Double Time

“Hell if I know. Our mothers are hashing that stuff out. My job is to show up in a tux and repeat some vows. My mom wants to make sure the ceremony is traditional and momentous. Jess’s mother wants it to be Hollywood’s social event of the year. So Mom’s taking care of most of the wedding stuff, and her mother’s taken over plans for the reception. I don’t have a clue what’s really going on. I’m glad I’m on tour right now and can avoid most of the bullshit.”

“I think Jessica is ready to elope,” Trey said. “She seems pretty stressed out about it all.”

Sed paused with his beer bottle halfway to his mouth. “I should probably jump on that opportunity, but then she’d get pissed that I didn’t let her have her huge wedding.”

Sed knew how to handle his fiancée without her even knowing she was being handled. Which was good, because if Jessica knew Sed made a concerted effort to keep her either placated or riled, that would have really pissed her off. The guy was smarter than he looked.

“I’m never getting married,” Reagan said. “I mean, what’s the point? I guess if you want to raise kids together…” She glanced at Trey. “What do you think?”

Trey shifted uncomfortably in his seat. “Well, I guess it depends. My parents have been happily married for over thirty years.”

“Mine too,” Sed said.

“Then you have Eric’s parents. He doesn’t even know who his father is. His mother dumped him off when he was a little kid. I don’t think a marriage would have made a bit of difference in that situation. I still don’t know a thing about Jace’s family situation other than his parents are both dead. And then there’s Brian, whose parents get along okay, but their parenting skills could use a complete overhaul.” He glanced over his shoulder at Brian, who was sitting in one of the captain’s chairs now, staring off into space. “Some people should be married. Brian should be married. Other couples? I’m not so sure.”

“I think it’s important,” Sed said. “With the right woman, of course.”

“Eric and Rebekah rushed into it, but they work. I think it was inevitable between the two of them. And then Jace…” Trey’s gaze shifted to their quiet bassist. “He asked Aggie to marry him and she said yes, but they don’t seem to be in any hurry to make it official. So yeah, it depends. I don’t think all couples have to get married or even should get married. Though it would be nice if all kids had a nice stable home to grow up in.”

“Single parents can do a good job too,” Reagan said.

Inwardly cringing, Trey wrapped an arm around her stiff body. He’d forgotten that she’d been raised solely by her father. “I didn’t mean to suggest that they couldn’t. Why are you thinking about marriage?”

“Everyone keeps talking about it.” She turned her face into his shoulder. “It’s not my favorite subject, trust me.”

“So if I asked you to marry me, you’d say no?”

She looked up him, her eyes wide. “You wouldn’t!”

“You’re right. I’d never ask a woman to marry me before she got to experience the power of my tongue piercing.”

She laughed and relaxed into his side. Yeah, the marriage talk made him uncomfortable too. He was glad they were on the same page again. Trey’s phone rang. He discreetly slid it out of his pocket and was careful to hide the screen from Reagan as he checked who it was. If it was one of his exploits, he wouldn’t answer. He was surprised to see Dare on caller ID. Not that his brother didn’t call him on a regular basis, but he’d just seen him that morning, so he wasn’t likely calling to shoot the breeze.

“What’s up?” Trey answered.

“Is Reagan there?” Dare asked.

“Nope, left her passed out in the jet’s bathroom.”

“Let me talk to her. Sam is pissed and I figured I’d better warn her.” Sam was Exodus End’s manager. Trey was pretty sure that Reagan hadn’t even met him yet.

“Why is he pissed?”

“She is his publicity stunt. Hard to publicize her when she’s there with you.”

“Does she have to go back?”

“Just let me talk to her.”

Trey passed the phone to Reagan. “Dare wants to talk to you.”

She gave him a puzzled look and accepted his phone. Trey wasn’t sure why the thought of her returning to L.A. so soon gave him a sinking sensation in his stomach.

“Give him my number. I’ll talk to him,” Reagan said. She recited her number for Dare several times to make sure he had it. “Thanks for the heads up.” She laughed at something Dare said. “I think I can handle him. Do you need to talk to Trey again?” She smiled at Trey and shook her head at him before telling Dare good-bye and trying to figure out how to end a call on Trey’s phone. Trey took his phone and buried it in his pocket.

“Are you going back to L.A?” he asked.

“Not if I can help it. The dude wants to dress me up, take pictures, and do some sort of publicity campaign with Exodus End’s hot, new, chick guitarist.” She rolled her wide blue eyes at him. “No thank you.”

“You’re probably going to have to do it anyway.”

Her nose curled. “What part of tomboy don’t these people understand? I don’t like to be fussed over.”

“I bet you clean up real nice,” Sed said. It was impossible to have a conversation on the bus without everyone knowing about it.

The icy glare she sent in Sed’s direction made it perfectly clear that she did not consider his statement a compliment.

“My wife makes hand-embroidered corsets,” Jace said. “If you’d like, I’m sure she’d be happy to make you some for your stage attire.”

“Wife?” several bus occupants chorused.

“Girlfriend. Fiancée. My woman. Whatever you want to call her,” Jace said.

“I’m not sure I have the right figure to pull off a corset,” Reagan said.

There was a general mumbling of disagreement, though everyone seemed to have their eyes focused conspicuously elsewhere to avoid her ice-glare.

“What part of hot chick don’t you understand?” Trey said. “I think I need to fuss over you more.”

Her phone rang and her stomach fluttered with nerves. She pushed against Trey to get him to stand up out of the booth. “I’ll take this in the bathroom.” She hurried into the small room near the back of the bus and slid the door shut.