Page 28 of Rock & Roll Nights: The Lila and Rivers Edit
“Turns out you’re not going to practice your hot-wiring today,” I whispered. “Get in.”
He made to get into the driver’s seat, but I shoved him toward the passenger door. “I don’t think so. I found the keys. I’m driving.”
“Unfair,” he mumbled. “And from now on, I’m telling everyone that you’re the one who stole this car, not me. Turns out you’re not as good an influence as everyone thought you would be.”
He hustled toward the other side of the truck and climbed in, throwing our bags into the back on his way and being only slightly more careful with the guitar cases. I was already behind the wheel with the truck on and in gear by the time he was seated, and I swerved away from the curb the moment he had the door closed.
“God, Turbo, let me get my seatbelt on!” he said, surprised. “What are you, an actual car thief in disguise or something?”
“Hurry it up,” I said, my eyes on the rearview mirror. “We’re stealing a truck. I don’t think this is the sort of thing we want anyone to see. And we definitely don’t want the photographers getting any pictures.”
“Take it easy,” he said. “No one even?—”
At that moment, someone came tearing out of the store the truck had been parked in front of, shouting. Seconds later, several other people joined him, each of them shouting above the others.
I screamed, and Rivers shouted, “Step on it!”
I didn’t need further encouragement. I jammed my foot down on the accelerator and sent the truck tearing forward up the street, my heart pounding with either excitement or terror—or both—and one thought in my mind: I’d just stolen a truck.
So I could continue on tour with Olivia Johns and Connor Wheating.
And it was all Rivers Shine’s doing.
14
RIVERS
Istared up at the clouds scooting along above us, my hands behind my head and my eyes half closed.
“I can’t believe we just stole a truck,” Lila said again.
“Relax,” I said. “I’ll have one of roadies take it back. That means it’s not stealing. It’s borrowing.”
I could feel her looking at me, her eyebrows probably furrowed and her eyes inevitably narrowed. “We took it without asking, Rivers. That’s stealing.”
“Oh, my sweet summer child,” I murmured, trying very, very hard not to smile at how naive she was. I mean sure, we’d taken the truck without permission. But I was planning to return it, and that meant it wasn’t actually stealing, in my book.
Just borrowing without permission.
I’d done things that were a whole lot worse, and I’d seen things that made all of this look vanilla. Yes, the guy who owned the truck was probably running around tearing his hair out right now, trying to decide what you did when a rock star and his new girlfriend stole your truck. But he was going to get it back and have a great story to tell. No lasting damage.
No memories that would keep him up at night, bleeding into his brain every time he closed his eyes and making him wish he could bleach his memory just to forget how horrible humanity could be.
But that was neither here nor there. The fact was, we hadn’t actually stolen the truck.
Lila must have realized that I wasn’t going to agree with her on that point, because she shuffled around a bit and got quiet for several moments. We were lying in the bed of the truck, which we’d parked in a meadow we found halfway to our next stop. We hadn’t needed a rest, not really—the drive was only about two hours—but we’d both thought it was a good idea to get off the road for a while in case anyone was chasing us.
Not that they would be. I’d seen towns that small before and they didn’t normally have a police force. They probably shared a sherriff’s office with the surrounding towns, and it would take hours before that office would roll anyone out to take a report. The chances of someone chasing us were very small.
I hadn’t told Lila that, though. When she suggested we get off the road just in case, I’d agreed quickly. And I’d done it for purely selfish reasons. I’d wanted to prolong the drive at least a little bit. This was the first time we’d been together outside of a hotel full of people who either knew us or wanted something from us, and it felt... I don’t know, like we’d escaped together or something.
It was just the two of us out here on the road, with no one else watching or taking pictures or wondering whether we were going to be able to keep appearances up. No judgement, no pressure, no rules. Just me and the sunshine girl out in the world, free at last.
Okay, so I didn’t know if she felt any of that. But I certainly did.
“What are you thinking?” I asked quietly.
She let out a chuckle. “I was thinking that the cloud right above us looks like a dragon.”
