The morning sun cracks through the opening in my small bedroom window and forces me to pry my eyes open. I consider rolling over to go back to sleep, but my grumbling stomach and parched mouth push me out of bed and into the kitchen.
It’s quiet but for the occasional hum from the front of the bus where Danny’s at the wheel, and the heavy breaths of my sleeping bandmates—a soothing, familiar backdrop to life on the road. I love it when I beat everyone else awake, enjoy at least one cup of coffee in solitude, and watch the world blur by before another day begins.
Filling the filter with grounds, I hit brew and wait not so patiently for the glass jug to fill. The sound of feet hitting the carpet and a grumbled“Morning”from Austin dashes my solo plans, but that’s bus living and thanks to the wing gods, at least I have a room to escape to.
“You want a cup?” I say over my shoulder, tapping the counter in time with the drip of the brew.
“Yeah. I’m gonna hit the head first,” he says and then disappears down the hall.
I fill two mugs and return the pot to the warmer just as his shouts echo from the bathroom.
“The fuck? Where the fuck are my eyebrows?”
They say island life can drive a person to madness. Maybe a bus can do the same.
Sean pokes his head from behind his curtain. “Tell him to shut up. Some of us are trying to sleep.”
My eyes widen as soon as I meet his irritated stare.Holy shit. His eyebrows.
“My fucking eyebrows!” Austin continues to holler from the bathroom and I immediately pull out my phone and flip the camera mode to find ...
“Shit!” My brows are jacked up, too. Almost as if someone took a razor and went all Edward Scissorhands on them. My left one is cut in a fade that almost resembles a lightning bolt. Sean climbs from his bunk and swipes my phone from my hands, apprehension etched into his brows along with a crescent moon.
“No fucking way,” he grumbles when he views himself on the screen.
Austin stomps out of the bathroom as Sean and I lift our chins.Oh, fuck!The two of us almost double over in laughter when we meet his angry expression and the completely absent eyebrows.
“Who the fuck did this?” he growls.
“Don’t look at me. Mine are jacked too!” But Sean’s lips are twisting up with a grin as laughter escapes.
“At least you still have something left!” Austin screams, his brow pulling harder.
“Dude, your forehead looks like one of those hairless cats!” Sean says.
“Or a pug. Fuck, you look like a pug!” I add and I can’t stop laughing. Austin’s face pulls tighter and it makes him appear even more ridiculous.
“I want to know who the fuck did this.”
“I did.” Our heads snap over to Lexi. She’s in one of those giant sweatshirts again, looking sexy as fuck with a case of bedhead sending her blonde locks every which way. She holds up a pink razor and tilts her head as a ghost of a smile paints her plump lips. “Payback’s a bitch and so am I if you keep touching my underwear.”
“Not cool, Lexi! I have to go onstage like this!” Austin whines like a child.
Sean shakes his head, still chuckling. “Well played. Well played.”
Her lips pull up into a smile.
“I’m gonna have to wear a fucking beanie for months.” Austin grabs his cup of coffee and takes a sip. “What about Iz? Did you fuck with him too? Wait, where is he?”
I walk over to Iz’s bunk, right next to where Lexi stands, and lift the curtain for a peek. Man’s out cold but it’s not surprising. I don’t know what he took last night, but it wasn’t weed. I shake my head and let the curtain fall closed.
Lexi straightens her spine. “Don’t worry. Iz got a makeover too,” she assures Austin and then meets my gaze. We’re close but I wish we were closer. I take a step and she lifts her chin, an obstinate hardness to her jaw as she glares. It’s her throat that gives her away, though. My eyes zero in on the way her skin moves with the swallow of her nerves.
Austin continues to mutter complaints, but I can’t shake my gaze from the green irises that dare me to come closer still.
“I won’t promise.” The words leave my lips in a whisper. Confusion knits her perfectly shaped brows.
“What?” she retorts. Those lips pout as I take another step and invade the invisible barrier of her personal space.
