Page 47 of The Duet
“That it has.” She holds up the bottle to me before finishing her beer. “Back on the road tomorrow.”
“New York, here we come,” Dave says. He taps a finger to his forehead. “Always a pleasure, Lady Kings.”
Chapter 26
Cleo
“Hey.” Daphne turns up at my seat on the bus. I’m not even sure where we’re headed any longer. All the cities we’ve visited have blurred into one. “Can we talk?”
“Sure.” I sit up a little.
“How are you?” Daphne turns her entire body to me.
“Okay.” I try to sound upbeat even though I feel like someone has reached into my gut and pulled out all my insides.
“I’m sorry. I was a bit hard on you last night. I didn’t mean to imply that you’re not a good friend or any less of a member of our band.”
“You were right, though. I got Lana tunnel vision. She was all I could see any longer.”
“Who am I to blame you for that? Look at me and Tessie. We’ve only just met, and I already want to marry her.” She snickers. “In a manner of speaking. Although we might U-Haul when we get back to LA.”
I arch up my eyebrows. “You’re kidding, right?”
She gives a shrug that’s hardly convincing.
“It might be our biggest, but this is not our first tour.” I realize how jaded I sound. “Things happen on the road, you know that.”
“We’ll see,” Daphne says. Neither one of us speaks for a bit. That’s another thing members of a band need to be good at, being comfortable with silence.
“I was up most of the night,” I say after a while. “Thinking about what you said.”
“It’s not like I know any better than anyone else.” Daphne lets the side of her head fall against the backrest of the seat.
“Maybe, or maybe not, but that’s not the point.” It’s hard to look her in the face. I don’t have the energy for a lot of big emotions today. Thank goodness we don’t have a show tonight. I won’t be going clubbing either. “It’s not that I suddenly think that what I did with Lana was so wrong.” It most certainly didn’t feel wrong. “But you were right when you said I forgot to put the band first. If last night proves anything, it’s that we don’t need that kind of tension. We’re not the kind of band that thrives on friction.”
“We’re too lesbian for that,” Daphne says matter-of-factly.
I can’t help but chuckle. The air it releases passes through me like a welcome relief from all my worries, from all the knots my brain has tied itself into.
“But I truly never set out to hurt anyone.”
“Oh, Cleo.” Daphne reaches for my hand. “I know that. Of course, I know.”
Daphne’s touch is such a comfort. It eases the ache in my belly somewhat. “Either way, it was just a fling and a fling isn’t worth complicating everything over.”
“Maybe we should have a list of people who are so iconic, so universally sexy, such legends, that they make you exempt from following any band rules.” Daphne squeezes my hand. “For the record, Lana would top that list for all four of us.”
“It wouldn’t work because it wouldn’t change that people’s feelings might get hurt.” I try to look over Daphne’s seat to where I thought Jess was sitting, but I can’t see her. “How’s Jess?”
“Jess will be fine.” Daphne sure has changed her tune. I can’t help but wonder whether Tessie had a chat with her. I’d ask her, but I can’t face too many tales of how besotted they are with each other right now. Not today. Maybe I’ll feel better tomorrow. Maybe once we’ve had an epic show, one during which we won over the audience completely and erased the memory of last night’s abysmal performance. “In the end, we’re all big girls and boys.”
“Sure,” I say, despite of a lot of our behavior of the last few days being suited for high school recess.
Daphne smirks. “With all my concern for Jess’s feelings, I haven’t had a chance to ask you…” Her smirk transforms into a big fat grin. “What was it like with Lana?”
“Oh, please, don’t ask me that,” I blurt out.
“Why not?” She drums her fingertips on my knee. “Inquiring minds would very much like to know.”
