Page 28 of Under the Ink

“No.”

“You ever watchBreaking Bad?”

“No.” The way she said the word this time was with incredulity, as if Sage should have known better not to even ask. Jesus H. Christ on a world tour. He was not going to handle this woman with kid gloves.

But it didn’t matter. She was here to perform a job. They didn’thaveto be friends.

“Well…if you like cities, you’ll like ABQ. Old Town is super fucking cool if you like exploring. We should get there early enough if you wanted to check it out.”

Finally, her face softened like butter. “Yeah. I will.”

Taking a swig from the bottle, he said, “Anyway…I just wanted to thank you again for doing a kick ass job tonight.”

“You’re welcome.”

“I, uh…I think I’m gonna head back to the party now. Wanna come with?”

She seemed to consider it just for a second. But then she kind of screwed up her mouth in the cutest way before giving a small shake of her head. “No. I think I’m gonna get some rest. Is the bus unlocked?”

“Should be. But I guess I should warn you. There might be a little partying going on in there too.”

Her face expressed so many levels of displeasure, Sage couldn’t keep up. But, bottom line, she needed to realize she was working for a metal band. There would be partying and women and all manner of debauchery. If she didn’t like it, she could leave.

“What a surprise.” She walked out the doors to the parking lot anyway to head toward the bus, and Sage made his way back down the hall, breathing in the atmosphere as he got closer. There was a definite vibe in the air, one of celebration and excitement.

Jimmy would have already been having a blast, yelling, being crazy…and finding a couple of gorgeous brunettes to polish their drumsticks.

When he walked back in the room, he sized up the crowd first, trying to decide where to settle in. Did he want to have a chat with any of his bandmates? Cozy up to one of the pockets of fans? Hang with any of the roadies at various spots throughout the room?

Before he could make a decision, Andy shouted at him from the nearest corner, still in the same spot Sage had left.

And they were still drinking.

“Sage!”

Nodding his chin, Sage stepped through the crowd to get there. He felt a couple of hands on his back, probably a fan trying to get his attention, but he didn’t stop or turn. “How’s the party goin’?” he asked Andy.

“We should be asking you the same question, you dog.”

“Dog?Not even.”

“You were gone with the fair maiden long enough for shit to have gone down.”

“Dude…” Sage said, shaking his head. “I don’t shit where I eat.” Not that Naomi would have given him a chance. She was as icy as they came, and he’d already figured out that his charms had no chance of thawing any square inch of her body.

“Did you at least give it the ol’ college try?”

“Nope.”

“Then I imagine,” Andy said, his Cajun drawl as smooth as glass, “you got balls bluer than your eyes.”

Sage laughed. That might have been true had he expected to score…but that couldn’t have been further from his mind. “My balls are fine, my man.”

“Yeah…but I’ll bet you wouldn’t mind tasting one of these stacked babes here tonight.” Andy got closer, draping an arm over Sage’s shoulders and looking around the room as if they were two hunters on the plain, trying to sort out the best prey—not the easiest, necessarily, but the tastiest.

“Before you got here, I talked to those two lovelies over there hovering around Johnny. They seem extra slutty, definitely down to fuck—and I think they come as a pair.”

“Well…they’re talking to the wrong guy. Johnny won’t cheat on Katie.”

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