Page 17 of Follow the Rhythm (Fairview City Omegaverse #2)

I called Charlie when I left the hospital and told him the news, half-hoping he’d say I wasn’t allowed to take Ursula’s place. Surely bringing an Omega along would be against some kind of policy. He disappointed me immediately.

I also didn’t know he was standing right next to Grace when I told him.

“Ah! Holy shit, yes! We can be bus buddies!” she screeched into the phone. “She can ride with me on the fancy bus, right?”

“Sure,” Charlie said after a moment. “Unless you’d rather ride on one of the crew buses with me?”

I hesitated. Being on the “fancy bus” meant riding with Kieran and Ellis and their stupid, sexy pheromones. But Grace would be an amazing buffer. Being with Charlie on the crew bus seemed like asking for trouble. He had to know that was a terrible idea.

“I’ll ride with Grace if Kieran and Ellis are okay with it, too.” I paused. “Are you sure me coming along is alright? It’s not going to piss anyone off, having an Omega around?”

There was a shuffling noise and then Charlie’s voice came back a little clearer; he’d taken me off speakerphone. “Of course it’s okay. I trust everyone on the team to make you feel welcome. And you’ll be safe, I promise.”

The panic in my stomach subsided just a bit. “Okay. I guess I have some packing to do.”

Austin agreed to drive me to the bulk store across the river so I could buy a suitcase and an industrial-sized bottle of descenter spray. It was only late afternoon when they picked me up from the hospital, even though it felt like it’d been a week since Ursula had fallen at the venue.

“I’m pissed at you,” they said as soon as I got into the truck. “All the stories you made me listen to about your fancy Catholic arts school, and never once did you mention you knew Ellis Fox? Why would you do that to me?”

“It didn’t seem important,” I said.

“Bullshit. Try again.”

“Fine, I was embarrassed. It felt pathetic, being so obsessed with him,” I snapped.

“Again, bullshit. You’ve told me multiple times about getting your period during chapel and one of those nuns telling you about the evils of tampon usage. I know a lot of your embarrassing things,” Austin pressed.

I sighed loudly. “Right, but those are funny-embarrassing. Ellis is different. You’re supposed to get over your high school crush, but I didn’t. That’s not funny; that’s psycho behavior.”

“You’re not a psycho. I’d say more ‘mildly disturbed.’ So, is it weird being around him again?”

“Obviously, yes. And now I’m going to be stuck with him for this whole tour. How am I going to do this? I haven’t been away from Fairview since I was a kid. And there’s a reason Omegas don’t usually tour with bands.”

Austin considered that for a moment. “You’ll be fine. Aren’t you the one always talking about how messed up it is that Omegas are discriminated against?”

“Well, yeah.” It was more difficult for Omegas to get hired for almost any job.

“And your Omega instincts or feelings or whatever - you said those are pretty much under control, right?” they asked.

“For the most part.” As long as I didn’t try to have casual sex with anyone.

“Plus, you’ll be home before your next heat, right? And from what Grace tells me, you’ve got a willing helper in case it comes early,” they said, waggling their eyebrows.

“How does she know about Charlie?” I wailed.

“Charlie? She said Kieran is into you. Who the hell is Charlie?”

“Oh god,” I moaned, my head in my hands.

I ended up telling them the whole sordid story on the long drive. They only bragged a little about being right about Charlie and me not being able to keep things casual.

“Just keep it in your pants for two months. You can do that, right?” they asked.

“Yeah. Of course,” I said with confidence I didn’t feel.

“And if you can’t… You should pick the rockstar. I bet he’s loaded,” they said with a wicked smile.

I didn’t dignify that with an answer.

We found a giant suitcase large enough for me to curl up inside of, along with a four-pack of descenter sprays that were so strong they had a warning label that read: Caution: Not recommended for daily use, may cause serious skin irritation or rash. In other words, it was the good stuff.

After a sleepless night of panic-packing, I woke too early and took a cab back to the venue. At least I’d finally been paid for my work so far, and I had the promise of another fat paycheck for traveling with the production. Silver linings.

I found Stevie backstage, and she wasn’t exactly thrilled to see me.

“Stay out of the way and we won’t have any problems,” she said, which immediately got my hackles up.

“I’m going to do my job. If that requires me getting in the way, tough luck,” I said, crossing my arms. I hated that I had to look up at her. She wasn’t an Alpha, but she had the attitude and height of one.

