To a blind man.

“Gaby, I want you to meet my friends.” Sacha said, watching me swallow hard. He started pointing at the four people surrounding him. “That’s Matt, Seb, Bianca and Liz.”

Liz. The redhead.

Reaching deep inside of myself for my inner adult, I pulled my arm loose of Sacha’s grasp to look at his “friends” and I waved. “Hi,” I greeted them, noticing just how fake the red color in his “friend’s” hair was. Who did she think she was? The Little Mermaid?

They all greeted me, but it was the final person who made my head hurt worse.

“Hi,” Ronald McDonald’s illegitimate daughter replied, blinking big, brown eyes in my direction. She had that kind of classic beauty that would give a photographer a boner. And perfect, clear, pale skin.

What a bitch.

“Your hair is so cute,” she added.

A big part of me wanted to say something really bitchy like “does it look like I care” or “go fuck yourself.” I didn’t though. But I really wanted to.

It was my period talking. Right.

I just smiled stiffly. “Thanks.”

“I wanted you to meet them earlier, but you disappeared on me,” Sacha explained with a smile on his face that made my stomach want to revolt.

I nodded at him, but it was so forced I’m sure my extreme level of discomfort had to be apparent.

Awkward.

I coughed and pointed down the table. “I’m going to finish eating. It was—” I nearly choked on my words because I was a terrible liar, “nice meeting you all.”

I didn’t even bother waiting for anyone to say anything before I was back in my seat, feeling like a complete fool. I knew how unrealistic it had been for me to say that I’d never have feelings for another man because I didn’t want the drama associated with a breakup ever again, but this was ridiculous. I felt betrayed and I had no reason to. I was just a girl Sacha had met and got along with because we were stuck on a bus on a trip together. That was all. My stupid fucking heart sucked; it strained in its cage while I sat there miserably.

I didn’t speak to Sacha for a week.

Chapter Eleven

“What are you doing, little girl?” a voice whispered at the same time a hand clamped down on my arm.

Instead of screaming like most sane people would if they were sitting in the dark watching Sabrina with a bottle of wine in hand—I peed myself a little bit. Honest to God. I peed myself. Not much, but enough.

But I’d like to justify what happened by admitting that my subconscious would always recognize the asshole that had apparently crawled across the floor to scare the Jesus out of me.

“Damn it, Mase,” I hissed as I pulled my legs to my chest, sitting up straight.

Sure enough, he was lying on the floor with a big grin on his face. “Did I get’cha?” he asked as he brushed his pajama pants off and got to his feet.

“Yeah. I need to go change my underwear now, thanks.” Thankfully, I’d brought my backpack out of the bunk area when I’d gotten up.

I ignored his laughter as I went into the bathroom and changed out of my super-sexy period underwear, putting them into one of the plastic bags we left stashed under the sink in case of emergencies. I noted that my period was, in fact, finally over. I hadn’t been sure if my hormones were still out of whack due to it, or if I was just being grumpy because I could be.

I’d still been feeling pretty bitchy all afternoon and all night—okay, all week—but it got worse after I’d run to the trailer in the middle of the opening act’s set and zeroed in on Sacha, Julian and Miles being surrounded by five girls wearing shorts that looked more like underwear and cropped tops. Prostitutes.