Page 37 of Too Little Too Soon
He didn’t say a damn word. Just let her lead the way.
ChapterThirteen
Coherent thought startedto return the moment they pushed through the arena doors and the frigid late January air hit him in the face.
And then Travis felt like a pussy, because, Jesus, he’d literally froze into a state of shock when his stalker had smiled up at him like all was right in the world. He didn’t even want to think about how many cameras had caught what was probably a look of adject terror on his face, and the way he’s stumbled and fell on his ass.
One thing broke through all the horror, though. Ava. Her arm around his back, her take-charge attitude, her refusal to leave him alone even when they were on the bus with the door closed and Teddy instructed not to let anyone on except the band.
They didn’t have a tricked out tour bus like Panic Station. Theirs was a rental, bare bones. A seating area up front, a bathroom and shower in the back, and a row of bunks in between.
“The only place I can be alone on here is in a bunk,” he said. Even then, all that separated him from his band mates was a curtain, but it would be enough for them to get the message. And he really did not want to explain himself to anyone else right now.
“A bunk it is,” Ava said, waving at him to roll into the one he’d claimed as his own.
And then she slid in next to him, tugging the curtains closed and draping them in almost total darkness.
For the record, the bunks on the bus were only slightly larger than a single bed, so the only way he and Ava both fit was by snuggling up real close. She had to roll onto her side and face him, while he did the same, blinking at her in the darkness.
“You don’t need to stay in here with me,” he said, even though he really wanted her to. More than he should. He chalked it up to this fucking panic he felt every time that woman managed to catch up with him again. And maybe the fact that Ava had already talked him off the ledge once tonight, when he’d been feeling melancholy about his experience with his previous band.
Why did every bad thing happen in fucking Cleveland?
“Yes I do,” Ava said. “For my own wellbeing.”
If she really wanted to stay, he had zero desire to push her away right now.
“Hang on.” He shifted and slid his arm around her shoulders. “There. A little more comfortable.” At least the band was spending the night in a hotel tonight, so he wouldn’t have to sleep in here with Ava all night long. Not that he didn’t want to; it was more that he really did want to.
Maria and Oz shared a bunk like this when they were on the road, and Travis had always thought it would be uncomfortable, given how small the beds were.
It wasn’t. Not with his arm around Ava’s shoulders and her hand resting on his waist.
“Hopefully, you don’t have to pee before we get back to the hotel,” she said, and he let out a bark of laughter, which did wonders to ease the tightness in his chest.
Ava’s phone vibrated and lit up. “Who is it?” he asked.
“Maria. She wants to know where I am. And whether you’re okay.”
“What are you telling her?” he asked, watching her tap on the screen.
“That we’re on the bus and you don’t want to talk to anyone.”
The truth, then.
She frowned.
“What is it?” he asked. She was so beautiful, even when her brow was crinkled, even in the light from a cell phone.
“The girl who spooked you disappeared.” She caught his eye. “It was your stalker, wasn’t it?”
He shifted his eyes to the side. “Yeah.”
Her grip on his waist tightened for a moment, but she didn’t ask for details. She was surely ridiculously curious about how some random chick could set him off like this, but she cared enough not to press.
“Thanks,” he said. For everything. For getting him the hell out of that room. For hiding him here on the bus. For hiding with him. For not demanding answers before he was ready to give them.
Curtains did not protect against noise, so it was obvious when the rest of the band boarded the bus. Maria demanded to know if everyone was accounted for, and then the vehicle lurched into motion. No one wandered back to the bunks to check on him. He suspected that was because of whatever Ava had told her sister. One more reason to appreciate the woman who was lying in this bunk with him.
