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“Didn’t Vik tell you? We got two buses for the musicians and one for the crew, along with a few SUVs for the rest of them. You know Naomi is coming with me this time, and I wanted to have some semblance of privacy with her.”
Naomi is Boone's long-term girlfriend. They met when he was touring in Japan years ago, dated long distance for a while, and she eventually moved to the States to be with him. She’s probably the one and only constant in his life and I understand why he would want to do what he can to make sure she’s happy, even if that’s as simple as having a separate tour bus.
“So, you get to share a bus with your beautiful girlfriend, while I have to wake up to this ugly face everyday?” Hayden pats my cheek like I’m a little kid he’s consoling.
Faster than he can react, I grab his wrist and twist his arm behind his back.
He shoves me, laughing as he does so. God, it’s good to hear that sound again. It’s been a long time since I’ve heard Hayden genuinely laugh.
“You break his arm and I sue you,” a monotone voice calls out from behind us. Cocking my head over my shoulder, I see Arun striding toward us, bald head shining under the stage lights. “Can’t have a bassist with a broken arm.”
Hayden uses my distraction to his advantage and breaks free of my grip, only to deliver a swift slap on the back of my head, white teeth grinning after he takes a few steps back to allow Arun to join in our semicircle.
I swear in all of the years that I’ve known Arun, I’ve barely seen him in anything but a crisp white button up under a navy suit that brings out the warmth in his golden brown skin. Even when we’ve had “emergencies” in the middle of the night where he has had to come pick me and Nikolai up from a club because we lost track of our security three drinks ago, he still showed up in a fresh suit.
“Then this is probably a bad time to tell you I almost shut my hand in an elevator door this morning,” I say.
Arun quickly surveys my hands before returning his attention to his phone that he’s been typing on since he walked up. “I would’ve sued you for the stupidity of that as well.”
Boone gives a low oooh, swishing his feet back and forth like a child.
“Where are the other two?” Arun asks.
“Nikolai walked off to take a call,” Hayden answers. “Lauren,” he adds to answer Arun’s unspoken question. That earns a heavy sigh.
You and me both, man.
It’s not that Lauren isn’t a nice person or anything. From the single interaction I had with her, she seemed like a nice enough person and very much in love with Nikolai.
But therein lies the problem. Nikolai falls hard and fast, always convinced he’s found his soulmate. He falls out of love just as quickly as he falls into it, leaving behind quite a line of women whiplashed by his quick turnaround.
And Lauren is the latest casualty in his love life, however she isn’t seeming to let go quite as easily. Not everyone is as willing to give up on six months invested in someone as others.
I love Nikolai like a brother, but if my sister ever brought a guy home like him, I’d kick his ass to the curb.
“Is that going to turn into a problem for me?” Arun asks, probably worried about yet another scorned lover of Nikolai’s, talking to the press and a new story added to the pile of his failed relationships.
“Potentially.” I shrug, playing it off, knowing full well Lauren is most likely going to be causing some waves before we’re even out of L.A., tomorrow morning.
Arun cracks his neck back and forth, the sound making Boone cringe. “You guys need to get your man a chiropractor,” Boone admonishes.
“Trust me, I think I pay the rent for mine,” Arun grunts. “And, Reid?”
“No clue,” Hayden responds.
A stagehand calls Boone over, someone in the shadows waiting with them off to the right of the stage. I crane my neck, trying to see what it’s about, but the lighting is too dim offstage.
When I turn my attention back to Hayden and Arun, they start walking toward the sound booth at the back of the arena, and Hayden nods for me to follow.
“We have six hours until showtime and you still need to sound check, so one of you please get Reid’s ass over here.”
Hayden makes no move to reach for his phone, so I grab mine and shoot him a text to see where he is.
Out of all the guys, Reid’s been the most MIA over our hiatus. Even Nikolai says he’s been hard to reach, which is odd. Out of the three of us, Reid always picks up Nikolai’s calls first.
I slip my phone back into the pocket of my jacket and rest against the rails bracketing the booth in. The stage looks so far away from here, the arena one of the bigger ones we’ll play in during this tour. That only serves as a reminder to play big tonight, not just in sound but the energy. I may be stuck behind the drum kit for the entirety of the set, but that doesn't mean I still can’t make a production of things.
I half listen to Arun and Hayden’s conversation, mostly talking about the new security measures again. We’ve received multiple briefs on the protocol already, but if it helps Hayden’s peace of mind to go over everything repeatedly, I don’t see a problem. Most of my attention is drawn to the stage, where a stagehand is getting someone mic’d up, whoever Boone is talking to, still offstage.
