Chapter 18
I stare at her without saying a word, taking in the sight of this drunken woman who’s made it clear how much she dislikes me. It’s not until my vision begins to blur that I glance away to the neatly tucked black comforter on the bunk right across from Sinjin’s. Once I manage to force a deep breath in through my nose, I look back down at Cilla.
“What the hell are you doing in Sin’s bunk?” I demand.
Planting her hands on the edge of the bunk, she pushes herself into a sitting position, flings her curtain of black hair over her bare shoulder, and glances up at me from under her sooty lashes. Even wasted she manages to make her every movement look sexy, and when the image of her waiting in Lucas’s bed instead of Sinjin’s wiggles its way into my mind, I jab the tip of my tongue into my cheek.
“Isn’t it obvious?” She asks in her husky voice. “I’m waiting for him to come back. I’m thinking I’ll ride the bus with y’all to Atlanta.”
I shake my head incredulously. “Why would you put yourself through that?”
So he can talk shit to you and reiterate how he wishes your band had never come on this tour?
Though I don’t say those words directly, I know she must be thinking the same thing because she releases a little laugh that doesn’t reflect in her eyes or in the stiff way she rakes her hands through her hair. “Trust me, he doesn’t hold a grudge for very long.”
“I’m glad you’re so sure of yourself.”
“Are you f**king kidding me? Don’t think that just because you’ve been around him for a few weeks you know anything.” She stumbles to her bare feet and leans in close to me. Her hair and halter-top reek of vodka and vomit, causing me to clamp my hand over my mouth. “You don’t know a thing about him. Or Lucas for that matter.”
I draw away from her, narrowing my eyes. “I know that Sin’s been over you for a while now. I know that he’s not some last resort. I know that you—”
She sneers. “Oh honey, you don’t know a thing about me.”
“You have issues.”
“And this is coming from Lucas’s doormat? Nice.”
This isn’t the first time she’s said something like this to me—and if I’m going to have to be around her for the sake of Lucas’s music, it sure as hell won’t be the last—but that doesn’t make it any better. Between Cilla and Sam, I’m at the end of my rope.
“Funny,” I say as I back out of the narrow space. Cilla follows behind me into the main lounge. I cross my arms over my chest. “That this is coming from the one who won’t take no for an answer.”
Cilla’s flinch echoes through her body. She turns away from me slightly and places her palms down flat on the lounge table to keep upright. Her shoulders begin to shake, and as I stand still, waiting for her to make her next move, I can’t tell whether she’s laughing or crying. When she finally straightens her back and faces me head on, I realize that she’s doing both.
“Do you think I want to care about him?” She wipes at the corners of her eyes with the backs of her hands. Grabbing her strappy pumps from the leather couch, she slides past me in the direction of the exit. “Trust me, I don’t. And as of this morning, I lost all hope that he’ll just come around and get rid of you.”
This morning? Whirling around, I grab her upper arm before she can stumble off of the bus. “What the hell are you talking about?”
She looks surprised for a moment, but then her eyes narrow and a satisfied smirk lifts the corners of her lips. “Well, hell, maybe he has come around.” She jerks out of my grip, massaging her other hand over the spot my fingers held. “Goodnight, Pepper.”
Instead of heading back over to the other bus like I initially planned, I stay behind here. By the time Lucas wanders over to look for me, wearing that self-absorbed grin that always comes from hearing how amazing he is, I’m furious.
“Were you with Cilla this morning?” I ask, looking up at him from my spot on the edge of the bed as he comes into the back compartment.
His shoulders bunch up with tension. “Did she tell you that?”
“Were you with her?”
Leaning against the doorway, he nods. “But not the way you’re thinking. I met up with Tyler after David and me finished what we were doing earlier. Cilla was with him.”
Dropping my forearms to my thighs, I bend my head forward. My hair sweeps across the floor but right now, I don’t care. “She made it seem like—” My words catch, and he comes forward, taking my face between his hands.
“You’re doing that thing again,” he growls. “What the hell did she say to you?”
“It was nothing. I was just flustered. And she was drunk, waiting for Sinjin to come in here.”
Lucas lets out a harsh laugh. “Then it’s good you came before he did. He’s not over that shit she pulled with Zoe on his birthday.”
“Didn’t think he was.”
He slides down beside me on the edge of the full-size bed, his body warming mine. “They fixed the bus so we should be on the road soon,” he tells me.
“To your hometown.” And Samantha’s, but I don’t mention that as I face him.
The grin he’s wearing falters. “You said you needed to talk to me,” he says. “So let me in, Red.”
I release a shuddering sigh. “Lucas . . . Sam’s been in touch with me.”
At least a dozen emotions pass over his features—everything from confusion, to shock, to rage. “Today?” His voice is cold and flat, and when I shake my head, he growls, “When?”