Nobody Falls for the Opening Act (Break the Rules Book 2)

Chapter 32

Well, this was a bad idea.

I think we should take a break,I said. There’s just so much going on, I said. Stick it in my butt in New Orleans, I said. Well, sort of. It was heavily implied.

I’m a fucking moron.

I stare at Harvey sitting near the back of our tour bus with August, Harmony, and Chrissy. He’s lightly strumming his guitar for them, playing the same bridge to the same song repeatedly, each time slightly different as he takes their notes and suggestions. But each one is incredible. Each one I can easily hear continuing into an amazing track, yet another amazing song by Harvey Moon. There’s a huge reason we unanimously chose him as our opening act. He’s damn good at what he does.

In music, and in the bedroom.

Every plucked string, every whispered lyric. It spreads across my skin, reminding me of his lips. His tongue. His probing fingers and playful laughter.

Have we really only spent two nights apart? Feels like two weeks.

Now I know how Jonah and Marla feel.

But we only have to endure two nights in Texas before traveling to New Orleans.

Then I’ll grab Harvey by the shirt collar and pull him between my?—

“Addison?”

I blink at the sound of Jordan saying my name in her teacher voice. “What?” I ask, snapping out of it.

Jordan peeks at me over the rims of her glasses. She’s standing near the front of the bus behind Mac, commanding our attention around the table.

“Are you still with us?” she asks me.

The others chuckle. I guess I wasn’t exactly being subtle with my stares.

“I’m here,” I say. “Present and accounted for.”

“Then, would you kindly remind all of us what today’s schedule looks like?” she asks.

Damn. Way to put a girl on the spot, Jordan.

“Uh, sure,” I say, straightening up on my seat, sandwiched between Katrina’s lithe shoulders and Bronson’s thick build. “We reach Austin in about an hour.”

“And then?”

“And then...” I hesitate. I spent this part of the itinerary sucking on Harvey’s tongue. “We check into the hotel, just like always.”

“Wrong,” Knox says, not so subtly disguising it as a cough.

“Then,” Jordan says, smiling, “we’ll head straight to the BNB Fest because our slot is?—”

“At two!” I say before she can. “We’ll head straight to the BNB Fest because our slot is at two o’clock.”

“The roadies are already there with our equipment,” she continues with a nod. “All we have to do is check-in, grab our gear, and wait for them to say go. Unfortunately, this thing is packed, scheduled right to the minute, so no delays.” She takes a second to make eye contact with all of us. “Keep your professional hats on today, guys. We can’t afford to slip up here.”

Knox snorts. “When are we ever unprofessio?—”

Jordan’s fierce glare renders him silent.

“We’ll be where we’re supposed to be, when we’re supposed to be there, Jordan,” Jonah assures her.

“Yeah, don’t worry,” Katrina says.

Bronson and I nod.

“Good,”Jordan says, stabbing that word with a very sharp tongue. “After the set, you’ll have a few hours to mingle with fans or watch the other bands, but we need all of you on this bus by six sharp so we can head to the arena for the show.”

“Jam packed day,” I say.

“Yeah, well...” Jordan writes something on her clipboard. “You guys wanted a slot in the festival, and today was the only place they could squeeze you in.”

“Thank you, Jordan,” Bronson says, his tone prompting us to say the same.

“Yeah,” Katrina says. “Thanks, Jordan.”

“We love you, Jordan,” I add.

“Best in the biz,” Knox says.

“Agreed on all counts,” Jonah says.

Jordan smiles from ear-to-ear. “Never grow tired of hearing it,” she says.

“And everyone needs to keep their eyes peeled at all times,” Knox adds. “We still don’t know what Logan and the Shock Girls are up to.”

“And unfortunately, The Electrics have the slot directly before ours,” Jordan says. “So, it’ll be hard to avoid them.”

Knox doesn’t like that. “Seriously, Jordan?”

She sighs. “Did I mention it was the only place they could fit us in?”

“It’ll be okay,” Jonah says diplomatically. “We’re here to play music, not fight.”

“Thank you, Jo.”

But Knox shakes his head. He looks around, making eye contact with every one of us. “Keep your guards up, guys. Also…” His sharp gaze lands on Chrissy sitting across from Harvey in the back. “Hey, Chrissy!”

