Page 70 of Crimson Desires

After the emotions-fest that last night had been, I didn’t want to push Aster into another wrought conversation.

Yet, it felt wrong to pretend to not notice her distress.

As Aster toweled off from the shower and changed into her day clothes—a Nirvana tank top, a pair of black ripped jean shorts, and her sneakers—I bit the bullet.

“What’s on your mind?”

Aster shrugged. “Charleston.”

I furrowed my brow. “What’s so bad about Charleston? Is it the humidity? The crocodiles? The racists?”

“Good guesses, but no. Humidity never bothered me, I’m not scared of crocodiles, and there are racists everywhere,” Aster said. She offered me a concealing grin. “Do you want to guess again?”

I thought back to everything that I knew about Aster. When the answer finally struck me, I felt stupid for not knowing it immediately.

“It’s Violet,” I said.

Aster’s grin wobbled. “Yeah. It’s Violet.”

“Charleston’s a pretty big city,” I offered. “And we’re only staying in town for a night. There’s an overwhelmingly decent chance that you won’t see her.”

“There’s an overwhelmingly decent chance that I will. Violet was a huge fangirl back when we were kids.”

“Of me?”

“Of the fucking Doobie Brothers. Yes, of you. Obviously,” Aster snapped. Immediately after, she winced. “Sorry. That came out a little meaner than I wanted it to. I’m just stressed. Anyways, Violet used to be obsessed with you back when you were a pop star. She had all your CDs, hung your magazine posters up on her bedroom walls, and watched every one of your interviews.”

“And you didn’t recognize me when we first met?” I asked.

Aster’s face reddened. “Well, you don’t exactly look like a tween pop star anymore, do you?” She bit the inside of her cheek and rubbed her hands together. “Either way, there’s a good chance that she’s bought a ticket to your show. And, knowing her, there’s an even better chance that she’ll want some merch. And since I work the merch table...”

“Collision is inevitable.”

“Yep. Pretty much.”

I frowned. “I’ll talk to Ava. Maybe you can switch jobs with another crew member for the night.” At Aster’s dubious expression, I quickly added, “Ava’s strict, but she’s not a monster. You have a genuine reason for wanting to avoid your sister. I’m sure she’ll understand.”

“Alright. Thanks,” Aster said.

We headed down to the lobby of the hotel, where Ava was busy corralling everyone into the tour busses. I frowned, realizing that for the next several days, Aster and I would have to sleep on different buses.

If I had my way, I’d let Aster sleep on the tour bus with us. We could both squeeze into my bunk, no problem. We’d done it once before, after all. But I knew that wouldn’t be fair to the guys. The bus was cramped enough as it was with five of us in it.

Plus, I had a feeling that Aster wouldn’t want the other crew members to think that she was getting special treatment.

“I’ll see you soon,” I said.

Aster’s jaw tightened. “Yeah. You, too.”

A moment of silence fell over us. Neither of us seemed to want to split from the other.

Aster’s eyes flickered from her shoes to my lips. Then, she got up on her toes and gave me a quick kiss. Before I could tease her about liking me, she jabbed her index finger into my chest and said, “Don’t you dare say something fucking stupid and ruin this, Jack.”

I laughed.

God, that girl was something else.

I offered Aster another, longer kiss. Finally satisfied with our goodbye, she left.

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