Levi Hunter wasn’t just hazardous for my heart; he was a plague on my sanity. And I needed to do a better job of reining in my emotions around him.
Letty intercepted me at the elevators. “Problem?”
“Nope.” I pressed my lips together, eyeing the coffee in her hand.
“Oh here, I got one for you.”
“You read my mind.” Silence settled over us as we backtracked to her room.
“So this dark thundercloud over you, wouldn’t have anything to do with the cute blonde I caught sneaking out with Johnson just now?”
“You think she’s cute?” I gawked at her and she smirked.
“Got ya.”
“Not funny. She asked me to give Levi her number, can you believe that?”
“Girl, you wouldn’t believe the things I’ve done for those boys over the last couple of years.” She shuddered. “Some of the stuff doesn’t even bear thinking about.”
Her words were like a slap to the face. This was their life. Sure, it was somewhat tamer with Eva on the scene, but so long as Hudson and Levi were single there was always going to be a revolving door of girls.
Could I handle that?
Could I watch him fuck girl after girl after girl, and survive?”
Mentally I could do it. I’d been through worse. Much worse. But my heart... she was already battered and bruised and no longer whole.
“Uh oh, I don’t like that look,” Letty said.
“What look?” I played dumb.
“The one where you’re trying to figure out if you’re cut out for life on the road with the band and their immoral ways.”
“I can cut it,” I said with conviction. Because I had something to prove. Not only to my father, and the label, and Letty... but to myself. I needed to know I could stand on my own two feet without letting a guy get in the way of things.
“Atta girl.” She beamed. “Because I’ve kinda got used to having you around now. We all have.”
We left for New Orleans that night. Things in the studio had been wrapped up and the song was in the post-production stages now. Letty and Alastair wanted to give The Rock Report the world exclusive at the live interview they’d arranged for two days from now.
I’d managed to avoid Levi for most of the day, but now we were all crammed onto the Van Hool because Alistair wanted a meeting.
“Hudson, let’s go,” he yelled.
Seconds later, the drummer swaggered into the room, shirtless, sporting shower-damp hair.
“Really, dude?” Letty rolled her eyes.
“What? It’s nothing you haven’t seen before.”
“And I’ll say to you again. Really, dude?” She smirked and he flipped her off.
“Can we please get started?” Alistair groaned. “Believe it or not, I don’t enjoy being crammed on this tour bus with the four of you.”
“Hang on a minute, Ali, that’s a bit sexist, mate.”
“Hudson!” Everyone seemed to yell at once, and finally, he sank down onto one of the chairs.
“Now that the track is recorded, I thought it was time to address the elephant in the room.” His eyes found Levi across the table. “What happened with Riley is done. She’s been taken care of and as far as I’m concerned, we draw a line under that shit here and now. Got it?”
A collective of grumbles filled the bus. “The label wants you back on tour bigger and better than ever. The first show is New Orleans and we know how crazy the Die Hearts can be there. Security will be tight but that doesn’t mean we won’t give the fans what they want, okay?”
“We know the deal, Ali.” Damon folded his arms over his chest.
“Good. Because the label and Dowager will be watching. Another wrong move and everything you’ve worked so hard for could come crashing down.”
Silence ushered over us, tension rippling in the air.
“You didn’t hear this from me, but the international leg of the tour still has the green light... but, one wrong move and—”
“Yeah, yeah, Ali boy, we got it,” Levi let out a big yawn. “I’m on thin ice.”
“This isn’t just about you, Levi, it’s about all of you. One of you goes down, you all go down.”
“What Ali is trying to say,” Letty added, “is that we want to look forward, not back. The track is almost ready. We have the exclusive with The Rock Report soon. This thing with Riley is in the past; let’s leave it there.”
“Any questions?” Alistair asked.
“Do you actually style your hair like that, or is it just—”
“Hudson!” The guys yelled again, and Letty slapped him up upside the head.
“What? It was only a question.”
“Right, if we’re done here. Try and not kill each other before we arrive in New Orleans. We’re on the bus for the next two nights. Figured we didn’t need you all getting too comfortable in hotels.” Alistair got up and moved to the front of the bus.
Rafe stood up and grabbed Eva’s hand.
“Now, really?” Hudson asked.
“We’re just going to… rest.”
“Rest? Is that what they’re calling it these days.”
They disappeared into one of the two bedrooms on the tour bus.
“I’m going to take a shower and then call my mom,” Damon announced, leaving the four of us.
Letty, Damon, Levi... and me.
I pretended to be on my cell, answering emails while Letty flicked through the schedule for the next few days.
“I can’t stop thinking about those girls from the club last night. Fuck, man, she was wild.” Hudson let out a dark chuckle.
I risked peeking over at Levi. He was slouched against the backrest, eyes closed.
“Yo, Lev, you sleeping?”
“Fuck off,” he grumbled.
“Next time we’re in Nashville we should totally look them up. She gave you her number, right?” Hudson’s eyes slid to mine, smirking.
Asshole.
Everything was a game to him.
“You and that guy seemed pretty close, Pheebs. What was his name? Douglas?”
“Dougie,” I said.
Levi tensed, a dark cloud swirling around him.
“The cutie in the suit?” Letty added. My eyes snapped to hers, but she just smiled. “Did you get his number?”
Levi shot up.
“Where are you going?” Hudson asked.
“To get some sleep.” He didn’t meet my questioning gaze.
“Sleep? It’s barely eight.”
“Yeah, well, beats sitting out here and listening to you three talk shit.”
“Me?” Hudson frowned after Levi disappeared down the hall. “What the hell did I do?”
Levi
“How are you feeling?” Rafe approached me as I watched the production people rush around on set.
In fifteen minutes, everyone expected me to sit on that chair opposite Kinney Gretchen, one of The Rock Report’s top interviewers, and bare my soul about the events of the past couple of weeks.
“Like I want to go and find a dealer and score some of his best shit.”
Rafe bristled, inhaling a sharp breath.