Page 37 of Revived

I wasn’t so sure I believed that, but a flash of Gabe coming out of that room with Kendra hit, his shirt being pulled over his head, and down his bare chest as they moved into the hall… Maybe Calista had a good point. I let my judgement be clouded by Chevy’s positive spin on things, by the magic of the tour, and the sweetness Gabe displayed. What would happen if she were to show up on tour as Janet just did? It was something I couldn’t bring myself to think about just then, because I needed to get my friend to a private place where she could break down without eyewitnesses to her pain.

13 – Sweet & Sour

“Gabe, baby, right there. Yes!”

I palmed Mel’s ass as I rode her up against the wall, backstage. I couldn’t remember ever feeling so fucking hot or hard in my life. She raked her nails down my shoulder, across my back, leaving a trail of stinging pain in her wake. None of it mattered though as I plunged over and over again into the silky wet heat of her. The sweetness of her center still sat upon my lips from where I’d eaten her to orgasm twice before. Just the taste of her on my lips threatened to send me over the edge…

“Dude, wake the fuck up!” Something banged in the bunk just above mine. “All your grunting is giving me morning wood. Either beat that shit and get it over with, or go find some groupie to blow you. We all know Mel ain’t giving it up, especially now that Wen’s girl is giving her an earful about evil musicians,” Alex’s voice grated as he spoke.

It was then that I finally opened my eyes. Alone. I was on my bus, in my bunk, with a solid-as-a-rock dick grinding into the mattress. Fuck. If it weren’t for the fact that I cared so much about Mel, I might actually have taken Alex’s advice. I needed a release, and bad. We couldn’t get to a stop with a hotel fast enough. The thought that Mel might join me in my room this time quickly dwindled away to nothing more than smoke and mist though. Alex was right, Calista probably was filling her head with all grades of shit about how she shouldn’t get involved with a rock star, because Mel had certainly been avoiding me since Wen’s blowup with Janet.

He told me that she had been there, seen and heard everything that went down, and then followed Cal out of the venue so fast that it looked like hellhounds were nipping at their heels. The last, we only knew because that had been Phoenix’s report to us when asked.

“Sorry, man,” Wen called out from across the walkway where he occupied the bunk directly across from mine. It wasn’t often that I slept in the bunks, usually preferring one of the couches, as they were more comfortable, but sometimes, a man just needed the illusion of privacy. Considering the state I woke in, I’d say it was a good thing I’d chosen the bunk when I crashed the night before.

“I’m the last person you need to be apologizing too, asshole. I don’t know why you let Janet keep leading you around by the balls. Alyssa is old enough to have a say in court, and you have plenty of witnesses to the threats her mom has been making for years.”

“You don’t understand, I honestly think she would make my daughter disappear before someone could step in and intervene.”

“Then you should have gotten the cops involved a long time ago,” Alex huffed at him. We were all pissed at the Wen, Janet, Cal drama that unfolded, because it happened every time we went out on tour with Dusty Rose. I flicked the privacy curtain on my bunk open fully so I could see Wen, who almost never shut his.

“I fucking know, all right? I was trying to spare Alyssa having to lose her mom to a mental institution, jail, or worse,” he admitted.

“Do you really think you’ve spared her anything? There’s no way that Janet has been able to hide her crazy around your daughter, man,” I noted. “It was one thing when she was younger, but your girl is 16 now. She sees more than you probably think.”

Wen scrubbed his hands down his face. “I’m going to get everything straight as soon as we get the break in the tour.”

“That’s still a few weeks away,” I pointed out. “Cal’s already spoken to Deacon about getting a replacement. He’s fighting her on it because she’s obligated. Your actions are hurting her career too at this point.”

“I don’t want her to go,” he told us, the misery in his words was plain to hear. “Maybe you guys can get a temp in for me, or hell, handle shit without me there backing up the sound for a few dates. It’ll give Cal some space and me some time to bring Janet to heel.”

I nodded in agreement. “Let’s get through tonight and then we’ll figure out what Deacon will allow us to get away with on that front. I’m pretty sure he’d rather sacrifice one band member than a full band from the tour.”

“We’ll have a full day to stop and do what we want once we pull into Gainesville,” Tim mentioned. “Get your shit straight with Deacon and Ev then,” he stated pointedly to Wen. Then he turned to me. “And you, get Mel out and away from all this shit for the day, or the night, whatever you can manage.”

“She’s been avoiding me ever since Miami Beach,” I reminded him.

“Okay?” The one word was more question than acceptance. I just stared at Tim who was standing between the bunks, head on a swivel between Wen and me. “She’s doing a great job of avoiding you because you’re letting her, and that’s probably feeding into how right Cal is about ‘fucking rock stars’ and all the reasons Mel should avoid them.”

“Fuck me,” I hissed, much to everyone’s amusement.

“Probably not the first words that should come out of your mouth when you see Mel,” Alex teased. “Women like to be wined and dined from what I hear.”

I wasn’t sure why he had a change of heart, and was suddenly Captain Helpful, since he had made it known that he had an interest in the same woman. As if he could hear my thoughts, Alex sighed and then leaned his head down from his own bunk to stare into mine.

“It’s obvious she enjoys your company, for whatever fucking reason, and who am I to stand in the way of true love? You fucking idiots keep shitting all over that four-letter word all by yourselves, and honestly, I’m starting to think I don’t ever want a part of that shit.”

Well that was both disturbing and something I was thankful for. As the bus continued to rumble its way toward our destination, I ignored any further commentary and started planning what to do to win Mel over from the man-haters club. Just after Chevy left, we had started a ritual of sorts where we met for lunch every day, or breakfast when lunch was out of the question. I’d thoroughly enjoyed my time spent with Mel then. We talked about our lives, the people in them, dreams for the future, and the things we’d lost out on. In short, we’d bonded over those quick meals and stolen moments. When we went two days without, due to my scheduling, I felt an ache in my chest at her absence. At least then, if I saw her in passing, she would have one of her genuinely beautiful smiles at the ready for me.

Ever since the Wen and Calista debacle, Mel had avoided areas where we might have those quick exchanges of smiles, and she definitely started skipping out on the meals together. I thought it was just so that she could be there for Cal, but maybe the guys had a point. It was possible that the whole situation had put her off about being with me in any capacity, or it could be that she just wanted to see how much effort I’d put forth. I shook that thought off almost as soon as it formed though. Mel was not a game-player. If she was spooked, that was real and something I’d have to work to get past.

I pulled out my phone, and started planning. Tim had been right. I hadn’t tried hard enough, so there was zero chance I was going to take no for an answer tonight, unless she had a legitimate reason to not go out with me.

~*~

Two hours later, we finally pulled into Gainesville and as the crews worked to get the buses situated, I dressed and hopped off the bus, making a bee-line directly for Dusty Rose’s bus. I swiftly knocked on the door, and was answered by a tight-lipped frown from Roni. “I hope your boy’s happy. Pretty sure our girl flew the coop the minute the bus stopped.”

“Cal’s gone?”

---