Play Me (Love on Tour #2) (6 page)

7

Sean was stressed out enough. So I told Mike about Bell’s crazy plan, but kept Sean out of it. I also gave Baby a piece of mind when I got her alone.

“Are you crazy, talking her into being so reckless.”

“First of all,” Baby said vehemently. “I didn’t
talk her into
anything. It was her idea. Secondly, she’s an adult Henry, not a child. And just because someone is a woman, it doesn’t mean they can’t make their own sexual decisions.”

“Don’t pull that card on me, Baby. This has nothing to do with gender.”

“Bullshit! You’re treating her like she’s some sort of future victim. You wouldn’t act this way if she was a guy.”

“I might if it was Mike.”

“You’re not really helping your case here, Henry.”

“Why Mike?” I continued. “Because he, too, is a trusting soul that is always looking for deeper relationships and when he fucks around with a player, he gets hurt. Bell is the same way, times a thousand.”

Baby paused. “Maybe, but she’s a big girl and she’s made this decision.”

“You’re supposed to be her friend. Aren’t you the least bit worried?”

“I’m totally worried about it. But you have to let people make their own mistakes. And it’s not like she’s going to end up with some sexual predator. We’re all here, watching out for her. She’ll screw a band member and get over it.”

“A band member?”

“Yeah, I hear Alonso’s on the potentials list.”

“What?”

“Yeah, in fact, I think they have a ‘date’ tonight.”

I could hear Baby calling after me as I left the room and marched down the hall. I found Alonso on the loading dock, smoking a cigarette.

“A word,” I said harshly.

“Sure, man.”

Alonso is my bass player. And he’s good at his job. He’s been playing for me for about six years. On stage, I wouldn’t trade him for the world. But this guy was almost as bad with women as me. And right then, I didn’t give a shit about his talent with a guitar.

“Join me for a walk.” I jumped off the loading dock and headed for a dark path around the back of the building. Alonso followed.

“What’s up, Hank?” He pulled up beside me.

“You got a hook-up planned with Bell?”

He stopped in his tracks. I stopped too. He looked up at me and took a final drag on his cigarette, before tossing it into the grass. “Yeah, is that a problem, boss?”

I hated it when he called me boss. He was the only one of my three band members that did. And he did it to piss me off.

“Yeah, it’s a problem. She’s a lamb man. She can’t handle you.”

“She sure didn’t act that way when she propositioned me.” He hooked a thumb in the waistband of his jeans.

“Well she is. She’s a sheltered little girl with no experience with guys like you.”

“You mean guys like us?”

“Whatever, just break the date, okay?”

“I will if you tell me the truth.”

“What?”

Alonso leaned toward me and sneered. “You have a thing for her, don’t you? This is like some kind of Sean and Baby thing, bad boy falls for sweet little good girl.”

“Fuck you.”

“Come on, Hank.”

“I’m just trying to protect her. She’s Baby’s friend.” I turned away from him and started walking back toward the loading dock.

“You’re lying,” he called after me. “But I’ll break the date anyway.”

****

“You are a complete ass!”

I had been sitting on the bus, drinking a particularly good cup of joe and discussing our next stop with Mike. Now I was being confronted by an angry Tinker Bell. Her slim body was leaned over me, her tiny finger was pressing into my chest.

“I’ve heard that before.”

She jammed her finger into me, pumping with each word. “You told Alonso to break our date last night.”

Jesus, the dumbass didn’t have the brains to make up a better story. “Yeah, I did,” I admitted.

“What gives you the right to say who I date?”

I grabbed her finger, because it was starting to irritate me, and pulled it away from my chest. “Is that what it was, a date?”

“Whatever, it doesn’t matter what it was.” She folded her arms over her chest and glared at me. “Who put you in charge of my vagina?”

And it was at that moment that Sean walked onto the bus, Baby just behind him.

“What?” Sean asked, stopping in the aisle.

Looking pissed and a little defeated, Bell flopped down in the seat next to me. “Never mind.”

“You’re kidding, right?”

“Sean, maybe we should stay out of this,” Baby coaxed. She pulled him to the couch that sat across the aisle from the booth and settled him there.

But Sean kept his eyes on Bell. “Is everything okay, Bell?”

She looked up at him and sighed. “Henry is as overprotective as you. I’m never going to get laid on this tour.”

I looked at Sean. He let loose a massive grin. Then he held his fist out. We both had very long arms. I reached around behind Bell and smacked his fist with mine.

“Arrgh!” Bell thumped her head on the table.

I wasn’t sure why I was happy that Alonso didn’t get into her pants last night. I had been telling myself that I’d done it to protect her, to keep her safe from guys like him. She was sheltered. And no matter what she thought she needed, it wasn’t a cheap hook-up with a massive slut.

But a part of me knew that Alonso was right. I did want her for myself. And I was absolutely no better for her than Alonso was. Hell, I was worse. To top it all off, if I slept with Bell, she’d want more from me, and I wouldn’t give it to her, which would leave a huge mess. Baby would be stuck in the middle of that mess. She loved me and she loved Bell. There was no way I was putting her in that situation. Baby was way more important to me than one night with a beautiful little fairy.

****

I couldn’t believe I gotten stuck with this duty. It was bullshit really. Mike got paid to do this shit. But he’d flown back to L.A. to sit for an exam. Sean, and his back-up guitarist Lyle, definitely should have been doing this before me. But Sean, Lyle, and the rest of
Chrome
were performing live on some television show.

So here I was, in a bar in downtown Minneapolis with Baby, Bell, and Lyle’s wife Sue. And they were all shitfaced. I was the girl’s night out bodyguard. And it was a crap job.

