Page 56 of For Eva

Her nostrils flared, and rage crept up her neck, painting her cheeks bright red as she dropped her gaze to me. “Seriously,Danny? You expect me to believe you? Why the fuck would Eric make that up?”

I shifted my eyes to the floor before bringing them back up to her. “Look, I may have expressed some…reservationsabout you coming on tour. But we had just gotten the gig with Black Widow Rising, and I was freaking out abouteverything.”

“Uh-huh.”

I ran my hand along my face and groaned. “Fuck, Eva. It’s not the way he made it sound.”

An incredulous laugh escaped her lips. “I’m not stupid, Danny. I always knew deep down you were hesitant about having me work with the band. But what I didn’t know is that you expressed that to Eric and Keith and whoever else would fucking listen.”

I sighed and flopped on the end of bed, resting my hand on my chin as I tried to think of the words I could say to make things right. But none came to me.

“I suggest you pack your shit if you’d like to come to Denver,” Eva said, picking up her suitcase and flinging her backpack over one shoulder. “And yes, Iamsaying that as part of the band’s management. Because personally, I couldn’t give a fuck if you come or not.”

TWENTY-THREE

Eva

August 1989

Itapped my nails on the rail of the elevator and ground my teeth, waiting for the signal that I’d reached the tenth floor. Keith had asked me to round up the guys for a band meeting before our show that evening, and I dreaded having to speak to both Eric and Danny. Eric because he’d been an asshole every time he saw me. And Danny because we still hadn’t made up after our fight two days prior.

I didn’t know what to say to him. Was he being honest when he said he’d only had reservations at the beginning?

What if he doesn’t want me here now? What if he doesn’t want me here ever?

Sure, I’d be done traveling with them full-time once the Hott Blood gig was over, but I’d still be around. I’d still be working for Keith. It made me question everything about our relationship, and I couldn’t figure out how to have that conversation while we were just trying to make it through the last several weeks of the tour. So, I’d tried to keep things all business since we’d gotten on the bus for Denver that rainy afternoon. But it was going tobe impossible to keep that up until the tour ended. Something would have to give, I just didn’t know how or when.

I reached Eric’s room, giving the door a quick knock as I stared down at the gold vines weaving through the burgundy carpet in the hallway.

“Eric,” I said, knocking again. I leaned my ear against the door to see if I could hear anyone stirring in the room. “It’s Eva. Open up.”

I tried the handle, but as expected, it was locked. I groaned, twisting my wrist to look at my watch, then pounded the door with my fist.

“Come on, Eric! Keith wants everyone in his room for a meeting in fifteen minutes.”

The sound of shuffling came from the other side of the door, and I thanked God I wasn’t going to have to figure out how to execute a break-in.

The door opened, and I breathed a sigh of relief. “Oh good, I was—”

I cut myself off, my jaw dropping when my eyes settled on Joe, head of security, in nothing but a pair of striped boxer shorts.

He tousled his hair and yawned, squinting his eyes in an attempt to focus on me. “Eva?”

I furrowed my brow and cocked my head. “I, um…Never mind. Where’s Eric?”

Joe ran his hand through his short dark hair and blinked slowly. “Uh,” he muttered as he turned around and looked back into the room.

I peered over his shoulder to see a pair of bare feet hanging off the end of the bed. Narrowing my eyes, I pushed past him into the room to find a woman face down on the bed, her ass barely covered by a pair of lacy underwear.

“Really, Joe?” I said, rolling my eyes as I walked into the living room of the suite, expecting to find another half-naked woman along with a half-naked Eric.

But there was no woman and there was no Eric. Taking a deep breath, I walked back into the bedroom.

“Okay, so what’s all this, and where the hell is Eric?” I asked, pointing to the woman on the bed.

Joe’s face flushed as he pressed his lips together, and his eyes fell to the floor. “Fuck.”

The woman stirred, moving her hand up to a mess of tangled blond hair and propping herself up on one elbow. Her eyes, smeared with mascara, struggled to focus. “What’s going on?”

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