She looks up. “Yes?”

“What’s today’s password?”

“I’m not telling you,” she answers with a frown.

“We need to know in case we get separated,” he says.

“No one is getting separated,” Jordan says. “In fact, the moment we step off this bus, no one — and I mean no one — is to wander off. You stay together, you stay backstage, you avoid The Electrics, and you play your set.”

“What if we can’t avoid them?” Katrina asks.

“Then you ignore them.”

“And after that?” Knox asks. “We have a few hours of mingle time. What happens if one of us gets cornered?”

“Establish a buddy system. But don’t—” Jordan wants to argue further, but she sighs instead and reaches for the vibrating phone in her pocket. “Jordan here,” she answers into it. “Oh! Yes! We are on our way into the city now—” She covers the mouthpiece. “Show faces on,” she whispers to us with a wave, telling us we can disperse.

Happy to obey, the rest of us slide out of her table and spread out to our usual spots about the bus. Katrina takes a quiet corner with her tablet in hand. Jonah does the same, but with his phone instead. Bronson tumbles into a bunk near the back while I sit down on my bench by the window, hoping to catch a little closed-eye fantasy time before we reach the festival.

Before I can get settled, Knox plops into the seat next to me.

“Hey, we cool?” he asks.

“Yeah,” I answer. “Why wouldn’t we be?”

“Well, I was giving you shit the other day,” he says. “About you and Moondog.”

I nod. “You did.”

“Then, we had practice and sound check and the Albuquerque show and whatever. Not a lot of moments to... you know, do my duty as our leader to?—”

“You’re not our leader, Knox.”

“As the frontman of the band,” he continues unfazed, “it’s my duty to make sure we’re still cool. So, are we cool?”

“Yeah, we’re cool,” I repeat. “You give me shit, I give you shit. That’s what we do.”

“It’s the circle of strife!”

“Exactly. Don’t over-think it.”

“See, now, that’s what I thought, too,” he says. “But Harmony said that maybe I should... try to connect with you more.”

“Why?”

He grunts. “I don’t know. She’s always telling me to do things I don’t want to do. It’s cute and… kinda hot, but kinda annoying, too.”

We chuckle.

“Also...” He puts on a more serious face. “I know what it’s like to have your personal life all over the front page of Gossipa for all to see and judge, so...” He pats my shoulder once, then awkwardly leaves his hand there. “I am here for you, Addison. If you want to talk about it.”

“Well, thank you,” I say, smiling at his stiff, rehearsed delivery. “I appreciate the thought, Knox, but I am okay.”

“You’re sure?”

I nod. “Doing just fine.”

“Good. Happy to hear it.”

“You can remove your hand now.”

Knox pulls his hand back and smiles, but he doesn’t leave my bench. He glances into the back of the bus and eyes Harvey instead, who’s still plucking away at his new song. “For what it’s worth, I think you guys make a really cute couple.”

“Goodbye, Knox.”

“Bye.”

He gets up and escapes into the back to reunite with Harmony.

Once he’s gone, I smile. I peek back once, allowing myself another long gaze at Harvey with his song. As if he senses me, he looks up. His handsome brown eyes connect with mine and he smiles back.

Then, he goes back to work.

Across from him, Knox and Harmony embrace. He whispers something in her ear. She blushes and kisses him, and he hugs her even tighter.

Nearby, Jonah speaks softly into his phone, so softly it could only be one person on the other end of the line.

Across from me, Katrina sits quietly with her tablet, her little eyes skimming furiously. Must be a tense moment in her romance novel. Or a dirty one. Girl has the best smut reader poker face I’ve ever seen.

I look at Harvey again and sigh. Two days. That’s how long it took for me to miss him like crazy. To crave his playful touch on my skin and his whispered words in my ear. Harvey Moon has taken hold of me in ways that no person ever has before, and for once in my life, I can’t just turn away and ignore it until it goes away.

God, I love him.

Wait, I… what?

My heart stops, but only for a moment. Then, it pounds so hard it hurts my ribs.

I’m in love with Harvey Moon.

I’m in love with Harvey Moon?

I’d say that doesn’t sound right, but I’ve never heard anything more believable in all my life.

I think one of these days, love is going to pop out and surprise you.

Yeah.

Katrina was right, after all.