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“No? Okay, I guess I’ll have to watch a few interviews so I can learn the pre-approved responses.”
“Well, someone’s feeling a little spicy this fine morning.” His voice dropped an octave, down to almost a husky whisper, and he licked his lips. And oh Lord, that all should have been illegal because it sent shivers down my spine and a warm bolt of awareness between my legs. My body was such a traitor sometimes.
A loud horn blasted through the entire reception area, scaring the living daylights out of me and even making Damian and Sadie jump a little. It turned out the sound came from the oh-my-god-amazing tour bus outside. Clearly, it was custom-made, all classic dark paint that made it both stand out and blend in…and it looked expensive.
“Looks like your ride is here, Mr. Apollo.” Sadie beamed and my jaw dropped as I looked at Damian and then at the bus. Sadie looked at me as well, smiling at my stunned expression. “The recording equipment is onboard the bus, too. There’s a separate bed for you as well.”
Damian nodded and turned to the door, walking fast.
For some reason, I hadn’t actually considered our transportation. I didn’t think tour buses were a real thing. Riding a bus across the country?
“I’m sorry, I just thought that we were going to be…” I tried to catch up with Damian. “It was probably presumptuous of me to think we would just be taking flights for this tour.”
Damian turned around, walking backward toward the bus.
“Flying? With climate change? I’m not gonna contribute to that!” He had a cheeky smile and motioned for me to join him. “And besides, this is how I traveled the first time around. Just trust me.” He turned and started jogging toward the bus.
A shaky breath left my lips as I rolled my eyes.
“This guy just does whatever he wants, doesn’t he?” I wasn’t addressing anyone in particular, but was surprised when Sadie chuckled next to me.
Resigned to the situation, I jogged toward the bus. This was going to be a long trip.
Chapter 13
Damian
Beingbackontheroad again felt…strange. I wasn’t nervous. I’d performed in front of tens of thousands of people loads of times before. While the feeling of anticipation never really changes or goes away, no matter how many times you do it, no matter how many times you practice the same things in rehearsals, the butterflies never quite leave, but this time…this time, it was different.
I mostly spent my time on tour buses alone. I didn’t like anyone invading my personal space, not even my manager or Jackson. I needed that downtime between each show.
But now, well, now there was a curvy brunette looking around the space as I watched her from the booth near the kitchenette. Thalia had looked like she was in awe for the past thirty minutes, looking around the kitchenette and the small lounge area on the bus, which was more like a large RV. In the back, there was my bedroom and a loft, where Thalia would sleep.
The view of the city slowly slipped past, and I was looking forward to buildings and connecting highways giving way to long stretches of empty desert. We were in a caravan with another couple of buses that had a skeleton support staff. An eighteen-wheeler that held tour equipment left the day before to get to the stadium and set up ahead of us.
Thalia plopped down on one of the couches in the lounge.
“Finished sightseeing?” I chuckled as she rolled her eyes. I grabbed a lemon water from the fridge and sat on the couch opposite from her. “If you look out the window, you might see the entirety of America at your fingertips.” I intoned a city tour guide, and Thalia barked out a laugh.
She did turn to look out the window behind her, which was admittedly an underwhelming view at the moment, just a sea of industrial complexes. But my view of her was slightly better. When she twisted, her slightly cropped T-shirt exposed a slice of smooth skin across her back and her ass curved beautifully in those black leggings.
“Scenic.” I was really starting to look forward to her sarcasm, too.
She turned back around and quirked a small smile in my direction.
“Okay, okay. This might not be the best part of the tour, but just imagine…”
“Maybe I’m too much of a realist, but all I see is a freeway,” Thalia sighed. She looked like her mostly detached self, but maybe had a slightly friendlier glow to her face. Or maybe I was just imagining that part.
“Well, I can’t really blame you for that,” I admitted, leaning back on the couch and taking a sip of my water. “But still, millions of stories have passed along these roads. Each and every one of them fueled by their own motivations, their own goals, their own successes and failures.” I looked past Thalia at the highway and saw a truck driver, seemingly having a full grasp of the road and his rig, like he’d passed this spot a thousand times before. A few cars down, an SUV fully-loaded with a family and trunk full of luggage while their parents looked desperate to end their journey in the front seat. “Every single car passing by has its own story, and I think it’s just…”
I shifted my gaze to Thalia who was staring at me in a way she hadn’t before. Her gorgeous eyes entranced me, and I was realizing more and more that calling them brown was not doing the complex color nearly enough justice. She was looking at me in a way that felt like she was seeing into my soul. My body reacted with pure interest, wanting, and awareness, and it caught me totally off-guard.
For the first time, I thought, Thalia didn’t look like she was judging me. It looked more like she was trying to figure me out, like it was an analysis. I wasn’t used to having someone look at me like that, to try to know me on such a personal level.
Sure, people had their speculations about my life and their assumptions, but that was different than Thalia's gaze. They didn’t know me, and they weren’t working with me every day. They certainly weren’t stuck with me inside a tour bus under slight duress.
I cleared my throat, trying to change the topic, suddenly feeling vulnerable and exposed.
