The Fiery Boys (A Sample)

Gabe smiled. "The fans love her. They're proud of her for scoring with three of us at once. Not jealous at all."

Jason darkened. "That's not what Inferna says."

"Sure, there are still plenty of haters, but No Moss loves it. Check out what Ivory Doe wrote." Gabe pointed at the screen.

Jason studied it for a few minutes then turned back to us. "Fine. But what was this shit with you and River?"

Gabe glared. "Shit, Jason? Look, the paps spotted her at our motel, and she offered to be our beard." He got up from the couch and snapped at the testy band manager. "Would you rather she outed us?"

River got up and also stepped threateningly close to Jason. He and Gabe had him boxed in. "You're the fuckhead who wanted us to stay in the closet. She helped us-you should thank her."

Jason pulled away from them and frowned at the three Fiery Boys who were banding together to defend me. He took a few noisy breaths, then turned and left the bus, muttering, "God how I hate this job." We all laughed when he was safely out the door.

After Jason left, Buck wandered into the living room. He squinted at Chuck and me. "You two can lie to Jason, but I saw you back there." Before we could straighten him out, he'd stomped back to his cubicle. It didn't matter-everything else was going well. Buck could think what he wanted.

The next city on the tour was Denver, but not until the following night. We had all day to get there, so the band packed up and left by early afternoon. I sat in the front of the living room so I could watch the world speed by.

While I stared at the road, the band kept busy with their usual pursuits. Gabe had his phone connected to his laptop and was having gleeful techno-fun. River was listening to music and drumming on the table when the mood grabbed him. Buck was hiding in his cubicle with his guitar. And Chuck was drinking tequila. Just another day on the road with the Fiery Boys.

Kira called to give me the news. "Triple score! You rule, girl." She was going to be so disappointed.

I wandered back to the bedroom so I could have some privacy. "It's not what you think."

"That's what Jo said. So what is it? I saw pictures of Chuck kissing you yesterday, and some half-dressed shots of you with River and Gabe. Now everyone figures you'll be doing Buck next."

"Oh sweet. Well here's the bad news: no sex with Chuck. The only thing that happened was those kisses at the press meet. And the chances that I'll soon be doing Buck are nil."