Page 76 of Never To Suffer (The Hollywoodland #4)

NOTHING’S GONNA HURT YOU BABY

CIGARETTES AFTER SEX

The back door of the club opens, and we all look up to see the tour’s head of security, Marco, and he doesn’t look like he’s bringing happy news.

I light another cigarette, my fifth in the last hour, and Dani takes a drink of the beer she’s nursing.

She’s nervous and angry. My intestines have been pulled into my chests and tied in knots around my hearts. Graphic, but accurate.

We’re in LA, so they’re not worried about weed, but the rumors going around the bands say the tip involved heroin and fentanyl.

So far, it’s delayed the show for an hour.

At this rate, it might be two. They should have canceled, or made us get here early, but they picked tonight to start searching.

At least it’s not the entire lineup of bands. That would take all damn night.

Marco hops up on the stack of pallets with me and bums a smoke. He doesn’t smoke, so I give him a bit of a side eye but still give him one and my lighter.

“That bad?” I ask. I’m not using, so I shouldn’t have anything to worry about.

But I’m also a recovering addict, and I’ve been open about that to people on this tour outside of the band.

But that means they’re looking extra close at me and my things.

One well-aimed dropped pill, an empty baggie, or a needle slipped into my bag, and someone could end this whole thing for us. For Dani.

“They’re still trying to figure it out, but it’s looking like a false alarm.

Or that people aren’t hiding their stash in obvious places.

” He coughs when he takes his first drag.

I scratch at my two-day stubble, trying to not get myself too worked up.

“The crowd won’t wait much longer, so I can’t imagine they’ll drag their feet on announcing something soon.

Even if it’s only to say they’re pushing the show to tomorrow or?—”

“No! Not tomorrow! Steve and Ethan are here because it’s Ethan’s night off and now they’re already stuck waiting in line!

On his night off!” Dani yells before waving us off and continuing her pacing and mumbling.

She’s back to herself, which we’re all happy to see, but it’s still going to take some adjustment before she trusts her pain, vulnerabilities, and problems with others.

“As for the other question, the one you asked before I went back in?” Marco continues.

“They said it won’t be enough to find something, they’ll have to find it, and that person fails a drug test. That’s the only way they’d bump the band from the tour based on the contract.

They already anticipated the idea of someone hiding a stash to get a band knocked out, so at least there’s that. ”

“So, have us all piss in a damn cup and move on!” Noah yells to no one in particular.

She’s worried they’re inside messing up our gear since they don’t have a clue how to handle it.

I get it, but there’s not much we can do about it.

At least none of us have an acoustic guitar they might try to crack open.

“Drug testing all of us would be expensive, and a legal nightmare.” I reply. “But they’ll start asking for random tests after this. Bring it.”

There’s a shuffle from behind me and Dani turns toward the noise, ready to bite anyone’s head if they try to tell us to go back inside again. Sometimes she’s the scarab, sometimes she’s the mantis. “Honeybee!!”

Xander and Theo sneak around the corner, holding their fingers to their lips as Dani wraps around Xander’s neck, careful of his sling. Theo comes around next to me and pulls me into a hug.

“We had to bribe the guard to get back here,” Theo laughs before he cups my face and kisses me. “How are you all holding up? Some kind of raid by the LAPD?”

“Fuckers! Profiling isn’t legal!” Dani readies herself for a fight with no one, bouncing on her toes.

“Are you still going to do it?” Theo whispers, and I shake my head. He pushes my shoulder. “Why not?”

“Are you?”

“Yes!” He moves to his side, so he’s not in Dani's or Xander’s eye-line and pulls a ring out of his pocket. “Not tonight, but soon.”

“She’ll hate it. I returned the stupid ring last week anyhow.”

“Sky, you worked your ass off in your friend’s garage to save up for that ring.”

“A passionate heat of the moment idea when we were all terrified about Xander’s condition.

I shouldn’t be doing shit like that, messing around with Dani’s head.

My head.” I offer Theo a faint smile. “Don’t let it stop you, though.

You two make sense, but our Beetle doesn’t want to be tied down, and I’m not sure I’m ready for that even if she wanted it. ”

“She just wants to be tied up? Skylar, you said it yourself, it’s not technically—” he’s cut off when Dani and Xander come close enough to hear us. Theo clears his throat and changes the subject. “So, have they said how long before they let you all go on?”

