Page 85 of Hayden's Stalker

Cooper agrees and pulls out his phone to make a call while we collect our things and take them out to the tour bus with Jesse. Cooper nods at us as we leave the room, and we make our way through the venue and outside.

When we reach my tour bus, I stand in the cold night air while Tati and Jesse check outside the bus.

When we get on the bus, I’m greeted by a balding man in his fifties. “Mr. Vega, it’s nice to meet you. I’m Alvin.”

“Hi, Alvin,” I say with a smile and shake his hand.

“Stay here with Jesse, Hayden,” Tati says. “I’m going to sweep the bus.”

I nod at her and watch her disappear through the secure door that the tour bus company managed to install at Tati’s insistence. As I watch her walk through it, I’m grateful again that she’s here to keep me safe.

Jesse and I make small talk with Alvin until Tati appears again and says, “Okay, we’re good to go.” She steps aside, leaving a gap for me to walk past her into the bus itself, and says, “You go on, Hayden. Jesse and I just need to talk to Alvin. I’ll bring this stuff in to you in a minute.”

She indicates to the pile of gifts she carried to the bus for me. I take as much as I can, prioritizing the really sentimental gifts even though I know Tati will be careful with them and walk through the secure door.

Tati closes it behind me, shutting me out from their discussion, and I frown, wondering what they want to talk to the driver about without me there.

As I walk through the bus, I revel in the quiet comfort. It’s a strange antithesis to the hyper energy of the concert. So much has happened today, and I feel a strange combination ofnervous, sad, happy, worried, and elated. I recognize that this is beyond my regular feelings after the first night of a tour, and make a note to myself to see if I can do a phone session with Bredan to discuss everything that’s happened today.

After I put the gifts away in a cupboard, I strip off and pull on a pair of gray sweatpants before stretching out on my bed. I pull out my phone and send an email to Brendan’s office asking for a an appointment, then ignore Blake’s name at the top of my message list and open one from Ness.

Carm woke up when I came to check on her.

She’s also sent a video, and I open it to see Carmelita hugging a Cruise Control teddy bear while one of the light-up flowers from the merch stand spins in front of her.

“Te amo, Tío Hayden!” she calls to the camera with a bright smile.

My heart swells, and I type back a text to Ness.

Tell Carmelita that I love her, too. I’m gonna miss you guys.

I consider telling her about the gift from the stalker, but I don’t want to worry her, so I set my phone aside and grab a book instead.

I haven’t been reading for long when Tati knocks on the door, and I call out, “Come in.”

“I’ve got the rest of your gifts,” she says as she opens the door and walks in.

It gives me great amusement when she pulls up short and swallows heavily when she sees me. Her eyes run over my topless body and down over the gray sweatpants.

“Enjoying the view?” I tease her, satisfied as hell when her cheeks turn bright pink.

“Just making sure you’re safe.”

I grin at her, “If you need a closer look, I would completely understand.”

“No, I can see plenty from here. Where do you want these gifts?”

I put my book down on the bed next to me, get up, and walk over to her. “Here, I’ll take them.”

As I take the gifts off her and put them in the cupboard with the other gifts, I wonder if she would want to watch a movie with me.

I turn back to face her and ask, “Are you tired?”

“Not really. Why?” She shrugs her shoulders.

“I wondered if you might want to watchCasino Royalewith me. I sometimes struggle to switch off after a concert, and tonight has been…a lot. I figured watching a movie might help.”

She looks at her watch before she nods her head. “Sure.”

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