Wildflowers (JACT 2.5) Read online

  Tommy rubs the back of his head and makes a face. “What’s that look for?” I swear, he better not have buttered me up just to drop a bomb on me.

  “I might have already said something to your parents about it.”

  “What? Why?” It’s not exactly bad news. Maybe it’ll give them time to absorb the idea before I get there to tell them. It’s not like I have to ask permission; I’m an adult. But since I still live with them, it’s only common courtesy and respect to discuss my plans with them.

  “I was over there for lunch and mentioned the idea. Your mom seemed excited for you. Your dad…he just had that look.”

  “The ‘if it doesn’t have to do with the ranch, I’m not interested’ look?” I ask, doing my best impression of my dad’s deep, firm voice.

  He nods, laughing. “That’s the one.”

  “Does anyone else know about this?” I wonder.

  “Nah. Bill and I are the only ones here who know.” I assume Bill is their tour manager. “So everything is cool with you and Joey? I don’t want there to be any awkwardness. You guys seemed to be getting along and all…”

  I don’t want to worry him and make him change his mind, so I quickly assure him everything is okay. “Everything is great. I really, really like Joey. He was planning on coming back by here after the tour was over so we could reconnect. I think he’ll be really excited, but I’d like to keep it a surprise until tomorrow. Can you please not share this with anyone else?”

  He raises his eyebrow at me. “Am I going to regret this?”

  “Not at all, I promise.” He nods his agreement and I hug him. “Thank you so much for this opportunity, Tommy. I won’t let you down.”

  He squeezes me back. “I know you won’t. Why don’t you start by getting home and getting packed and then get back here so you don’t miss the bus.”

  I smile wide. The bus…I’m riding the bus with the guys! I go up on my tiptoes and give Tommy a kiss on the cheek, then run out of the hotel and straight to the parking garage, feeling like I’m floating on air the entire time.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Joey

  “What’s got your panties in a wad?” Alex asks, flopping himself down on the leather bench beside me.

  I’ve been scowling into my coffee mug ever since I got on the bus this morning. Hell…ever since I woke up. Alone.

  “Nothing,” I say, though it sounds more like a grunt.

  “Does your mood have anything to do with a certain little pixie with pink hair?”

  I roll my eyes. “Her hair isn’t pink.”

  “It’s a little pink,” Alex says, and I don’t argue because he’s right. Her hair is a little pink. I just don’t want to think about it. I don’t want to think about her and the fact that she left me sometime in the middle of the night without so much as a note or a kiss goodbye. I know we made promises to see each other again, but we also decided I’d walk her out.

  I didn’t get a chance to say goodbye.

  “So what gives? Seriously.”

  I let out a sigh. “Evie left in the middle of the night.”

  Alex raises an eyebrow as he cocks his head to the side. “Wasn’t that the plan?”

  “She left while I was asleep.”

  His eyes widened in realization. “Ah.”

  “I don’t know where that leaves us.”

  He scrunches his eyebrows together. “What do you mean?”

  I feel like such a girl, overanalyzing the situation. I get up from the bench and refill my mug from the coffee pot on the small kitchenette’s counter. We don’t have a lot of space on the bus, so appliances are at a minimum. A coffee maker was a must-have.

  “I mean we were making plans to see each other again, but she left without so much as a goodbye.” I turn around and lean back against the counter, holding the warm mug in both hands. “She didn’t leave a note or a text. Nothing. I don’t know what that means. Maybe she wasn’t interested after all.”

  Alex, looking a little uncomfortable, says, “Do you need me to ask one of the crew to grab you a box of tampons or something?”

  “Screw off,” I tell him, and he laughs. Serves me right for trying to talk about something serious with Alex. He may be my best friend, but the dude doesn’t do heart-to-hearts.

  “Sorry, bro. It sucks that she took off, but maybe it wasn’t meant to be. It’s probably better it happened now rather than later on down the road after feelings got involved.”

