by Shandi Boyes
“Drink it all,” he requests, his voice sounding rough like he has just woken up. I finish the large glass of water and hand it back to him. My dry eyes roam around the room trying to work out exactly where I am. The room is mainly done in black wooden cupboards and drawers. There is a black glass frosted door at the side and another black wooden door in the middle. I’m fairly certain I’m not at a hotel as this room is smaller than any room I’ve ever stayed in previously, and I have stayed in some pretty small hotel rooms. Although this room is fancy in detailing, it is the size of most walk in wardrobes.
“You’re in the tour bus,” Slater informs, like he can read my thoughts. He leans behind me and pulls open a small section of the blacked out curtains. The sun shining in instantly causing my head to thump even more. When I squint my eyes, I realize that we must be moving or I’m still drunk, as the trees lining the roads edge are flicking past us.
“Where are we going?” I question, my throat burning with every syllable that escapes my mouth.
“San Francisco,” he replies, closing the curtain, giving instant relief to my pounding head. “I organised someone to pack your stuff at the hotel and it should arrive in San Francisco not long after us,” he continues, his eyes slowly roaming over my face.
We sit silently next to each other on the bed for several minutes. It is only when I feel a cool draft running over my legs do I realize that I’m not wearing any pants. Lowering my gaze down, I notice that I’m wearing nothing but Slater’s shirt. Holy shit, did we sleep together? My pulse quickens and a tingling sensation rapidly builds in between my legs as my eyes quickly turn to look at him. My curious eyes search his confused face for answers. His eyebrows slowly pull together and he appears confused by the look on my face. Then suddenly, at break neck speed, his face morphs into anger.
“No, we didn’t have sex,” he says loudly. His angry voice vibrates right through to my stomach that I end up darting up off the bed with my hand covering my mouth, trying to hold in the vomit that is rapidly surging forward.
Slater curses under his breath before he quickly bolts out of the bed and assists me into the bathroom, which for future reference is the black frosted glass door. He holds my hair out of my face while I vomit nothing but the glass of water I had just drank into the black porcelain toilet. Once I have finished vomiting, he scoops me into his arms and lays me back into the bed. I crawl over towards him and lay my head on his t-shirt covered chest.
“Just for a minute, please,” I request quietly. My head is thumping so much that the sound of his heart beating makes the thumping less noticeable. When he softly nods his head, I move my ear so it sits directly over the top of his heart. Within a matter of minutes, I have fallen back to sleep.
The next time I wake up, I’m the only person in the room. My head isn’t thumping as bad, and the growling of my stomach is more sounds of hunger then being hungover. I cautiously stand from the bed and place on my jeans from last night. The sound of laughter and people talking can be heard through the wooden door. I make my way to the bathroom and run my fingers through my hair to try and settle down the frazzled pieces. I wet some toilet paper and use it to remove my make-up that is smeared on my face and when I locate toothpaste in the top drawer, I use my index finger as if it is a toothbrush. Although I still look like shit, I feel a lot better than I did ten minutes ago.
Once I feel half presentable, I hesitantly open the wooden door and make my way out of the room, feeling embarrassed that I’ve made myself look like an idiot in front of my employee. The first person I spot is Slater sitting on a reclining swivel chair, his gaze lifts from a biker magazine he is reading and he offers me a small smile. When Jenni notices Slater’s smile, her head turns from the booth she is sitting in to look at me and she also smiles softly before making her way towards me.
“How are you feeling?” she questions kindly, like my sickness isn’t self-inflicted. Her concerned eyes roam over my face, her hand gently rubbing down my arm.
“I’m okay,” I reply quietly, silently praying that they couldn’t hear me vomiting in the bathroom earlier. The tour bus is large is size, but at the end of the day it is still a bus.
“Food poisoning is terrible,” she continues, forcing my confused eyes to flick between hers.
“I’m glad I didn’t eat the same thing,” Slater informs softly. When I look over at him, I notice a sly smirk has morphed onto his face. When I walk past him, I give him a little nudge with my knee, silently thanking him for once again saving me from an extremely embarrassing situation.
I spend the next hour of the drive to San Francisco staring out at the darkening sky while trying to work out the events of what had happened last night. I remember playing the drinking card game with the road crew and I have vague memories of being carried over Slater’s shoulder, but other than that the rest of the night is a complete blur. I knew that the road crew were cheating from the very beginning, I was just that upset about Slater purposely teasing me about going to a strip club that I no longer cared. I wanted to have a little fun and to break free from the boring depressed life I’ve been living the past two years. I guess I should probably thank Slater for not just looking after me while I was sick last night, but for also stopping me from making one of the biggest mistakes of my life.
Sonny has clearly shown his interests in me the past three days, but I have explained to him numerous times that I have no interest in him at all. He just doesn’t seem to understand the meaning of the word ‘No.’ His pursuit has been relentless and last night he caught me during a weak moment and exploited it to his advantage. Luckily for me, Slater came by when he did or who knows whose bed I may have woken up in this morning. The thought alone makes me cringe with disgust, not just at Sonny, but also at myself. I’m not a child, but last night I certainly acted like one.
