“Well, next week we’ll have to make sure we don’t practice unless he’s a lot better.”
Brad walked by, behind Nick, but he’d apparently heard part of the conversation. “So I’m not ready for practice yet. I’ll rest more this week and I should be better next. Let’s not get all freaky about it now. I still have three solid weeks to rest and I should be a thousand times better by then.” Nick nodded but felt a little dubious—he trusted Val’s judgment, and he also knew Brad would die to make that woman happy, so he guessed that a lot of Brad’s countering was actually an attempt at putting on a happy face.
“Main thing is you get better. If that means no practice for the next two weeks, then we don’t do it.”
Brad grinned, and even though it looked strained, he could tell Brad was in good spirits in spite of the fatigue he felt. “Wanna see the bandages?”
Val smiled. “Oh, honey, that’s gruesome.”
Just then, Brina walked through the kitchen behind them all. “Well, I’m gonna hit the road. Everything okay?”
Val decided to clear the air and told Brina that they were all worried about Brad’s recovery and that postponing tour dates was a likely possibility. “I’m cool with whatever. Just let me know.”
Val said, “I think Nick has the right idea. No practice for two weeks.” Brad started to open his mouth but Nick could see the pained expression. “We’ll practice extra a few days before tour. We can do this. If you need extra practice time, guys,” she said, indicating Nick and Brina, “feel free to come over anytime and use the studio, and I can join you, but you,” she continued, looking at her husband, “are going to take it easy. You can play this stuff in your sleep, but you won’t be able to do squat if you don’t heal. So, please, honey, for me? Please just rest and get better.”
Brad let out a small chuckle. “Okay.”
“Thank you.” She looked at Nick and Sabrina. “You both okay with that?”
Nick nodded. Things had felt a little weird, a little strained that day anyway, and maybe more time would alleviate that oddness. He was ready for things to go back to the way they had been, and next time they probably would be.
And, if not, he’d just bang his drums harder.
* * *
In spite of everyone’s worries, the time to go on tour came, and Brad was healthy and ready to go. Nick hadn’t expected a really nice tour bus, but—of course—Brad would spare no expense when it came to his wife. It was almost as nice as the newest Fully Automatic one.
When they got on the road, their first overnight stop was to be in Texas. Nick knew it would be warmer there than in wintry Colorado, and he was looking forward to nice weather. Brina, however, was surly and seemed to be keeping the spirit of the season in her heart. What the fuck was wrong with the woman? First, she was hot, but she was mostly cold and…dismal. Except for that cozy night with her and her girlfriend, Nick found the woman to be confusing, sullen, capricious…and she wasn’t worth his time. Besides, he was pretty sure that progressing any further with whatever they’d been doing could potentially break Monica’s heart.
They all sat near the front of the bus in the little area that passed for a kitchen, dining room, and living room all in one. It was as roomy as a bus could get, but Nick knew that, by the end of the tour, they’d all be stir crazy and ready to kill one another. That was the way it went. Sometimes tours overseas eliminated that because they’d stay in more hotels in foreign countries. Having their own beds and bathrooms did wonders for frayed souls, even when they were feeling homesick and road weary.
That didn’t explain Brina’s mood, though, and he was surprised. She should have been happy today, of all days, because she’d become excited at an infectious level about playing for big crowds. Now, she acted like she was going to her best friend’s funeral. Maybe later he’d pull her aside and see what was up, because it made no sense.
She was an obvious drain to the energy of everyone else. Even Gracie and the kids—along for the tour—were excited and upbeat. Frankly, Nick thought Gracie had the worst part of the deal. She had to sleep in a bunk (not a biggie—he’d been doing it for years) across from the one where Chris would be sleeping. There was one master bedroom for Val and Brad, and the plan was for Hayley to sleep with them, although they knew that half the time, she’d wind up with Chris or even Gracie. That left the top two bunks for Nick and Brina. Nick didn’t care much for top bunks, and it would have driven him crazy if he’d been claustrophobic, but it was a tour bus. They weren’t built for comfort or luxury (although he knew there were mega-famous pop stars who defied that notion). He’d seen some unreal ones. But their tour buses—the ones for Fully Automatic and now the one for Val Hella—were made for practicality: a place to eat, sleep, and shit while getting from one destination to another. Even the driver would sleep on the bus on one of the couches. And they’d agreed to one hotel a week, already booked in advance along with everything else. All they had to do was follow the itinerary.
