Page 62 of Crave

And crave.

Afterward, they pulled two women on stage and the photographer shoved them in between us. I’d noticed the two had been up front next to JJ. The short, curvy blonde pressed herself against my side as we smiled for the camera, and then JJ stepped in with a knowing grin.

“Go ahead, ladies. Let it rip.”

With a shriek, the two whipped off their shirts. Bare breasted, giggling, they crowded in tight. The blonde’s boob pressed against my arm as the camera snapped. “Get one from my camera too!” the other girl shouted, who was cozying up to Lance. I kept my smile and my gaze firmly averted from her.

The moment it ended, I turned away before she even spoke to me. I knew what JJ wanted for PR but it stopped there. I may need to have a talk with Landon and warn her what shit was coming down and remind her it was all fake. Like that girl’s tits.

We finished up and met in the back, where JJ went over final details. The bus was leaving at six am to take us to the airport. When we go to LA, we’d board the tour bus—our second home. He reminded us this was our big shot and we needed to bring it for every show, lecturing about their girlfriends not distracting us.

I knew if Landon was there, I’d be my better self. Being in her presence made me the man I always wanted to be. But Iknew the tour would be tough and exhausting, especially since JJ wanted me to begin writing new songs for the next album.

Finally, we wrapped. I got changed, gathered my stuff, and headed out.

I checked my texts but Landon still hadn’t answered.

A few hours later, I got a link sent to me by an unknown number. I was about to mark it spam but the words made me stop cold.

Your girlfriend’s already found a new dick to play with.

My finger hovered over the button while a knowing tugged at my gut. Still, I didn’t want to explode a virus onto my phone. I switched to Safari and searched under her name with today’s date.

A link from an entertainment site popped up immediately.

DumpedStar Finds Solace with her New Castmate!

I read the story. The picture needed no explanation.

Landon was kissing some guy and seemed to be the one initiating it.

Chapter Thirty-Five

Landon

Listen to A Symptom of Being Human

by Shinedown

Itried desperately to focus on my castmates even as my attention kept going back to my phone. I’d had spotty service all day, which seemed to be part of the course in this remote hell. My entire body throbbed after the endless shooting. I’d been up since six am to gather eggs and be chased by the demon chickens who probably wanted to eat me since he looked so skinny. Then I had to muck stalls and give the horses a bath with Brody. Covered in sweat and bugs, I’d gotten wet from the hoses and ended up with a too-clingy shirt and molded shorts. No one let me change and I spent the next few hours uncomfortable and ignoring stares from all the guys on set.

Ugh.

Things kept getting worse. After the debacle with Clayton, the producer told me it was great for prelaunch, and that Lydia believed I’d be the break-out star from all of them. They werealready angling for me to be the last one with Brody and Clayton so we all fought it out together.

Guess reality wasn’t as real as I’d believed.

Ronnie and Abby were talking in loud voices, and the guys were getting trashed at the run-down, half-assed bar down the road. All I wanted was to go home to bed, but didn’t want to add any extra incentive for the girls to hate me, so I agreed to go out for a drink.

Big mistake.

I looked down at her phone again.

“Still waiting to hear from Adam?” Brenna asked with a bit of sympathy. She ended up being the only one to really give me a chance, even though she took crap from the others.

I sighed. “Yeah, he leaves for LA soon and I’ve been having trouble with my connection.”

Brenna wrinkled her nose. “Me, too, it sucks out here. Hey, I’m afraid I’m going to be the next voted out.” Her voice held worry. “It’s all about stupid alliances here. Any way you can make nice with a few more people so they don’t gang up on me?”

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