“Have fun with that,” she said dismissively and stalked away. I realized I had no idea where to go or what to do.

I dragged my suitcase behind me as I wandered around backstage, trying to look like someone with a purpose. The few crew members that I passed gave me strange looks, but no one said anything.

Luckily, or unluckily, I found Charlie.

“Hey, there you are,” he said. “Give me your stuff. We’ll take it to the bus.”

“I’ll take it.” I didn’t need him doing his “I’m a good provider” routine again.

He grinned at me. “Suit yourself.”

We walked out the back door into a parking lot where three massive buses were parked.

Charlie led me to the fanciest one, painted a metallic ruby red, and opened the luggage hatch.

I struggled to haul the massive suitcase inside until he grinned again and easily hefted it into place.

His muscles flexed, and I shut down the part of my brain that remembered vividly what he looked like naked.

“Grace made me promise she could give you the grand bus tour. Excited?” he asked, still smiling.

I was suddenly very aware that this was our first time being truly alone since the disastrous night in my apartment.

I tore my gaze from the triangle of tanned chest visible above the top button of his shirt.

“Um, sure,” I said. I was terrified, but I wasn’t going to tell him that.

“You’ll be great. Want to come talk to the lighting engineers? They’re doing final tests.”

The rest of the day passed in a blur of watching professionals do their jobs competently while I stood by, nodding like I had any idea what was going on.

I met with the wardrobe, hair and makeup team - three women named Cailin, Julianne, and Frances, respectively. They were on board with Ursula’s vision and promised to run looks by me before each show.

Soundcheck was pretty quick since they’d done a full run-through the previous day. The band sounded great. And the lighting and video directors were accommodating and explained what they were doing as they rehearsed the cues. I tried my best to be gracious instead of feeling like a burden.

“Jess! Come back to the greenroom!” Grace yelled from the stage when soundcheck finished.

I made my way backstage, silently gathering my courage to face Kieran and Ellis. Before I could chicken out, I pushed through the door.

Grace immediately gave me an aggressive hug. “I’m so stoked you’re coming, you have no idea.”

I laughed weakly. “I think I have some idea.”

Kieran was watching us with an expression that I was starting to interpret as amusement, even if he rarely cracked a smile.

“Are you sure you’re okay with me riding with you guys?” I asked him.

“Of course,” he said, lifting one eyebrow. “Why wouldn’t I be?”

“Right. And you?” I called to Ellis. He was along the back wall, examining the snacks and drinks they’d stocked for the show.

“Oh, it’s going to be great. We always said we wanted to do a cross-country road trip, remember?” he said with a brilliant smile. “And now look at us, getting paid for it and everything. Sorry, it won’t be in a convertible, though. Maybe next time.”

I glared at him. How dare he bring up our old daydreams? Before I could retort, Grace pulled me out to the parking lot for the bus tour.

“Isn’t it so fancy?” she said as we stepped inside.

The interior looked more like a small luxury apartment than a tour bus.

Black leather couches, interspersed with tables, lined both walls, and the floors were gray hardwood.

It was illuminated by rows of warm can lights and had a kitchenette with a sink, microwave, and a toaster oven.

Two large screens were mounted above the blackout curtains covering long windows on both sides.

It was also frigidly cold thanks to the AC unit humming above our heads.

“Damn,” I said appreciatively. It was way nicer than I expected.

“This way to your room, madam.” Grace walked through the door at the far end of the space. We entered a smaller area with four bunks, two stacked on each side of the hallway. Each bunk had a small light with a switch, a little cubby, and a privacy curtain.

“They’re called coffins in the biz. Kieran told me. I’ve never had a bus this nice. On the Valkyries’ first tour, we slept in my car,” she said, looking at me with wide eyes. “You can take this one; Kieran already claimed the other bottom bunk.”

I breathed a sigh of relief. Climbing up and down from the top bunk would’ve been difficult for my stupid, tiny legs.

“And last but not least, the fanciest part.”

Grace opened the door at the other end of the hallway, and we entered a full-on bedroom with a queen-sized bed.

“Let me guess. This is Ellis’s room.”

Grace rolled her eyes. “Of course it is. The bed folds up into a couch so we can use this space for rehearsal if we need to, but Bea insisted on having a nicer bed.”

My stomach sank. “She’s coming?”

Grace nodded, grimacing. “Thank god you’ll be here for backup.”