“How many extra fingers would you need to count the virgins who told you their cherries were popped so you’d screw them?”

Slipping a stick of gum in his mouth, he said, “Point taken. I don’t think she was lying, though.”

“How do you know?”

“Why does it matter?” He smiled sneakily before blowing a bubble and popping it with his teeth. “You got a secret fetish or something?”

“Get fucked, Loren.”

“I tried,” he mumbled, pushing air from his nostrils. “Believe me, I tried.”

Hope shot through me at hearing that. “She turned you down?”

“We wouldn’t be here if she hadn’t.” The joy that suddenly overtook my expression was wiped away when he said, “She’s got the softest thighs. No way would I leave them this soon.”

Loren walked away before I could demand to know where else he had touched her, and I had no choice but to follow. I could hear the crowd outside getting restless. The show had already begun but little did I know, it wasn’t one that would be happening on a stage.

The show was incredible. The crowds were getting wilder. Word had spread about our success in Los Angeles and San Jose, and curiosity made them hungry.

With each song we performed together, it felt less like I was some weird attachment that Bound couldn’t shake and more like I was Bound.

Mine.

I allowed myself to linger on the fact that I’d claimed them before realizing that it was calmness I felt. They were mine now, but they hadn’t earned me yet.

Rich boarded the bus wearing another hoodie despite us being in the desert and gave me another one of those weird looks. I’ve been getting them ever since the show. He was trying to see past the wall I erected and figure me out, but I didn’t like intruders.

On the other hand, it was only fair that I let him since I’d given Loren the cliff notes to my past. At the time, I didn’t understand why. After two days of the cold shoulder and long, sullen silences from all three of my bandmates, I’ve had time to ruminate.

I wanted to scare him off.

Instead, I dangled fruit in his face and then forbade him to feast from my garden. Now Loren was pissed, and I understood why, but that didn’t mean I would spread my legs to make him feel better.

“You want the shower first?” Rich offered. He was the only one to do so my first two nights on board. I learned quickly not to shower after Loren, who took longer showers than Houston, Rich, and me combined.

“Sure.” I stood and took my dinner plate to the sink. Apparently, Bound traveled with a team of caterers along with a bevy of people eager to do their—our bidding. A girl could get used to this. My dinner usually consisted of cheap wine and string cheese.

After rinsing and sticking my plate in the empty dishwasher, I smiled at Rich, who was busy eyeing one of the three steaming hot plates left on the counter and covertly watching me with the other.

“Thanks, Rich.”

“No problem.” His lips barely moved—I knew because I was admiring them and his piercing a little too closely—as if it wasn’t what he really wanted to say.

I almost stayed to delve into his mind before deciding the distance we’d kept was best.

As I headed to the shower, I wondered where Loren and Houston had disappeared. I’m sure they were out turning Vegas on its head. We had one more show in Vegas tomorrow before heading to Glendale, and then it was Denver, Dallas, Houston, and New Orleans after that. The rest of the cities were a blur within my chaotic thoughts.

Figuring Rich would join his friends, I took my time under the hot stream of the shower. I almost felt ready to tackle the world when I finally stepped from the glass enclosure. Steam had completely fogged the mirror and poured from the bathroom when I opened the door to air it out.

I was not prepared to find the bedroom occupied.

The steam billowed out, quickly filling the room and clouding the two people rolling around on the bed like they were alone. I didn’t recognize the girl with her tiny tits exposed thanks to the dress bunched around her waist, but I did recognize the infuriating asshole on top of her.

He’d just been begging to fuck me two days ago, and now he’d already moved on?

As the walls closed in on me, I worked to control my anger before the smell of burning coals could seep into my lungs and strangle me with a phantom hold.

“Was there a sign I missed that I should have hung up, or was the running water not a clue that this room was occupied?”

Loren lifted his head from suckling the girl’s brown nipples, letting me see that he was drunk out of his mind.

Oh, that’s just great.

“You can join us if you like.” Loren’s intoxicated gaze dipped to the rest of me, still painted in water droplets and covered only by a towel. “You’re almost attired for the occasion. Drop the towel.”

The girl beneath him giggled out of control, but I didn’t find a damn thing funny.

Neither did Loren.

His head swiveled, and then he was staring down at her like he disapproved. “We were having a conversation.”

The girl’s lips formed an O, and then she lay there pouting while waiting to be used and tossed aside before morning.

Loren’s black gaze returned to me.

“So what do you say, baby fawn?”

A quiet chuckle spilled out of me before I threw my head back and stared at the ceiling in defeat. Once I was done feeling sorry for myself, I turned my attention to the clueless, half-naked groupie.

“If you had any brain cells left, you’d get up and go. A spoiled brat, who also happens to be drunk, does not make for an amazing fuck. He’s selfish enough when he’s sober. You’ll regret it in the morning and be too disgusted to tell your friends. It’s not worth the bragging rights.”

I hid my surprise when the girl looked like she was considering my point.

Seeing this, Loren shot up from the bed.

I didn’t know what he planned to do until he was already in front of me with my wrist in his grip. I didn’t know why I struggled when he pulled me forward. I already knew he wouldn’t force me, and I was right.

He pushed me out of the room and slammed the bedroom door in my face.

As far as I should have been concerned, my problem was solved, so why did I want to throw open the door for round two? The only exception was being left in my towel with no privacy to throw something on. That would be the moment Houston or Rich returned. Rich would blush and give me privacy, but Houston would accuse me of trying to seduce them or something.

Sighing, I turned away from the door just as Loren’s voice filtered through. “Turn over for me, baby. We don’t care about her, do we?”

Rolling my eyes, I listened to her giggle and then Loren giving her more orders as I dug through my suitcase for something to sleep in. Once I found a T-shirt, shorts, and panties, I dropped my towel, deciding I didn’t give a shit if someone walked in. As I used my towel to wrap my hair so it would dry quicker, the giggling finally stopped, and I began to hear moans coming through the door.

You don’t hear it.

The feminine moans only grew louder and more desperate as I pulled my cheeky underwear up my legs. I forced my teeth to unclench as I shoved on my T-shirt that stopped a few inches below my belly button.

By then, Loren’s groupie was coming and announcing it to anyone within hearing distance as if she were going for an Oscar. Staring at my shorts, I loosened my hold and let them fall.

I hated sleeping in more than what I had on.

I only wore panties and nothing else most nights, so I repacked the shorts and put my suitcase away in one of the closets built between the bunks and the bedroom. The bed inside was rocking now, and I heard the telltale sound of skin slapping. Listening to Loren and his groupie screw tasted like a glass of sour milk and smelled suspiciously bitter—like jealousy.

Fighting back the urge to gag, I climbed into my bunk and yanked the privacy curtain closed.

My headphones were under my pillow where I’d left them, so I plugged them into my phone, shoved the buds in my ears, and played the first song my thumb found.

“Love and War” by Fleurie played at full volume, drowning out the sound of Loren fucking someone else after pretending to covet me.

Why the hell was I even upset?

I’d known the moment the words left his lips that they were a lie. Loren chose to make her a pawn because I refused to play his fool.

Whatever.

It was his aftermath to deal with.

I didn’t realize I’d fallen asleep until I was jerked awake by shouting.

“You’re drunk?”

My headphones had fallen out, allowing me to hear the argument taking place at the front of the bus.

Rich was back.

Disoriented, I touched my cheek, feeling the dried tears I must have shed in my sleep. My subconscious must have needed toughening up. There would be no crying over Loren James.

Not wanting them to know I was awake, I carefully settled onto my back before staring at the ceiling of my bunk.