♪♫♪♫♪♫
Country was shocked when she found out we had a few hours before we were set to be leaving. She thought we wouldn’t leave until the next morning. But Knight Raiders were scheduled to have a show Tuesday night in Wisconsin, and Jim had some driving ahead of him.
I was a helping friend and helped her pack. I was even kind enough to make sure to throw her sexy little bikini in her suitcase. I told her we stayed at hotels with pools a lot and she wouldn’t want to miss an opportunity to go swimming. A huge adorable smile had graced her face when I said we would also be headed to Florida in a few weeks. Truth was I didn’t want to miss an opportunity to see her in that bikini, and I was also looking forward to our concert in Florida. Hopefully we could have some beach time together.
It was a little before lunch, and Addie and Izzy were packed and ready to go. We were all fixing to be Wisconsin bound. They had already told their parents bye, and we thanked them for allowing us to stay. Their mom was in tears, telling us we better come back to visit or she would hunt us down. I wouldn’t put it past her. Her dad, on the other hand, seemed a little more leery, telling me I better watch after them, to which I reassured that they were in safe hands.
Addie was in the house now getting a few more bags. That girl packed everything but the fucking kitchen sink, and I think that’s only because Jace told her we already had one.
I was standing next to the bus talking to Country and Reed when I heard what sounded like a stampede coming down the driveway. As I looked over my shoulder, I saw two beasts hurdling toward us.
“What the fuck are those?”
“They would be dogs, Hollywood. Don’t tell me you city folk have never seen one before?” she teased caustically, adding a little more slang to her already sexy southern accent.
“I know what a dog looks like, and those are not dogs.” The two gray colored animals slowed their pace as they reached us. They both had massive amounts of excess skin hanging from their faces and wads of drool pouring from their jowls.
“It’s damn melting hippo’s,” Reed sneered, tilting his head as he looked at the creatures with a funny look. He was right. They looked like melting hippos. “What kind of screwed up shit is your mom keeping on this ranch?”
A laugh escaped me, and I couldn’t believe it, but Reed actually made Country laugh as well.
“They’re Neapolitan Mastiff’s, you dummy,” she said, shoving him in the shoulder.
“Nope, your mom is a kinky bitch, Kitten. I think it’s against the law to let a hippo rape a bloodhound.” She started laughing harder as one of the massive wrinkly dogs leaned up against her.
“I’ll be sure to let her know that.” She placed her small hand on the animal’s huge head, making her hand shrink in size. “This is Napoleon and the other one is Dynamite.”
Reed and I looked at each other, then laughed at their names as she pointed to the other much larger and droopier of the two that was sniffing around my feet.
“He isn’t going to like...eat me, is he?”
“No, he is strictly on an all dog food diet.” She smiled at me. That one little smile, such a simple action, yet it had the blood coursing to my cock, making it ache for her. “Mom usually keeps them in one of the barns when company is over. Not a lot of people appreciate their slobber.”
“Yeah, I can see why. The shit looks like snot.” Reed scowled in disgust watching as Dynamite brought his head up from sniffing around my feet with a huge string of slimy slobber going from his mouth to the ground. It even had some dirt mixed in with it. It really was fuckin’ gross.
“I think they are kind of cute...in a way.” I snarled through my nose, eyeing the odd looking things she called dogs.
“The fuck they are,” Reed said, stepping back from the smaller one Country had called Napoleon. Never in my life had I seen anything that looked like these dogs, besides that one time...
“Ah, Reed, do they bring back bad memories for ya, buddy?” He gave me a weird look, not understanding, and I smirked at him, patting him on the shoulder.
It then hit him and he knew what I was talking about. “Not funny, dick.”
“The hell it wasn’t. She looked just like that one.” I pointed to the bigger of the drooling monsters.
“In my defense, I was drunk, super horny and I had no clue she looked like something that just escaped from the zoo,” he tried to convince me.
“You really will screw anything that walks, won’t you?” Country’s nose pulled up in disgust. Cutest face in the fucking world.
