Page 9 of Paint Our Song (Cloverlily #1)

I t’s quickly apparent to him how different it is from the rest of the venue. It’s as if he’s entered a portal to another world. He follows the flow of people that seem to be going to an area hidden behind the grand stage. There, he finds several tents that have signs such as artists’ lounge, food, and assistance. There are big-time artists hanging out like it’s no big deal, and he resists the urge to dash over there and ask for their autograph. Probably wouldn’t be cool to bother them in their downtime, especially since he’s got Cloverlily’s guest emblazoned on his pass.

They search for the tour bus that’s labeled Cloverlily. Similar to the other buses, there’s also a group outside theirs, with several people holding items to be signed. It’s a small crowd, but they seem to be huddled into even smaller groups. There’s a group wearing red shirts with Theo’s face on it, and other groups that seem to be here for Chase and Gil.

And, of course, there’s a group for Calvin. A woman has a pile of black shirts in her hands with Calvin’s silhouette, playing the guitar, emblazoned on it in white ink. The text under his face says Give me some Calvin, and she has a hat that says Calvinatics along with Join our Facebook group! Around her, a few other men and women wear the shirts and the cap. Miles makes a mental note of the name—he’ll join when he gets home.

“Are you selling these?” Gabby asks her.

The girl eyes Gabby carefully. “No, I designed these. Are you a fan of Calvin? I can give you one.”

Miles sighs and jabs a thumb against his temple. While Gabby strikes up a conversation with the girl, he wanders off to the bus’s door. There’s a crew member waiting there, talking to someone on his phone.

The crew member eyes him suspiciously, glancing at the pass around his neck. When he puts his phone away, the crew member looks at Miles from head to toe.

“Do you want to come in?” the crew member says.

Puzzled, he looks at the crowd of people outside. “We’re allowed to go inside the bus?”

“You are. You’ve got a VIP pass.”

Oh? He takes a quick glance at the other people surrounding them. Not one of theirs has the same red letters that his and Gabby’s have.

“Well?” the crew member asks.

“I’ll wait here. Thanks.” It’ll be creepy if he went in without Calvin, anyway.

Someone shrieks, and Miles isn’t being dramatic when he thinks his eardrums have shattered. Gabby stands with the rest of the crowd, hands around her mouth as she screams. The group starts to get rowdier, pointing at something that Miles can’t see from where he’s standing. Some security personnel come forward and remind them not to crowd the band.

Miles stands there, frozen, as the band approaches the group. As usual, Theo leads them, greeting their fans and quickly signing on some posters. A girl asks him to sign her shirt, right below her collar, and he obliges. Chase and Gil are there too, beaming as they sign posters. And then there’s Calvin—all the way in the back of the group, smiling as he talks to some fans.

Miles watches him from a distance. He’s much more subdued than his band mates, quieter, much less at ease than the rest of them. A woman asks for a selfie, and he obliges, grinning awkwardly at the camera.

“Nothing for us to sign?” Theo’s in front of him. When did that happen? Miles tilts his head up to get a good look at him, only realizing now that he’s a lot taller than he thinks. He has a good few inches on Miles. “Want me to sign your arm?”

“Oh,” Miles says, and he knows full well how dumb he sounds. Theo Reid’s in front of him. Theo Reid! He must be taking too long to respond, so Theo looks at him oddly, and Miles stares back at him—totally star-struck.

A hand pats him on the shoulder. A tall man in a white polo shirt reaches out for the pass around Miles’s neck. He scans it quickly and gently lets go, and it thumps against his chest.

“I’m Derrick, the band manager. Calvin told me you were coming,” he says. “We actually met a few years back… Well, through emails. When you did the band’s cover.”

“Yeah, hi!” He does remember him—Derrick Pickett. The band’s manager can’t be that much older than the band, but with how he presents himself, he seems much more put-together and mature. He reminds Miles a lot of his own manager.

“Theo, this is Calvin’s guest.”

Theo steps back to regard Miles. He doesn’t pay attention to a girl who’s asking for a picture of him, his entire focus on Miles.

