Page 74 of Don't Bang a Bandmate

“No?” Jordan asks him from her table. “We’ll have to take you out tonight, then, I think.”

The entire bus goes silent.

I smile.

“What?” Knox asks.

“Oh,” Jordan says, nice and chill, as she looks up from her planner, her pretty eyes peeking over the rims of her glasses. “Did I not say you all have the night off?”

“No,” Jonah says, lurching forward on his seat. “You did not.”

Jordan grins as she touches her pen to her clipboard and jots down a note.

In the brief celebration that immediately follows, Addison shuffles into the back of the bus and plops down next to me.

“Dude,”she mutters, her volume as low as possible.

I simply touch a finger to my lips, staying quiet. Addison does the same, sitting back and shaking her head; a dirty secret on her lips.

The concrete jungle inches closer. After what feels like miles of slow traffic, Knox looks out the window at the skyscrapers… and groans.

Curious, we all follow his lead.

Outside, high above the street, a banner hangs from the Sugar Sound building.

The Electrics.

The Shock and Awe Tour.

SOLD OUT.

Logan Shock, his smirk gigantic, looks down upon us with his Shock Girls flanking him on either side. Tesla with her guitar. Goldie with her drumsticks.

We’re intheirterritory now.

The rest of the drive toward the Botsford Plaza is noticeably quieter, but we still hop off the bus with excitement, eager to rest up for a night on the town. The three managers push ahead to get us checked in while we take a moment to stretch our legs and wait for our keys.

“Ms. Peck?” the man at the front desk asks.

“Yes?” I hear Jordan say across the busy lobby.

He hands her a room key. “It appears you’ve been upgraded,” he says.

“Upgraded?”

“To the executive suite.”

“Thewhat?”She chuckles. “No. I don’t need an upgrade.”

“Compliments of Mr. Paul Monroe, miss.”

Jordan shakes her head. “Then, Ireallydon’t need?—”

“Don’t be silly, Jordan!” Knox lurches toward her and snatches the room key. “Of course she’ll take the upgrade. Thank you so very much.”

The man smiles and continues gathering the rest of our keys.

Jordan gives Knox a sharp look. “Knox,” she says. “I can’t accept this.”

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