Throwing my eyes back to Drake, all he did was shrug his shoulders. He walked back into the room and closed the door, locking himself away from the two of us. Landon was already back to snoring again, and I sighed as I stowed my bag away. There was a small compartment next to the head of my bunk and I shoved my bag in, resolving myself to the bunk as I sank down on the covers.
At least he wasn’t expecting me to share the room with him.
Fumbling around, I slid out my laptop as the bus got on the road. I opened up a final paper I was working on. A paper about Drake, in fact. It was a comparison paper between him and my father, though both were remaining nameless. It was on the theory that addiction, no matter who it struck, always followed the same path, resulted in the same side effects, and eventually ended the same way. I was titling it, ‘The Mirror of Addiction,’ and I was hoping to eventually make it my doctoral thesis, whenever I had the funds to pursue my higher degrees of education.
I sank myself into the meat of the paper as the bus rolled down the road.
Settling in, I got so engrossed in my work I didn’t pay attention to the time that passed by. A door opening caught my attention, and I saw Drake pass by my head. He went to the pantry and grabbed a bag of chips, opening it loudly as I tried to concentrate on my paper again.
But once Landon moved from his bunk, I started fumbling for my headphones.
“Can I get some of those?” Landon asked.
“Sure. You want some ketchup to dip ‘em in?” Drake asked.
“Of course. There any other way to eat chips? Hey sweet stuff, you want some chips?” Landon asked.
“It’s Delia, and no,” I said.
“Don’t bother. She’s a stick in the mud,” Drake said.
“They can be fun,” Landon said.
“Off limits. She's off-limits, man. You'll have to find someone else to have fun with.” Drake said.
“Oh, you know Stone. He always finds us the best ones. I remember that one redhead that got on here. Fuck. I'm so glad you let me have that one,” Landon said. “That was a classic night. Don’t think Stone remembers it, though.”
“Shame. It was a good night,” Drake said.
Sighing, and cussing Hank again, I plugged in my headphones and turned on my music.
I went back to typing my paper, trying to drown out the disgusting nature of their conversation. It was obvious they were just trying to get to me. I looked back and saw them chuckling, eyeing me playfully as I shook my head.
Clearly, I was going to hate every second of this fucking trip, and I couldn’t wait to get into my own hotel room and away from these juvenile jackasses.
CHAPTER 13
Drake
Our first stop on the small tour was Jacksonville, Florida, which just happened to be Stone’s hometown. When we rolled into town, Landon and I cheered. He was meeting us at the venue tonight, then he’d pile on the bus and ride with us to the last three dates.
But the moment we got to the venue, Hank’s face was the first face I saw.
“What the fuck are you doing?” he asked.
“Getting set up for a concert. What the fuck are you doing?” I asked.
“What the hell did you two idiots do to Delia?”
“What the hell does that mean?” I asked.
“I saw her at the hotel. She was fucking close to tears. What did you do to her on that bus?”
“Nothing. Just me and Landon shootin’ the shit,” I said.
“You’re intentionally making her uncomfortable and it stops now. She’s here to help you, to keep you on track. To make sure you’re—doing okay.”
The only thing she’s helping me with right now is a recurring case of blue balls.