On the Road: (Vagabonds Book 2) (New Adult Rock Star Romance) by Jade C. Jamison Read Free Book Online

spat.  “You don’t have to be a bitch about it.”
    “Uh, no.  Apparently I do because you don’t listen otherwise.”
    Vicki moved so that she stood between us.  There was no physical altercation on the horizon but she probably wanted to make sure.  She looked at me and said, “Would you rather have a joint?”
    I couldn’t help being irritated.  I breathed in through my nose with such force that I felt my nostrils flare.  Maybe that was what she needed to see.  “No.  I want to be straight on stage.”  I forced myself to not add, Is that so hard to understand?   Because, even though I didn’t know Barbie’s motives, I knew that Vicki never wanted to party alone—although she would if she had to.  Couldn’t let a beer or a joint or some other kind of hit go to waste.
    “Why?  We kicked ass last night, Kyle.  I bet being loose and free and feeling good had a lot to do with it.”
    That hit me all kinds of wrong.  “No, Vicki.  The fact that we’ve rehearsed the shit out of our material—so that we could play it in a coma—is the only reason why I did okay last night.  I can’t speak for any of the rest of you and how you managed.”  I still let Barbie’s fuck up or two last night ride.  I wasn’t in the mood to fight, and Vicki was picking this one anyway.  Just so that it was clear, I said, “I will be stone cold sober onstage tonight.  Period.”
    “Geez.  You don’t have to be so damn crabby about it.”
    “Yeah, I do, because you asked how many times before shutting up about it?”
    She made a face at me but said nothing.  Barbie said, “That’s okay.  I’ll consume Kyle’s share.  I won’t turn down a drink and a puff.”
    I shook my head and went back to the bathroom, turning the blow dryer on high to drown out their noise…and maybe send a message.  I realized that I might feel more comfortable about being enhanced with drugs or alcohol in the future, but shit.  We’d just started.  I wanted to play a few shows clean and sober, or how else would I ever be able to say I’d gotten the full experience?  Besides, I hadn’t even had a chance to enjoy Black Matter last night.  I’d barely enjoyed our own performance.  I could hardly remember anything that had happened at all the day before, and I didn’t want that to happen again.  How could I relish our performance if I had no memory of it?  I had learned a lesson—experience something first sober and then, if I felt the need, I could experience it in an altered state.  But my first show, enjoying it as a fresh-faced newbie on the rock scene, I could never get back, could never appreciate for the first time again.  And it had been an awesome, enchanted night.
    I wouldn’t make that mistake again…if I could help it—but the pull of the magic juice was strong.  Still—night two, Omaha, Nebraska, got Kyle as straight as she could ever get.
     

 
     
     
    Chapter Six
     
     
    A COUPLE OF days later, we were somewhere in Chicago.  I’d never been there, so it was a treat for me.  It was a bustling city and the weather was moderate and mild compared to the Colorado heat we’d left behind.
    We had a day off, our first since we’d started, and Peter wanted to have a big lunch meeting wherein he went over what he called ground rules .  After we’d been seated in a quiet area of the restaurant well after the lunch rush was over and ordered our food, Peter began the meeting by asking if any of us had bothered to watch the “Dream World” video and what we’d thought of it.
    Oh, hell.  I hadn’t even thought about that damn thing—I’d been too wrapped up in the tour.  “I suggest you all take a peek.  You’re stars, bitches.  You need to enjoy it and ride high.”  God.  Would he ever stop calling us names?  What an asshole.
    “But we’re not going to talk about your fame.  No.  We’re going to discuss what I expect from you while we’re on tour.  I expect a lot, but you will