There, calling to me with a solution, sat her cellphone on its charger. The decision I was about to make was a heavy one—but for her, I'd do anything.
Carefully, I guided Lola off of me. She looked peaceful, and still, it killed me to leave her alone. Even so, gathered up her phone in one hand, my jeans in the other. A shadow, I pushed her curtain aside, moving deeper into the bus. No one waited for me in the aisle; I'd heard both Colt and Porter return to their rooms over an hour ago.
Ducking into my room, I zipped my pants on, then shoved my head through the neck-hole of a hooded sweatshirt. In the darkness, I flipped Lola's phone open.
It wasn't hard to find Sean's number.
I typed fast, just my thumb doing the work. It was after two in the morning, there was a strong chance the guy was asleep. Lola's message—my message—was sent. It said 'Meet me outside Belly Up. We need to talk.'
Clicking the device shut, I shoved it deep in my pocket. Yanking the hood over my head, I drifted out of the bus. There were a few security guards loitering outside, and to their credit, they were still awake. I nodded at them; they let me be. They were there to keep stalkers and groupies out, not to keep me in.
The Colorado breeze was crisp. I was grateful for my sweatshirt. Hunkering down against the furthest darkened wall of the bar, I looked out on the lot and waited.
I didn't have to wait long.
Sean walked my way like a phantom. He must have been awake when I'd sent the text, there was no way he'd have come outside so fast otherwise. The dark grey jacket he wore came into focus. “Lola?" he hissed. "Lola, are you out here?”
He couldn't see me in the shadows, the street lights were too far away. I curled my fist in his jacket and ripped him closer. He stumbled, struggling against me with a surprised shout. “What the—what the fuck? Who the hell—” My wide hand covered his mouth.
Wrenching him around, my muscles worked to slam his back against the cold wall.
Here, no one would see us.
I knew his eyes had adjusted to the dark when they finally went wide, recognizing who had attacked him. “Shh,” I growled. “Not so loud. Calm down.”
There was still stiffness in his body when Sean released my forearms. With one more pointed glare, I removed my hand. “What the shit, man?” he asked. “Where's Lola?" His eyebrows went up. "Fuck, did you use her phone to message me? You've got some balls.”
Ignoring his obvious distress, I said, “You wouldn't have come if you knew it was me. I need to talk to you.”
“About what?” Scoffing, he buried his hands in his pockets.
His attitude sent an anxious buzzing down my fingers. I wanted to shove him against the wall again, just to make him realize how serious I was. “About you and Lola, what the hell else?”
“What's going on between her and me isn't your problem.” Sean's chin bent low, his blue eyes that looked more like ebony narrowing at me.
“Everything that has to do with her is my problem.” Snarling, I slammed a palm flat on the wall beside his head. His flinch was glorious, goading me on. “And right now, she's miserable because of how you've been treating her.”
“How I've been treating her?” He shoved my shoulders, the impact solid enough that my heel slid back an inch. “She's the one who's been ignoring me, treating me like shit!”
Our voices were rising. Someone might hear us, our secret meeting could be ruined, but I'd stopped caring. He thought Lola was the one treating him badly? Her? “You're overreacting," I warned. "She cares about you. She's just been busy getting into the swing of being in a real band.”
Madness—disgust —bloomed across Sean's features. “I don't know if that was a fucking dig at Barbed Fire or not, but she's in your 'real' band because I'm the one who pushed her to audition. Getting into the swing of things? That's bullshit. She was just as busy before and she always told me what was going on.”
“Talk to her.” It was less of a request, more a demand. “You make the time to talk to her and clear this up. She's dealt with too much already. Lola doesn't deserve the tension between you two bringing her down.”