Page 103 of Goodbye Note

“You want to get in here looking like that.”

“Like what?” he asked.

I dropped my voice. “Like Lindsay will eye-fuck you like she did me.”

“She does that to everyone. You get used to it.”

I grumbled. I didn’t like anyone looking at him.

Varian stepped around me to get at his own clothes, and his towel began to slip, exposing part of his ass. I could have left, gone to his bunk, but I stayed, pressing the door closed. He didn’t bother with boxers, pulling shorts on under his towel. After living like a band for years, all of us knew how to change in a room full of people and not flash everyone.

I couldn’t believe I was watching. Wanted to watch.

When he turned, I tore my gaze away, looking in the mirror. “I like how this fits.”

“Don’t you fucking even think about it.”

“Maybe if you’re good, you’ll get it back then.”

He stepped up behind me, chest bumping into my back. “I have to be good to get my shirt back?”

“You heard me.”

A dopamine shot straight to the brain keeps me coming back for more.

Sunrise isn’t so bad when you have your best friend to watch it with you.

Pink purple and blue splashed across the sky give new meaning to life.

* * *

Days passed, and we’d taken to spending a lot of our time in the back lounge, which meant fighting Kiernan and Hael for it, or John and Lindsay, who always seemed to be hanging around Dopamine-Fiend’s bus. We spent more and more of our time there while the other guys took to using the front for movies or video games. When we lost the fight for the lounge, or it was too hot, we found spaces outside, either on our blanket or in the cheap tent Varian found abandoned after one of our shows. Others drifted in and out, and alone time was scarce, except for the long hours between cities.

“We need to have a band meeting,” Kiernan said as we were finishing up sound check.

Varian’s attention lifted from his phone.

“What about?” I asked.

We’d been on high alert since the photos of us, making sure to not touch anywhere we’d be seen. It put both of us on edge, and I hated the space it created.

“Our next move after Warped. The label didn’t expect your record to blow up so big, which means instead of a couple of months off, they want to add some bigger venues to the front end of the planned tour.”

“Planned tour?” I asked.

“You haven’t been around much,” Serafin said, unplugging his guitar so the next band could get onstage for their check. “It was going to start in January, but now it’s looking like we’ll finish up with Warped in October and then go into gigs for November and December.”

“This is great news and a really fucking big deal. They are booking bigger venues with the expectation all the smaller stuff will sell out too quickly.” Kiernan knew how to sell it. “So we need to sit down and discuss logistics and contracts, then when the label wants you back in the studio.”

“Right.”

We stowed our gear and made our way back toward the bus.

“A tour already?” I said to Ser.

“This is when they plan these things. We have to announce, and on the heels of a successful album is the best time for ticket sales.”

“Isn’t that really fast?” I couldn’t wrap my head around it. I glanced at Varian, and he smiled.

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