I move through the RV and into the small bathroom as soon as I know none of them are out there and scrub up in record time. I’m tying my hair into a top knot and slipping my spandex shorts on when there’s a knock on the door.
“Dove, it’s me!” Rose’s voice soothes me instantly, and I yank the door open, my arms flying around her neck.
“I feel like I haven’t seen you in forever!” I exhale. I snatch my toothbrush and squeeze some paste on. “How was last night?”
Rose is dressed in loose sweatpants and a hoodie, her hair casual. She rolls her eyes and kicks the toilet cover down, taking a seat. “I drank way too much. I think everyone did, though. Everyone but Maya, of course.”
Rose massages her temples. “What is going on between her and Killian? They’re driving everyone insane.”
I pause my brushing, then spit and rinse and repeat. “I don’t know. I sensed something, too.”
Rose opens her mouth, but then closes it, when her eyes go over my shoulder. Her eyes turn distant, and her body tenses.
“What’s wrong?” I murmur around my toothbrush.
King walks in, snatches my toothbrush from my mouth, and pops it into his own. He licks the edge of his lip as his eyes drop to mine. “Get your friend out of my fucking space.”
“King!” I instantly snap. I don’t really answer back, mainly because I know what he and they are capable of, and I happen to enjoy being alive, even if my life isn’t in stellar form right now.
His eyebrows raise in challenge, his white teeth clenching down on the shaft of my toothbrush. “Wanna fight me on that, because I can do with some cardio this morning.”
Rose’s hand comes to my arm. She smiles weakly at me. “It’s okay. We’re all heading off soon anyway. I just wanted to see you.”
I can hear King brushing his teeth—with my toothbrush.
I let out a breath of air. “I’ll see you at the next stop, which is…”
“Texas,” Rose answers.
“Texas. Right.” How and why do I not know this? Why do I feel that even though Rose and I were both “captured” at the same time, I’m not being shown the same courtesy she has been shown by Midnight?
Rose leaves after another hug and after I promise her that I’ll have a drink with her after our next show—or before.
My eyes find King’s in the mirror, only he’s already watching me. He gargles the water in his mouth, his eyes still on mine, before he spits into the sink. “What?”
“Can you try to be nice to her?”
“Why?” he asks, tilting his head.
“I don’t know… because she hasn’t done anything to warrant your wrath?”
“No. But you have, and when I’m rude to her, it affects you.” He wipes his mouth and steps closer to me. “You’re making this game way too easy for me.”
“Why?” I yell, just as his hand touches the door handle.
He pauses.
I carry on. “Why do you hate me so damn much?”
He inches his head over his shoulder. “Because you took something from me.”
“I didn’t take anything from you! I only just met you!” It’s a shame that I have to point out the obvious, but I don’t think he’s getting it through his head.
“You don’t have to know someone to take something from them.” He leaves, and I’m, once again, standing like an idiot and left with a disarray of thoughts.
“How long?” Killian asks, his foot on the dash as I drive us out. Because the drive is twenty-six hours, and Justice has to drive Keaton’s Ford Raptor with our bikes and trailer on the back to the next stop. We’re all switching drivers as we go.
“When it’s done.” I already know that Kill is going to hammer me about Dove. We all know that. It’s in his DNA to be a fucking pain in the ass.
“You’re acting like it was her fault,” he whispers, and I have to fight the urge to elbow him in the face.
Dove’s laugh breaks out from the back, and my eyes fly to the rearview mirror, catching her laughing with Keaton.
“That’s just fucking weird,” Kill adds. “Seeing Keaton smile is about as rare as seeing you smile. Pair of serious bastards.”
“It’s not as weird as you’d think.” I focus on the road, wanting this long ass trip to be over.
A few hours later, we pull into a gas station. I kick Killian’s leg, waking him up.
“What? Already?”
I ignore him and make my way out of the RV to gas up. Killian is already in the store, grabbing every single piece of junk food he can find like a starved toddler. Twenty minutes later, we’re back on the road; only this time, I’m in the kitchen, flicking through Facebook on my phone.
Keaton is still talking with Dove, only he has his guitar out now.
Dove shakes her head, smiling again. I hate how much she reminds me of her. Just when I think she’s different on the inside, she goes and does something that she would do.
Her eyes come to mine, catching me watching her. Her cheeks flash red as she quickly looks away from me. Pussy. She can never hold eye contact for long.
Keaton starts playing Jo Satriani on his guitar when I start to drown them out and search her up on Facebook. I dodge past Val’s passive-aggressive status. You think you don’t need me. We’ll see… She gives herself way too much credit as far as my cock is concerned. Opening the search tab, I type in Dove Hendry and watch as the results come up. I find her instantly and click on her profile photo. My eyes go up to where she’s sitting with Keaton, before going back to my phone. Her profile photo is of her on a snowboard, wearing the entire getup. The board is flipped to the camera, and she’s making the hang loose sign. Holiday photo maybe? Fucking weird, considering her life as I knew it and as it was, wasn’t luxurious at all.
I scroll down to see she hasn’t been online much since she’s been here, only enough to be tagged in one of Rose’s statuses. Some guy Richard has put a post on her wall asking when she’s coming back. Never, motherfucker. I click on her photos and flick through them. Photos of her dancing, one with her friends at what looks like a club. Not her club, though. Another one with her and the same guy Richard. And another with Richard.
Keaton disappears upstairs, and now it’s just Dove and I and the silence that stretches out between us. Just as I’m watching her, my phone vibrates in my hand.
I need to kick this up.
My first real boyfriend was Lionel O’Connor; he was two years older than me and street raced as a side hobby. His parents were rich as sin from old oil money, and he had a slight Southern twang to end each sentence. I have to admit, it was partially what made me fall in love with him. That and the fact he enticed my rebellious nature to come out and play every Saturday night when there was a race. I would always be sitting shotgun, and other girls hated it. They were envious that Lion chose me. He had a square jaw and prominent cheekbones, and he smoked cigarettes like they were an oxygen source. We dated for almost a year through high school, and he was my first everything. Lionel turned out to be one big mistake because he got bored and cheated on me with my best friend at the time, which was also around the time that my parents died. I would give anything to have King bored of me and move on to the next person to terrorize, because right now, he’s staring at me like a starved bear, and I’m the freshest fish in the ocean. It would make this whole experience and life change a little easier to swallow.