Page 49 of Goodbye Note

“You’re really fucking lucky I like you,” he said against my temple.

“Are you two…” A woman’s voice said.

“No.” I said quickly as we detangled from one another. Realizing it was Lindsay put a bad taste in my mouth. “Best friends can hug. It’s weird for you to say otherwise.”

“Right?” Varian added. “Bros can hug.”

“Exactly.” I held out my fist, and he bumped it.

Lindsay narrowed her eyes. “Whatever. Have you seen John?”He was Dopamine-Fiend’s tour manager.

“Last I saw him, he went to check us in for later,” Varian answered.

“Cool.” She stalked off toward the admin truck.

“I need to smoke this fucking joint.”

“And I need to make sure Ser is okay.” I’d almost forgotten.

“He’s probably in on it. Fuck him. He’s not going to miss your set.” Varian’s entire mood had changed. “Let’s go smoke in your bus.”

“You sure?”

He nodded and turned back, but we found another group of people in front of my bus.

“What the fuck?” I mouthed to Varian as I signed stuff.

He stood back, letting me have my moment until they realized who he was. Then he signed a bunch of stuff. We took pictures and then escaped onto the bus.

“What was that?”

“Word is getting out.” He wore a huge smile. “You guys deserve it.”

“Get that fucking joint out before I need to contemplate my reality sober.” I flopped into a seat in the front lounge.

He pulled out his joint case and got it going before passing it to me. “How are you liking the bus?”

Since we hadn’t really spent much time here, I realized he hadn’t seen it. “It’s been great.”

“Do you have the nice bunks or the shit ones?”

“There’s a difference?” I asked, passing the joint before walking back. “We have these ones.” I pulled open the curtain on my tiny cubby.

“You have the nice ones. You can almost sit up in them. When they are three deep, it feels like you’re in a coffin.”

“Well, now I’m a little sad I can’t live out my dreams of dying in my sleep.”

He punched my shoulder. “I guess there are only four of you and your manager. Did you bring someone for merch?”

I shook my head. “Our manager does it and takes photos badly.”

“You’re going to have to get on that. Maybe hire Lindsay.”

I wrinkled my nose. “I’ll talk to Kiernan to see if he thinks we need one.”

“Better photos are always good for promo. Fans love them.” He leaned against the wall. “What do you use the others for? If people aren’t sleeping in them?”

“I have my clothes in one.” I pulled open the drape for the bunk under mine. “What do you guys use yours for?”

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