“Why so glum?” Bell asked me.

She had her chin resting on her hands. Her plump little lips puckered out toward me. I could smell the alcohol on her breath.

“I’m fine, Bell. But I think you should drink some water.” I plunked one of the four glasses of water I’d ordered in front of her.

She took a sloppy sip and looked back at me. “Aren’t you having fun?” She cocked her cute little head. “People are leaving you alone.”

It was true. When we’d initially walked in, chaos had ensued. But after a few hours in this joint, people had calmed down. They still stared at me, but they’d quit approaching.

“We’re having fun. You should have fun, too,” Bell slurred.

I took another quick look at the dance floor. Baby and Sue were dancing with each other right now. Which was good, because I’d already had to scare off about a dozen guys. It seemed like the message had finally been made clear.

I turned back to Bell. “Sure Bell. I’m having a good time.”

“Henry?”

“Hank.”

“Okay, Hank. Can I ask you something?”

“Sure. Drink some more water and you can ask me anything.”

She took a sip and slammed the glass down with a loud thug. “Do you think I’m pretty?”

“Yes. I think you’re pretty. I also think you are way too caught up in whether or not men find you attractive.”

She shrugged. “It’s new. I never really worried about it before.”

“It sounds like you did. Always looking for a husband and shit.”

“Oh, I was looking for a husband. But that’s different. I was still planning to live my life how I wanted to. I was still planning to be a writer and to travel, and I don’t know, have kids and stuff. And I intended to find a guy that fit into that mold and marry him. But that’s not what I’m after anymore.”

“Now you want a cheap fling.”

“Yep. And if I’m going to pull it off, I guess I have to be desirable. So, pretty’s a good start. Now I have to learn to flirt. I’ve been paying attention, Hank. You are like the king shit of flirting.”

“You want lessons or something?”

No way was I teaching her how to get laid. But she was drunk as a skunk right now and I could play with her. She wouldn’t remember it.

“Definitely,” she said, her big eyes blinking at me.

“Okay, for starters, it helps to touch. Not nasty, just nice. Like this.” I took her hand and put it on my thigh, just above my knee.

“God, you have muscles.”

I flexed. She sucked in her breath. I was getting turned on. This was stupid.

“Now what?” She asked.

“Lean closer. So our faces are just a few inches apart and I can see your lips better.”

She did. I was about to kiss her at any second. I took a deep breath.

“Now ask me something.”

“What?”

“What comes to mind?” I prompted. “What would you like to do with me right now?”

I was playing with fire.

“You wanna dance?”

Not really. Dancing with Bell was only going to make this worse. But I took another look at the dance floor. Baby was doing some serious ass shaking. And Sue’s V-neck was showing a lot of cleavage. The guys around them were noticing. It would definitely be better if I was out there. Also, it would stop this insane conversation.

“Okay, let’s go, sweetheart.” I took her hand and guided her out to the floor.

“You called me sweetheart.”

I pulled up near Baby and Sue and yanked Bell to my chest. I don’t do the dancing by yourself, shaking ass and moving arms like a dork thing. I only dance alone on stage. If there’s a girl, she’s in my arms.

When Baby and Sue saw me they shrieked and high-fived me. But Bell called my attention back to her by pressing her hips against my leg.

“You call the girls you are trying to seduce sweetheart,” Bell said.

I returned my focus to her. “What?”

“I heard you call that Kim girl that, and I’ve heard you call other girls that when you were being charming.”

“Sweetheart, I’m always charming.” I moved her hips with my leg.

“You called me that too, the other night.”

“You don’t like it?”

“I like it.” She was gazing up at me, drunk and turned on.

“Dance with Sue for a minute, Bell.” I twirled her over to Sue and grabbed a hold of Baby.

“Hi, Henry,” Baby grinned.

“Girl, you are drunk.”

“I know. That doesn’t happen very often.” She shrugged. “But Sue’s in town.”

Sue didn’t come on road trips for the duration. Instead, she flew into select locations once or twice during each tour. She was one girl in this whole crazy scene that Baby could relate to. They got along like peas in a pod, both regular women with lives and careers, who’d fallen for rockers. So when they got together they’d let loose and it turned into a party.

“Your husband might be pissed at me when I bring you home sloshed.”

“My husband needs to chill out.”

I laughed. “That’s never going to happen.”

“Nope. I’ll keep him anyway.”

Baby was funny and honest when she was drunk. It created an opportunity for me to lick some wounds.

“So Baby, I hear your number one advice to Bell was to stay away from me.”

She laughed. “For sure.”

I frowned.

“What?” She stopped moving and her lips turned down. “Isn’t that the same advice you’d give her?”

It was the advice I did give her.

“Sure, but it just makes me wonder.”

“What? It’s loud. Come here.” She grabbed my arm and started marching toward the front door.

I stopped her just inside the door. It was quieter here, but I could still keep an eye on Sue and Bell.

I looked down at Baby. “Would you give that advice to every girl?”

Baby studied me for a minute. I looked away and kept my gaze on the dance floor. This conversation was embarrassing as hell. Baby was probably the only person in the world I’d even have this conversation with.

“I hurt your feelings.” She said it softly enough that I almost didn’t hear it over the music.

I didn’t react.

“I have to tell you something. But not here. Come outside. Just for a minute.” She tugged on my arm.

“Just for a minute,” I said, following her out the door.

It was a little brisk out there, spring in Minnesota. Baby shivered so I tucked her into my jacket and leaned up against the building. There were a couple people giving me second glances. But nobody approached, because I was with a girl.