Perfect. “Then I’ll meet you there…in Ohio.” She tried to protest, but I cut her off with a kiss. “No, I’ve always wanted to meet your parents, see your hometown. When I get the time off, I’ll come to you.” I couldn’t contain my excitement as I thought about it. This was just what we needed—plans. “We’ll do Christmas with your family. It’ll be great, Kiera.”

She sighed, then nodded, adorably biting her lip. “All right…it’s a date.”

I leaned down to kiss her, and I never wanted to stop. Various band members flowed past us, getting on their buses, but we ignored them. I even ignored Griffin, who had the balls to murmur, “Yes, Kellan…God, yes.” That almost got me to release her, but kissing Kiera was too important. The only thing that finally did get me to stop was the bus driver yelling, “Hey! If you’re supposed to be on the bus, get on now. We’re leaving with or without you!”

With a sigh, I stopped kissing her. I had to swallow the lump in my throat as I forced myself to move away from her; it was surprisingly difficult to get my feet to move anywhere that wasn’t toward her. Our hands moved down each other’s arms, and I savored the connection right until the very end, when our fingertips brushed together. And then we were apart. Separate. The loss of her hit me like a blow to the gut, especially when she started sobbing again. God, I couldn’t do this. It was too hard.

But I didn’t have a choice. And if I didn’t go now, I’d fuck things up for the rest of my band. I couldn’t screw them over because I had attachment issues.

Adjusting my guitar on my back, I turned from her and strode purposely to the bus. This wasn’t goodbye. There were no goodbyes. The driver smirked at me as he closed the door behind me. “Glad you could join us.”

I know, I know. Sorry. I nodded at him, then looked for my band. The front half of the bus was a bunch of bench seats with small tables between them, and my friends were all seated at one near the back, near the tiny cubbies that were passing as beds. I tossed my guitar onto one of the bottom beds and joined the guys. Evan clapped me on the back, sympathy in his eyes. Griffin bounced up and down on the seat, like a little kid on a field trip. “Can you believe this shit, Kell?”

I gave him a brief smile in answer. I wasn’t really in the mood to talk.