For the showin San Francisco, I asked Ran to watch Bleeding Moonlight from a cordoned-off area to the side of the main floor. The tour manager obliged without enthusiasm, but his attitude wouldn’t ruin my mood tonight. I was giddy about the club we were going to head to around midnight, and the constant buzzing of my group chat with Zoey and Sophie was keeping my spirits high.
Sophie: “You’re starting it off with a bang!”
Zoey: “I’m so jealous. I can’t believe you’re going clubbing.”
Sophie: “Have an amazing time. Take pics of all the hotties for us plebs who don’t have rock-star brothers.”
I noticed Ran looking over my shoulder at my phone and snuck it back into my purse, feeling my cheeks heat. He raised a brow above his horn-rimmed glasses. “You know you can’t distribute any photos you take at the afterparty. Everyone signs an NDA before they go in. It’s one of Ritual Disruption’s rules.”
My temper flared. “Do they have any rules about reading other people’s private messages?” I was annoyed about having the tour manager continue to hover around me like some bodyguard. I knew Cole had asked him to, but I wished Ran had put up more of a fight. It seemed like both him and my brother were taking their responsibility over me a little too seriously.
Ran pursed his lips and looked back at the stage where Bleeding Moonlight was about to go on. I guessed he was calling me about a million different names in his head.
Bleeding Moonlight came on to rapturous applause and jumped right into one of their biggest hits, “The Thing About You”. I jumped to the music, snapping pics of Cole on stage when I got too tired, and waving at him over the crowd, despite him never seeing me. His gaze seemed to be constantly scanning the first few rows of people standing pressed right up to the stage. Who was he looking for? He had to know I’d never watch from there.
By the time they finished their set, my feet were starting to get sore. I glanced around the venue, seeing the crowd grow thicker in anticipation for the headliner, and I nudged Ran. “Can we go backstage?”
He nodded and carved a path through the audience to a door leading to the back. Bleeding Moonlight was already in the greenroom by the time we arrived. Their shirts were all drenched with sweat. I walked over to Cole and patted him on the back. “Great show. The crowd loved you guys.”
He grinned at me, but his expression seemed distracted. “Thanks, Ives. It was a lot of fun.” He chugged some water. “I think I’m going to go rest up in the bus for a bit before we head out. You okay to stay with Ezra and the rest of them here?”
“Sure,” I told him. “Do your thing. I’ll hang out here.”
Plopping down on the sofa beside Abel, I congratulated him on the show. The other guys were filing out of the room to shower in the dressing rooms down the hall, but Abel seemed too drained to move. His long hair was plastered to his face, and he reminded me of how I looked after running a few miles in gym class. Athletics was another bullet point on a long list of things I wasn’t great at.
“I’m not sure how you guys put on a show like that every night. Your cardio must be off the charts,” I told him.
He gave me a tired grin. “It’s a workout all right. The more you do it, the easier it gets.” Sitting up straight, he glanced around the room. “Did your brother leave for the showers already?”
“He said he’s resting on the bus before we head out to the club.”
Abel’s face assumed a knowing smirk. “Resting. Sure.”
I didn’t know what to make of that. “What do you think he’s doing?”
“More a matter of who, not what,” he retorted.
“Oh.” I was immediately embarrassed at not picking up on this earlier. Even though I knew Cole was a successful musician, I hadn’t spent a ton of time thinking through the implications of that fact.Cole has groupies.My nose wrinkled at the thought, earning a snicker from Abel.
“I’m not trying to make you feel uncomfortable,” he reassured. “But you should know your brother has a bit of a…road wife at the moment. He’s going to be sneaking off to see her now and then.”
“Road wife?” I asked, unsure of what he meant.
Abel nodded. “Yeah. She travels to the same cities as us, essentially following our bus and coming to our shows. He met her after our show in Vancouver, and they seemed to hit it off.”
I processed this new information, trying to imagine the woman who’d managed to capture my brother’s attention. “Do you think he’ll bring her around to meet me?” I asked Abel.
“Doubt it. Although who knows. Cole says he’s set on shielding you from some of the perils of tour life, but he’s also impulsive and doesn’t deny himself much. He might have a drink too many and invite her back here at some point.”
I bristled at his words. “I don’t need him shielding me.”
“It’s not just him,” Abel said with a wry smile. “He’s enlisted all of us to keep an eye on you. But don’t worry. I’m sure you’ll still have a ton of fun.”
I groaned. “How? It’s hard to do that with someone constantly hovering over me. I’m almost eighteen, and the whole point of me coming here was to have new experiences and meet new people. I just wish Cole would give me free reign.”
The singer shrugged. “I’m sure he intended on doing that, but the thing with Jamie was a pretty awful start to your visit.”
“I know,” I said quietly. “But it wasn’t my fault. Does Cole think everyone is going to be preying on me or something crazy like that? It was a one-off freak encounter. I hardly think I’m interesting enough to inspire more of such behavior.”
