“What do you mean plan?” She looked back and forth between the two of us.
“There is no plan. The only one we had was to surprise you. Now quit stalling before we have to do something to embarrass you in front of them.”
“Fine,” she hissed as she opened the door. We were accosted by the sound of four guys wrestling each other on the ground. They stopped and jumped up the moment we walked in.
“Hey, P, who’s your friends?” one of the guys said with a wide and infectious smile. He had blond hair in a crew cut and colorful tattoos up and down his arms.
“These are my friends they came to surprise me, Stella and Lexie. This is Cross,” she indicated the one who’d asked who we were. “This tall beast of a man is Kenton,” Pen pointed to a guy who looked like he was almost seven feet tall. His height could have made him scary, but he had the kindest brown puppy dog eyes I’d ever seen. “This is Greer,” she hooked her thumb his way and moved to stand in front of Walker. From what little she’d told me about the band, Pen and Greer didn’t get along. He stood with his lips curled up in a half snarl and silvery-gray eyes taking us in.
“Last but not least, this is Walker.” He tipped his chin up at us but didn’t say a word. Even with his hair a sweaty mess and sticking to his head, he was still hot. Looking at them all now, he looked like the oldest of the bunch instead of the youngest.
“If any of you want to go to dinner with us, I suggest you get cleaned up because I don’t want to smell any of you while I’m trying to eat.” Cross opened his mouth, but Pen cut him off. “And neither do my friends.”
Walker started to walk away until Pen stopped him with a hand to his chest. They talked in whispers as Greer plopped down on a couch and made himself comfortable. The other two guys argued about if they should stay to pick up some girls here or later while they were out. After a few minutes, they parted ways, and Cross stepped up to Pen. “I think we’re going to skip dinner. That way, you can spend time with your friends.”
Pen closed her eyes and inhaled deeply. When she reopened her eyes, they narrowed on the man who stood before her. “Don’t do anything stupid just because I’m not there. Remember, if I get fired, the person who replaces me won’t be as lenient as I am.”
“I know, Momma P. This isn’t our first rodeo. We won’t do anything you wouldn’t do.” His face transformed into a devilish smile for only a moment before he schooled his features.
“Please don’t call me that,” Pen moaned.
“Tell Bob to let the people back so we can get this over with,” Walker muttered from the other side of the room.
Pen pulled a walkie-talkie I hadn’t noticed before from behind her back and spoke into it. “They’re ready. Let them through.” Turning to us, she said. “If it gets to be too much, you can always go out into the hall. Sometimes the women can be a bit much.” She leaned in to whisper. “You’d think with the way some of the women act, these guys were world-famous. When the squealing gets too much, I hide out in the hallway until they leave.”
I had a feeling it was also to not see the women pawing at Walker. Women had been screaming his name, flashing their boobs, and throwing their underwear at him all throughout the concert. If Walker was my man, I wouldn’t want women throwing themselves all over him.
After only a few girls nearly blew out our ears with their high-pitched squeals from meeting the band, Lexie and I went to wait out in the hall. She walked further down the corridor but was where I could see her so she could check in with Ryder.
It was only thirty minutes later when Pen and Walker walked out and left the rest of the band with about twenty women.
“Walker’s going to take a quick shower on the bus, and then we’ll be ready to leave. Would you like a tour of the bus while we wait?”
“Why not? When am I going to get another opportunity?”
Lexie and I walked behind Walker and Pen, and I could tell from Pen’s body language it was killing her not to be able to touch him. The moment we stepped inside the bus, Pen’s hand went to Walker’s lower back as she trailed behind him in the cramped space.
“I’ll be right back. Make yourselves comfortable,” he murmured before walking off into the back.
“So, this is it,” Pen laughed. “Their bus isn’t as nice as some big-name people, but it’s still pretty nice. There’s a bedroom in the very back, and here,” she walked a few steps. “This is the bunk area. The back bedroom is on rotation so whoever isn’t sleeping back there is in one of these.”
“Do you have sex in this tiny area?” Lexie asked as she crouched down to get a better look.
“Only once. It was...difficult would be the word. Normally we wait until one of us has the back bedroom or is staying in a hotel like tonight.”
Scrunching up my nose, I backed away from the bunk beds. “It smells like Doritos and feet.”
“Yeah,” she sighed. “Coming from being an only child to sharing a small space with four males has been trying.”
“I’m sure Walker makes handling the situation a whole lot easier.”
Pen looked over her shoulder and then ushered us closer to the front of the bus. Speaking in a hushed tone, she said. “Most of the time, but he can be moody after a show. I don’t know why and from what I