They left at the crack of dawn and Gracie looked tired—again, though, her mood was thousands of times better than sourpuss. Nick had been watching the kids play, full of endless energy, and had been considering letting his head drop back and drifting off, but instead he asked her, “You all right?”
Gracie turned her head from the kids as well and said, “Yeah. Why?”
“Just checking. You look tired.”
She grinned. “I am tired. I was up way too late last night trying to decide what to pack. We’re gonna be gone long enough that I wanted to be triple sure I had everything I need. Plus, we’re going to be in some places that are cold and others that are really warm, so I wanted a variety of stuff to wear. And I knew I couldn’t pack too much. There’s only so much room for everything.”
“Don’t sweat it. If you forgot something, we can pick it up.”
“Sure. No big deal to pick up a toothbrush, but if the weather’s seventy and I only packed sweaters…”
“Yeah. Stop worrying, kid. You got this.”
The expression that covered Gracie’s face then was a mixture of a frown and a smile, a little of each. But then it became all smile and Hayley jumped on her lap, babbling something about mama. Nick looked over and saw Chris on Val’s lap, and she was tickling Chris by pretending that he was her guitar and she was playing notes on his tummy. The boy’s laughter was infectious and the entire room began laughing.
Except for Brina.
Nick didn’t miss that. He’d definitely have to get her alone to see what the hell her damage was…and see if there was any chance of repair before their first show tomorrow night.
* * *
They stopped for breakfast in Raton at a little café. It was mid morning and the first thing Nick noticed when he stepped off the bus was how windy it was…and that made the air biting cold. He was ready to head inside and down a cup of coffee—or five, if they had time.
Nick had no idea if the roadies and their equipment were already on their way or if they were leaving tomorrow, but he guessed they too would hit the road sometime today. Yeah, the band themselves were important, but without the equipment and instruments, the show would not go on. They were just as important as the tour bus he was on, only lower profile.
He saw breakfast as the perfect opportunity to talk to Brina, but she was quiet and wandered off. She didn’t even stick around long enough to sit at a table with them. Nick thought her absence was quite noticeable, especially since Vince, the bus driver, was even seated at the table. So Nick asked Brad to order him some biscuits and gravy and a couple of fried eggs, and then he decided to seek Brina out.
She couldn’t be on the bus. It was all locked up and he’d seen her get off. And he didn’t expect to see her outside, because she was wearing thin clothes and only a black leather jacket that didn’t look like it had even kept the original cow that had worn it warm. But he was going there first anyway, like retracing the scene of the crime. He figured he had about ten to fifteen minutes before breakfast would be s
erved, and then he was going to give up and hope she showed up when it was time to leave.
As he stepped out the glass doors, though, he happened to see her walking along the building’s perimeter. Unpleasant or not, he wanted to talk to her. This mood was bearable today, but they couldn’t be having these negative vibes tomorrow.
Part of it was that he blamed himself. He felt like he’d been a big part of the problem, because she’d been acting very differently since their little rendezvous. Sure, she’d been hot and cold before that, but now she was all cold…and Nick couldn’t help but wonder if he’d had something to do with that. If he had, he needed to do what he could to rectify it. “Hey, Brina.” She looked up and he walked over. It wasn’t until he got closer that he noticed her eyes were bloodshot. Oh. It was the first time he’d ever seen her looking sad. “What’s wrong?”
She shook her head. “Nothing.” Then, as if she thought he needed an explanation, she said, “I’m not hungry.”
