Jamie was bent over her guitar, her flame-licked black hair curtained around her face as her fingers tore up and down the fret board. She was the fire to Lindsey’s ice. They were yin and yang in the best possible way on stage.
The crowd screamed as loudly as an arena full of people as we brought the song to a close.
I was laughing when Lindsey turned and beckoned me forward. I ran to my family and clasped hands with Jamie, and then Cooper flanked my other side so we could do our bows.
Because the fans were right there, and the excitement was still vibrating through the room, we started signing anything they put in front of us.
Selfies and vids and tears were plentiful. By the time we finished, every fan got their signature or special moment because I was almost certain none of us wanted the night to end either.
Finally, we waved our goodbyes and promised the audience a matching show tomorrow night.
I grinned as the tension I’d carried in my shoulders for days eased. No matter what we had to face in this crazy world we lived in, the show would go on. Today had proved that.
Not just for the band but for me too.
Twenty-Three
Time on the road meant very little. Traveling on the bus made the passage of time even less obvious. It took me back to the earlier days of touring, though that bus was very different than the rolling palace we had now. But the sense of family was stronger than ever.
I doubted there were other tour buses like ours. Well, Ripper buses anyway.
Warning Sign needed just as much space as we did. While their danger level didn’t seem to be the same as ours right now, they’d had their fair share of tragedy in the past. Their band’s painful history didn’t help our situation either. Security seemed to always be looming around all of us like a black cloud, just far enough in the distance that we kept trying to outrun the storm.
I couldn’t remember the last time I’d been trapped with the band for this long. As the tours grew in size, so did our spaces. Buses had become planes and hotel rooms. And while I had always appreciated being on my own between shows, I couldn’t say I hated this new life.
Maybe it was the way we were gelling, or maybe it was just because I was a besotted idiot. But instead of going to our separate rooms after a show, we ended up congregating in the large living space below.
Hell, we were even writing nightly. New music was pouring out of us until the wee hours of the morning. Sometimes a few of the Warning Sign peeps even jammed with us.
Molly and Lindsey were cultivating a duet for the annual Christmas album Logan King put together for charity. Luc Moreau, the co-lead singer from Warning Sign, and Oz bonded over workouts when we convinced Noah to let us out of our cages. There seemed to be a gym every square mile for more than half of the United States. I used the opportunity to get some running in on the various tracks available at the fitness centers or on the treadmill.
Teagan wasn’t much for working out, but she and the girls did some yoga and Pilates. Us guys tried to give them space instead of perving on them. It was difficult because Teagan looked damn good in those stretchy pant things they wore to work out. I usually used the time to get some sleep or check in with my family.
We viewed our pods—my name, not theirs—as the place to crash or get some alone time when we needed it. Mine was devoid of life because Teagan’s room was my home, my base, my solace. She was all three and had been for a damn long time, but it was nice that I didn’t have to hide it anymore.
Greeting each day without sunshine took some getting used to, but it was a helluva lot better with a certain redhead curled in my arms.
Oh, there were a few skirmishes throughout the weeks. I was used to a much larger bed and not sharing one, to be truthful.
Teagan even launched me out of our bunk when I smashed her into the wall one too many times. Then again, I just dragged her down there with me and made her forget why she was mad at me.
She was coming into her own more every day. And with that, she pushed back when I made bonehead moves.
Fighting with her would always be a thing. We were both hotheaded about our points of view, but with that heat came explosive make-ups and a lot of laughter. Being in love with my best friend took that friendship to an even deeper level, that was for sure.
Now that we were heading into the Midwest, things were getting a little dicier. There were long stretches of road and the lack of windows made us all a little nuts. There weren’t as many places to stop and stretch or grab a bite to eat. We were eating on the bus more and more, thanks to our catering people.
The July temperatures didn’t affect us in our not-so-little box, but cabin fever had definitely been setting in. On one of our rare stretch of days off, we convinced Noah to stop at one of the reservoirs in Colorado. We flew in our significant others to make a family day of it. Even some of the crew had come to hang out for some barbecue and friendly, frequently rowdy games.
We spent the day kayaking and doing water sports with Warning Sign. My favorite task had been slathering Teagan’s freckled skin with sunblock about thirteen times.
I didn’t want her to burn. I was just that kind of guy.
Oh, and the little cove we’d found while
