The Loneliest Tour (10 page)

“
I
never judged,
”
Masie said.
“
I promise, Jett. All I
’
ve wanted is to meet someone who
could help me. Portis, I always figured. I don
’
t
want to be a dancer for Crutch Fail, but it
’
s
what I have in front of me.
”

“
Wrong.
You have me in front of you.
”

“
Does
Willow Son need a dancer?
”

“
Nope.
But I could use one.
”

Jett smirked and Masie
’
s cheeks burned red.

“
Yeah,
well, I don
’
t know about
that. Our first, what, date, I
’
m
drinking a glass of water and you have me in a stairwell. Doesn
’
t exactly scream romance, does
it?
”

“
I
don
’
t know. Depends on the
person.
”

“
I
’
m not one of those groupies
upstairs. Sorry.
”

“
Good.
I
’
m not looking for a
groupie.
”

Masie bit her bottom lip. She then
said.
“
I should really go.
I have to get up early and practice. It takes an entire morning of self
loathing to get ready to dance for Crutch Fail.
”

Jett laughed.

She
’
s really cool. Down to
earth. Freaking beautiful.

“
Well,
if it
’
s that bad, then
maybe you should go.
”

Masie started to slither away. Jett
wasn
’
t going to damn move.
She could move around him.

Masie took the first step and
stopped. She looked back.
“
I
’
m sorry I looked you up online.
That wasn
’
t right of me to
do. I just never thought I
’
d
run into a rockstar. I mean, a real one. Someone famous. Like you. And I kind
of liked talking to you. That guitar stuff you were playing was really amazing.
I can still hear it.
”

“
Hey,
Masie? You want to know how I know I wasn
’
t
addicted to those pills?
”

“
Sure.
”

“
Because
they didn
’
t make me feel
the way I feel when I look at you.
”

Masie froze and sighed. She shook
her head.
“
You can
’
t say that stuff to me, Jett. We
don
’
t even know each other.
”

Jett took the first step, then the
second and third

Now he was eye level with Masie.

He touched her cheek.
“
Let
’
s get one thing straight, sweetheart. I can say and
do whatever the hell I want.
”

Jett made a move. He kissed Masie
’
s sweet, thin lips. He kissed
her once, then twice. He pulled back, knowing damn well that if he kissed her
again, he wouldn
’
t be able
to stop himself.

“
I
’
ll see you tomorrow, sweetheart.
”

Jett then walked back up the
stairs. He didn
’
t hear
Masie though.

He smiled.

He had no freaking clue what the
hell the plans were for tomorrow.

But Jett knew one thing - he was
going to see Masie again.

(7)

Jett opened his eyes and sat up. He
looked across his bed and it was empty. He reached over and touched the other
pillow. Pulling it to him, he couldn
’
t
believe the first thing he thought about was Masie.

It seemed really stupid.

Climbing out of bed, Jett grabbed a
t-shirt off the floor and tossed it over his shoulder. He left the bedroom and
walked out to the main part of the hotel room to find the leftovers of a little
party. Empty bottles scattered around along with five guitars, part of a drum
set, and the band crashed on the couches and floors.

Ryker was on one couch. A woman
rested on top of him. She was topless, her breasts pressing to Ryker
’
s body. Van was on the other
couch, on his back, his right arm covering his eyes. He was fully clothed.

Brantley was on the floor, in a
sleeping bag with two women.

Jett grinned and shook his head.

He went to the kitchen area and
found a pot of coffee made. Someone had the sense to set it before crashing.

That was good.

Because Jett didn
’
t remember a thing.

He went back upstairs and then
Willow Son took the night over. There were drinks, drinks, and more drinks. A
fuzzy car ride to the hotel that was charged to Portis. And then Jett
remembered the big, comfy bed.

And now it was morning.

After pouring a cup, he stepped
back over a lightly snoring Ryker and went back to the bedroom. He sat down on
the corner of the bed and to his complete shock, the bathroom door opened.

A woman stood there wearing a fuzzy
white towel. She had blonde hair down to her chin, soaking wet.

“
Hey,
”
she said.

“
Uh,
hey. Good morning.
”

The woman smiled and walked to
Jett. She grabbed the mug of coffee from him.
“
This
for me?
”

“
Yeah,
sure,
”
he said.

He casually looked back at the bed.

What the hell did I do last
night?

The woman sipped the coffee.
“
Not too bad.
”

“
Did
you make it?
”
Jett asked.

