take a decent shot if their lives depended on it.
Jon knew this and yet he was taking the words on the small screen of his phone as gospel truth. If he was buying into it, what hope did we have that the rest of the rags weren't going to run with this crap?
“The difference is there's a grain of truth here.” Jon put the phone back in his pocket. “Now, I don't know what's going on or what happened between you two when we were at your folks' place, but it needs to get cleared up. We're trying to get higher billing on a bigger tour for winter and that's not gonna happen if we have bullshit drama between two of you. No one wants to get in the middle of a messy situation. No one's going to take a chance on us if there's a possibility that you two are going to implode and leave us up a creek.”
Jon rested his arm over my shoulders. “I love ya, kid. You know that. But you have to figure it out.”
“What makes you think I'm the one who needs to figure out anything?” I didn't like feeling like he was saying our problems were my fault. That I'm the one who's in the wrong. Am I?
“Honey, that boy's been in love with you since the day you walked into Trav's apartment. How you've made it this long without him getting in your pants is beyond me.”
“You're full of shit. He might have wanted to screw me at first, but that's not love,” I snapped. Sure, Colton said he cared about me and wanted us to be a couple, but that's still not love.
I debated telling Jon that Colton and I were going camping as soon as the tour ended so we could talk about us but decided against it. We'd decided together that it would be less complicated if people didn't know what we were doing. This conversation with Jon was a good example of why we didn't want our business to be made public.
“I'll talk to him,” I said quietly. “Just...please let me handle it. If you come at him the way you came at me, he'll get all pissy and things will be even worse. This way we just have to deal with you being pissed at me and me trying to forget that I'm supposedly pissed at Colton and breaking his tender heart.” Sure, I was more sarcastic than I needed to be but that was my favorite defense mechanism.
“Rain, I'm not pissed at you. I'm just stressed out and we don't need crap like this floating around. How did they get that picture of you two, anyway?”
“Good question. Now you know why I'm not quick to trust anyone from there. They're a bunch of busy-bodies with nothing better to do. And apparently, someone saw an opportunity to make a few bucks. At least, I sure as hell hope they did this for money and not because they were wanted to make my life hell.”
Jon gave me a quick hug. “It'll work out. Sorry for snapping like that, I just don't like finding out about shit like this when I'm supposed to be on a call working out the deals for the next tour. I looked like a real asshat. Now, go give Colton a heads up.”
I nodded and turned to walk away. “And Rain?” Jon called out from down the hall. “Try to behave tonight.” I knew he was trying to lighten the mood because he blew me a kiss.
Colton didn't look up from his laptop when I stepped onto the bus. I had a bad feeling I knew what I would see on his screen.
“Hey,” he said, motioning me to sit across the table from him. “You know anything about this?”
Without looking at the screen, I shook my head. I knew just as much as he did; that the media had us splitting up before we'd even decided if we were going to get together. What did that say about our chances for a successful relationship?
“This is why I wanted us to talk that night in your room. Now, I'm the asshole a week before our trip.” I looked back towards the bunks to see if all the curtains were open. When we were parked, the curtains were only drawn if someone was sleeping; that way it was easy to know if we needed to keep the volume down. In this case, it was a sign of how much could be said.
“You're
Jon knew this and yet he was taking the words on the small screen of his phone as gospel truth. If he was buying into it, what hope did we have that the rest of the rags weren't going to run with this crap?
“The difference is there's a grain of truth here.” Jon put the phone back in his pocket. “Now, I don't know what's going on or what happened between you two when we were at your folks' place, but it needs to get cleared up. We're trying to get higher billing on a bigger tour for winter and that's not gonna happen if we have bullshit drama between two of you. No one wants to get in the middle of a messy situation. No one's going to take a chance on us if there's a possibility that you two are going to implode and leave us up a creek.”
Jon rested his arm over my shoulders. “I love ya, kid. You know that. But you have to figure it out.”
“What makes you think I'm the one who needs to figure out anything?” I didn't like feeling like he was saying our problems were my fault. That I'm the one who's in the wrong. Am I?
“Honey, that boy's been in love with you since the day you walked into Trav's apartment. How you've made it this long without him getting in your pants is beyond me.”
“You're full of shit. He might have wanted to screw me at first, but that's not love,” I snapped. Sure, Colton said he cared about me and wanted us to be a couple, but that's still not love.
I debated telling Jon that Colton and I were going camping as soon as the tour ended so we could talk about us but decided against it. We'd decided together that it would be less complicated if people didn't know what we were doing. This conversation with Jon was a good example of why we didn't want our business to be made public.
“I'll talk to him,” I said quietly. “Just...please let me handle it. If you come at him the way you came at me, he'll get all pissy and things will be even worse. This way we just have to deal with you being pissed at me and me trying to forget that I'm supposedly pissed at Colton and breaking his tender heart.” Sure, I was more sarcastic than I needed to be but that was my favorite defense mechanism.
“Rain, I'm not pissed at you. I'm just stressed out and we don't need crap like this floating around. How did they get that picture of you two, anyway?”
“Good question. Now you know why I'm not quick to trust anyone from there. They're a bunch of busy-bodies with nothing better to do. And apparently, someone saw an opportunity to make a few bucks. At least, I sure as hell hope they did this for money and not because they were wanted to make my life hell.”
Jon gave me a quick hug. “It'll work out. Sorry for snapping like that, I just don't like finding out about shit like this when I'm supposed to be on a call working out the deals for the next tour. I looked like a real asshat. Now, go give Colton a heads up.”
I nodded and turned to walk away. “And Rain?” Jon called out from down the hall. “Try to behave tonight.” I knew he was trying to lighten the mood because he blew me a kiss.
Colton didn't look up from his laptop when I stepped onto the bus. I had a bad feeling I knew what I would see on his screen.
“Hey,” he said, motioning me to sit across the table from him. “You know anything about this?”
Without looking at the screen, I shook my head. I knew just as much as he did; that the media had us splitting up before we'd even decided if we were going to get together. What did that say about our chances for a successful relationship?
“This is why I wanted us to talk that night in your room. Now, I'm the asshole a week before our trip.” I looked back towards the bunks to see if all the curtains were open. When we were parked, the curtains were only drawn if someone was sleeping; that way it was easy to know if we needed to keep the volume down. In this case, it was a sign of how much could be said.
“You're
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