Page 57 of Under the Ink

Swagger even.

This was his moment, damn it, and he was taking it.

When he walked into the party in an intimate room on the first floor of the hotel, his eyes were scouring the place. But the universe had other ideas.

Bobby placed a hand on his arm, distracting him from his mission. “How are things going? Do you need anything over the next week or so?”

Feeling like a smart ass, he almost told the guycondoms, but the truth was he had plenty. He hadn’t been using them like he usually did on a tour, though.

Because of Naomi.

And Bobby would have gotten him a giant box, sure as the world, if he’d only asked.

He was a good guy and didn’t need shit from Sage right now—so he’d give him the truth. Short and sweet. “I’m good, man. Maybe check with the other guys.”

“They said the same thing. You doing all right?”

“Yeah. Of course. Why wouldn’t I be? This tour has been amazing so far.”

“It has. All the bean counters back home are happy.”

Sage laughed. “Yeah, ‘cause that’s who Shock Treatment wants to make happy.”

“You know what I—”

“I do, dude.” But he’d had enough small talk. “Have you seen Naomi?”

“I just saw her a second ago.”

Patting Bobby on the back, he said, “Thanks,” and started walking before he got stuck.

“Hold up.”

Jesus H. jumped-up Christ. “Yeah?”

“We’re still lookin’ for a permanent replacement. We have a couple—”

“Dude, I trust you. Just tell me when I need to meet them.” Unless Naomi decided to stick around, of course. “See ya,” he said, moving quickly before Bobby decided Sage would be his drinking buddy for the evening.

As he continued moving through the room, he passed Sippi at a keg, where the guy was filling up a plastic cup. “Sage, my man! Can I interest you in—”

“Nope. But thanks, man.”

Sippi shook his head, handing the cup to Andy when Sage finally spotted the person he’d been looking for. She was talking to Kiefer and Mickey in a corner—or, rather, listening. Kiefer seemed to be chattering up a storm, always soaking up the limelight.

“And so I don’t really care what the fans think it means. They can interpret it however they want—and that’s when the song becomes theirs.” Kiefer turned his attention to Sage when he draped his arms over both men, still holding the bottle in one hand. Kiefer said, “Finally, man. I figured you were nailing a groupie somewhere.”

Goddammit.He didn’t want Naomi’s head goingthere. “Hell, no. I just had to wash the stink off.”

Mickey said, “It tookthatlong?”

“Yeah, motherfucker, it did. You timing me?”

“And here I thought Kiefer was the sensitive one.”

“Hey!”

Removing his arms and focusing his eyes on Naomi, Sage held out the bag. Once more using the silly British accent, he said, “For you, madam.”

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