  Yeah, it probably would have been better if she took off before feelings got involved. Too bad my feelings got involved back at the Stockyards. I mean, how else would a sassy chick like her get a rocker like me in a pair of cowboy boots?

  Alex, being the perceptive little shit that he is, picks up on my silence and interprets it as what it is. “Dude…”

  “Yeah.”

  “I’m sorry, man. Maybe something came up. Maybe she’ll call?”

  Yeah, maybe.

  A commotion at the front of the bus has us both turning our heads. Tommy climbs on board, wearing the smile of the cat that ate the canary.

  “Gentleman,” he says, walking over and taking a seat across from Alex at the small table.

  “What’s up, Tom?” Alex asks, giving him a fist bump.

  “Not much, not much. Listen, y’all have four bunks and a bedroom on this bus, and there are only four of you.”

  “Way to state the obvious, man. Did you just learn how to count?” Alex teases, and Tommy lightly punches him in the arm.

  “Nah, we just picked up an extra body and need a place to stow it. You cool with that?”

  I look to Alex, and he shrugs. Never a care in the world for him. I enjoy it just being us on the bus, but I’m not going to complain. If they want us to follow them in a jalopy, I’d do it. Anything to be on tour.

  “I don’t mind,” I tell him. “You talk to Chase and Trev?”

  “I hope he doesn’t snore.” Alex grumbles. He has a point. Trevor’s snoring is enough for one bus.

  “Chase and Trev are cool with it; I caught them outside,” Tommy tells me. Then he looks at Alex. “It’s not a he; it’s a she.”

  Now Alex is the happy cat. “Sa-weet. Is she hot?”

  A chick? We have to share our bus with a female? How the hell did we draw the short end of the stick?

  “Don’t go getting any ideas. Wait until you see who it is.”

  That has mine and Alex’s curiosity piqued. Who could it be? The only chicks we’ve met on tour have been groupies, and no one lets groupies hitch a ride. Except…no, it couldn’t be. No way would she be coming on tour.

  “Hey, boys. You got room for one more?”

  Alex’s eyes widen, Tommy is grinning, and I’m frozen. No way. I turn my head towards the door and, sure enough, there she is.

  Evie.

  “What are you doing here?” I ask. It comes out sounding harsher than I’d intended, and she flinches. Shit.

  “Um—” she starts, but Tommy cuts her off.

  “She’s our new tour photographer!” he says excitedly as he stands up from the table. “Isn’t it awesome?”

  It is awesome. It’s her dream come true. I smile at her, and her posture relaxes. “That’s awesome, Evie. I’m happy for you.”

  She smiles back and, damn, she’s even more beautiful when she smiles like that. She looks like someone has handed her the world on a silver platter, and I guess, in a sense, that’s exactly what’s happened.

  Her smile cracks a little bit as she takes a tentative step towards me. “Can we talk for a minute?” she asks quietly.

  A sick feeling enters my gut. Like I’m about to get the brush off. The whole “work and play don’t mix” story, I’m sure. She doesn’t want to blow her shot at her dream, and I can’t blame her. I don’t want to blow mine either.

  “Of course, I’ll show you the sleeping area. You can take the bedroom and we’ll take the bunks.”

  “Hey,” Alex calls out in protest.

  “Can it,
” I yell back.

  Evie follows me to the back of the bus and I open the door to the small bedroom. It’s only big enough to fit a twin mattress, and the walls consist of drawers, a couple windows, and a small closet space. It’s not much, but it’s better than a bunk, and it has a door.

  “Thanks,” she says, setting her bags down on the end of the bed. There’s only about three square feet of space to stand in at the foot of the bed, and we’re in it. It kind of hurts being this close to her knowing what’s about to happen. “You guys really don’t have to give up the bedroom for me.”

  “It’s all right,” I say, shrugging my shoulders. “We alternate who sleeps in it anyway. As the only girl, you should have your own space.”

  She gives me a small smile and thanks me again.

  Awkward…

  “About last night…”

  “It’s no big deal,” I tell her, lying through my teeth. Maybe if I beat her to it—if I brush her off—it’ll make things easier for her. Less awkward.

