“Good,” he says. “You should be. Now tell me all the reasons you couldn’t pick up a phone.”
I finger-comb the loose strands of hair away from my face to prevent myself from glancing over at the reason Kale is asking for—a reason with messy hair, gorgeous eyes, and a smile that makes a girl forget to check in with her family. “The show was awesome, but the crowd was crazy, so we had to hang out inside for a while. And then we went out to the bus, and there was a crowd there too.” I add the last part with a lightning-quick tongue—“And some of them came on the bus and—”
“Wait, what?” Kale interjects. “They didn’t—they brought girls on the bus? Did Shawn—”
“Have you called Leti yet?” I interrupt, discreetly turning the volume on my phone as low as possible so Shawn won’t be able to hear anything Kale is saying.
“Nuh-uh,” my meddling twin counters, refusing to let me change the subject. “No way. What happened?”
“I can’t really talk right now, Kale.” I glance at Shawn again, wishing there’d be anything else on this busy street to steal his attention: a near car accident, a hot chick, a crazy homeless person throwing hamsters at people, anything.
“Why?” A moment of silence. “Is he with you right now? Can you not talk because he’s with you?”
“Something like that,” I answer.
“Fine, then just say yes or no.”
I hold the phone with one hand and rub a spot between my eyes with the other. “Can we not?”
“Did he bring groupies on the bus?”
“No.”
“But groupies did come on the bus?”
“Yeah.”
“And he fucked one of them?”
I growl into the phone, and Shawn gives me a look again. I ignore him and answer Kale. “No. Can I go now?”
“But you’re mad at him?”
Is everything okay? Shawn mouths, and I wave him off to answer my brother. “Not anymore. And Kale?”
“Yeah?”
“I love you. I’ll call you tonight.”
I hang up before he can argue, letting out a deep sigh as Shawn and I round a corner to the lot the buses are in.
“What was that about?” he asks as my phone rings again.
I silence it all the way and shrug. “Wrong number.”
Chapter Twelve
THAT NIGHT, AFTER sweating out another five pounds under the blazing-hot lights of a packed-to-the-rafters venue, Leti’s call is the one that comes through my silenced phone.
“We’re here.”
“Huh?” I towel off my forehead and tip my head upside down, drying off my neck as the blood floods my skull. The crowd is still screaming, high off our set, and Leti is making zero freaking sense.
“You looked amazing. Are those leather pants?” I furrow my black eyebrows at my shiny black leggings. “And your boobs looked fantastic,” Leti adds. “I almost went straight for a minute, but your brother was standing right beside me, so . . . I was torn, Kitty-Bitty.”
I flip my head back up and look around the greenroom the band and I are in. The guys are chatting with the sound crew as bottles get passed around and drinks get poured. “You’re here?”
“Yep. Standing in front of some ’roided-up security guy who’s giving me a dirty look right now.” His voice gets a little quieter, like he pulled the phone away from his mouth, when he says, “What’s your problem, man?”
“And Kale’s with you?”
His volume goes up again. “Currently looking very worried that I’m going to get my ass kicked by said ’roided-up security,” Leti answers. “Are you going to come to my rescue, or are you going to let me get pummeled? I mean, your brother here would make a super-cute nurse, but—”
“I’m coming,” I interrupt. I hang up before Leti can put any more scarring visuals in my head, and then I tell the guys I have to go find my brother.
Shawn’s black kicks are in step with my even blacker combat boots as I walk through the halls of backstage, ranting about my brother being the evil twin and me having no idea why he and Leti showed up here tonight. I didn’t ask Shawn to come with me to find them . . . but I didn’t try to stop him, either.
When I finally do spot them, they’re standing with a security guard who’s impossible to miss. “ ’Roided up” was an understatement, but I march right up to him. “It’s okay. They’re with me.”
The security guard huffs and gives Leti a final dirty look before turning and walking away, a big body on big legs.
Leti grins like a loon as he watches him leave. “I think he wanted me.”
My twin is standing next to Leti in a fitted red tee, his black hair looking perfectly washed and styled, I’m guessing for Leti’s benefit. “What are you doing here?” I ask in a not-exactly-happy-to-see-him voice.