He raises one blond eyebrow. “Yes?”
“You sure you guys have to go home tomorrow? Trinity and Heidi are the best damn helpers. You too, of course.”
He rumbles with laughter, and thoughtfully strokes one hand over his neatly-trimmed, dark blond beard. “Murphy and Heidi have to get back. Trin and I could be persuaded to stick around for a few more days.”
“Oh, yeah?”
“What’s up?” Rooster asks, wrapping an arm around my shoulder.
“Nothing.” Wrath winks at me. “Your girl thinks I’m a better bodyguard than you.”
Rooster slowly looks him up and down. “Well, you’re built like a fuckin’ tank, bro.”
Wrath drops his cocky smirk. “No, seriously. I was thinking, it’s fuckin’ stupid not to drop in and say hi to Priest if I’m this close.” He jerks his head toward Pants and Steer who have joined our conversation. “Blink’s been wanting to meet with Steer and me for a while. Might as well get it over with.”
Pants cocks his head. “Blink never reaches out to me.”
“We’ll fix that while we’re there.” He reaches over and slaps Pants’ cheek hard enough to rattle some teeth. “Can’t have you feelin’ left out.”
I assume this is all club business stuff. But no one tells me to get lost, so I just stand there enjoying the way they all joke around and tease each other. All good-natured, well, sort of. No one gets bent out of shape. They laugh every insult off. Everyone takes it as hard as they dish it out.
“All set!” Heidi hands me a tote bag with all the supplies I brought.
“Shoot. I’m sorry. You didn’t have to do that.”
“It’s fine.”
“Party time!” Pants shouts, marching out the door with his arms raised over his head.
Heidi laughs. “One last party before we head home.”
“Aw, come here.” I envelop her in a hug. “I’m going to miss you so much.”
She squeezes me just as tight. “Me too.” She pulls back. “Hopefully you’ll come through New York often.” Her gaze skips over my head. “When you’re not on tour.”
I’ve been trying hard not to think about it but the worry always beats at the edge of my mind. Between recording the next album, going home to help my mom, and getting ready for the next tour, I won’t have a lot of free time.
“I’ll try like hell.” I’m not sure who I’m trying to convince.
Truth is, I won’t be puttin’ down roots anytime soon. And what are the chances Rooster will be able to keep following me around the country?
Chapter Forty-One
Rooster
“You’re up, Dawson!”
The flickering firelight plays over Shelby’s face, gleaming off her glossy lips. We’re way out in the middle of nowhere on some guy’s ranch. Got the truck and RV parked a good distance from the fire. My brothers are busy carrying on with the roadies, band members, and the ladies who followed us out here. At the moment, I’m sitting next to Shelby nursing a beer and watching her shuffle her Tarot cards.
“Ready?” she asks.
“Hit me!” Dawson’s definitely knocked back a few bottles. I was a little surprised he agreed to a Tarot reading. Although it’s not as lengthy as other ones I’ve seen Shelby do. She’s pulling one card for what she called a “quick, focused” reading.
“You have to pull the card.” Shelby cocks her head. “Try to have a clear question in mind when you do.”
“That might be difficult,” I mutter loud enough that Dawson hears me and grins.
“Thought bikers liked to party?” he shouts even though I’m less than three feet away from him.
“I thought rock stars liked to party?” I counter, gesturing toward the groupies at the edge of our circle who keep flashing their tits at him.
He makes a snort-chuff sound and waves his arm in the air. “Gettin’ too old for that.”
“Wasn’t aware there’s a cut-off,” Wrath says.
Dawson wags his finger about two feet from Wrath’s face. “You two aren’t over there, either.”
Somehow Trinity makes sense of his word jumble. “We’re an old married couple.” Trinity giggles and rests her head against Wrath’s chest. “Come on, let’s see what card you pull.”
Shelby shuffles the deck again before setting the cards between them face down. Biting the tip of his tongue, Dawson studies the cards with the intensity of a gambling addict choosing his lucky lottery numbers.
Finally, he pulls a card and hands it to Shelby.
I catch the quick downturn of her mouth when she scans the card. To me it just looks like a man lying face down with ten swords poking out of his back. Backstabber? Well, fuck. The universe sure has a nasty sense of humor. Must by why Shelby’s forehead’s crinkling with apprehension.
“Well, how am I gonna die?” Dawson asks.
Given the card, I wince at his question.
“We’re not predicting your death,” Shelby says in a stern tone she doesn’t use often. “Gosh, that’s morbid.” She lays the card in front of him. “Ten of Swords. It’s a card of betrayal. Not death.”
I swear Dawson’s eyes are about to bug out of his head. Hopefully, they don’t roll into the bonfire.
“Well, shit, Shelby.” He whistles. “This is downright spooky. What’s it mean? Give me the full story.”
“What was your question?”
He flicks his gaze toward me and then Wrath briefly. “What should I work on next? That’s kinda what I had in mind.”
“Kinda could have clouded the reading.” She gently runs the pad of her finger over the shiny surface of the card. “The man’s been betrayed by people close to him, causing him great emotional pain.”
Well, this got uncomfortable fast.
I dare to sneak a look at Wrath, praying he won’t crack a joke. Shelby’s livelihood for the next couple months depends on Dawson’s tour.
Wrath’s face is stone-cold blank. I catch movement under their blanket. Trinity’s pretty focused on him. Maybe he’s not listening to our conversation at all and just trying not to come in his pants.
“Like the picture suggests, he’s been stabbed in the back by people he trusted.”
Gotta give it to the cards on this one. Having your girlfriend cheat on you with your best friend and then participating in the kidnapping of your opening act is about as close as a man can get to having ten knives shoved in his back without feeling the bite of an actual blade.
“If that ain’t on the nose,” Dawson mutters.
“Sorry.”
“No, go on.”
“Career wise, it could mean working too hard or colleagues gossiping about you.”
“No doubt about that.” He takes a long pull from his bottle of beer. “What else?”
“Well.” Shelby studies the card and taps her finger against her chin. “You have to accept the situation in order to move forward. Things can only improve from this point, you know?” She taps the corner of the card. “See here, the sun is rising. A new day. New chance to start over. Ten is also connected to a new life cycle so a new beginning of sorts.”