“My bad,” Theo says. He claps Miles on the arm strong enough to knock him sideward. “Thought you were here for autographs!”

Remembering himself, Miles shakes himself out of his reverie. He blurts out, “Shit, sorry. I am! I want your autograph.” Miles doesn’t even care about how dorky he sounds, or how both Derrick and Theo exchange startled glances. This is the lead singer of his favorite band. Fuck it.

“You have nothing for me to sign,” Theo says with a laugh.

“How about a photo instead?” Derrick suggests.

“Yeah!” Miles says, and he almost drops his cellphone as he fumbles for it. After an embarrassing amount of time trying to put his camera on selfie mode, Theo puts an arm around him and they get a pretty cool selfie.

With his arm still around Miles’s shoulders, Theo turns toward Calvin and yells, “Cal! Should I invite your friend inside?”

Calvin, who’s still some distance away, looks up from the poster he’s signing. He looks confused, and Chase and Gil also look toward Miles .

“Yeah!” Calvin calls back. “Miles, where’s Gabby?”

“I’m here!” Gabby yells from the middle of the crowd. She waves to get his attention.

Calvin nods at her. He looks back at Miles across the small crowd. “I’ll catch up with you!”

“O-okay,” Miles squeaks, too soft for Calvin to even hear him. Theo leads him inside the bus. There are a few disgruntled sounds from the crowd, a few people who weren’t able to talk to him, and Theo blows them a kiss, which apparently is what does it for them. They squeal, and Theo disappears inside the bus with Miles in tow.

The inside of the bus is spacious, considering it’s the inside of a bus. It’s sleek with couches along the side, as well as a small table in the corner. There are dark blinds drawn down the windows hiding the outside world, and toward the back is a closed-off area that Miles assumes is likely a bedroom. The bus is… empty. Miles thought the tour bus would be much more crowded with people. It’s actually quite intimate, and Miles feels sorely out of place.

“Make yourself at home. Miles, was it?” Theo asks, urging him to take a seat. Frazzled, Miles nods and sits down. Theo rummages through a mini-fridge and grabs a can of beer, tossing it at Miles, who stumbles to catch it.

The door to the bus opens once more, and there’s an onslaught of laughter as Chase and Gil climb on up, almost stumbling their steps. Gabby comes in with Calvin behind her, and Derrick’s the last to come up. Miles is alarmed to see that Gabby’s carrying a cap from Calvin’s fan club, and has even asked Calvin to sign it. He’s even more alarmed when she drops it on his lap .

“Got this for you,” she says.

“Huh? Oh. Thanks?” Miles looks at the cap, then at Gabby, then at Calvin. Turning away, Calvin stifles a laugh, and Miles’s face heats up.

He senses someone else staring, and he looks across the bus and spots Theo looking at him with an oddly calculating expression. It’s as if he’s sizing him up, studying him, trying to figure out why a stranger like him is on their tour bus.

Miles doesn’t know the answer to that puzzle, either.

“Hey!” Chase says to Miles. Miles makes a move to get up, just because it’d be polite, but Chase sits down beside him and puts an arm around his shoulder and crowds him. Miles isn’t sure how to act.

“I’m Chase, this is Gil.”

Gil waves at him, as if Miles has no clue who they were. Still, being up this close to the band is disarming. He’s noticing things that weren’t so obvious through a screen, such as that Gil also has a good few inches on him and has arms and shoulders so defined he could probably pick up every one of them easily. He also notices that Chase’s blue eyes are alarmingly pretty.

“You’re Miles, Cal’s buddy?” Chase turns to Gabby. “Are you Cal’s friend, too?”

Gabby’s grinning so widely it must hurt. “I’m Gabby.”

“You’re cute,” he says, straight to the point.

Gabby shrugs, and Miles can see she’s unaffected otherwise. He’s never really known her to be interested in flirting. Apparently, it holds true even if it’s someone from a very popular band.

“You’re the first friends Cal’s ever invited backstage. I didn’t even know he had friends.”

“I have friends,” Calvin mutters.

Chase grins. “Aside from us?”

Gil crosses the short expanse from the other side of the room and forces Chase to get up. “You’re done. Stop bugging them. I need you to open your bag. I left my phone in it.”