“Only if I’m drunk. And at that party I was fucked up, shit-faced and plastered all rolled into one.”
“You weren’t drunk when you breastfed fro—”
“Too much, shut up!” Country put her hands over her ears and turned quickly, walking up the steps into the Knight Slayer just as Addie came out of the house, bouncing toward us. Jace was behind her, dragging yet another one of her bags. We’re going to have to get a second bus just to haul all of her shit.
“What the hell is this?” I heard Country shout from inside.
Jace and Reed instantly began laughing. I became somewhat embarrassed, and I think Bryson did too, because his cheeks seemed to blush when we traded a look. I knew what she was shouting about, and I for one was normally a very tidy person, but I got tired of cleaning up after Reed and Jace constantly. So did Bryce.
I shoved past Addie and walked up the steps. “This is our home sweet home on the road, babe. A bus, but we call her the Knight Slayer.”
She frowned, staring at me intently. “This isn’t a bus. It’s a freaking dump, and the only thing it’s slaying is my sudden OCD I didn’t know I had.” She crossed her arms. “I’m not leaving on this thing.”
Her eyes glanced around the small space, taking in all the Red Bull cans and beer bottles piled by the trashcan, as well as the numerous dishes stacked in the sink. She walked further toward the back of the bus, and my breathing stopped when I noticed her staring at several empty condom wrappers on the floor.
“Oh. My. Gross!” she practically screamed. “There is no telling what kind of creatures that have yet to be discovered by scientists living in all this...junk.” She motioned to the heaping stack of clothes and the condom wrappers lying all over the floor under the bunks.
Her head whipped in my direction, and I did my dying best to not laugh, but with the look she was giving at me, I couldn’t keep from it. “If you want me to travel on this dumpster then someone needs to clean it—bleach it is more like it.”
I let out my held in laugh as Reed came up behind me and took in a deep whiff. “Smells fuckin’ sick in here, man.”
“That’s probably the smell of all y’all’s decaying sperm that is no doubt sprayed all over this shithole!” Country all but shouted in pure disgust.
“Sit on that bunk right there, Kitten,” Reed grinned, motioning to the bunk she was standing beside, where he slept. “Then you and me are gonna become parents.”
She briefly took in the bunk beside her before realization hit, causing her to jump away from it, and hold up her hands like it was going to impregnate her there on the spot.
“That’s not remotely possible, but if it was...I’d kill you.”
“Your Nana Lulu would love me,” he argued jokingly.
She narrowed her eyes at him, flat out ignoring his comment. That was the best thing she could do. The more comebacks she threw, the more she was feeding his fire. “This is nasty. I can’t deal with this. I can’t stay in this.” She looked at me with wide blue eyes, shaking her head. I could see the mortification running wild across her face as she continued to glance around the junkyard inside the bus.
I found it quite amusing watching her as I leaned against the wall with my hands shoved inside my pockets. “Don’t make me regret inviting you along for the ride, Country,” I said smugly, only to see her reaction.
“Don’t make me regret accepting the invite, Hollywood,” she answered snidely, h
er lips pulling into a half smirk. Mine did the same for the simple way she accentuated the little pet name she had bestowed upon me.
I gathered it was because I called her Country, but she was becoming my little slice of country heaven that had emotions I’d never felt springing to life. And I hated that kind of shit. Although with her I couldn’t control it, and it bothered me to no end. I couldn’t stand not being in control. Despite that fucking fact, if she wanted me to be her Hollywood, then so be it. I’d buy her the fucking sign if it made her happy. I think at this point if she said she was into chicks, I would gladly put on a damn dress just so I could get a good taste of her.
“I plan on making you enjoy every second, trust me.” I winked at her, leaving multiple innuendos behind my words, and turned to head to the front of the bus where Jace and Bryson were. Addie was standing by the table, looking around with a frightened look, like she was afraid to move. A deer caught in headlights. Her face was even turning a pale shade of blue.
