Authors: Liliana Rhodes
Chapter Fifteen
"Let's go everybody! In the bus, in the bus!" Stan boomed in a voice that was much larger than his small frame.
Everyone rushed to board the bus after the show, making sure all the equipment was stored underneath. They just opened for an incredible band Lucky was hoping to listen to, but when Stan wanted something, you obeyed.
"How long of a drive?" Lucky asked.
"Fifteen hours to Phoenix. I'm well rested after that beautiful hotel and..." He cleared his throat and waved to a middle aged woman blowing kisses at him.
"Stan, you dog!" Lucky giggled.
"I am what I am," he said grinning. "Feel free to sleep, it'll make the time pass quicker. We'll make one pit stop in the morning so I can refuel and stretch my legs."
Lucky slid into her seat with her messenger bag. Across the aisle from her were Jordan and Dylan, lost in their own world.
Those two are too cute
. She looked up at Jude as he entered the bus and exchanged a smile with him. As he walked past, he leaned down to her.
"Come sit with me," he whispered then continued walking to the back.
As she grabbed her bag, Kat popped up from the seat behind her.
"You're moving?"
"Umm yeah Kat. Did you want something?"
"No, I just thought you invited Ross and Mike on the bus you might want to spend some time with them. Seems I'm always keeping them company."
"Nooo, you invited them. You just needed my permission to bring them on board. If you don't want them around anymore just tell them they're off the bus."
"Nah, I find them amusing. You do know though the thing about rock stars, right?"
"What?"
"They've got a girl in every city."
"What's that got to do with me?"
"I'm just saying that's all." Kat shrugged and then lifted her eyebrow at Lucky. "Sometimes though they find a girl on tour and bring her along. Plenty of stuff happens on tour. Its almost like Vegas. Whatever happens on tour, stays on tour. Just thought you should know that."
Lucky angrily yanked her bag and moved to the back of the bus. Kat became more annoying as the tour went on. She didn't even know why she needed a keyboardist. All of her songs would be fine without it.
"Something happen?" Jude asked.
"No, nothing. Just Kat. Forget about it."
She looked out the window as the city lights blurred against the windows. Eventually the bus made it back onto the highway and the passing cars and landscape blended together. She turned on a small light and began writing in her notebook.
Lucky spent most of the night writing lyrics. Getting lost with her words, she didn't realize she never slept until the sun began to rise. She turned off the small light and looked over at Jude asleep in the seat beside her.
"You need sleep you know," he said with his eyes still closed.
"I thought you were sleeping. Did my light keep you up?"
"No. I can't sleep out in public."
"You're not in public, its just us. The same people you've been traveling with."
"Its public. There are windows. There's people I would never allow in my bed."
She grinned thinking about how she slept in his bed twice, but then remembered a lot of women had done more than just sleep in his bed.
"You're strange."
"Why do you think there's the bed in the back?"
"Really? I thought that was just the Jude Morrison love den." She giggled softly not wanting to wake everyone.
"Ha, no. Maybe at one time, but not anymore. Come on, I slept great last night, I need you to sleep with me again."
She smiled and got up with him. He quietly opened the door and turned on the lights as they entered and the door closed behind them. Turning towards her, he pulled her close. Her breath caught as she looked up into his green eyes, getting lost as she always did.
The sound of her heart was deafening. It raced while at the same time, seconds slowed as he stepped even closer to her. He touched her chin firmly as he looked directly into her eyes.
"I can't hold myself back anymore, Olivia. I've been waiting too long for this."
His lips came down upon hers and the world began to spin. She felt his hands press her against him tighter, then slide down over the curve of her ass and stay there. Moving her hands up his strong, muscular arms she moved her lips with his. His head tilted to one side, hers to the other. All the things she was curious about kissing were answered in a few brief seconds.
She felt the slow jerk of the bus come to a stop and there was an odd sound but she pushed it out of her head. Why would she pay attention to anything but him? When his tongue entered her mouth, she felt her legs go weak and held on to him tighter, hoping he wouldn't stop.
"What the hell? I knew you had a thing for him!" Ross yelled as he entered the room and snapped a picture of them with his cell phone.
"Get the fuck out of here," Jude growled at Ross as he moved in front of Lucky, his hand on her hip.
WILD WILD WEST
Chapter Sixteen
"Ross no!" Lucky called after him but Jude grabbed her arm firmly.
"Let him go. Trust me."
Before she could respond, Jude was out of the bus. Confused, she looked out the window just in time to see him spin Ross around and punch him in the face. She heard gasps and she quickly realized everyone on the bus was either pressed against the glass or exiting the bus for a closer look.
Ross fell to the ground with that punch, still clutching his cell phone while blood gushed from his nose as Jude stood over him. Swiping the phone from him, Jude threw it to the ground and crushed it underneath his heavy boot. Ross held his bloodied nose and spoke but Lucky couldn't hear. Based on his indignant stare, she knew he was saying it was too late.
As Jude turned to face the bus, Ross tried standing up but fell again. The roadies and Dylan patted Jude on the back as he entered the bus and made his way back to Lucky.
