Page 10 of Fractured Kiss

Zac looked over his shoulder. Cassie and Lexie were walking toward where the road crew was unloading equipment and pieces of the set from the fleet of trucks parked on the other side of the lot. He was glad Lexie had gone with her. The last thing she needed was to be alone right now.

His gaze fell to the sway of her hips as she walked, and he looked away.

Way too fucking complicated.

ChapterSix

Cassie walked across the parking lot next to Lexie. It was strangely comforting having the woman by her side, even though they’d barely had a chance to have a full conversation before this morning.

“Where to?” Lexie asked.

“I need to find Charlie,” she named the tour’s production manager, “and ask him if there’s an empty bunk on one of the sleeper buses I can use.”

“What will you do if there aren’t any?”

Cassie exhaled shakily. “I don’t know. There’s no way I can go back on Blacklite’s bus. I think I’ll have to end my contract and deal with the consequences. At least it’ll give me time to organize somewhere else to live while Bryan’s still away.”

Lexie frowned. “It doesn’t seem fair that he screwed up, and you’re the one who has to pay.”

“No, it doesn’t.” Cassie flashed her a pained smile.

Lexie pressed her lips together but said nothing. She raised her camera and snapped a photo of some of the crew unloading massive pieces of stage set.

Cassie finally spotted Charlie. He was overseeing the movement of cases of audio equipment into the venue. Nerves fluttered in her stomach as he noticed them. He held his radio up to his lips, spoke something into it, then walked over.

“Cassie, Lexie. Can I help you with something?”

“I hope so,” Cassie said. “I was wondering if there might be a spare bunk on one of the buses.”

He eyed her. “Why are you asking?”

She did her best not to let the rawness of her wounds show. “Um, Bryan and I… well, uh… we’ve…”

Charlie grunted. “I can’t move people around just because you and your fiancé had an argument.”

“No, it’s more than that.” She drew in a steadying breath. “We’re not together anymore, and I can’t stay on there. I can’t—”

Charlie cursed under his breath. “This is why I don’t like having couples on tour together.”

Cassie frowned. Lexie was listening to Charlie with a little crease between her brows.

With a long-suffering sigh, he pulled out his phone and tapped on it a few times. He scratched his chin. “According to the crew manifest, the sleeper buses are full.”

Cassie’s stomach dropped.Shit.

“You can blame your fiancé and his band for that. They wanted togo big or go home.” She thought she saw his upper lip curl as he made air quotes with his fingers. “So, now we have extra pyrotechnicians and lighting techs on board.”

A knot of worry was rapidly forming in Cassie’s chest, but Charlie continued. “Look. There’s a small chance I might be able to find you a bunk. It’s not unusual on tours like this that people hook up.” She tried not to flinch at how painfully accurate his words were. “Someone might not be using their own bed. I can ask around, see if anyone’s willing to give theirs up.”

The knot behind her ribs loosened a little. It certainly wasn’t outside the realm of possibility. “Thank you so much. That would be amazing.”

He nodded. “But just so you know, it’s a long shot. Most people aren’t willing to make a bet that a casual hook-up is going to last the whole tour, so they probably won’t want to lose their bunk permanently. You’ll have to consider an alternative plan.” He raised his brows. “Or get over whatever it was Bryan did. Or you did. Whatever. One of you just apologize and move on.”

Indignation stole Cassie’s voice. The only person who needed to apologize was Bryan. And getting over what had happened wasn’t possible. Not right now, anyway. Maybe never. What she’d seen yesterday had forever changed her belief in who Bryan was. In a few seconds, he went from the hero of her story to the villain. All the promises he’d made, all the whispered declarations of love, asking her to spend forever with him, it was all meaningless. All her imaginings of a future with him now seemed like the silly daydreams of a lonely little girl, desperate for someone to love her.

“Thanks Charlie,” Lexie said when she saw Cassie struggling to respond. “We’ll try to figure something out in case you don’t have any luck.”

Charlie only grunted, gave a nod and strode off.

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