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Jason was a fuckin’ picky little shit eater. According to the chef, Jason had a thing against vegetables, but he was working through it, like with food counseling or some such shit. I’d never noticed it before, but now that Lewis had mentioned it, I did. Jason was always happy with eating garbage, like fast food and microwaved shit. I wondered if breakfast this morning would be considered a relapse of sorts.
The car dropped us off at the entrance of the tour bus area. There were too many people and other buses to maneuver safely into the lot up to our own bus, so I called a couple of roadies to help bring the food in. Steve, Gordy, Will, and Duck—long story behind that name—were there within minutes and grabbing shit. There was nothing left for Lee and myself to carry.
“Thanks, Mack,” I said to our driver before slamming the door shut.
Lewis’s phone went off, and I knew it was Pygmy when his face went all soft and full of smiles. He had it bad for her. I had to admit, the woman was a trip. She was a bit too mouthy for my taste, but I could see the appeal. She was loyal to my Baby Girl to the death, and I loved her for it.
Covering the mouthpiece on his phone, Lee turned to me. “I’m go
“Everythin’ okay?”
Lewis nodded and headed off down the trail that led to the backstage area, and I continued on to the bus, excited to see Ke
“Phil?”
A couple of buses down from ours, I heard a voice that sent chills down my back.
Turning my head, I saw Brigid standing in front of a smaller tour bus. It had to be Devon’s because, as far as I knew, he didn’t ride with the rest of the Ca
“What?” I barked at her. The nasty shit she’d spewed at my Baby Girl ran through my head.
“I was hoping to run into you again.” She smiled.
Looking at her now, I couldn’t for the life of me remember what I had once found attractive about her.
She was dressed in tiny-ass shorts—seriously, the bottom of her cheeks had to be hanging out of them, but since I was facing her front, I couldn’t know for sure—and a strappy pink tank top.
“The fuck for?” I asked.
She looked startled that I was giving her attitude. “What’s wrong? I didn’t think there were hard feelings between us.”
“There wasn’t until you fuckin’ insulted my Baby Girl,” I told her. “That wasn’t cool, Brigid.”
“Your Baby Girl?”
“Yeah, the doctor checking your boyfriend over after I slammed his head into the wall.”
Brigid laughed, and I started to boil inside.
“Devon’s not my boyfriend, Phil. We’re just having some fun on tour. He flew me in especially.”
“Good for fuckin’ you. Now, if that’s all—”
“Oh, come on! Let’s catch up. I was heading into town for a bite to eat. Why don’t you join me?”
“I don’t think so.”
“Please? Devon couldn’t take me, and I’m all alone. No more than an hour, and you can tell me all about what you’ve been up to. Old friends and all that. What do you say?”
“I already said no.”
“Don’t be like that.”
She pouted, and I started to feel sorry for her. I’d always felt bad for dumping her the way I had, and maybe if I had lunch with her, I could give a half-assed explanation, and she’d leave it at that. I could tell her about Ke
“Fine,” I grunted.
Her face lit up like a fuckin’ Christmas tree. “Great! I just need to grab a few things. Come on in—”
“I’d rather not.”
She rolled her big blue eyes. “He’s not here, silly! I told you I was on my own. Just come in and have a seat while I get a few things, and we’ll be off.”
This is a really bad idea. What the fuck am I doin’? Fuckin’ stupid.
“I gotta call Ke
But the woman grabbed my arm and pulled me, so I followed her onto the bus.
It was pretty standard in here, nothing over-the-top at all. Devon’s shit was all over the place—old guitars and picks, papers and magazines. Nothing seemed weird or depraved or anything like I’d figured he’d have. Just…normal. The rest of the guys in Cornered Ca
“Have a seat,” Brigid said.
I plopped my ass down at the table.
A stack of sheet music sat on the tabletop. Reading over some of it, I could hear it in my head, and it was fuckin’ beautiful. For such a motherfucker, Devon was beyond talented. None of this shit was Ca
“Fuck me,” I whispered, picking up a sheet and looking it over. “He’s been workin’ hard.”
Brigid came out from the back in a pair of decent fuckin’ jeans. I hadn’t looked to see if her ass cheeks had been hanging out of the shorts she’d had on. Before Ke
Just thinking of my Baby Girl slammed guilt into my gut, and I dug out my phone to give her a call. She had the right to know what the fuck was going on. But then a sheet of music caught my eye, and fuck me, it was some crazy-ass gorgeous shit. My jaw dropped a little, and my phone lay on the table, forgotten.
Brigid leaned over and gathered up Devon’s music. I couldn’t blame her. I wouldn’t want Devon looking at my shit. She smiled softly, a knowing sort of smile. She wore a heavy floral perfume that would make Ke
Ke
“If he knew anyone saw this…” she said.
“Yeah, no. Absolutely. He’s been writin’ a lot, yeah?”
“For a while now. He told me your new album inspired something in him, and his head has been going into overdrive. He really does admire you and the rest of NOLA’s. The new guy you have has a reputation for being quite brilliant.”
I nodded. “He is. He’s Ke
My hand went for my phone, only it wasn’t where I thought I’d left it. Looking through my pockets, I still couldn’t find it.
“Have you seen my phone?” I asked her.
She shook her head.
“I swear, I just had it…”
“Come on. I’m starving. I heard this place has really good hamburgers. With all this American food, it’s a good thing I don’t live here, or I’d be fat!”
“Yeah, my Baby Girl has a degree in nutrition. Everythin’ is organic and unprocessed. She makes all our food from scratch. She’s a fuckin’ amazin’ cook. My favorite is her spicy seafood gumbo. Fuck, I’d kill for some of that shit.”
Brigid got a real sour look on her face. “She sounds unreal.”
I looked her dead in the eyes. “She’s very much real even if I do have a hard time believin’ it myself. And like I said, I didn’t appreciate the shit you said about her that night at the hotel.”
“I didn’t know she was your girlfriend, Phil.”
We made our way to the parking lot where the roadies and groupies parked their cars. Brigid was driving an expensive Mercedes, no doubt courtesy of Devon.
“What does that have anythin’ to do with it? You went ru
“I didn’t know she was a doctor either! She had her hands all over him. I thought she was just another crazed fan!”