  She frowns. “I was going to call you—”

  “It’s okay. I get it.”

  “Get what?” she asks, raising an eyebrow.

  “This is your shot—your chance to do what you love and make a career out of it. Travel the world and all that. Trust me, if anyone gets that, I do. If we were to get involved, it might ruin that. For both of us.”

  “That’s n—” her face twists in frustration as I interrupt her again.

  “Really, Evie, it’s okay. It’s probably better that we break things off now before, feelings get involved.” I turn around so she can’t see the pain etched in my face, and so I can’t see the relief in hers. “I’ll let you get settled. See ya,” I say, stepping out of the small space and closing the door behind me.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Evie

  What the hell just happened?

  I sit down on the edge of the bed and stare at the closed door. The door Joey, the man I’m pretty sure is supposed to be the one, just walked through.

  I thought he’d be excited at the change of events, not indifferent. Had I read him all wrong? Maybe I was just a fling to him after all. People always say rock stars have a different woman in every city. Maybe that’s all I was to Joey…maybe I was just “Dallas.”

  I lay back on the small bed and stare at the wood-paneled ceiling. How could I have misjudged everything between us? We had a connection, I swear we did. I’ve never felt this way about a guy before. Ever. Maybe this entire thing is just one big mistake. Maybe, for once, instead of jumping in with both feet, I should have waded in the shallow end a bit.

  I’ve never once regretted being a wildflower, but today…I’m not so sure.

  I know one thing for certain though, I can’t stay on this bus. I sit up and pull out my phone, glancing at the time. It’s only 11:30, so there’s still time to change busses before we’re scheduled to depart. I listen and don’t hear any sounds coming from front of the bus, so I slowly open the door and peek outside. No one’s around. Of course not. Joey probably couldn’t wait to get away from me.

  I pick up my backpack and duffel bag and make my way to the front of the bus, down the stairs, and out into the warm sunshine. I remember that Tommy’s bus is the larger one up front. I head in that direction just as Tommy steps off the bus.

  “Hey, girl. I didn’t expect to see you so soon,” he says with a smile. His smile quickly fades as he takes note of my bags and my grim expression. “Everything okay?” he asks, narrowing his eyebrows.

  “Everything is fine,” I tell him, giving him my best fake smile. “I think I’d just be more comfortable with you. Or with the crew or something.”

  Tommy cocks his head to the side, and I can tell he’s trying to read me. No matter how hurt I am, I don’t want him to get upset with Joey. Whatever is—or isn’t—between me and Joey, will remain between me and Joey. I’m not about to make a big production out of it and make a spectacle of myself my first day here.

  “Yeah, of course,” Tommy says finally. “There’s room on both busses, but I’m not sure you’ll be more comfortable in either place. The guys…they can get a bit rowdy,” he says, nodding towards his bus. “And the crew…well, they don’t bathe all that often.”

  I scrunch up my nose. Okay, that’s disgusting.

  “Well, how about I start with y’all, since you’re the headliners,” I say, thinking fast. “And I’ll just make my way around to the other busses and visit with the other bands as we go. I’d like to get a glimpse of everyone on their busses, not just at the shows.”

  Tommy smiles. “See, I knew you’d be perfect for this. That’s a great idea. And the guys should be pretty tame tonight since we’re coming off a break, so it’ll be a great time to hang with them.”

  “Thanks, Tommy.”

  “No problem, E.” I follow Tommy onto the bus, and he shows me to a spare bunk. He looks at me and looks kind of sheepish. “I, uh, don’t think you want to sleep in the bedroom.”

  “Yeah…I don’t want to know. A bunk is fine,” I say, setting my bags down on the lower bunk.

  “I know you plan to hop around the busses, but there’s storage space in there if you want to unpack,” Tommy says, pointing out some drawers built into the wall at the foot of the bed.

  “Thanks so much, Tommy.” I say, surprising him with a hug. “For everything.”

