by Amy Briggs
I chatted with the guys in the band for a while as we were all gathering, getting to know them. Mr. Royal, who insisted I call him Mark, didn’t suspect any of them were the stalker, but I wanted to find out for myself. One of the guys, Mike, seemed like the big brother type to me. Johnny, the lead guitar player, was married with two little kids. He was definitely into his family; they were all there to send him off, and he spent the whole time playing in the parking lot with the blonde-haired, blue eyed little girls who’s giggles would make anyone smile.
When Mark arrived, we had a brief talk. Not wanting to be conspicuous, we kept it friendly and non-covert. I had the pleasure of meeting the girl’s’ mom, Cassandra Royal. She and Miranda had matching steely blue eyes and the same smile. She gave me a knowing nod when we were introduced, and I suspected she was in on the operation, although I’d never really discussed that with Mark.
I was checking my watch, waiting for Mark and the girls to get off the bus and tell us all to get the show on the road, when that red hair caught my eye again, sending a little jolt of excitement down my spine. As they got off the bus, all smiles, I watched as she hugged the guys who’d shown up while she was on board, and Mark rejoined his wife, who was standing next to me.
“All set for the tour, Ryan?” he asked me.
“Sure am, sir,” I confirmed.
“Good. Keep me posted. And have some fun out there too,” he said.
“No time for fun, sir. I’ve got a job to do,” I replied, my gaze never leaving Miranda.
“We’ll see, son. We’ll see,” He patted my shoulder and walked to the center of our little crowd.
“Alright everyone, you guys need to get on the road. St. Louis is waiting. Everyone is going to ride on the girl’s’ bus so you guys can regroup or whatever, and then it’s the usual gig. I assume you’ve all met Ryan by now?” He motioned to me as I gave a little wave, keeping my eyes on her. “He’ll be on the road with you for the summer, so be nice. He can make you look good or he can make you look bad. Your call,” he said with a mildly serious tone, but eyes that smiled to the group.
“Alright guys, let’s do this!” Miranda called out. She walked toward me, into her mother’s arms, Carmen in tow.
“My babies!” her mother said, squeezing her tightly. “Be careful out there, and have a blast!” She pulled Carmen in for a hug as well. Their family dynamic was truly a sight for someone like me. They teased each other, but it was clear they were a unit, and that was unusual for me to see. My family was my guys mostly. I had already lost both of my parents, way too young. We were close though, especially my mother and I, and she had always encouraged me to find a woman who believed family was the most important thing in the world, above all else. Why I recalled those memories in that moment could only be that watching them reminded me of what my mom wanted for me. I felt my lips turn up in a smile, watching them all gear up to go.
As everyone said their goodbyes, I grabbed my backpack and nodded to Mark. He gave me a mock salute as I made my way back to the bus. I waited for everyone else to pile on, climbing up the stairs last only to Marty, the driver, who gave me the same knowing nod I’d just given Mark.
There were quite a few of us on board, more than the bus really accommodated, and as I looked around for somewhere to sit, I met Miranda’s eyes. Giving me just a slight smile, she patted the couch next to her, and I gladly took the seat in the tight quarters. Carmen turned the radio on, dialing in some classic rock for the trip.
“Everybody good with this?” she asked.
Nods all around prompted a smile from her, and she sat on a recliner type chair, sprawled out across from us. I’m pretty sure that even if someone had objected, she wouldn’t have changed the station regardless; she definitely did what she wanted.
“Okay, so we all met yesterday, and we know the plan for tomorrow’s show, but I figured we could all take the short ride to St. Louis together because I missed your faces and we won’t be sick of each other for at least a week or so, right?” Miranda laughed.
Johnny was lounging on Miranda’s other side, and Mike sat at the desk across the way.
“Well, we missed you too Your Majesty,” Johnny teased her.
Playfully curtseying from her seat, she grinned and replied, “Now you don’t have to.”
Jumping in on the conversation, Carmen said, “So, everyone knows is going to be digging into our lives for the summer, right?”
“Yeah, man, glad to have you. Should be a good time.” Mike casually waved in my direction, ignoring Carmen’s sarcasm.
