Reid grinned at Chloe. He loved how easy it was to rile her up. The last few weeks, since they’d left Berlin, things had felt different. But not in a bad way. Usually, at this point in a tour, after being stuck in confined spaces with a group of people for three months, tension tended to grow, not lessen. He credited Chloe for the change in dynamics. After all, she was the only new member. Inky had settled down, Greer was banging the merch girl of their new opening act, and Drew tended to stay blitzed and play video games with the others while they were traveling from one city to the next. It left Reid with a lot of uninterrupted time with Chloe.
His phone buzzed, and when he looked at the screen, an overwhelming surge of guilt rolled over him. His finger hovered over the answer button, but when he caught sight of Chloe kicking her leg out across the bench, he ignored the call. Just like he’d done earlier. Like he’d done far too many times. Swallowing, he shoved his phone into his pocket and turned his attention back to Chloe.
“I can’t believe you’ve never been to Paris.”
Chloe laughed. “You do realize there are more people in the world who haven’t seen Paris than those who have, right?”
“Whatever,” Reid answered with an eye-roll. “You know what I mean. You’ve been all over Europe. It just surprises me that you’ve somehow missed Paris every single time.”
“One of the downsides to being a session musician. We have zero input on tour schedules.”
Reid nodded and stretched out on the couch. “So what’s the first thing you want to do when we get there? It is your birthday, after all.”
“I want cupcakes. Delicious, gourmet cupcakes. I know they might not be the easiest to find, but I want them.”
Reid sighed and rubbed his stomach. “I like the way you think.”
“Of course you do,” Chloe laughed.
“What else do you want to do today? Since we have a show tomorrow on your birthday, we should fit in as much as we can today.”
“Well, after cupcakes, I want to visit Père Lachaise.”
Reid’s face twisted with confusion. “The cemetery?”
“Yes. The cemetery. If you ask me why, I’ll literally jump off this bus while we’re going down the road.” The expression on her face made Reid question if she was actually kidding.
“I see you’ve turned up the dramatics for your birthday,” he joked, ducking when Chloe threw a Starburst at him. Ripping off the wrapper, he popped the candy into his mouth before she could steal it back. With a satisfied smile, he tossed the wrapper in the trash. “I know why you want to go there; I just didn’t expect it to be one of the first things you wanted to do. Most people want to see the Louvre or the Eiffel Tower, go shopping, that sort of thing.”
“Honestly, I would love to do all of those things, but I’m not here for vacation and we won’t have a lot of time. I want to hit the highest priority places first. Everything else is just gravy.”
“Do you guys ever sleep?” Inky asked with a yawn as she slid onto the bench beside Chloe.
Chloe tugged the end of Inky’s hair. “Of course we do, but unlike the rest of you, we sleep at night like normal people.”
“I sleep at night,” Tom corrected, ducking down the stairs. “But I can only handle you guys for so long before I need some time for myself.”
“It’s okay, Tom, you don’t have to be shy. There’s nothing wrong with a little one-on-one time with yourself. I have me-time three or four times a day,” Greer laughed as he joined the others.
Tom shook his head. “Thank you for proving my point, Greer.”
“How much longer?” Drew asked with a yawn.
Reid glanced at his watch. It was just after noon. “We should be there any minute now. Once we check in to the hotel, I’m going to show Chloe around a bit, then we can meet back up for dinner if you guys are up for it.” His tone made it clear that no one was invited to their outing. The bus slowed to a stop and Reid jumped to his feet to peer out the windshield. “The hotel is coming up. I’m going to grab my stuff.”
Reid ignored the knowing looks from the others as he turned to move down the hall. Pausing before he slipped inside his room, he ducked around the corner and smiled at Chloe. “I’ll meet you in the lobby in a half hour.”