said slowly. “I see what you mean.” He scratched at his chin. “Sounds like he was cranky and took it out on you without meaning to. This whole thing—the shows, the travelling—it’s a lot for everyone, crew included, and he’s not used to it.”
“Maybe,” I muttered.
“And,” Riff went on. “You two have been glued together non-stop. Even before you pulled your heads out of your asses and admitted you liked each other.” He shrugged. “Maybe he really was just tired. Needed a bit of space to breathe.”
I chewed on my bottom lip and nodded.
He wasn’t wrong. I had zero dating experience, but I was pretty sure couples weren’t supposed to spend every waking second together. I was used to the chaos of tour life. Used to tight spaces and no privacy and always having someone within arm’s reach. But Iggy wasn’t. This was all new territory for him. Hell, I didn’t even know how much experience he had with relationships at all.
It wasn’t a stretch to think he might be overwhelmed. That he might need a breather.
Was I worrying over nothing?
I opened my mouth to reply when something caught my eye.
Two somethings.
Trix and Bella stumbled out through the hotel doors likeextras in a zombie film. Bella’s short hair stuck out in every direction, and Trix’s freshly dyed indigo hair looked like a lion’s mane. They swayed as they walked, shoulders knocking together. Trix’s usually warm tan had turned vaguely green in the morning light, and Bella’s eyes were puffy, rimmed red with exhaustion.
The signs of a brutal hangover might as well have been flashing in neon.
I shot to my feet, moving before my brain had a chance to catch up.
“Bodhi?” Riff called after me. “Where are you going?”
I didn’t answer. I just stalked towards the two girls I knew had been with Iggy. The ones who looked like they’d slept in a bar instead of a hotel.
“Trix!”
She stumbled over her own feet and stopped, looking one way, then the other. When she spotted me, her mouth split into a lazy grin. Up close, her eyes were bloodshot. The smell of marijuana clung to her clothes, stale and unmistakable.
“Hey, Bodhi,” she drawled. I couldn’t tell if it was exhaustion or if they’d already smoked again this morning. “Thanks for yesterday. Oh—” She fished my credit card out of her pocket and held it up. “Here you go.”
“Thanks,” I said, slipping it into my jeans. “Did you have a good night?”
“So good,” Bella chimed in. “Paying for it now, though.”
“Right.” My mouth went dry. “Do much... uh, pampering?” I asked carefully.
Trix glanced at Bella and smirked. “Oh yeah. Wepampered.”
And what the fuck was that supposed to mean?
I forced a smile. I didn’t need a mirror to know it didn’t reach my eyes.