“Thanks for the hospitality, guys. I’m looking forward to the whole tour,” I replied.
“Where are you from, Ryan? You live in Nashville?” Johnny asked.
“No, I have a place in San Francisco, actually. But I’m from all over,” I replied, not wanting to allude to my military background, which kept me nomadic at best. My father was Army as well, so we moved every four years for him for as long as I could remember. “My parents moved a lot, but they settled in California. Luckily for me in San Francisco, we still get some of the seasons, so I keep a place there. But I travel quite a bit for work.”
“Ah, makes sense. Us too, so this should be no big thing for you then,” he replied.
“I feel like we could just rock out and enjoy the drive, no?” Carmen said, sliding her huge sunglasses down over her eyes.
“Yesss sister, we can,” Miranda laughed, reaching across my lap to grab a remote control off the small ledge next to me. As her body brushed against mine, I caught a whiff of that fresh flower scent of hers and shifted in my seat as the impure thoughts started to invade my head. “Sorry for my reach,” she whispered up at me as she brushed by me again, showing me those pouty lips of hers, which I couldn’t take my eyes off. Immediately, I tried to think of other things, anything, to prevent my dick from doing exactly what it was - coming to attention.
I twitched a bit, as she settled into the couch, nestling a little closer to me, placing her legs underneath herself. She raised the remote and turned the music up a little, and then sighed.
“You comfortable?” She leaned up to my ear.
“Mmhmm,” I mumbled out, not sure what I was doing cornered on the couch by her, but she seemed comfortable and that was a good thing as far as I was concerned.
“Okay, good. If I fall asleep on you, you can feel free to shove me off,” She let out a giggle, and dropped her sunglasses over her eyes, leaning into me just a bit more. While it was a relatively small couch, she probably had enough room to be less close, but I was glad she wasn’t. I could feel her body relax, and suddenly I wanted everyone off the bus. Everyone except her. My mind raced with images of what I would like to do to her on that couch.
About forty-five minutes into the five-hour drive to St. Louis, it appeared everyone had fallen asleep, and I couldn’t help but let the moment take me over as well. I took advantage of her closeness, and leaned into her comfortably, inhaling that sweet smell before dozing off to the smooth ride of my new home for the next few months.
Okay, so maybe I was flirting with him a little bit, but I was just having some fun. I had a good feeling about him and I becoming friends, especially after I saw him shooting the breeze with my mom outside before we left. My mom is pretty cool with everyone, but what struck me was that he was chatting with her and he really didn’t have to. I thought it was cute. Although that might be part of the article too, who could know? In any event, I hadn’t had the pleasure of being around any hot guys in awhile, as my sister so delicately liked to point out, so it seemed harmless enough to me.
I’d ended up falling asleep next to him, which wasn’t surprising. I’d been up late the night before, like most of us had been. I was the first on the bus to wake up and as I opened my eyes and glanced over at Ryan, I saw he had fallen asleep as well. I could feel his rigid muscles under my head when I realized I’d wrapped my arm through his a bit, snuggling in at some point. I couldn’t deny we were a perfect phys
ical fit, and as I rose to get up, I couldn’t resist sliding my fingertips up his bicep first. I knew he was fit, but he definitely worked out more than the average guy, He was rock hard, and yet so comfortable to cozy up to.
After I copped my quick feel, I checked our location before heading to the back bedroom, where Carmen had relocated while I had been sleeping.
She had her face smooshed into a pillow, and as usual, her drumsticks right next to her. We were getting close to St. Louis, so I gave her a little tickle under her nose to try waking her. As I watched her sleepily rub her nose, I started giggling, which definitely woke her up.
“Hey sleepy,” I half-whispered, trying to stifle my laughter.
“Hello sister,” she groaned at me, opening one eye.
I started stroking her hair gently, causing her to smile. “Don’t stop,” she said sleepily.
“Come on, wake up!” I whined at her.
“Okay, okay. I’m up,” She opened both eyes and rose to her elbows. “We almost there?” she asked.
