digs our food out of the bag. “I guess I don’t blame him. I mean, they do have a lot riding on you. The whole band is counting on you to get them where they want to be. Van’s just wanting to ensure his ticket to fame isn’t snatched out of his hands.”
I take a deep breath and accept the cheeseburger he’s handing over. I guess he’s right, but it still aggravates me to no end. This is my life—my affairs, my business. Not his. I’d never dream of telling him he couldn’t be with someone. I don’t know why he thinks it’s okay to do that to me.
“Don’t worry about it. That’s the whole reason we’re together, right? To leave our lives at the door?”
I nod.
He leans over and pulls me closer to him, his lips only an inch from mine. “When we’re together, it’s just you and me. There’s no work, no stress, no friends, no bandmates, and no fame lingering over your head. Only us. Got it?”
I smile and nod, this time feeling better. He kisses me quickly, then pulls away. “Good. Now eat. I have big plans for us this evening.”
My stomach tightens with all the dirty fun he promises and I quickly get to eating.
When I get to the store in the morning, I feel tired. Extremely tired. I’ve been putting in so many hours between gigs, practices, lessons, holding down a full-time job, recording our album, and having a life, that sleep has been put on the back burner. I decide to take off early, leaving at noon. I want to go back to my place and catch a few hours of sleep before practice, but I’m also in desperate need of fun. It’s been nothing but work since we got signed, and I need to blow off some steam. I drive over to Daniel’s office and find him talking to the woman at the front desk. He smiles when he sees me.
“Hey, what are you doing here?” he asks.
“I blew off work. My lesson rescheduled for tomorrow, so I’m free. Want to go have fun?”
He looks at his assistant. “Do I have any appointments today?”
She clicks around on the computer. “No, you’re all clear.”
He looks at me with a smile. “Then let’s get out of the city for the day.”
I want to jump up and down, clapping and cheering, but I hold myself together. “Sounds perfect. Where are we going?”
He smirks. “I have an idea.” He places his hand on the small of my back, leading me toward the exit. We swing by his place so he can change out of his suit, then we’re back in the car.
“So . . . where are we going?”
He looks over at me with a grin. “It’s a surprise.”
I frown at him. “As long as it’s fun. I’ve been working so much lately, I’m burned out. I need some fun and excitement.”
He returns his eyes to the road. “Oh, I think I’ve got you covered, sweetheart.” We stop at a nearby gas station and fill up the tank. We also grab drinks, chips, and candy to munch on while we drive. Daniel says no road trip is fun unless you have good music and junk food. I agree completely.
I sip on my Big Gulp and snack on my pretzels and Twizzlers while he drives us wherever it is we’re going. We sing along with bands like Sublime, The White Stripes, and The Rolling Stones as they blare throughout the cab of the car. We laugh, joke, talk, then go back to singing. Then he shows me how to play the air guitar.
“I know you know how to play a real guitar, but air guitar is quite different,” he insists.
I laugh. “Is that right? Show me how it’s done then, tough guy.” I crank the music up louder, and since there are no other cars on the road, he steers with his knee while his hands get busy slashing across the air guitar. His eyes squint and his tongue comes out the corner of his mouth while he focuses on hitting all the right notes. His expression only makes me laugh harder.
He tosses the air guitar down and reaches forward to turn down the music with one hand while the other takes the wheel. He shrugs. “That’s how you do it.”
I roll my eyes. “I didn’t realize it was such an art form.”
“Well, now you know,” he says in mock-seriousness.
It’s not much longer before we’re pulling into