  He wraps his arms around me and brushes a hand through my hair. I know he knows something is up, and I respect the hell out of him for not pressing me about it. “It’s all good, E. This is going to be a great experience, just you wait and see.”

  ***

  For the most part, it is a great experience. I have a blast with the guys from Infrared on the way to Oklahoma City. They regale me with stories from previous tours and stops, and I learn more about Tommy and his…stamina…than I ever cared to know. I get some fun shots of the guys horsing around, playing cards and video games, and even a few of them napping on the short drive. The fans are going to love this.

  When we pull into the parking lot of the arena, I start to feel my nerves. The ride on the bus with Infrared may have kept me distracted—and hidden—for a little while, but I’ll have to come face-to-face with Joey eventually.

  Once we’re parked, I put my big girl panties on and follow the guys off the bus. A commotion behind the Infrared bus—right outside the JACT bus—makes us all turn our heads. There is a man in a suit speaking, and Trevor, Chase, Alex, and Joey are his captive audience.

  I’m not sure why, but something makes me lift my camera and capture this moment. The looks of excited anticipation on their faces tells me something big is about to happen. I raise the viewfinder to my eye and start snapping shot after shot.

  Alex’s whoop of excitement causes me to startle and pull the camera away from my face for just a moment, before I snap several more shots. The four of them are smiling, hugging, and giving high fives. I capture every second of it. Every smile, every laugh, every emotion. While their expressions are ones of pure elation, there is also a hint of underlying sadness, especially when the brothers—Trevor and Alex—wrap their arms around each other.

  “Looks like your boy there got signed,” Tommy says, bumping my shoulder with his own.

  “Signed?” I ask, ignoring the ‘your boy’ part of his statement.

  “That’s Humphrey Morris,” Tommy tells me, tipping his chin towards the guy in the suit. “He’s one of the talent execs at the label. The one responsible for Infrared and JACT. He’s sort of adopted JACT.”

  Then it hits me like a lightning bolt. Signed. The band got signed! Forgetting my non-existent place in Joey’s world, I squeal with excitement and hug Tommy. “That’s great!”

  “Yeah, it is,” he laughs, patting my back. “But don’t you think you should be congratulating them?”

  Remembering Joey’s dismissive words to me, I release Tommy and take a step back. “Right,” I give him a soft smile. I look over to the boys of JACT and smile. “
I’m just going to let them have this moment together.”

  Before Tommy can utter another word, I lift my camera and start clicking again. I don’t want to cause any turbulence in the relationship between the two bands, so I don’t want Tommy to see any awkward moments between me and Joey, and if I went over there right now, that’s exactly what he’d see.

  So I get lost in my dream, capturing the moment Joey achieves his.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Joey

  We got signed! The moment the words came out of Humph’s mouth…time stopped. It was surreal. It is surreal.

  The first thing I wanted to do—the first thing all of us wanted to do—was tell Ally. She had been our number one cheerleader from the beginning, and it pains us that we can’t share this with her…yet.

  The second thing I wanted to do was tell Evie.

  Looking to my right, I see her standing with Tommy, taking picture after picture of this epic moment. I wish things weren’t so damn complicated. I wish I could share this moment with her. I want to run over and wrap my arms around her, spinning her around and around.

  But I can’t. Because I screwed that up.

  She lowers her camera, having caught me watching her, and gives me a small smile and a thumbs up. She mouths “congrats,” and I nod in response, returning her smile.

  “We’ve got to go out and celebrate tonight,” Alex says, slapping me on the back and bringing my attention back to the band.

  “Sounds like a plan,” I agree, but my heart isn’t in it, and Alex can tell.

  “What’s up with you?”

  “Nothing, man.” He raises an eyebrow, and the expression on his face says he knows I’m lying. I let out a sigh. “I screwed things up with Evie,” I admit.

  “How the hell did you manage that?” I explain to him what I’d said to her on the bus, and where my head was at. “Are you stupid? That girl is nuts about you. She’s also a damn cool chick. What did she have to say about everything?”