“Come on, Brina. I’m not as big a dumb ass as you seem to think. What the hell’s wrong?” She bunched up her mouth, trying to act brave, and that was when a tear fell from her left eye. Nick thought he’d never see the day a woman like Brina would give into that emotion. He couldn’t even tell if she had anything she wanted to say, but he couldn’t help himself. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close. “Aw, honey.”
For a few seconds, long enough for Nick to get comfortable, she rested her head against his shoulder. But then, as if she realized she was blowing her cover, she pushed him away. “I don’t need your fucking pity.” Then she stormed off in the direction opposite the café.
Oh…he was tempted to just let her walk. He was tired of the constant (but mostly cold) temperature changes with this woman. He had no way of ever predicting her moods or of knowing how to relate to her—and yet…something deep inside him wanted to try. He was fascinated by this woman and felt as though he were a moth to her flame and she would be his ultimate demise. Before he was even aware of his feet moving, he had caught up to her and he grabbed her by the arm to stop her. She turned around, still looking angry but maybe even a little broken. “Damn it, Sabrina. I’m trying to be a friend here.”
He expected another tear. Or a slap. Or even a long rant of curse words. Instead, she crushed her lips into his before he could take another breath. Behind that kiss was an onslaught of emotion that he was unable to translate, so he just gave in. He felt her curl a fist around the neck of his t-shirt, so he moved his hands to her cheeks and continued the kiss, moving it into gentler, less desperate territory. She responded and seemed to calm down the longer he held her face and tasted her sweet lips.
When they stopped and came up for air, he asked, “What was that all about?”
The tear had dried up and the hard edge was back, but he thought he could still see just a hint of the vulnerability she’d shown a few minutes ago in the gleam of her eye. She sighed. “I really don’t want to talk about it.”
He put an arm over her shoulders, leading her one step at a time toward the café. “Why don’t you try to tell me during breakfast?” She shook her head but said nothing. “You know, if you don’t tell me, I’m going to imagine the worst. Like…maybe you put a hit out on the president or…maybe you’re planning to steal Val from Brad—or Brad from Val—or you’re going to steal them from each other.” She smiled then and shook her head but said nothing. “Wait. I’ve got it. You’re quitting the band so you can play polka music for the old folks in downtown Aurora every Friday night.”
Her voice was deadpan, a sure sign to Nick that she was adjusting to him and his off-beat sense of humor. “How’d you know?”
He stopped and waited for her to turn her head to look at him. “You know you can trust me, right?”
She swallowed and then spent several seconds seeming to assess him with her eyes. He saw something flash in them, as though she had come to a decision. She blinked twice and then said, “Monica and I have been fighting a lot, and last night, when I was packing, she broke up with me.”
“Oh, shit.”
Brina shrugged. “She’s done it before but this…feels different. Plus, I don’t know that I can trust her to not trash my shit while I’m gone.”
“Can you text her to see what her mood is?”
“Oh, hell, no. She needs time to cool off.”
He squeezed her shoulder. “You be all right?”
“Yeah.” They started walking again toward the café. “You know what this means, don’t you?”
Nick was usually quick on the uptake, a smart guy, but getting up early and having to deal with one crazy emotion after another had thrown him off his game. He didn’t have a clue. “No. What?”
This time Sabrina paused, just in front one of the café’s big picture windows facing the street. “It means I’m free to play the field…and I just so happen to know the player I want to tackle.”
Oh, hell. That was tackle number one…and he felt like she’d just knocked the wind out of him.
Chapter Thirteen
THEIR DRIVE, WHICH included two more meal stops, lasted all day, so the kids were in bed and asleep before they even arrived. They hadn’t done much of anything, but Nick was tired from getting up early and doing nothing. Everyone else looked pretty worn out, so it wasn’t hard to crawl up in his bunk and bed down. He even fell asleep pretty quickly.
