"This is fucking bullshit." Marcus glared at Rebekah before storming off.
"Way to defuse a bomb, Sed," Eric said.
"Do you have a better idea?" he asked.
"Yeah, don't drag Rebekah into this when you know she had nothing to do with it." Eric wrapped an arm around her back and tugged her closer.
"Then Marcus would think I was singling him out, and he'd get even more pissed at her."
Eric glanced at Rebekah, and she nodded in agreement.
"Sed's right."
Eric sighed loudly and shook his head. "Sed's always right."
Sed grinned like a shark. "Well, we're all in agreement on that."
"I've got to tear down the equipment," Rebekah said, squirming out of Eric's sweaty grasp.
"Will you dress up as a cop for me later?" he asked.
She glanced at Sed and flushed, then turned her gaze to Eric and said, "You have the right to remain silent."
He chuckled. "I think I want to waive that right."
"I know a great soon-to-be attorney," Sed said. His fiancée Jessica was in her final year of law school.
"If Jessica wants to participate in our scenario, I would not object," Eric quipped. It earned him a thump in the forehead from Sed.
Rebekah tilted her head back for a kiss, which Eric gave eagerly. When they drew apart, she patted his butt before returning to work. He watched her until she was out of sight and then turned to find Sed grinning.
"What?"
"Nothing. Just happy for you." Sed clapped him on the shoulder and directed him toward the tour bus.
Eric was happy for himself as well. There was still one thing that continually ate away at him though. It was past time that he spilled his guts to Sed. Sure, Sed would be pissed for a while. He might even hit him, but it had to be better than this constant cloud of darkness hanging over his subconscious for almost three years.
"Sed?"
"Yeah?"
"Sed, there's something I need to tell you about me and Jon."
Sed's head swiveled, and his eyes were the size of saucers. "You and Jon? No fucking way."
It took Eric a few seconds to realize why Sed was so shocked. "Ew. No, not that. Shit, where did that come from?"
Sed released a long breath through pursed lips. "Sorry. Now that I'm not getting it on with three or four different girls a night, I've been noticing Trey's activities more. That guy will fuck anyone."
Eric laughed. "You're just now noticing that? He actually has excellent taste and a lot to choose from on both teams."
They paused in the corridor that led to the stadium exit. "So now that my mind is out of the gutter, what were you actually trying to tell me?" Sed asked.
"Do you remember when the old bus broke down outside Phoenix and the cash that we kept in the lockbox for emergencies was sort of missing?"
"How can I fucking forget that? Jon used every penny we had to buy drugs. That was the last straw. We had no choice but to fire him."
Eric winced. "Well … " Eric was starting to reconsider this confession. Maybe it was better to let Jon take the blame.
"Well, what?"
"There was this lady at a gas station near Tucson. She laid this sob story on me about running out of gas and having no food for her two little kids. They were in her van all sweaty and hot because it was frickin' almost a hundred degrees that day. Crying that they were thirsty and hungry. So … " Eric sighed. "I didn't have much cash on me. So I gave her the money out of our lockbox."
"All of it?"
"Yeah. I figured she needed it more than we did. We were almost home. We had some great gigs lined up. I knew we'd make the money back in no time. And then the bus broke down, and we were stuck without a dime. I was going to tell you, but Jon said you were already pissed at him, a little more wouldn't hurt. Next thing I knew, Jon was out of the band, and we were stuck without a tour bus. We had to cancel a bunch of shows. Lay off some of the crew. It kept snowballing from there."
"Jessica dumped me."
Eric winced. "Yeah."
"At least, I thought that's why she dumped me. Turned out it was really because I was a conceited ass, but at the time, I blamed Jon for wasting all our money, so I couldn't pay her law school tuition."
"I'm really sorry. If I'd have known, I wouldn't have given that lady the whole five hundred dollars. I just felt bad for her, and her kids were so cute." Eric peeked at Sed through one eye. "Did I mention they were hungry and thirsty?"