“We sure are,” I grinned. I couldn’t contain my excitement, which was evident by my permanent smile.
“This is gonna be so awesome,” she said, stretching her arms out above her head.
I flopped down next to her. “It really is,” I agreed. “Are you ready?”
“I’m so ready,” she grinned. “This is the big time, sister. We’re doing it. No more opening for other people. We call the shots. I can’t fucking wait.”
Her enthusiasm for our music drove me harder. I loved the lyrics and notes, and I loved what we did, but the stage wasn’t always my favorite place to be. I got caught in my own head sometimes, and it kept me from being as ‘balls to the wall’ as Carmen was.
I laid down next to her for a minute and sighed. “I can’t believe it’s all come together,” I said wistfully.
“It wasn’t fucking magic, Miranda. We’ve worked our goddamn asses off for this. We deserve this. Get fucking pumped,” She was definitely awake now, and poking me.
Giggling when she hit that sweet spot right under my rib, I swatted her hand away. “Okay! Okay! I’m pumped,” I laughed, tears forming in my eyes.
“Good, you better be,” She gave me a smirk and a side-eye as she got up and stretched. “So… I couldn’t help but notice you fell asleep on the writer. Getting cozy already, are we?” She raised her eyebrow at me, pretending like she knew something.
“That was an accident. You know I fall asleep the minute the bus starts rocking along. I do it on planes and trains too.” I stuck my tongue out at her like a child, knowing I was totally busted.
“Oh, yeah, an accident that you just happened to fall asleep snuggled up to the hot new guy on the tour. Sell your bullshit someplace else, sister,” she huffed at me.
She was my sister; she totally knew me. So, I just smiled and shrugged my shoulders. “I’m perfectly innocent here.”
“For now,” she mused, as she grabbed a brush and started running it through her long dark hair. She looked more refreshed since she’d had a nap.
“Alright, I’m gonna start waking up the others. We’ve got another rehearsal sound check thing when we get there, and then the show tonight. I need to get some tea too; my throat feels scratchy,” I said.
Stopping in her tracks, she looked at me seriously, raising her voice. “You’re not getting sick, are you?”
“No. Calm the fuck down. I’m sure it’s just the canned air on the bus, and all that,” I replied defensively. I actually felt fine. I just had a kind of dry throat, and since we had a show, I wanted to get some tea and honey to calm it down; it was not a big deal at all.
“Well maybe you should yap a little less, and save your voice for singing,” she teased me.
“Maybe you should go fuck yourself, sister,” I grinned and flipped her the bird on my way back out to the front of the bus where the guys were, leaving her laughing behind me.
What I found was the sexy writer scrolling through his phone, wide-awake, as was everyone else. Hoping they hadn’t heard the conversation about Ryan that Carmen and I were having, I sat across the way in the lounger by my guitars, and grabbed a notebook out of my purse, pretending that I had important shit to write down which I definitely did not.
As I glanced up from my doodling, I caught Ryan’s eye and he smiled, causing me to blush instantly. As I tried to pretend that my face wasn’t a thousand degrees, he engaged me. “So, did you have a nice nap?” he asked.
Uh yeah, I had a nice nap, feeling up your abs and smelling your manliness. “I did.” Then I continued, in my usual nervous and awkward way in such situations, afraid there wouldn’t be any air left in the bus for anyone else to use, “I almost always fall asleep as soon as we get rolling. There’s something about the gentle rocking of the bus that just puts me right to sleep. I was like that as a kid too. As soon as we’d get in the car, I’d be out like a light.” I finally took a breath realizing I was rambling worse than usual.
Ryan grinned, flashing his perfect teeth, which was distracting as ever. “I used to be the same way. I guess I still am, too. The last thing I remembered was enjoying the company,” He winked. Oh. My. God. He winked at me. This fucking guy. Get your shit together, Miranda, Jesus. I internally rolled my eyes at myself.
I cracked a small smile in acknowledgement. In an effort to not become a lovesick puppy, I was apparently going to come off like a bitch. Thank God there were other people around.