“You okay, Addie?” Jace noticed her reaction as well.
“I’m afraid to breath,” she gasped, grabbing her nose. “It smells really bad in here, guys.”
We all started laughing. Even Country. Damn, this was embarrassing. I knew it was filthy, but...shit, there wasn’t an excuse. Jace and Reed were flat-out pigs. I opened the cabinet under the sink and pulled out a few pairs of yellow cleaning gloves and a basket of cleaning supplies.
Tossing the extra gloves to the guys, I looked at them with a bright grin. “We got princesses on the Slayer now, fellas, so let’s spick and span this fucker up.” They looked at me like I was out of my mind, but with one good warning glare, they all jumped to their feet and started cleaning.
“Follow me, Country.” I took her hand, telling the guys to clean their messes, and led her to the very back of the bus. “You’ll like it in here.”
“Why?” she asked suspiciously as I turned the knob.
“Because it’s my room.”
She snickered, leaving it an open meaning as ‘yeah fucking right’, but quickly stopped when I opened the door and she took in the cleanliness of the space.
“Those drawers have a few of my shirts in them, but I’ll move them so you can have somewhere to put your stuff. Addie’s out of fucking luck though,” I said. “We don’t have enough space for all her shit. You can sleep in here, too, if you’d like.”
She cautiously moved into the room, looking around. Her eyes glanced up at the very first Knight Raider poster the band ever made that was hung above the bed and the black music notes that hung on the walls throughout the bus. The room was far from large and barely contained the queen size bed that dominated the space, but it was my home away from home, and I loved it.
“So that mess out there, it isn’t you?”
“Fuck no! What do you think I am, a dirty slob?”
“That was my first thought.” She didn’t beat around the bush. “Where are you going to sleep?”
My lips crooked sideways up my cheek and I bit down on my tongue ring. My expression said it all. She gave me a knowing look then shook her head. “I’m not sleeping in a bed with you.”
“You did last night. You’ve slept in my arms every night since I met you. Why stop now?” I walked closer to her, and seeing her standing by my bed—in my territory—had me wanting to rip every fucking stitch of clothing from her body. I wanted to make her scream my name. Just hearing her say Trevelin in her soft southern voice was enough to almost make my dick convulse.
“I just...it, uh, would be…friends don’t sleep in the same bed together,” she finally said after jumbling with her words while fidgeting with the hem of her shirt. She was nervous.
“It’s like Burger King in here, babe. Have it your way.” I shrugged then dived onto the bed. “Offer always stands if you ever change your mind. My room is your room as long as you’re on tour with us.”
I pulled up on my elbows as she stood there, blessing me with a gracious smile. She seemed to glow with her own ray of sunshine. She was, without a doubt, the most beautiful girl I had ever laid my eyes on. Her figure was slim, and all the running she did had her ass perfectly toned. Tight and round. Her boobs weren’t huge, but they weren’t small either. Just enough to make you desperately want to see more.
The thing that was the most beautiful about this girl was her personality. Sweet yet spicy. She was absolutely gorgeous, yet she didn’t act like all the other girls that flaunted around the Knight Raiders.
Country was perfect, and having her here in my room felt perfect.
“Well, thanks, but I think I’ll just use one of the bunks,” she almost whispered. She watched me as I laid on the bed that I so badly wanted her to crawl on with me so we could do some more of the snuggling I caught so much hell over earlier.
Ignoring my wants, I said, “No prob, Country. But I have to warn you, Reed can be really noisy.”
“I’ll take my chances. I’m used to it, remember?” She flashed me a smile and left the room.
I watched until the door shut completely and flopped back on my pillow. Having her this close all the time was going to make it damn near impossible for me to resist her. I was just going to have to keep my emotions and feelings in check and fight the war that was going on inside my body. My biggest hope was that since she was going to be surrounded by all things Knight—me included—she’d cave.
♪♫♪♫♪♫
The guys got the bus so clean you could almost eat off the floor. Almost being the key word. I couldn’t remember it ever being this clean. Not even the day Randy bought it back when it was brand new.