“
Yeah.
I get up early all the time. So I put it on and took a quick shower.
”

Jett looked at the open bathroom
door.
“
Is this the only
bathroom in the room?
”

“
Yeah.
”

“
Oh,
okay. So you didn
’
t sleep
…”

“
In
the bed?
”
she asked.
“
Oh, I slept in the bed. Next to
you. Absolutely.
”

Jett swallowed hard.
“
Cool. Very cool.
”

“
You
don
’
t remember a thing, do
you?
”

Jett shook his head.
“
Not a thing. Sorry.
”

The woman reached out and traced
Jett
’
s jaw.
“
Don
’
t be. You don
’
t
have to be sorry for anything. You
’
re
a rockstar. It
’
s all
expected.
”

“
If
I
’
m the rockstar, then who
are you?
”

“
Nice
one,
”
she said.
“
My name is Andrea. I work in the
PR department for Portis
’
record company.
”

Jett stood up. He ran a hand
through his hair.
“
Jesus. I
slept with someone who works for Portis?
”

“
Well,
slept in the sense of sleeping.
”

“
So
we didn
’
t
…
?
”

“
I
thought we were,
”
Andrea
said.
“
You were definitely
into making out. It was pretty hot. Had me going for a little bit. Then you
stopped and just said you couldn
’
t.
Never thought I
’
d have a
rockstar tell me that.
”

“
Oh,
shit,
”
Jett said.
“
Well, I mean, you
’
re very pretty. I just have
personal stuff
…”

“
I
know,
”
Andrea said.
“
That
’
s kind of why I was here. I was snooping on you. I
was supposed to end up in your bed.
”
She waved her hands and said,
“
Check
for pills.
”

“
Portis?
”

“
Yeah.
”

“
He
paid you for that?
”

“
Yeah.
”

“
Overtime
wage?
”

“
No.
But I figured if it got me in bed with you and I got something
…
that
’
d be a bonus.
”

“
Sorry
you didn
’
t get the bonus.
”

Andrea touched the top of the towel
and grinned.
“
I could
accidentally just open this towel right now.
”

“
Yes,
you could.
”

“
And
if I did
…”

“
I
’
d help you put it right back on.
”

“
You
’
re one interesting rockstar,
”
she said. She sipped the
coffee.
“
You don
’
t fit the mold.
”

“
Good
to know.
”
Jett turned and
walked to the bedroom door.

He opened it and Ryker stood there,
his eyes half shut.
“
Morning,
bro. I need to piss.
”
He
saw Andrea and his eyes opened wide.
“
Whoa,
hey.
”

“
Now
there
’
s a wild rockstar,
”
Andrea said.
“
You almost got arrested last
night.
”

“
I
did?
”
Ryker asked.

“
You
dropped your pants and stuck your ass out the window. Someone complained and
the police were called.
”

“
Wow,
”
Ryker said.

“
It
’
s all good,
”
Andrea said. She drank more
coffee and walked by Jett and Ryker.
“
I
need to ask for a raise.
”

She left the bedroom.

Ryker punched Jett in the shoulder.
“
Speaking of getting a
raise
…
damn, man. She was
hot.
”

“
We
didn
’
t screw around,
”
Jett said.
“
I need to get out of this hotel.
Studio time. We have to record some tunes. Get ready for the tour. First show
is next week, man. No more partying and shit. We have to get down to business.
”

Ryker put an arm around Jett.
“
You may not remember the night,
brother, but you were the one who wanted to party. You came back up to the VIP
lounge and went right for a bottle of vodka. You went right behind the bar and
took a bottle. You had the bartender drinking, who is probably fired today.
”

“
Wow,
”
Jett said.

“
So
whatever happened between you storming away from Portis and coming back, it did
something to you.
”

Masie.

That
’
s
when an idea struck Jett. He looked at Ryker.
“
Hey.
We should meet up with Crutch Fail today.
”

“
What?
”

“
You
heard me. We should. I mean, just to talk about the tour. Yeah. I
’
m going to give Harry a shout.
”

Jett was fired up. So fired up that
he called Harry and left the hotel room without a shirt on. He got all the way
to the ground floor before realizing it. When the elevators opened and people
looked, the chaos quickly ensued. First, it was someone famous in the hotel.
Second, not having a shirt on attracted more attention. Jett was able to get
the elevator doors shut before anyone could really get to him. But that didn
’
t mean there weren
’
t pictures snapped.

Freaking technology.

Two hours later, Jett was carrying
a guitar case down the hall to the studio. Willow Son was set for a one hour
recording session and then they were going to the Crutch Fail practice stage
for a visit. Well, the rest of the band didn
’
t
want to go. But Jett did. He made a promise to Masie he
’
d see her and he wasn
’
t
going to break that promise.

He opened the door to the recording
room and the guys were already setting up. They all started to laugh when Jett
walked in. He stopped and looked down, wondering if he forgot to put on shoes
or zip up his fly. But it wasn
’
t
that. Jett saw the glass window that separated the recording area and the
soundboard room. There was a printout of a shirtless Jett on the elevator
printed and taped to the glass.

“
What
the hell is this?
”
he
growled. He dropped his guitar and tore it from the glass.
“
Who did this?
”