"Sorry, I tried," he said.
Looking deep into his green eyes, for a moment she forgot what happened. As Lucky realized her first kiss was going to be splashed across tabloids and magazines, she felt her stomach clench and twist. After the interviews and now this, she felt like her whole life had suddenly been made public.
Never had she imagined her first kiss would be with her rock star crush, but having the world witness it was something she couldn't accept. Thinking about Jude's reputation she imagined what the headlines would be and her vision blurred as tears filled her eyes.
Feeling the bus begin to move, she sat on the bed as tears erupted from her eyes. She covered her face not wanting Jude to see her crying.
"Why are you crying? Because of the picture?" He asked.
She nodded. "It's not fair! I thought he liked me. We even let him ride on the bus with us. I'm sure he was waiting for something to happen all along. Something he could make a buck off of."
"You learn that quick in this business. Not everything or everyone is who they seem." He sat beside her and held her against his chest as she sobbed. "Sometimes the ones you think you can trust the most, you should have trusted the least. You'd be surprised what money does to people."
"Is that how you got your reputation?"
He let her go before answering. "Let's just say there's always an element of truth in everything you read."
"Wait, does that mean–"
"That means we're not going to talk about it."
He got up and left the room without an explanation. She looked out of the small room, towards the sea of leather chairs. Ross and his stuff were gone. She was glad about that, except it meant he was probably selling the photograph that very minute.
After so many days on the road, a couple of hours felt like nothing to Lucky. She was used to the steady sway and hum of the bus. Positioning herself in a seat next to a window she sat with her acoustic guitar and strummed as she played with some lyrics she wrote earlier.
The label already suggested she should plan her next album. She figured if the tour did well enough they'd have her recording and out on the road again quickly. It didn't take much to figure out how they worked.
Out of the corner of her eye she saw Jude approaching. Her heart leapt into her chest as it did every time she saw him. It didn't matter that they were trapped on a bus, if she hadn't seen him in a while her body reacted as it did when he first entered the dining room at breakfast in Philadelphia. She hoped it wasn't obvious.
"Hey Olivia, I called some people I know in Phoenix. They're going to have a bike for me when we get there. We're going on a little trip."
"A trip?"
"Dress comfortably, we're riding up to Sedona. I think you need a break from all this. Show's not til tomorrow night anyway."
Watching him walk away, she thought about how gorgeous he was and wondered again about his reputation. Maybe that was how he worked. He probably just kissed her because he had the opportunity and no other women were around.
She thought about the many women swooning over him at every show. How he'd always disappear with them. Then she thought about when she barged into his room found him alone. It still didn't make sense.
Jude was right, she needed to live. She had to experience life and all its ups and downs. Her parents had sheltered her too much. Maybe if she had been out in the world she would've seen Ross for exactly who he was and not trusted him so easily.
Looking around the bus, she wondered who else she couldn't trust. Jordan she would trust with her life. Looking at her dozing with her head resting on Dylan's shoulder, she knew she had to trust Dylan as well. If Jordan trusted him that much, she knew he had to be a good guy.
Kat was a couple of rows away from her but across the aisle. She always looked perfect. Too perfect. Lucky wondered how anyone could look so flawless without much rest.
Lucky wanted to trust Kat, but she couldn't help the nagging voice in her head that said not to. She knew Kat was the popular girl in school, probably had lots of boyfriends and never spent a weekend alone. She thought Kat could teach her so much about life and being on the road. But it was Kat's idea to let Ross
and his friend join them on the bus. If Kat was so smart, why didn't she see them for who they were?
She decided to ask Kat if she heard anything. Maybe Ross or Mark told her something before the bus left. As she approached her, the bus swerved and knocked Lucky into the seat behind Kat who was talking on her phone.
"We're almost to Phoenix. You have to come. You told me this would be my tour! The label doesn't care about some fat chick. They specifically asked for me, remember?"
Shocked, Lucky couldn't move. She thought Kat was her friend. Jude was right, not everyone is who they seemed.
"If you're not in Phoenix, I'm leaving. Let this tour go on without me. You promised this was my big break and I'm not even in the spotlight. Fucking drummer. I don't care who he is." Kat was silent for a moment. "I thought I told you. The drummer cracked under pressure." She was quiet again. "Yes. With Jude fucking Morrison, can you believe it?"
Lucky heard enough. She quietly got up and returned to her seat. Grabbing her phone she wondered if she could get Kat off the tour, but remembered what she said was right–the label specifically wanted her there. Her heart sank a little.
She knew Richard Black wouldn't give her tour to Kat. They were her songs and Kat couldn't string two words together unless they were written for her. So who was she talking to?
As the bus turned off the highway, she realized she never changed like Jude told her to. She grabbed a pair of loose fitting jeans, a purple print floral tank top and a grey cowl neck knit top with short dolman sleeves. While she changed the bus stopped and she heard everyone get off.
When she finished changing, she grabbed her messenger bag, slung it across her body and left the bus. It was late morning and the sun was high in the sky. Shielding her eyes, she saw most of the band under the canopy of the hotel entrance. Nearby a motorcycle growled to a start.