“Those bad boys are an addictive adrenaline rush. Once you’re hooked, you’ll keep going back for more.”
“Until it takes two to feed your addiction?”
Mouth open, Reagan blinked at her in astonishment. But before Toni could utter the quick apology on her tongue, Reagan burst out laughing.
“I never thought of it that way, but I think you might be right.”
The door slid open. “That doesn’t sound like making out to me,” Logan said, peeking in at them from between the doorframe and the edge of the sliding door.
“Privacy!” Reagan tossed a pillow that hit him square in the face.
“We’re stopping for sandwiches, and Butch told me to ask Toni what she wants.”
Steve’s head appeared over the top of Logan’s head as he stood on tiptoe to peer in at them.
“He means Butch was headed back to ask Toni what she wants, but at the mention of her name, Logan tackled Butch to the floor and sprinted to the back of the bus because he’s obsessed.”
Logan frowned, turned to shove Steve off his back, and then smiled into the lounge again. “So what would you like?” he asked Toni, his gaze so intense she could almost feel it against her skin.
“Oh my God, he is obsessed!” Reagan shouted.
“Shut up! The woman has to eat.”
“What do they have?” Toni asked, trying not to grin at the way Logan’s bandmates were teasing him.
“Cold cut subs.”
“Turkey on wheat with extra jalapeños.”
“You won’t want her to suck your dick tonight,” Steve joked. “It’ll burn so bad, you’ll need a fire extinguisher.”
Logan covered Steve’s face with his splayed hand and shoved him out of view again.
“Oh.” Toni nibbled on her lower lip. She hadn’t considered what effect eating jalapeños would have on Logan’s anatomy. “Hold the jalapeños.”
Logan grinned and winked at her before turning away. “Guess who’s getting his dick sucked?” he said to Steve as he slid the door shut. “Again.”
Toni’s face flamed much hotter than any jalapeño that had ever existed. “Are guys always that embarrassing?”
“Pretty much.”
Toni lifted her recording device. “I’m going to turn this on now,” she warned, “so anything you say is fair game for the book.”
Reagan nodded, and Toni pressed the record button.
“How did you get picked to play guitar for Exodus End?”
“Their manager, Sam Baily, thought it would be good publicity to do a contest. So hundreds, maybe thousands, of hopeful guitarists sent in demos of their work. I actually entered on a dare. Anyway, the top five were selected by Sam—which I didn’t realize until recently. Have you met Sam yet?”
Toni shook her head.
“That would explain why you’re still here.”
Before Toni could ask what Reagan meant by that, Reagan continued her story.
“The top five had to audition live for the band, except the guys couldn’t see us. They had to base their pick solely on our sound.”
“So I’m assuming you won?”
“Yeah. I couldn’t believe it. And neither could Pyre Vamp, apparently.” Reagan’s lip curled and she lifted a hand to cover her throat.
“The guitarist for Hell’s Crypt?”
“Yep, that’s the guy.”
“Didn’t they unexpectedly pull out of the tour last month?” Toni had run across that tidbit when she’d been preparing for her trip. The details of Hell’s Crypt leaving the tour had been vague.
“They sure did. Because of this.” She traced a faded yellow mark on her neck.
“Is it that a bruise?” Toni had no idea how a bruise would lead to an up-and-coming band pulling out of a career-changing tour with Exodus End.
“It’s almost gone now. You should have seen it a week ago.”
Toni leaned in for a closer inspection. The fading mark completely circled Reagan’s neck.
“How didn’t I notice that before?” Toni asked. It was faded, but hard to overlook.
“I’ve been putting makeup on it to cover it. Is it still noticeable?”
Toni nodded. “It looks like you tried to hang yourself.”
“Dude tried to strangle me with a guitar string. Pyre did this.”
“No shit?” Toni blurted. “You must have been terrified.”
Reagan shrugged. “I was unconscious for most of it. Anyway, his band got fired from the tour, obviously—your lead guitarist tries to kill someone and that’s bound to happen—so lucky for us Steve is close with the guys of Twisted Element. They’ve done an awesome job filling in with no time to prepare a show.”
“I had no idea that’s why they were on tour with you guys. How did I miss that story? I scoured the Internet for news about the band just