When I turn my gaze away from the window, I spot the concerned eyes of Emily. She doesn’t say anything; her eyes just slowly glance over my face. My face morphs into concern when I notice a small gathering of tears in her eyes. When I attempt to ask her if she is okay, Noah moves towards her and pulls her onto his lap, he must have noticed her tears at the same time as me. Her head darts into the crook of his neck where she sobs softly. I turn my gaze to Marcus and nod my head towards Emily, silently asking if he knows what has made Emily upset, he lightly shakes his head and shrugs his shoulders.
I make my way to the end of the bus, wanting to give Noah and Emily some privacy. I pass Jenni standing near a set of bunk beds that Maddie and Jasper are sleeping on. She rubs my arm and gives me a reassuring smile. I knock softly on the bedroom door I exited earlier, when I don’t get any reply, I hesitantly open it to discover Slater sprawled in the middle of the bed. His breathing rhythm easily showing that he is asleep. I quietly slip into the room, closing the door softly behind me. He is lying on his stomach, wearing nothing but a pair of jeans, one pillow is cradled under his chest and his head is resting on the other.
I silently make my way to the other side of the room, before gently slipping into the bed, where I spend the next several minutes silently watching him sleep. He looks so similar to how I remembered him, except for now he has more laugh lines in the corner of his eyes and even more tattoo’s added to his already vast collection. His hair is also a little longer and his body shape a little more muscular, but just by looking at him I could easily forget that the last two years had even happened. The guy sleeping peacefully in front of me is the exact same guy I fell in love with, and the exact same guy I still love.
The sound of the bus brakes squeaking interrupts him from his peaceful sleep. When he sluggishly opens his eyes, he catches my intense gaze. He seems surprised to find me lying next to him, but doesn’t say anything. His head lifts off the pillow and his eyes slowly roam over my face.
“How are you feeling?” he questions groggily, his hand darting up to rub his tired eyes.
“I’m good,” I reply quietly. He rolls onto his hip, mimicking my pos
ition perfectly.
“Although, I am never drinking straight bourbon ever again,” I reply dramatically, causing him to chuckle softly.
“I don’t think I’m ever going to touch it again either,” he replies, his face screwing up in disgust, a gagging noise escaping his throat. I playfully slap him on his bare chest, mortified that he had to see me like that while also loving his playful banter. God, I have missed his laugh.
Once he finishes chuckling, his face takes on a more serious appearance. “What do you remember about last night?” he questions, his eyes flicking between mine.
I briefly shake my head before replying “Too be honest, I don’t remember much.”
His eyes continue to look between mine, nodding his head softly. “So you don’t remember declaring your undying love to me?” he questions, his tone the most serious I have ever heard it.
I freeze at his question. My eyes stare firmly into his as my heart rate climbs to an astronomical level. I’ve always been a talkative, loved up drunk, but I thought I would have been sick enough last night that my ramblings would have been kept to a minimum. Although I would never deny loving him, I’m embarrassed that he had to hear it while I was drunk.
His eyes dart between mine, his shoulders shake and his eyes get a cheeky sparkle in them before his lips curve upwards. The instant I spot the whites of his teeth, I punch him sternly in the bicep with my closed fist, triggering him to chuckle loudly that it echoes around the small room. He has always been a stirrer and I can’t believe I just fell for one of his old pranks.
Suddenly, three brief taps hit the bedroom door. “Slater, we are in San Francisco,” Jenni loudly informs, her small voice vibrating through the thin door. “Ummm….is Kylie in there with you?” she questions nervously.
Slater smiles before he rolls off the bed and pulls a shirt over his head. I try to stop my bottom lip from pouting, but it did it automatically the instant his torso was covered. When he opens the door, Jenni hesitantly lifts her head and a broad smile morphs onto her flushed face when she notices me laying on the bed.
“Sorry to interrupt,” she apologizes quietly, her cheeks going even pinker in color. “I just wanted to let you know we are in San Francisco,” she advises, looking directly at Slater. “And Emily asked me to tell you that she needs to see you in her hotel room ASAP,” she continues, her concerned eyes flicking to mine.
I nod my head in understanding before standing from the bed. I run my hands through my hair and down my rumbled clothing. I would prefer to go and get changed, but this will have to do since I don’t have access to my suitcase right now. I offer Slater a smile as I slowly walk past him to follow Jenni off the bus. Just as I am about to exit, his hand darts out and grabs my wrist. I stare into his brown eyes. So many things are said, without a single word escaping our lips. I lean in and place a quick peck against his plump lips, my heart racing when he smiles against mine.
“Thank you,” I whisper softly, before slipping out of the room as quietly as I entered.
Chapter 13
Slater
“Oh, thank fuck,” I graciously declare when my baby turns up in San Francisco in one piece.
