Chapter Thirteen

On the first day between tours, everyone with the exception of Sacha was busy nursing some degree of a hangover. He claimed he’d only drunk water all night. Show-off. I’d maxed out after two Long Island Iced Teas and a whiskey sour, but it had been more than enough to make me feel like hell the following morning. Needless to say, I was probably one of the people who felt the best. Gordo had drooped himself over one of my shoulders, and on my other side Carter had a wet towel over his face. The other guys looked like total shit when they weren’t busy barfing outside the bus on-and-off all night and early morning. I felt really bad for whoever was stuck collecting carts in the parking lot at the grocery store the bus had stayed overnight.

Once the projectile vomiting and The Exorcist reenactments were under control, the bus finally pulled away from the desecrated parking lot. It was a quiet ride to the hotel we were staying at near the airport. Once we pulled into the Wyndham, everyone jumped off and headed into their respective rooms to suffer in private.

My room was next to Eli’s and across from Gordo’s. I spent the rest of the day vegged out on top of the covers with the air conditioner on full blast, dressed in only my underwear with snacks from the vending machine keeping me fed until the in-house restaurant opened for dinner. I took two long, hot showers without my damn flip-flops on for the first time in what felt like a lifetime. My thighs were sore from all the ridiculous dancing the night before. More than half of it had been with Sacha, who laughed and smiled through it all awkwardly with me.

I did in fact learn firsthand that he was way worse at dancing than I was. But he was so silly and enthusiastic that it more than made up for his big, goofy feet and sharp hips.

The other half of the night I’d spent dancing with my brother, reading crazy text messages that Carter’s pissed-off girlfriend was sending him because she couldn’t believe he’d gone to a club without her, and watching Gordo strike out with guy after guy at the bar.

Close to noon the following morning, the phone next to my bed rang.

"Umm… hello?”

"Gaby?" Sacha's voice carried over the receiver.

"Oh, hey." I’d been wondering who the hell would be calling my room instead of my cell.

He let out a long sigh of relief. "Thank fuck. I think I called everyone but you."

I snorted because I knew he didn't have my cell phone number. From their camp, only Carter had it. We text-messaged each other throughout the night if it was too loud to talk in person.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

I kicked the covers off my legs and groaned. "Being a bum. What are you doing?"

"I just took a crap, and now I'm bored out of my mind. Want to go play some soccer?” He said it all in one breath, like taking a shit was the same as watching TV or something. When I didn’t respond, Sacha immediately threw out, “No death match crap again, just a regular game.”

"I will if you promise not to mess up my face… wait. How are we getting there?"

Sacha made a flat, huffing noise. "I rented a car. Unless you want to walk, I'll follow you in the car," he chuckled.

What the hell else was I supposed to do? Watch more television? “Sure.”

“Meet me in the lobby in fifteen," he ordered.

We hung up, and I got dressed for the first time in twenty-four hours. I sent Eli a text to let him know that I was leaving and headed to the lobby to meet up with Sassy. He was waiting there, in his black shorts and white T-shirt with Mateo and Isaiah alongside him.

"Morning," he said before Mateo echoed his greeting.

"Hey, guys," I told them, stopping in front of them.