we have one fucking day before the show in Colorado, we need every minute we have to make sure Lola is ready.”
“And I told you,” she huffed, “That I can call ahead and squeeze in a chunk of time tonight! Schedule around it, it'll just be an hour at most.”
“An hour to take photos, yeah. What about the hour to set up the location, then the hour to prep her?”
Brenda rolled her eyes, lips going white.
Though my heart was still struggling to climb into my mouth, I looked up at Drezden. “Why can't we just do the shoot here on the bus? Then we won't lose all the time stopping and setting up or whatever.”
Reaching across the table, Brenda clasped my hands in hers. “Yes! That's perfect! I can have the photographer climb on our bus, along with the makeup and wardrobe, then you won't even need to stop practicing until they're ready for you! When we're done, you can go right back to the music while they pack up and hop out into the car that will follow us! Lola, you're a genius!”
I didn't miss the wink she gave Drezden, nor the harsh scowl he answered with. His eyes, normally so green, were dark as a storm when he glared at me. “Fine. Just do whatever you have to but make sure last night never happens again.”
“Of course I will.” She wrinkled her nose. “Give me some credit, I've kept things going for you this far.” Rising out of the seat, she brushed past the tall singer and dug her phone out. “I'll make some calls. We'll be on the road in thirty.”
The moment Brenda left the bus, Drezden became a black hole. Alone with him, my world shrank to a pinprick. His palms touched the table; mine twitched underneath on my thighs. “You shouldn't encourage her. Brenda gets off on every little win over me. She's ruthless.”
My tongue felt heavy when I spoke. “She's right, though. Last night happened because the security had no clue who I was.”
Studying me under lowered eyebrows, Drezden didn't move an inch. “Last night happened because we gave weak people a taste of power. They ran with it, it controlled them.”
He was losing me. “What does that—”
“Think about it!” His voice was as good as a slap; I flinched. “Just because they thought you were some drunken slut looking for a ride—” My throat tightened painfully. “—doesn't excuse what they did! Those assholes should have escorted you away. Why did they need to go as far as they did?”
Nail marks formed in my palms. It took a concentrated effort to calm the muscles in my forearms. “You're partly right.” Drezden tucked his chin, confusion blooming. “They went too far, yeah. My cuts and pride will have to agree. But honestly? If they had just tried to escort me away, it would have turned into a fight anyway. I wouldn't have just gone away, I wanted to get inside.”
Drezden considered me, then cracked a smile that melted the strength from my body. “You'd have fought them instead of just going and finding Colt or Porter or even Brenda?”
His honest surprise told me how little he really knew me. How could he know? My life isn't written on a CD like his is. There's no way for him to understand what I've had done to me... and what I've done. Memories of the asphalt behind my middle school surfaced. Fists that pummeled, my mouth full of blood.
“It doesn't matter," I said. Scrunching my shoulders to my ears, I started to slide from the seat. “You said you wanted to practice. Let's begin.”
“You should eat first.” Sighing in exasperation, he twisted to face the line of cupboards high on the bus wall. “I wish we had more, we haven't stocked up in a while. I'll remind Brenda. Think you can stomach some plain bagels?”
In the filtered sunlight through the open roof, I watched the back of his head. Then without meaning to, my eyes drifted down his spine. The rows of muscles barely hidden by his tight shirt were like train tracks on a course to my destruction. He was... beautiful. Why did someone so intimidating have to be so easy on the eyes?
I said, “Bagels are fine, sure.”
Together we sat at the small table, eating our stale breakfast. It was oddly normal. I didn't remember the last time I'd eaten so casually with anyone, not even my brother. Life was always so busy.
Picking apart the