Mike, who was playing some kind of handheld game, chimed in without even looking up. “Yeah, Miranda is either sleeping, or has her headphones on, playing her guitar in some kind of weird position, writing music.” He chuckled.
Pursing my lips, I just rolled my eyes. “Well, what do you want me to do? Hammer out new tunes while you’re all sleeping?”
Pausing his game and looking up, he said, “Oh, I’m not criticizing. I’m just stating facts. That’s what you do. Sleep. Write music. Repeat. No judgment here at all.” He paused, “Except when you snore. Lots of judgment there,” he laughed.
Flipping him the middle finger, I couldn’t help but giggle. “That’s fair. It’s pretty much all I do these days, actually,” I replied.
Looking over at Ryan, he appeared to be observing intently. I assumed that was the reporter in him. Taking notes, assessing the surroundings.
“So, Ryan,” Mike redirected his attention.
“Yes?” He set his phone down next to him, giving Mike his full attention.
“Have you ever been on tour with a band before?”
I watched his face as he contemplated his answer, pausing for a moment to think “Well, not really. I’ve been around music and Uh.., celebrities a lot in my career. But never a full summer tour, that’s for sure. This is new for me; all this togetherness.” He looked over at me again with another smirk, catching me staring again, I was sure of it.
“Interesting,” Mike replied. “Anyone we’d know?”
Chuckling, Ryan said, “Eh, nobody as cool as you guys.” He glanced over in my direction again, “For me, you and this tour are the big gig.”
I snickered, knowing that probably wasn’t true, but I certainly appreciated the ego boost. “So, Ryan, when doing your research for this tour, what did you do?”
Knowing that my question was challenging, he answered confidently, “I was already familiar with your music when this opportunity came along. I googled all of you - of course. Then I did some digging. But… a reporter never shares his sources or secrets, sorry doll.” He fucking winked again. I couldn’t decide if I was annoyed or if I wanted to jump his goddamn bones. He was mildly frustrating, and in all honestly, it was hard to tell if it was my reaction to him that was the cause or if it was his charm in general. Charm was always so appealing in the beginning, and then it became downright obnoxious as it became insincere, which it usually did at some point. And while I was aware that my relationship with Ryan was professional, it had already established itself as something along the lines of comp
licated, and we were only at our first stop on the tour.
“Hmm, interesting,” was all I could muster.
I felt the bus come to a stop, and realizing that we’d arrived at our destination before Marty even announced it, I stood up. “I’m going to get Carmen,” I said flatly. I was annoyed because I was becoming aware of my vulnerability. Knowing my own shortcomings was never really a thing with me. I was in tune with how I felt about everything, but I didn’t like to be in a situation where a man seemed to have the upper hand, and I was concerned my imagination would run wild with Ryan, and I’d end up there if I wasn’t careful. That was the last thing I wanted.
I knew I needed to get my head in the game, but when we all got quiet and started to relax on the ride, I knew she was safe, and I let my guard down for a little bit. Even security needs a rest, and there wasn’t much I could do when we were all on the bus. Of course, she fell asleep before I did; I’d never let myself drift off first, and if we’re being completely honest, a woman always goes first. Whether it be sleeping or… something else.
When I woke up, she was gone, but I could hear her in the back with her sister. I asked Marty how much further until our destination, then went back to my seat and checked in with my other guys. At the time, all the guys on my staff had assignments and I liked to know what was going on with each of them. Since we were getting close, I verified all things were good quickly, and waited for her. Most security detail, whether it’s undercover or not, is lots of waiting. When she came back out, she sat across from me and we shared an awkward conversation with Mike, about her falling asleep, who had been playing a video game since I woke up myself.
As we rolled up to our stop, I glanced around out the window, wanting to make sure the situation seemed as secure as it could be under the circumstances. The venues they were playing were big, but not so big that there was always a separate, gated entrance for the talent. They were mostly akin to large bars with enough stage and audience space to sell tickets. So, while it was their first headlining tour, it wasn’t in huge arenas, and that actually made it a little trickier to keep Miranda safe. There was far easier access to her in that setting. A handful of the stops were larger, but most of them would be like this one.