I shake my head while Noah takes up the pacing where Dani left off.

The only one of us that doesn’t look like they're about to explode is Connor, but that’s because he’s busy making out with a groupie.

I love that for him, because he loves the attention of strangers far more than I ever did and he takes a lot of the heat off me.

“Do you think they’ll actually catch anyone?” Xander asks me, and I shrug before he leans in and kisses my cheek.

“Hopefully, no.”

The doors pop open again. This time, two big cops come out and one of them has the bag for my bass. My stomach lurches.

“Mr. Beck? We’re told this belongs to you?”

“Mx. Beck. Non-binary,” Dani corrects him, no fear in her voice while I sit next to her, mouth dry and unable to form words.

I nod and the cop that hasn’t spoken yet holds the bag up. I stare at it, nodding again, but still unable to speak. What if they did find something? What if there are drugs still in my system?

“Apologies. One of our dogs got a little rough going through everyone’s things.

He broke a pocket. You can file a complaint with the department if you’d like.

They’ll want pictures and other information, but for this, you’re probably better off pretending it never happened.

They’ll likely string it out for a few months and—Shit, we just scared the piss out of you, didn’t we? ”

I nod again, letting out the breath I’d been holding so long I almost suffocated.

“Well, anyway, you’re good to go.”

I wait until they’re back inside the door before I let myself fall back onto the stack of pallets.

The flashing memories of the paranoia and the meltdowns I had over getting caught while living in Canada come flooding back.

I never got caught, and that might be part of my problem.

If I had, maybe it would have helped me sooner, or I’d still be sitting in jail.

Who knows? But right now, my stress meter has maxed out, and my entire body trembles uncontrollably.

“Fuckers, seriously?” Dani yells, but they’re long gone by now and I’m covering my face with my hands, trying to get my breathing to steady, along with my heart rate. “I mean, they could have led with a heads up that everything’s fine.”

Marco’s phone buzzes. “Ah, our legal team arrived. Guessing that’s why they even bothered to come out and tell you at all. Looks like they’re shutting the raid down, and doors will open in fifteen. They’ve got LA Proper going second to last, and everyone will play shortened sets.”

“Okay, Scooby Gang,” Marco says loud enough to get Connor’s attention. “See you inside. Sorry about the shit show, Sky.”

“Connor! Get your disgusting tongue out of the groupie’s throat and let her breath through something other than her eyelids! We gotta go!” Noah barks, but I don’t register much of what’s going on around me.

“We’ll see you inside. Kill it up there, Beetle.

” Xander kisses her cheek and squeezes my arm.

His eyes tell me he wishes he could climb up onto the pallet and reach me.

After we watch them head back down the alley to the front, I watch Dani’s lips moving, but I can’t make out what she’s saying.

She whispers to Marco, and he nods. Before I stand up to follow everyone inside, Dani stops me.

“I got us a little time to help you relax. You okay?”

“Not gonna lie. I think that just ran my last spoon through a garbage disposal. I’ll be okay, though. I can still play.”

She holds out her arms and I take them as she pretends to pull me off the pallet stack and to my feet, wrapping my arms around her. She holds me there for a while, her head resting over my heart as it struggles to slow down. When I glance down at her, there’s a familiar, wicked grin on her face.

“Oh, if you’re thinking what I’m guessing you’re thinking. Yes. Please.”

She winks and grabs my pants, pulling at the button and unzipping them quickly.

Her hand snakes in, wrapping around me as she bites at my chest through my shirt.

Her big doe eyes look up at me, eyelids fluttering.

“Can I be your good girl, Skylar? Will you let me suck your big cock for you? Put me on my knees and make me choke on you.”

“Oh, you’re going to do more than that, pet.

But for now, get on your knees, open your mouth, and play with your tits.

” She lowers herself, pulling her shirt up so I can see she’s not wearing a bra, allowing the silver jewelry glistens in the dark.

Her knees spread wide, and her mouth opens in anticipation.

She’s so needy, starving for me. And I’m going to give her exactly what she needs.

Her tongue darts out like a lizard when I pull my cock out, running the tip over her lips. She’s moaning at the taste of me, so I grab a thick handful of hair and pull hard. “I never told you to do that, did I?”

“No, my love. I’m sorry.”