The chick in the front had on a skintight dress that showed off all her curves in all the right places. Two or three girls nearby were busting out of their tops. Christ, it was like someone had told them I fucking loved them busty. Another girl caught my eye who had a dark, mysterious vibe about her. I bet she could suck cock. Before Ari, I would have found out. Now, I made a mental checklist. I could appreciate a chick if she was hot and imagine what she would probably do to me without actually fucking wanting it to happen. At least I’d never go through with it.

“Your pick of the lot, and my pussy-ass cousin is waiting on his girl in Florida.”

“Hey, watch your fucking mouth.”

A smile crossed her face, and she playfully punched me on the shoulder. I winced, but I tried to cover it up. I hadn’t told anyone else about the motorcycle accident because I felt like too much of an idiot to admit to it.

“Shots,” I suggested. Alcohol could dull the pain of more than just the accident.

We rounded up the guys and toasted to our newfound success.

After a while, I remembered the number of shots I had taken about as well as Sydney remembered how many dudes she’d blown at the ski lodge. All I knew was, I felt wonderfully fucking numb everywhere and goddamn happy about the band.

I wandered away from the group and dug out my phone from my pocket.

Ari answered on the third ring. “Hello?”

“Hey!” I cried.

She laughed. “Are you drunk?”

“Barely had anything, anything at all.”

“Right. That’s why you’re slurring your words.”

“Okay, I might have had more than one.” I crashed down onto a barstool and pressed the phone closer to my ear.

“I saw the status that was posted. Congratulations! How does it feel to be a signed band under a major record label?”

“Almost as good as your pussy.”

I could practically see her blushing.

“Oh, Grant.”

“Speaking of my favorite thing, can you bring her over tonight? We’re fucking celebrating!”

“I wish I could, but it’s kind of a long flight from Florida.”

“Then, what am I supposed to fuck?” I asked.

There was a short pause before Ari answered, “Nothing. Absolutely nothing. You keep your dick in your pants, Grant McDermott.”

“Oh, Princess, you know you’re the only one for me.”

“You’re doing what?” I crossed my arms and stared at Grant in disbelief.

I’d been back from spring break for only a total of three hours. It had been a great vacation. I was glad I had let Grant convince me to go even though that had meant he had to deal with the band and his dad by himself. Luckily, there had been no sign of his father while I was gone, but there had been a major development with the band.

“Going on tour,” Grant repeated.

“Already? I mean, doesn’t that seem…I don’t know…crazy?”

“Definitely crazy.” He picked me up around the middle and swung me around in a circle. “Ari, ContraBand is going on a real tour. We’re going to be playing multiple shows a week, making money off of our music, promoting ‘Life Raft’ and the upcoming album.”

“The album you haven’t even recorded yet,” I reminded him.

“Yeah, well, we just signed. And we have so many songs that have never even seen a real album before.”

“Besides the one from Corey.”

“Forget about Corey,” he said. “We’re talking about a big studio album recorded in Los Angeles. We’re talking about working with the best in the business.”

As I recalled, Grant had been thoroughly impressed with Corey’s work on their Life Raft EP, but I understood the enthusiasm. I wanted him to do well. I was being selfish. I didn’t want him to go away. I especially didn’t want him to go away when his crazy dad was on the loose and looking for him. Maybe it would be better for him. At least Grant would be gone. His dad couldn’t get to him if he wasn’t here.

“A tour and Los Angeles—big time.”

“That’s right, Princess.” He drew me in close to him and dropped a soft kiss on my mouth. “You’re dating a big-time rock star. How does it feel?”

“About the same as when you were a nobody rock star—totally and completely strange.”

He laughed, wove his fingers through my hair, and kissed me again. “I like tilting your world off balance.”

“You’re rather successful at it.”

“I’m going to keep it that way.”

“Good,” I murmured. “Now, tell me all the details about this tour.”

The Drift concert I had stumbled into the weekend before my birthday was the beginning of a small nationwide tour. They were hitting medium-sized venues all around the country, trying to gauge interest in a blowout arena tour.

The opening band Hollis had scheduled would be pulled from the lineup halfway through the tour because of lack of audience interest. I wasn’t surprised about that bit at all. The part I’d heard from them wasn’t that great, not that it was exactly my kind of music. But I remembered thinking that The Drift needed a better opener. Well, it had turned out that they were getting one—ContraBand.

Hollis wanted to plug the guys in as The Drift traveled back up the East Coast for the second half of the tour. Grant claimed it would give ContraBand a huge boost building anticipation for their upcoming album. They’d gain a larger fan base that would be anxious for more of their music. “Life Raft” was already out there, and Hollis wanted to hammer it home to their audience. That way, when they were promoting, the song would already be a hot commodity.

It all made sense logically. I just found it surprising, not that I had any knowledge of how the music industry worked. Maybe this was more common than I thought. Growing up, I’d rarely gone to concerts, and I had never been a teenybopper who religiously followed bands like some girls.

All I wanted was for Grant to be happy. If this record deal and the tour and the studio album made him happy, then I’d be there for the ride.

At the start of the next week, ContraBand was supposed to leave to pick up on The Drift’s tour, which meant I only had one more week with Grant before he would be gone for two whole months. I knew we could make the distance work, and in the grand scheme of things, it wouldn’t be that long, but I was going to miss him. I could already feel the ache of missing him settling into my chest. I’d finally found a boy who made my heart skip, and I didn’t want him to go away.