I managed to spend most of our day back on the road in my room on the phone with our PA, Tucker, and our manager, Randy, going over the rest of our schedule. This was intended to keep some space between me and the person up front that I couldn’t stop thinking about. Randy apologized repeatedly for me not being able to get in touch with him. He said the moment he stepped foot in the airport his phone was turned off for his vacation and he didn’t turn it back on until this morning.
He wasn’t too thrilled about our new temporary members, but I told him when he heard them sing he would think differently. I knew when Country and Addie’s voice wreaked havoc on my eardrums that the moment Randy heard them he would fall head over heels and want to manage them. It was a no brainer that when the record label heard them that they too would want to sign them. R&R Records didn’t have many country music artists signed to their label and I had a feeling Country and Addie would be an exception.
I finally came out of my room when Bryson came and got me. He told me the girls had cooked. That excited me. What man didn’t like a home cooked meal? Well, I was excited. Up until I actually tasted it. It seemed Country could do a lot of things, but cooking was not fuckin’ one of them. Somewhere down the line the delicious cooking gene her mom possessed was not passed on to her. The guys and I mainly ate the fries Addie had baked in the oven. When I first took a bite of the hamburger steak Country made, I thought I was going to die. I was not exaggerating either. My cholesterol went through the roof. She obviously used salt like she used sugar in her coffee.
“Fuck, Kitten, you trying to kill us?” Reed asked. “How much salt did you use? The whole container?” He grabbed his beer and downed the whole thing in one gulp. I felt the same. I swear I could feel all the moisture in my body being absorbed by all the salt.
“Sorry, the lid came off the shaker. I tried to scrap as much off as possible.”
Jace’s head popped up, still chewing his fries. “Uh-oh. Was it the one in the cabinet to the left of the stove?” He looked guilty.
“Yeah, was there something wrong with it?”
“Nothing’s wrong with it, Iz, but it was intended for one of these schlongs. I loosened the top last week hoping one of ‘em would use it.”
“Ha, karma’s a bitch, motherfucker,” Reed laughed as he punched his brother in the shoulder. “Now you’re eating your own prank.”
“So does this mean you aren’t a shitty cook?” I asked, putting another fry in my mouth and washing it down with a pull from my beer.
“I can’t cook like our momma, but I wouldn’t say I suck.” She smiled, then took a small bite of the overloaded salt grain that was supposed to be a hamburger steak. She instantly spit it back out and reached for her glass of water. “Wow,” she half laughed after coming up for air. “I guess I do suck.”
Bryson got up and took her plate. “Wasn’t your fault. This bus is just full of a bunch of dummies.”
“She’s got mad baking skills,” Addie said in Country’s favor.
“Well, we might have a reason to keep you around after all.” I winked at her.
Everyone ended up eating sandwiches and hung around the TV. I stayed at the table working on some new potential songs until I heard Country scream. My heart sank into my stomach, but when I realized the reason behind her scream, laughter was the only thing I could manage. She had been putting away some of her clothes and found Rowdy—my pet python.
Things got even funnier when she went to the bathroom and started yelling, “Omigod!” over and over. The guys and I had all run to her, thinking she might be hurt, only to discover her pain-laced cry was due to a huge spider crawling up the wall. I squished it, laughing my ass off at her. She couldn’t get any cuter if she tried.
“You’re scared of reptiles and arachnids. You don’t have many phobias, do you?”
“Shut up,” she hissed.
“I would be nicer to me if I were you.” I picked up the dead spider and held it in front of her. She was gone, running out of the semi spacious bathroom as if her life depended on it. The guys and Addie were in hysterics as they went back to their bunks while I went after Country. When she saw me, she leapt on the bench seat at the table, trying to get as far away from me as possible. Her squirming was increasingly enticing.
“I swear, Hollywood, if you come any closer with that thing—”
“What? What will you do?” I interrupted her attempt to say something bold.
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