On the Road: (Vagabonds Book 2) (New Adult Rock Star Romance) by Jade C. Jamison Page B

a second.  His voice was quiet when he put his hands on my shoulders and said, “If we get her the help she needs, then this tour is over before it’s even started.  The Vagabonds?  Maybe people will remember you when she’s out and clean, but there’s no guarantee in this fickle world.  People are worshipping you one moment and then, two weeks later, they forgot they’d called you their favorite band.  They’re off following some other act and you’re left in the dust.  But if you keep plugging away—if you stay in the limelight, if you stay on the road, pausing long enough to record new material—they don’t have a chance to forget you.  They have no choice because you’re in front of their faces all the time.”
    Yeah, he knew exactly where to hit me to make it hurt.  After he’d filled my head with dreams of fame, nothing else would satisfy me in my life.  There was no way I could go do what others would consider a “normal” job because my place was on the stage.  My job was perfecting Liz’s songs and then playing the shit out of them live for an adoring audience.  I hadn’t lived that damn dream long enough to have it ripped from me.
    Still, I was struggling.  I’d grown to love Vicki like a sister and her behavior had me worried.  Peter could see my internal turmoil all over my face.  “When she comes around and is ready, we will take care of her.  We will get her the help she needs.  For now, let her enjoy this taste of freedom and this chance to try new flavors of life.  We’re assuming it’s a problem, Ms. Summers, but she hasn’t had a chance to decide she doesn’t want those things yet.  Let’s let her party behavior play itself out”—yes, he’d said that for my benefit too, because he knew I liked to cut loose and have fun too, and that was all part of what I considered my new rock star experience—“and then, if it still seems like she has a problem, we’ll consult with the experts.”  He could see my defenses weakening.  “Okay?”
    How could I fight when I had no one in a position of power and authority helping me?  I didn’t want to be the bad guy to my best friend.  Then she wouldn’t even talk to me.  At least now, I could try to talk sense into her on occasion and try to keep her safe.  If she was pissed at me or decided she hated me, she wouldn’t listen to me at all.  For now, at any rate, I at least had a chance.
    I let the air out of my lungs and said a silent prayer in my head—one for forgiveness, because I felt like I was letting my friend down, but also that she would be all right.  “Okay.”
    Sounding like a barking auctioneer, Peter said, “Problem solved,” as if it really was —but he and I both knew we were living a lie.  Of the two of us, though, I think I was the only one whose conscience nagged her—until I myself indulged enough to drown out the voices of guilt and betrayal.

 
     
     
    Chapter Thirteen
     
     
    HAVE YOU EVER spent Thanksgiving on the road?  No, I don’t mean visiting family members.  I mean spending it alone somewhere you’ve never been before, away from all the people you love.
    Actually, worse than that.  Around all the people who have been driving you nuts and pissing you off.
    We all chatted with our families, but Peter explained to them and us how we’d barely get home, have a couple of days to spend, and then have to be right back at it.  Our last show that week was Tuesday night and our next show was Saturday night.  We could have gone home, and—had I been older and knew then what I knew now—I would have insisted.  But I didn’t know enough to be able to argue.
    We’d played somewhere in Idaho and our next stop was Northern California, so that Wednesday, we drove to a halfway point and Peter informed us we’d be spending Thanksgiving there.  He’d already called around and found a restaurant that would be willing to cater to us, and he took all our stipends (including, I