I grabbed the shot I’d just pushed away and, holding my breath, forced the whiskey down my throat. I coughed and sputtered from the harsh burn.
Ugh. Gross. How could people do this for fun?
I was only doing it under duress.
“Oh shit, Coral. You okay?” Ennis asked.
“Yeah. I’m good,” I gagged, dabbing at my watering eyes.
All eyes were on me. Of course the dork from their high school years couldn’t handle a little shot of whiskey.
I was tempted to take another just to show them. Show them what, I wasn’t sure. Maybe that my dork years were behind me?
So I did.
Bryan poked his head into the bus, holding Pixie to his chest. “We’re leaving in a few. You guys show Coral around yet?”
Stone laughed. “Hey Coral. That’s the front of the bus,” he said, pointing. “And over there is the back.”
Bryan rolled his eyes and climbed the rest of the steps. “Coral, that door over there is the bathroom and shower. All the way in the back, behind that curtain, are the bunks. Yours has your name on it.”
“Yeah, you got the good bunk, Coral,” Ennis said.
Was this a joke?
There was a good bunk?
“How could any bunk be a good bunk?” I asked.
The four men looked at each other for a moment, and then all burst out laughing.
Bryan shook his head. “You have a great sense of humor, Coral. Okay everybody, we’ll be hitting the road in just a moment.”
That hadn’t meant to be a joke. But I’d take it.
“Oh, and Coral, there are sandwiches and other munchies in the fridge over there,” he added, pointing.
Sandwiches. Yay.
“It won’t be too bad, Cor,” Stone assured me, downing another shot.
Great. Stuck on a bus with a bunch of drunk guys who think they can give me a nickname.
“So you guys pretty much just sit here and drink from one city to the next?” I asked with a smirk.
My, the Jack was making me salty.
Stone guffawed. “Yup. That’s all we do, along with watching porn and jerking each other off.”
OhMyGod.
“He’s joking, Coral,” Hugh said. “Just ignore him. He likes to haze people.”
“Speaking of jerking off, Coral, were you getting laid in high school?”
Chapter 21
CORAL
Oh no he didn’t.
“Speaking of jerking off, Stone, why don’t you go fuck yourself—” I started to say.
Oh crap. Not the way to talk to a client.
“Yeah, Stone, shut the hell up,” Ennis said, pouring another round of shots.
No more for me. Absolutely not.
“Hey, Coral, I have a meeting with a personal trainer in the morning. Want to work out with us?” Ennis asked. “Stone and Hugh are too pussy to join.”
His friends rolled their eyes.
If I were going to work out, I’d better put a stop to the shot drinking.
“Sure. Okay.”
“Yeah, you former fatties better start doing some jumping jacks,” Stone laughed.
Asshole.
Ennis and I looked at each other. I did remember him being a little… soft. Hardly what I would call overweight. Or as the asshole put it—a fatty.
“Hey, Coral, did you hear Stone wrote a book? It’s called I’m a Douche and I Know It,” Ennis said.
Everyone erupted into peals of laughter. Everyone that was, except for Stone.
I had no idea how I would survive this.
“Well,” Stone said, stretching. “I’m gonna watch The Big Lebowski. Anyone want to join me?”
Hugh rolled his eyes. “Again? How many times have you seen that?”
Stone left the banquette and settled into one of the cushy recliners. Grabbing a headset and pulling it over his ears, he said, “No enough, Hugh. Not enough.”
Ennis rose from his seat. “I’m going to read my book,” he said, and disappeared to what I guessed was his own bunk.
Somehow, the music in the bus got magically quieter. I needed to know where the control for that was. It was a matter of survival.
“Well, I know this probably isn’t your idea of fun, Coral, but we’re glad you’re on the team,” Hugh said, once we were alone.
Guess he didn’t want to say that in front of the other guys?
“Thanks. Looking forward to seeing one of your shows.” I nearly gagged at my lie.
“Have you ever been backstage at a concert? It’s pretty cool,” he said.
I shook my head, thinking back to what my high school self would have thought about riding a tour bus with these guys, and hanging out at one of their concerts.
But more importantly, what did my grown-up self think about all this? The guys might have still thought I was a dork—I didn’t give a shit.
Maybe being on the bus with them was a good thing. A chance to show them the new me. And what they’d missed out on all those years ago.
After an egg salad sandwich, I made my way back to my bunk, holding the walls to remain upright in the lurching vehicle, hoping the internet access they’d promised actually worked. I had things to do, even if I had consumed a couple shots of Jack Daniels and was exhausted.
It turned out that the bunks were pretty spacious. Someone had put my small wheelie bag at the foot of my bed, leaving plenty of room to stretch out, change, and do some work. I stepped into the bunk and drew the privacy curtain closed. I pulled on some PJ bottoms and a T-shirt and opened my laptop. But in minutes, I was dozing off to the gentle rocking motion of the bus and its quiet roar underneath us.
I don’t know how much later I was woken by a moaning sound.
What the hell was that? Was someone sick? Too much whisky?
I grabbed my phone to check the time. Three a.m. Crap. The battery in my laptop, still sitting open, had died. And I’d gotten no work done.
What was going on out there? I inched my privacy curtain back, but all the lights in the bus were out. The section where the driver sat was curtained off to block any light from the road.
I tucked back into my bunk and closed my eyes, but it started up again. What the hell was that?
“Ohhhh…”
Okay. That wasn’t a sick person.
Holy shit. Was one of the guys jerking off?
Ew.
Jerking off was fine, but if you were not alone, wouldn’t you keep it quiet?
I poked my head out of the bunk again and realized the noise was coming from just above me. Because I’d gone to sleep first, I had no idea which guy was up there. Could it be Ennis? Or maybe Hugh?
But I had to say, picturing any of the guys, even bigmouth Stone, stroking himself was kind of… hot.
I turned over and tried to ignore the noise. I really did. But the throbbing between my legs was not letting me.
So I slipped my fingers into my PJ bottoms. I ran my fingers between my lips, zeroing in on my clit for some sweet release.
Lulled by the motion of the bus and my kisses from Hugh and Stone just a couple days before, I went to town on my aching sex. When a final grunt reached me from the top bunk, my own orgasm exploded. I writhed through the waves that poured over me, as if I were back in that swimming pool with Stone.
I should be able to sleep, now.
I rolled over on my side, and just as I started to doze, someone stuck their head under my bunk curtain.