Page 39 of Just Wait

“But he won’t be able to talk about it.” The wrinkles on her forehead deepen as her bluish-gray eyes meet mine. “We all signed NDAs.”

“That won’t stop him from lying to protect his ass…”

“All he has to say is that I’m the one who cheated,” she says, following my thought process. “Everyone will do the work for him, and I can’t even defend myself because of the NDA.”

“Hey, I know it’s tempting, but I promise you, the best thing you can do is stay silent.” I pat her thigh, nodding to her phone. “We can talk to Benji tomorrow about getting someone in to do damage control with the press. Do yourself a favor and turn that thing off for the night.”

“You’re right. I need some sleep.” She grabs the phone and shuts it off. “I can’t thank you guys enough for giving me a few days to figure out my next steps.”

“It’s no problem,” I assure her. “We aren’t going to rush you out the door. Give it a day or two, and you’ll realize how unglamorous it is being stuck on a bus with five rock stars.”

She laughs and stands. “Been there, done that. My eyes are officially open.”

That’s right.

She has, and it’s done nothing but leave a bad taste in her mouth where rock stars are concerned.

Hell, she could wake up tomorrow and decide she’s willing to forgive him.

I’ve seen it happen before.

Everyone thinks they could never get past cheating, but if what Riser said is true about her canceling her lease to come on tour… She might wake up tomorrow, realize how hard the road ahead will be, and decide she can overlook his indiscretion.

Or she might love his sorry ass.

Goddammit.

There’s no reason that train of thought should put me in such a shit mood.

It does, though.

Which is absurd.

Even with the tour being shortened because of the reschedule, we still have months left on the road.

It’s not like I’m in the position to offer her a more stable environment, and we just met. It’s ridiculous that my instincts are so worried about what happens to her.

Even logically understanding that doesn’t make me any less riled.

This is a shit show.

Chapter Ten

Lumen

The bus takes off some time later. There’s talking, laughing, and noise outside the bedroom door, but I think they do their best to stay quiet. Well, as quiet as anyone can be on a tiny tour bus. They’re half as obnoxious as Theo and his bandmates would be after a show, and I appreciate it.

The bedroom on their bus is nice. When you first walk in, closed shelves line either side of the door. Straight ahead is a wall of cabinets built around the head of the bed. There’s a foot or two of space around the queen-size mattress, but it’s still a bus, so it’s a tight fit.

The trim around the ceiling has a strip of LED lights along the bottom, and there are more under the edge of the bed. I couldn’t figure out how to shut them off, but they’re a dim enough glow that I doubt they’ll keep me up.

The fact I can’t stop spiraling is doing a steady job of ensuring I don’t experience any rest, no matter how exhausted I am.

It’s a loop of blaming myself for being stupid enough to hope that we could make it through this tour with our relationship intact to being so mad my entire body shakes.

Theo tried to tell me it wasn’t what it looked like, but I saw that woman kiss him.

He was also zipping his pants.