My heart was hammering against my chest as I made my way through the gravelly lot to the bus.
I opened the door. To my surprise, no one seemed to be inside. That was what I assumed until noises coming from the back bedroom proved otherwise. There were several coffin-like beds on the sides, but Justin had mentioned that each bus had one master suite in the back. The crew and he alternated who got to sleep in it each night.
A lump formed in my throat as I approached the closed wooden door. The sound of a woman moaning could be heard from behind it.
The guard had said Justin was in here.
I had to know.
I had to open it. I had to see it with my own eyes.
My faith might have been blind, but it was about to get an eyeful.
Slowly turning the knob, I inched the door open a crack. All I saw was a mane of dark hair. A woman was riding him as he lay flat. It looked like Olivia, but I didn’t know for sure. It could have been any woman. It didn’t matter who it was. They didn’t notice me. My stomach started to turn and bile was rising. I couldn’t look anymore. I just couldn’t.
Exiting the bus, my legs felt wobbly. Too shocked to cry, I walked in a daze as numbness consumed me. My vision was blurry. My heart felt like it was cracking slowly with each step out of the bus. Was I an idiot for thinking he would wait? That he could withstand the enormous temptation being thrown in his face every day? He never made any promises, and that was for good reason.
You’re a fool, Amelia.
I would have expected to be crying, but for some reason, the shock seemed to freeze my tear ducts. My eyes felt raw, cold, devoid of any ability to produce moisture.
My phone chimed from an incoming text.
I missed you tonight so fucking much.
CHAPTER 19
What?
How could he be texting me while he’s fucking someone else?
Adrenaline rushed through me, taking my nerves on a roller coaster ride of emotions.
Amelia: Are you on the bus?
Justin: No. At Dave and Buster’s down the road from the venue getting a drink. How’s Bea feeling?
It wasn’t him.
It wasn’t him fucking that girl on the bus!
Clutching my chest, I let out the breath that seemed to have been trapped inside, suffocating me a moment earlier. It felt like I’d been shot with a tranquilizer gun full of euphoria.
Amelia: Still has a cold. She’s with my friend Susan because I’m here. Right outside your bus.
Justin: Holy fuck! Don’t move. I’m heading back.
Rubbing my hands over my arms, I stood waiting in the cold for at least ten minutes. The two people who’d been screwing inside of the bus suddenly exited. The man was good-looking, but he was no Justin. I also confirmed that the female participant definitely wasn’t Olivia.
A crowd of women suddenly gathered toward the entrance. The guard could be heard saying, “Back. Back! Let him by!”
It was then that I saw Justin break through the swarm of people. He passed through the chain-link fence and was looking around frantically before his gaze locked in on me.
The commotion around us seemed to dissipate as he walked toward me and enveloped me in his arms. I practically melted into him. He smelled like a mixture of cologne, smoke and beer. It was intoxicating and made me want to bathe in it. I wanted him all over me.
“You’re cold as ice,” he whispered into my ear.
“Just hold me. Keep me warm.”
“I really need to do more than hold you right now.” He pulled back to take me in, giving my outfit a once over. “Fuck,” he growled. “Don’t take this the wrong way, but why do you look like a whore?”
“I was dressing for the occasion. Too much?”
“Hell no. This is just what I needed. It just pisses me off that you were waiting around for me in public dressed like that. The fucking guys around here are worse than the girls. Anyone mess with you?”
“No.” Looking down at myself, I said, “I’m sorry if it’s too much. I just figured I had to compete with all those groupies.”
“Don’t apologize. But you don’t have to compete with anyone, Amelia. You never did.” He put his forehead on mine, and time seemed to stand still. “When I was performing tonight, all I could think about was how badly I wished you were here. I was at the bar drowning my sorrows when you texted. I still can’t believe you made it.” He took in a deep breath of the skin on my neck. “I’m hard as a rock just smelling you right now. We need to go somewhere to be alone. We don’t have a lot of time before the buses leave.”
“Where can we go?”
He placed his hands on my cheeks. “Fuck. I just want to take you with me on the bus, spend the night with you until the sun rises over the next city.”
“I would love that so much. I’m sorry I can’t be the kind of girl that can just go on tour with you.”
“You have bigger things to be taking care of. By the way, you sure this friend watching Bea is someone you can trust?”
“Yes. I wouldn’t be here otherwise.”