Eli laughed again, and I took a deep breath, already palming my chest for the tour laminate I had on a lanyard so I could go into the building through the front instead of the back door.

Sacha’s hand nudged my arm. “You all right?” he asked when I looked up at him.

“Yeah, I’m fine.” I forced a smile onto my face when Mason’s voice pierced through the air.

He frowned. “You don’t look fine.”

We were getting closer and closer to the corner of the block where I would either go in through the front or walk a few more feet and make my way to the back where the bus and trailer were. “I just…” I blew out a shaky breath I hadn’t realized I was holding and shook my head as if I wanted to shake off this entire situation with the idiots. “I don’t like being around Eli when he’s on something.” I had a sudden flashback of the night that had finally been my breaking point, when I decided I didn’t want to keep going out with GO. I’d been so pissed that I didn’t speak to any of them for months after that tour ended.

“He’s that bad?” Sacha asked.

I lifted up a shoulder, fighting off the anxiety trying to make a home in my chest. “Not bad, he just… says really stupid stuff. They all do.” Hurtful, personal stuff that none of them had any business sharing.

He nodded as if he understood, and maybe he did. Most people had that one friend that turned into a wrecking ball once they had drunk too much or done something else that changed their personalities or thinking process.

When we got to the corner in front of the venue, I touched his side. “I’m going in through the front.”

Sacha tipped his head down. “I should start getting dressed so I can begin warming up.” He flashed me that bright white smile one more time. “If you ever want to go running again, let me know. You’re a better running buddy than Julian.”

I couldn’t help but smile and nod.

The dark slashes of his eyebrows went up. “I’ll even let you off easy with only seven miles next time if you want.”

I fought the urge to push him away like I would have if he were one of my demons and snorted instead before backing away. “Go put your make-up on and warm up, Celine.”

I could still hear my brother laughing when I entered the venue less than a minute later.

Chapter Six

I knew something was going on when I found my twin and Gordo smiling sweetly over at me from their spots in the living space of the bus. The fact that all of the members of TCC and their crew were surrounding them didn’t help any. I usually didn’t sleep in, but a stuffy nose had kept me up. I grabbed a plastic cup from the cabinet over the microwave and then fished out one of the gallon jugs of water that were stashed in the lower kitchenette cabinets, all while watching the group closely and trying to listen to what the hell they were talking about.

The scent of bullshit was strong in the bus.

“I’m in,” Julian said first, looking at Freddy. “You?”

“I’m in,” the TCC tour manager agreed.

What exactly were they in for?

Slowly but surely, the rest of the members sitting on the couches all nodded or verbally agreed to whatever it was they were talking about. I slowly slid in to the only seat available across from Carter, which was one of the two chairs belonging to the small table in the kitchen.

“Carter, what about you?” Eli asked the man I spent a lot of time with.

Still in his pajamas and looking only slightly more awake than me, he shrugged. He had his hair down and parted down the middle, the ends brushing his thin shoulders. “I’ll play.”

I’ll play?