‘Not now.’ He shot Graham a particularly evil look. He was not spilling his heart to some rag that probably wasn’t even interested in the band’s music. ‘Where’s Sally?’ he demanded. ‘I need the bus keys.’
Spook co-opted the journalist, winning her over with a smile and a suggestion that they find a quiet corner.
‘She’s in the office,’ Graham responded, which Xane took to mean the motorhome that Sally and Graham used as a temporary HQ while the band was on tour.
Good. It’d be parked next to the bus.
‘Xane.’ He hadn’t reached the bathroom before Dani found him. ‘You were awesome!’ She smacked a kiss against his lips. ‘You made me sob when you sang “Torn Into”.’ She fluttered her hand, tearing up again at the memory. There were still mascara smudges on her cheeks as proof.
Xane reached out to rub at them, only for a brilliant smile to burst from her.
‘And “The Garden of Lost Time” and “Hellhole” – God, you got me so horny, and then when Ash and Spook were duelling. I never knew they did that. I mean there’s a bit of it on the albums, but it doesn’t have the same oomph as when you’re seeing and hearing it live. It was so good. What? Why are you grinning at me like that?’
‘Because you’re awesome,’ he said, lifting her into his arms. She hugged him back, not seeming to mind that he was hot and sweaty and covered in stage paint and fake blood splatter.
‘I’m not awesome,’ she protested, wriggling in his arms. ‘You’re the one who’s amazing. I can’t believe I never came to see you live before. I mean, I did that last time you were supposed to play, but I should have done it before then. I’ve been missing out on so damn much.’ She smacked another scorching hot kiss against his lips. ‘You completely rocked my socks off.’
‘What do you say we sneak away and I rock your panties off?’
‘I say,’ she said, tucking his hair behind his ear so that she could whisper into it, ‘that you’re on.’
Dani clung tightly to Xane’s hand as they sneaked out back to find Sally. She’d never been on a tour bus before, and was itching to see it almost as much as she was itching to push Xane up against a wall and run her hands all over his body.
It was dark in the lot out back, with only one or two dim lights rather than the floodlighting she’d expected. Sally insisted on unlocking for them, rather than simply handing over the keys. ‘It’s a new bus,’ she explained, which caused Xane to stop in his tracks.
‘Since when?’
‘You’re gonna love it, Xane. It makes the last one look like the rust-bucket.’
From what Xane had described, the last bus had been fairly comfortable, whereas the rust-bucket was the heap of shit that the crew used, normally accompanied by Ash and a collection of stray women.
‘Custom paint job.’ She held her hands out to present them the vehicle. It was huge, two storeys like a red London bus, but silver and black and with tinted windows. Black Halo’s distinctive logo graced the backend.
‘Oh, no,’ Xane said, evidently realising at the same time Dani did that there was only one bus parked up, not the two there ought to have been. ‘Where’s the rust-bucket?’
‘Scrapyard,’ Sally remarked blithely. ‘We didn’t need it any more. Wait until you see inside this beast. It has everything, air-con, state-of-the-art kitchen, on-board recording studio.’ She unlocked the door and ushered them up the steps. ‘This baby’s better kitted out than my house.’
‘It looks amazing,’ Dani agreed. The steps led up past the driver’s seat into a smart kitchen-dining area, finished in black and brushed steel to match the band’s image.
‘There’s a small sitting area beyond and two berths down here, with a loo, shower and double bedroom at the back. Then upstairs you have the studio, six bunks and another sitting area that converts into a spare double.’
‘Are there that many people you need beds for?’ Dani asked. She guessed that maybe there were if the crew and band were sharing lodgings. It looked pretty spacious at the moment, but once there were a few decent-sized blokes on board, the space was going to shrink fast.
‘This isn’t going to work, Sally. We have two buses for a reason,’ Xane said.
‘Which is?’
‘Ash.’
‘Mm hm … yeah. The thing is, there are a lot of dates on this tour, and there’s a lot of travelling involved. It makes no sense to be constantly waiting around for a bus that breaks down. Also, this way, you’re all in the same place. There’s no risk of losing anyone. If you need time out from each other, then you can ride with me and Graham in the motorhome or in the new equipment truck with Ulf.’
‘You replaced that too?’
‘Yeah, there was a fuck-off big scrape down the side of it. It looked as if it’d been side-swiped by Godzilla.’
‘Where’s Ash gonna …’
Sally patted him on the back. ‘I’m sure you’ll sort it out. You know, in the early days you always holed up on one bus, and there were never any issues.’
‘In those days Ash didn’t travel with an entourage.’
‘No,’ she said. ‘You did. Get used to it, Xane. This is how it is. I’m sure you can come to an agreement with Ash, you’re both adults. Talk to one another and settle it. Now, I’ll leave you and Dani to get comfortable.’ She waved them a cheery farewell.
‘Shit!’ Xane bellowed the moment Sally closed the outer door. He punched one of the cupboard doors, introducing a small dent.
‘How bad can it be?’ Dani rubbed his arm soothingly. ‘It’ll be a bit cramped when everyone’s together, but we’ll cope. I bet there’s not many times when everyone is in the same place.’
‘It’s not the number of people that’s the issue. I don’t want to listen to Ash fucking groupies every night. You’ve no idea what it’s like. It’s so-o not pretty when he turfs them out afterwards.’ He gave her a hard and very serious look. ‘I trust your friend Ginny realises there’s nothing more than a good time on offer.’
‘She does.’
‘Good. I wish the rest of his hook-ups were that bright. Most of them are convinced they’re the one, and he’s going to magically settle down and have babies.’
‘I can’t see Ash with a baby.’ She squinted, trying to picture him bare-chested with a newborn tucked against his body instead of his guitar. It didn’t work. ‘Maybe he can be persuaded to party elsewhere.’
‘What – like throw him a mattress in the back of the equipment van and let him hang out there?’
‘Harsh.’
‘Yeah, but if they see where he’s planning on banging them maybe they won’t get so fanciful in their ideas.’
‘Can I get fanciful?’ she asked, sliding her arms around his waist. The bonus of him thinking about Ash was that he wasn’t thinking about Steve, which in turn ought to make it easier for her to get him to focus on her.
‘You don’t need to get fanciful, I’m yours already.’
She’d never get tired of hearing him say it, even if it wasn’t entirely true. ‘Can we explore?’ She’d never got to do any normal childhood things like staying in a holiday home. ‘I want to choose a bed.’
Xane gave her a gentle push towards