Much later, though, he was awakened. It was disorienting at first, because he wasn’t in his bed or even in something that felt like a regular bed. The bunks weren’t horrible, but they were cramped and not what he would consider comfortable. They were utilitarian and served the purpose they’d been built for, so he supposed that was good enough. If he needed to, he could always crash on a couch. Those cushions were sometimes a lot more giving than the pads pretending to be mattresses. And the curtains provided privacy, but not much. They weren’t like doors, so he could hear every snore, every sleepy mumble, every fart that came out of them.
Of course, he only heard gas when he toured with the guys in Fully Automatic. Guys didn’t give a shit.
He was the only man in these bunks, so he didn’t expect as much of the noisy sleeping. He had Chris below him and then Gracie and Brina across.
Scratch that. He felt someone crawling into the bunk with him…and it didn’t take long to realize it was Brina. Having been with her and holding her close on more than one occasion, he recognized her scent. Yeah, she wore a spicy perfume, but it was more than that—the woman herself had a sweet smell to her that he recognized when he was up close.
He almost asked what she was doing there but he knew damn good and well what she had planned…and, in those quarters in present company, it was a bad idea. They’d have to either wait till they were at the venue and find an out-of-the-way secluded spot or wait until the one day later in the week when they had a hotel room. No way was he going to engage in nasty sex with this woman right here—not with Chris below him and Gracie, his closest friend who thought he was stupid as it was for being involved with Sabrina, a few feet away.
He didn’t feel the need to flaunt it in anyone’s face.
At this rate, though, he’d be willing to take his chances right outside the bus. If she didn’t want to do anything outrageous, it would be doable.
Instead, though, she threw him for a loop once more. She asked, “You awake?”
He tried to whisper, but his voice was scratchy with sleep. “I am now.”
“Sorry about that. I just…didn’t want to be alone right now.” Her voice sounded vulnerable, a trait that was very unlike this lovely woman, and it made him want to protect her. “Would you hold me, please?”
“Yeah. I can do that.” He half expected her to cry, but she didn’t. He could feel the sadness coming off of her in waves, though, and it made him want to break things. It made him want to make love to her for eternity and assure her that everything would be okay. This woman was likely the toughest he’d ever known with a shell like
a tank, and for her to crumple told him she was feeling even worse than she would ever let on. So could he hold her? Hell, yeah.
He thought he’d never fall asleep, because the discomfort factor of the bunk doubled with another person in it, but he wasn’t going to complain. His mind then started to drift to thinking about her in ways other than comforting and romantic, and he considered kissing her to initiate the action. But then he realized he didn’t want to do that. Because of the way he knew she felt, he would let her lead the way, if she even wanted to go there.
Sometime later, though, he did fall asleep, and he only woke up because his neck was on fire. He had some kind of weird kink in it from the way he’d twisted in his bunk to accommodate Sabrina. He heard the sounds of Chris, Hayley, and Gracie, with Gracie trying to get the kids dressed, because they were all going out for breakfast. Nick also realized that Brina had left his bunk sometime in the night.
He knew she’d been there a long time, though, because most of his night’s sleep was spent drifting in and out. He rolled over on his side, hoping to fall back asleep, but he heard Brad outside his bunk a couple of minutes later. “We’re going to get some breakfast in a little bit. Want to join us?”
After the way he’d avoided going deep the night before, he knew sleep was more important. “Nah. I’m gonna pass. Thanks.”
“Want us to get you anything?”
Without missing a beat, Nick said, “Yeah. An intravenous dose of coffee.”
Brad laughed. “I’ll see what we can do.”
Nick stirred again, trying to find a comfortable position, but the noise in the bus was hard to sleep through. He could tell everyone was trying to be quiet, but everything they did was amplified in that small space. He heard Gracie ask Brina if she wanted to go along, and Nick couldn’t understand her mumbled reply. He was just biding his time until everyone left.
It seemed like hours, but the noisy bunch finally vacated the bus. Then he rolled over once more and bunched his pillow up under his arm, ready to drift into dreamland.
Bullet Series Box Set Books 1-8 Page 151
