With narrowed eyes, she glances down to Sirius slapping Cap’s face with his tongue, to Jimmy who is still laughing on the couch and oblivious to the tiny woman glaring at him, and then finally over to Dilana, who leers right back at Emma.
Slowly, she looks to me and in a very formal voice thinly laced with a pinch of disgust, she says, “You are all being unbelievably rude. If you intend on partying in this bus, I insist you put me up in a hotel so I can get some sleep. Some of us have to work in the morning.”
At this, Jimmy stops laughing, and Cap manages to push Sirius off him so he can sit up. Dilana steps up to me, throws her arm around my shoulder, and tells Emma, “Come on, girlfriend. We’ve got tequila and strip poker. You should party with us.”
Emma’s nose wrinkles as she looks to Dilana, but she’s very polite when she says, “No, but thank you. I just want to sleep.”
“Emma…” I start my apology off, hoping perhaps to convince her to join us for a drink.
But she lifts her chin in the air and asks in a frustrated voice, “What’s it going to be, Evan? I’m really tired and would like to get some sleep.”
With a sigh, I push my fingers through my hair and, staring straight at Emma, I say, “Sorry gang… you heard the lady of the bus. There’s not going to be a party here.”
Dilana is the first to respond by spinning on her heel and careening back down the steps as she says, “Strip poker commencing in the other bus. Come on, dudes.”
Cap pushes up off the floor with amazing dexterity, but a little too fast as he falls onto the couch right beside Jimmy. But then he pops right back up and gives a little bow toward Emma. “Sorry for waking you up.”
He turns and slaps Jimmy upside the head. “Come on, man… Dilana might be getting naked right this very moment.”
Both men stagger their way out of the bus, leaving Emma and me standing on opposite ends looking at each other.
“I’m really sorry that—”
“Sirius… come,” Emma says sternly and the puppy jumps up and runs to her. Without another word, she turns her back on me and goes back into the bedroom, shutting it quietly behind them.
I stare at her door for a few minutes, still feeling slightly guilty but also acknowledging the little sting of rejection. So she doesn’t want to hang with us…
Fine.
My new band seems like they’re a ton of fun, and this is a night to celebrate. Our last night of freedom before the tour starts, and I’m not nearly drunk enough to do that justice.
Grabbing a six-pack of beer from the fridge, I don’t give Emma another thought as I head out to join my musicians.
CHAPTER 8
Emma
There comes a time in life
It’s do or die
Truth or lie
Depending on the time of day
Don’t let it pass you by.
I lean to the side, let my body fall forward, and bang my head lightly on the desk beside the laptop.
Seriously?
He has to sing in the shower with his smooth, rich voice that’s pretty much sex for the ears? And knowing he wrote the song and the music to it, and that he’ll be singing it on stage tonight to thousands of adoring women who would want to—
Ugh.
I’m having eargasms listening and can’t concentrate on my work. This annoys me even more than I already am with him after his drunken stunt last night. Coming onto the bus and bringing other people, all drunk, loud, and obnoxious. Waking me up from a sound sleep, and then having the gall to think I’d be flattered they wanted me to party with them.
Just no.
No.
No.
No.
Listen… I’m not a teetotaler by any means. In college, I went to my share of parties, although truth be told, I didn’t go to a lot. I had my share of beer and got buzzed. Mostly, I was always with my college sweetheart, Chris, who I met my freshman year at NC State but both of us were pretty serious about our studies. We never went overboard with the drinking and most certainly never did drugs, mostly because we had our sights set on graduate school—med school for him and law school for me. That was just more important to us.
These days, I’ll enjoy a nice glass of wine with dinner.
Maybe two.
But to drink until my words are slurring and I’m stumbling all over like Evan and his band of heathens last night?
It’s just not my thing.
My hand reaches down to touch Sirius, who’s taken to lying at my feet under the small desk, but I absently remember he’s out for a walk with Red. Those two have hit it off, and Red claims he’s got to lose a little weight to get his blood pressure under control or, in his words, “The missus will not be a happy woman if I die.” So he’s started getting Sirius off the bus and walking as much as possible.
The water shuts off in the tiny bathroom that sits no more than four feet from my desk, although Evan continues to sing. I can imagine him in there, steam all swirling around while he dries off his body that… that… is just unlike anything I’ve ever been privy to before. All sleek toned muscles and just beyond my craziest of fantasies… nipple rings.