I looked over to see Griffin wearing his favorite holiday shirt—Suck Me, I’m Irish. Of course he’d packed it. Shaking my head, I told him, “No, I’m gonna hang here on the bus. And it’s not St. Patrick’s Day anymore, Griffin. It’s 3 in the morning, the day after St. Patrick’s Day.” We’d had a short jaunt to the next venue, and we’d just arrived. There was no point getting a hotel at this hour, so we were all just hanging in the buses until the show tonight.

Griffin swished his hand at me. “Matt found a rave. That shit’s been going all night long, so the people partying inside won’t know it’s tomorrow yet. It’s like we’re going back in time.”

He grinned like this was the greatest concept ever. I shook my head again. “I’m wiped. I’m gonna sleep…have fun.”

He scoffed at me, like it was an impossibility that he wouldn’t. Matt and Evan waved goodbye and followed him off of the bus. Several other band members did too. I shook my head as I watched them leave. How were they not as tired as me? Probably because they didn’t have as much resting on their shoulders. Still…it was good to see them taking a minute to blow off some steam. We’d all been working really hard lately. Maybe too hard. God, I was exhausted.

With a sigh, I debated lying down in my cramped cubby. I just couldn’t do it. I needed to stretch out, so I headed back to Griffin’s bed instead. He wasn’t going to need it for several hours anyway. I passed out almost the instant I laid down, but even still, my fucking internal alarm clock woke me up just a handful of hours later.

Being sprawled out, alone in a bed, really made me miss Kiera. Was it too early to call her? I’d been so tired, I’d laid down with all my clothes on, and my phone was still in my pocket, digging into my hip. Rolling over, I pulled it out and glanced at the time. It was sort of early for Kiera, but not outrageously early. She could be up.

A wave of loneliness crashed over me, and needing to hear her voice, I decided to risk waking her. The phone rang quite a few times, and a surge of disappointment went through me. But then it stopped ringing, and I heard her weary voice say, “Hello?”

Clearly, she’d been sleeping, and I felt a little bad for waking her up, but more than that, I felt…soothed. Her voice was heaven, a momentary reprieve from the agony—as long as I didn’t let myself think too much. Please let her love be only for me. Please don’t let my nightmares be true.