"There's a lot of sexual pressure on that bus." I wondered why this would surprise me. It really shouldn't have.
"Again, that's Chuck-ignore him. I promise that the rest of us will treat you with respect." He stood up with his hand outstretched. "Come on. Let me help you get settled on the bus. In a few hours, we're doing a sound check, then we'll all have dinner and do a show. This is the first concert where you're with us, so it's going to be special."
I doubted the concert would be special for them. But I couldn't deny my own enthusiasm about standing in the wings while the Fiery Boys played to a huge Chicago crowd. And I did feel special when Gabe escorted me back to the bus, past vitriolic groupies who screamed their love for him and their hate for me with equal volume. Some of them needed to get a life, and all of them needed to put on more clothes.
Back on the bus, River and Buck were still hiding in their cubicles. Gabe walked me back there and demanded that they act nicely. Which, to my surprise, they did. They opened their curtains and welcomed me to the tour.
With the two most drool-worthy Fiery Boys smiling at me and acting nice, I gushed like a groupie. "Oh my God! I can't tell you how excited I am to meet you. I've been in love with you guys since high school." I bounced on the balls of my feet.
River gave me a light smile. "Well, I hope you enjoy this week."
Buck was a different story. He rolled his eyes and shook his head, then, without another word, he pulled back into his cubicle and closed the curtain.
Gabe smirked at Buck's reaction, then he led me back to the living room table. "You have to forgive Buck. He hates groupies, so when you went all fan girl on him just now, it annoyed him."
That made sense. Buck's father, Wyatt Morris, was also a famous rocker. So I could understand Buck's dislike of desperate fans. I respected his desire to be treated like a human being, and I promised myself I'd act normally to all of them from now on. It wouldn't be hard with Buck: I'd just pretend that he was another one of my angry boyfriends.
Gabe and I sat in the living room and maintained a steady conversation. It helped drown out the sound of three women screaming for Chuck's rosy ass. Swear to God, I actually heard one of them say that.
heard one of them say that.