and the publicist, if you ever need to find me," he joked, as he started to feel more comfortable with them. "I'll only be on your bus now and then to get some material to write about."
Noah shrugged, not really caring. Brandon seemed like a pretty cool guy. Kaylee, on the other hand, was all smiles.
"Maybe I should take you out to the bus now, and show you around before the guys get back there. They can be a little overzealous when they get on the bus after a show," Kaylee suggested, enjoying the excuse to get Brandon alone. She led Brandon out of the dressing room and headed toward the bus, not realizing that she had a spectator watching her every move. The person watching rolled his eyes and went to talk to Kaylee's brother.
"Dude, who was that douche bag your sister just left with?" Ashton growled at Noah.
"Oh, that's Brandon, he's a pretty cool guy," Noah told him, then explained what Brandon was there to do. The scowl never left Ashton's face. Noah finally stopped talking and crossed his arms, staring down his bandmate.
"You know man, if someone didn't know how much you and Kaylee hated each other, they'd think you were a little jealous that she just left with another guy," he said.
Ashton immediately went on the defensive. "What? You're crazy. What would I have to be jealous about?" he demanded. "Why would I want your virgin sister when I just screwed this city's hottest deejay in the bathroom half an hour ago, and got the best blow job from some redhead in the closet right after that?"
"I'm just saying..." Noah started, but was interrupted.
"You know what? Never mind! I'm going back to the bus. It's time to blow this place anyway." Ashton stormed out of the dressing room. Noah stared at the place Ashton had been, then shook his head and laughed.
"I'll be damned," he said, chuckling.
Ashton ran onto the bus, hoping to break up whatever moment was being shared between Kaylee and Brandon, but was surprised to find Kaylee alone. She was sitting in her robe, on the couch, flipping through a magazine.
"Hey," he said, getting her attention.
"Hey. Great show tonight," Kaylee said nervously. She didn't know how to talk to him civilly. Most of the time they were around each other they were fighting. If they weren't fighting, then they just weren't speaking. She didn't know how to have a normal conversation with him.
"Thanks. It was a blast out there tonight. It's always better when the crowd is totally into it," he sighed, sitting down next to her. The relief coursed through him. He wasn't jealous - of course he wasn't! - but at the same time, he was glad to see she was by herself. Maybe he just wanted to talk to her. Just as his mouth opened to say something else, the bathroom door opened.
The guy she had been talking to - the reporter, or writer, or whatever the fuck he was - stepped out, wearing only his boxers.
Ashton exploded. "What the fuck is going on here?" His angry eyes turned from Brandon to Kaylee as his voice rose. "You met this guy tonight and gave him your virginity already? What the fuck are you thinking?"
As soon as he saw Kaylee's face, he knew he was in big trouble.
"Her what?" the guy said, and Ashton rounded on him.
"You...shut...up!" he growled, punctuating each word with a stab of his index finger into the air, right at the guy's nose.
Kaylee blushed red hot. She stared at Ashton. Where the hell did all of that come from? But she didn't think about it too much, because her confusion was quickly giving way to fury.
"First of all, it is absolutelynoneof your business what I do with my life!" She was livid at his assumptions and his nerve. "Second, we didn't do anything. I spilled my drink all over us, and I'm washing our clothes. But thanks for airing all my business to some guy I just met," she said, her voice somehow loud and cold at the same time.
She turned on her heel and stormed to the back of the bus, where she rummaged through some drawers. She came back and threw some clothes to Brandon. "Here, they're my brother's. I'll get your clothes back to you tomorrow."
Ashton stood quietly and watched the scene unfold. He watched as the guy looked at the clothes for a moment, as if trying to process what had just happened.