It nearly killed me asking Sonny to ride my bike to San Francisco, but he was the only member of the road crew that had a bike licence. Normally, I wouldn’t let my bike out of my sight, but Kylie was ill all night long that I had to pick between looking after her or riding my bike.
I choose her.
Once I managed to get my anger under control, I headed back into the bus and discovered her huddle in a ball in the middle of the bed. Big angry tears where streaming from her eyes, leaving black smears marks all over her face. She was sobbing so hard her whole body was shuddering. It tore my heart in half seeing her so broken that I sat on the bed and pulled her into my chest. She cradled in close while apology after apology spilled from her lips. Hardly anything she said made any sense, but the word sorry was used continually that I could easily tell it was an apology. By the time she had finished crying, my chest was saturated with her tears and she looked physically and emotionally exhausted. Her red rimmed and pained eyes looked up into mine.
“I’m sorry for everything I did,” she whispered, her voice sounding the clearest it had been all night. “Please forgive me, I need you to forgive me,” she continued, her pretty eyes begging me for forgiveness.
“Why did you leave?” I questioned quietly, trying to sound sincerer than I did the first time.
That time her eyes didn’t dart away, they stayed staring firmly into mine. “I did it for you,” she replied quietly. “Everything I did, I did for you,” she added, her voice sounding so small and weak, her pain and heartache clearly shown all over her beautiful face.
“Please forgive me,” she pleaded. I always had a hard time saying no to her, especially when she would stare at me with so much love in her eyes like she did last night. “Please Slater,” she whispered softly.
“I forgive you,” I said quietly. The burden of anger instantly lifted from my shoulders when the words escaped my lips. Her face morphed into a shy smile while fresh tears fell down her cheeks. I used my thumbs to rub away her tears, I had seen enough tears out of her eyes last night to last me a lifetime.
Suddenly, her nose scrunched up and her eyes opened wide in shock. “I’m going to be sick,” she announced, before her hand darted up and covered her mouth. I only just got her into the bathroom in time. I’m fairly certain she didn’t have any food in her stomach, as nothing but smelly bourbon liquid was expelled from her body over the next several hours.
Kylie is tall for a girl, but she is tiny in size and I was shocked by how much she vomited throughout the night. But even more shocking than that was when I noticed she still has my name tattooed on her flawless skin. After she had vomited down the front of my favorite shirt, I removed it and replaced it with a spare shirt that I carry on the bus. When she lifted her arms to assist me, I noticed a small portion of the black ink sticking out the top of her panties. I was surprised, I had thought she would have had it removed or covered with another tattoo by now.
I still remember how angry I was when she first got that tattoo………
“So no eye contact, don’t mention the word dog and only eat food directly out of the packet?” Kylie repeated, her concerned eyes staring up into mine.
“Yes,” I replied, trying my hardest not to laugh since she was fully believing the bullshit that was dribbling out of my mouth. “And don’t drink the water,” I continued, causing her eyebrows to pull together tightly.
Kylie and I were just about to do the dreaded meet the parent’s routine. She had requested to meet my family first and then I was going to meet hers. We had been dating for nearly three months and we felt that the timing was right to start introducing each other to our family and friends. We had just pulled over at a truck stop halfway between her college and my parents’ house to give our legs a bit of stretch. Kylie’s college was located seven hours from her parents’ home, but thankfully for me it was only two hours from my home town.
Her eyebrows were still scrunched together when I lowered her purple motorcycle helmet over her head and tied the straps tightly under her chin. I never wore a helmet when I would ride, but I always ensured that Kylie did. Especially considering the fact that she seemed to have no concerns for her own safety.
“Do they even have a dog?” she questioned curiously, making me chuckle softly.
“Come on, let’s get this over and done with,” I replied, throwing my leg over my bike and offering her my hand to assist her on the back.
Kylie was a dare devil wrapped in a wholesome country girl appearance. She lived her life to the fullest and even though she loved the thrill of being on the back of my bike, I loved that that she held on tight and moulded her body as close to mine as she could while we rode. Once she had her arms wrapped tightly around my waist and her cheek leaning against my back, I kicked the bike over and headed towards my family home.
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“No, thank you,” Kylie said graciously when my mother offered her one of her famous red velvet cupcakes, her eyes remaining firmly planted on the wooden tabletop.
My mom’s eyebrows pulled together tight, her eyes flicking between Kylie and I. We were sitting at a large wooden table in the middle of my parent’s rustic kitchen. The cupcakes were the third home baked goodies my mom had offered and it was the third time Kylie had declined her offer.
“Are you a celiac?” My mom questioned Kylie. When my mom moved towards the walk in pantry to hunt for a gluten free product, I could no longer hold in my laughter. The instant my chuckles echoed around the kitchen, my mom finally clicked on.
“What did you tell her?” she questioned, moving out of the pantry and throwing a packet of wheat free biscuits at my head, successfully hitting her target. Kylie’s nervous and confused eyes darted between my mom and I. When they slightly narrowed, my chuckles gradually simmered.