Ty cleared his throat and shot Steven a look before walking a few feet ahead of them to catch the rest of the crew.
“Um, actually, babe, word on the street is you’re a hustler. So I don’t think you’re invited.”
“Ah.” Kylie bit her lip in an attempt to contain the pout that threatened to expose how much that stung.
“You can come give me some pointers if you want,” Steven said, giving her a squeeze. “So the guys don’t take all my money.”
“Nah. You have fun. I’m gonna spend some time with Lu and Hannah. Do some girly stuff.”
“Sounds good, babe. I’m going to go find out everything I can about who bluffs and who—”
“Ty won’t make eye contact when he’s bluffing. And Lenny Vasquez, the roadie with the naked lady tattoo, he starts twitching in his seat when he has a good hand.”
Steven chuckled. “See? That’s why they don’t let you play.” With a quick kiss to the side of her head, Steven followed the rest of the band to the area where the buses were parked.
Kylie walked to her bus alone. She pulled out her phone and texted Lulu.
Where are you?
She waited a few minutes but no response came. So she texted Hannah.
You busy?
Her response was instant.
Just catching up on emails. Do you need something?
Kylie sighed. Yeah. She needed something. She just didn’t know exactly what it was.
Just checking in. Want to grab some food or something?
Again, Hannah’s response came so quickly Kylie wondered how she’d had time to even read the text much less type out a reply.
I already ate. Is everything okay? Want me to have someone go get you something to eat?
She typed out a quick no thanks text, telling her that she was good and to have a good night.
She’d only take a few steps onto the bus and back toward her room when she heard it. The moaning. The unmistakable sounds of people having sex. It sounded like extremely good sex from what she could hear.
She gasped out loud without meaning to. Her hand flew to her mouth to cover it.
Inexplicable tears filled her eyes instantly.
Trace was having sex with someone. On their bus. And not discreetly either.
“Yes, harder. Oh god don’t stop,” she heard a muffled female’s voice cry out. A hard thumping sound came repeatedly from the back of the bus.
A sob choked its way out of her throat. She gripped the door to stay upright. She couldn’t fall apart. Not here.
But her world was spinning and it was too much pain to keep on the inside. She let the tears fall freely since there wasn’t anyone around to see.
She caught a glimpse of the bananas he’d gotten her and wanted to slap herself. She’d thought he still cared for her. All because of some stupid bananas. And because of the words he’d whispered in the darkness.
I swear to God, if I ever get to hold you again, I will never let go. Ever. I want to be inside you so damn bad. I fucking need to be inside you.
Obviously he’d found a replacement. And she’d lost an entire night’s sleep because she’d felt guilty that he’d seen Steven kissing her on the forehead.
He probably wouldn’t give two shits that she’d heard this. Clearly he wasn’t too concerned when it came to being faithful to Gretchen either. She wasn’t sure how that aspect of it made her feel. Or what she believed about him and Gretchen anymore.
She wiped her sleeve under her nose as those awful sounds chased her off the bus. She would never forget those sounds.
Pulling her phone out of her pocket, she scrolled through Chaz’s messages until she found the contact info for the guy who was responsible for keeping up with her daddy’s truck. His name was blurry through her tears but it was the last message Chaz had sent so she knew that had to be it.
She was just about to dial the number when she slipped on the top step and crashed into something hard.
Whoever it was grunted at the impact and wrapped strong arms around her so she didn’t fall on her face. Strong, familiar arms.
She looked up into hazel eyes watching her from under a dark ball cap.
“Trace?” Well now she was just plain confused.
“Hey there, Kylie Lou. What’s your hurry?”
The sight of him made her want to kiss his face. But she restrained herself. Instead, she wiped the remaining moisture from her cheeks and pulled herself together. Straightening out of his grip, she shook off her temporary insanity. “Sorry, I was just, um, going to check on my truck.”
His face scrunched under his cap. “Uh huh. And you were crying because…” he prompted.
“I wasn’t crying,” she answered quickly.
Trace climbed the bus steps, forcing her backwards. She didn’t hear the moaning and thumping anymore, so she figured whoever was getting it on must have been finished. She was kind of curious to see who it was.