Rolling his eyes, Chase relents and gets up, but not before patting Miles’s arm. He says something to Gil that Miles doesn’t hear, and then they both disappear to the back. Miles makes the astute observation that not one of them has said a word to Theo, who’s now buried on his phone.

Calvin only moves when Derrick needs to get through, and he takes a seat on the couch across from Miles. “Did you watch us play?”

“Yeah. Of course we did!” Miles exclaims. The beer in his hand is cold and still unopened, and he absently puts it on the seat beside him. Theo’s stare flickers over to him for a moment, as if tracking his movements. “You were all incredible. It’s the first time I’ve seen you all live.”

“Miles was frozen in place,” Gabby says. “I’ve never seen him so quiet.”

“I—shut up, Gabby!” He lightly shoves her.

Calvin tucks his chin to his chest and smiles. “Glad you enjoyed it.”

Face lit up, Miles nods enthusiastically. “I can’t believe it took me way too long to see your band play live. Our tickets were amazing, too. They were so close to the stage.”

Across the room, Theo gets up, pockets his phone and grabs a bag that’s under the table. He makes his way to the door, bag slung over his shoulder, but stops right in front of Calvin. “Cal. I’m heading off.”

“Okay,” Calvin says.

Theo must take offense at how passively Calvin says it, or at how he doesn’t even look in his direction, because his expression twists.

Strangely, Calvin doesn’t notice the shift in Theo’s mood until he says, voice low, “What the hell, Calvin?”

“Huh?” Calvin, startled, looks up at him. His eyebrows crease, and Miles sees the exact moment his mood shifts as well. “What?”

“You can’t be serious,” Theo says, tensely. “Unbelievable.” He raises his hands, exasperated, and makes for the door. From across the room, Derrick groans.

Calvin curses under his breath. He closes his eyes and takes a deep exhale, then he follows Theo outside, leaving both Gabby and Miles stunned.

“Don’t make a scene here!” Derrick shouts. He rushes after them, clearly annoyed.

“What the heck?” Gabby mouths.

A second later, the door to the back opens and Chase and Gil come barreling out.

Chase looks around. “Where is everyone?”

When Gabby points outside, Chase lifts a dark curtain and peeks out. With a grimace, he says, “There they go again.”

“What?” asks Gil, not sounding pleased .

He opens the curtain a bit more and Miles can’t help but strain his neck to get a look. While all they can see is Theo’s back, Calvin is facing the bus and has a blank expression. Derrick’s some distance away, talking to their fans, who are still around, trying to keep them away from the two band members.

Gil pulls Chase away from the curtains. It closes and they lose sight of the tense conversation happening outside. Grumbling, Chase sits back and crosses his arms like a petulant child.

Not long after, the bus door opens and Calvin gets on. He looks exhausted, and he stands by the door, massaging his temples.

“You good, Cal?” Gil asks.

“Yeah,” he says. He sounds defeated, and Miles hates it. A few minutes ago, he actually seemed happy to see them. Calvin had been smiling while talking to Miles and Gabby, and now he’s barely looking in their direction.

“Soooo.” Chase flounders his hands in the air dramatically. “We’re going to head to the artist’s lounge to get some drinks and food. Are you all joining us? Miles? Gabby?”

“Um…” Miles blinks at Calvin. It doesn’t seem as if he’s paying attention. Hanging out with the band should be an exciting idea, but whatever’s going on with Calvin, it doesn’t look good.

“Cal?” Gil prompts.

Calvin startles. He stands straighter and blinks, and he looks around as if he’s only just realizing where he is. “Yeah. Okay.”

“Awesome.” Chase jumps up and heads out the door.

Instead of following him, Gil pulls Calvin aside before he can head outside .

“Are you okay?” Gil asks Calvin quietly.

“Yes,” he says, though there’s no conviction behind it. His eyes flicker Miles momentarily before it goes back to Gil. “Same old. Don’t worry about me.”

Miles squeezes past them on his way out, Gabby right behind him, and he doesn’t even try to hide how he’s searching Calvin’s expression for answers.