Ian (Las Vegas Sidewinders Book 15), page 26
Thank you for reading Ian and Everly’s story! I hope you enjoyed it. This is the end of the Las Vegas Sidewinders series, but a new generation of Sidewinders is coming… turn the page from a snippet of ZAAN, the first book!
Excerpt from “Zaan” (Book One of Sidewinders: Generations)
Chapter One
Lexi
Music was my favorite mind-numbing distraction, but sometimes it didn’t help. Sitting in my sectioned off portion of the tour bus, even with noise-cancelling headphones and music playing through my laptop, I still felt bouncing on the seat on the other side of her bunk, someone jumping up and down. Another night on tour. Another night of hell. I was so tired of this. So tired of them.
Someone yanked open the curtain and Tayla’s hottie-of-the-night wiggled his flaccid penis in my direction. With an exasperated sigh, I jerked the curtain closed again. Boy-toy stuck his pecker through a seam and I resisted the urge to swat it; I simply refused to touch something so vile.
“Come play with us, Lexi!” Marj opened the curtain again and I read her lips.
I shook my head, reaching for the curtain. “No, thanks. I’m working.”
“You’re always working,” Marj whined.
“Working to make the rest of us look bad,” Tayla hissed, peering over Marj’s shoulder. “Thinks she’s hot shit.”
I could only partially hear them but after more than two years on the road with them, I knew what they were saying, what they thought of me. But I didn’t care anymore. There were four dates left on this tour and then I was done. Contract or no contract, I wasn’t coming back. I’d already spoken to my lawyer about it and he’d said he had enough proof to show they were breaking multiple stipulations of our contract so I could get out of the next album. I didn’t care about the money or my reputation. I just needed to get the hell away from them. There was no doubt in my mind why Kay had turned to heroin and suicide; these bitches were enough to drive anyone insane.
“Come on, you sweet blond pussy.” Tayla joined Marj and the two guys they’d picked up, stark naked, sneering down at me. She snatched the headphone off of my head and I shot to my feet. I wasn’t suicidal but I was on the verge of being homicidal, my hands clenched into fists at my sides.
“Give me the fucking headphones,” I snapped.
“What are you gonna do? Take them?” Tayla tossed them on the ground and stepped on them, laughing.
I arched my brows. “You’re a piece of work, you know that?”
“You’re not better than us, you know,” Tayla responded, her bloodshot eyes cloudy from alcohol and who knows what else.
“Never said I was.”
“But you sit in there like the queen of fucking England, always working. You’re the only one who writes songs… why can’t you use the ones they write for us like Kay did?”
“Because I like to write songs.”
“You wanna fuck my boyfriend?” Tayla changed tactics, pulling her flavor of the month forward and beginning to stroke his dick through his jeans.
“No thanks.” I tried to sit back again but Tayla yanked me back up by the hair.
I let out a yelp of pain and surprise, pulling myself free of the other woman’s grasp. “What. The Fuck.” I stood up again, scowling. “You want to go, Tayla? Huh? You and your drunk ass think you can take me?” I’d never been in a fist fight in my twenty-two years on earth, but I was ready tonight.
“Fuck you!” Tayla started laughing, which turned into a deep, guttural cough that led her to her own bunk.
“What did you do to her?” Marj growled at me.
I raised my hands. “I never touched her. Maybe if she’d stop smoking and shooting up, she wouldn’t sound like that all the time.”
“Maybe if you weren’t so holier-than-thou, we’d be a band again instead of Lexi’s back-up singers.”
“Again, if you spent more time on the music instead of the drugs and dickless wonders, it wouldn’t be that way.”
“We don’t want you here,” Tayla rasped. “We fucking hate you.”
“Good. I hate you too. Four more shows, just over a week, and I’m out of here.”
“You can’t leave the group. There’s another year on your contract.” Tayla tried to keep talking but succumbed to another coughing fit.
“I’d rather go broke than spend another year on tour with you bitches.” I pulled the curtain closed and sat down. Though I’d learned quickly not to back down with them, it still bothered me. My hands were shaking and I was a little nauseated, but I’d be okay. Pulling up my phone, a notification caught my eye.
Las Vegas loses to Florida, 5-4.
The Sidewinders had played Florida? In Fort Lauderdale? Tonight? I quickly looked up the team’s schedule and, sure enough, the game against Florida had ended only a few minutes ago. Holy shit.
I hauled my ass out of my bunk and rushed to the front of the bus. Lula Mae Hammond had been our bus driver for two years and she was a sweet, smart lady; we’d gotten close. Lula Mae was one of the only people keeping me sane on this tour.
“Lula, where are we?” Lexi whispered.
Lula glanced at her in surprise. “Passing through Lauderdale, Lexi. What’s up?”
“Are we anywhere near Sawgrass Mills? The Sawgrass Expressway?”
“Sugar, what’s going on?”
“Tell me, Lula. It’s important!”
“We’re on the Sawgrass, sugar, but—”
“Don’t pass the exit for the mall, Lula!” I ran back to my bunk and threw my laptop, external hard drive and chargers into my backpack. Grabbing my sneakers, I slid my feet into them and stuffed my nightshirt in there too. I put my phone in my pocket and slipped on my denim jacket. I took one last look around and then hurried back to the front of the bus.
“Honey bunch, what are you doing?” Lula looked concerned.
“I need to get out of here,” she whispered. “My dad’s team is in Chicago, and if we hurry, I can get on the plane with them. Please, drop me near the arena.”
“The girls won’t like it,” she whispered back.
“By the time they figure out what’s going on, I’ll be gone.”
“You sure?”
“Yes.”
Lula got off the highway at the next exit and headed toward the arena. “Be careful, sweet girl—text Lula Mae and let me know you’re okay.”
I pulled my phone out of my pocket and weighed my options. My father was the team’s goalie coach now that he’d retired from playing, but he had the flu and wasn’t on this road trip. I knew lots of the players but there was only one I wanted to call. Without overthinking it, I dialed his number and prayed he would pick up. We hadn’t spoken in nearly a year, but he was still my friend.
My soulmate.
My love.
My Zaan.
“Hey, we’re about to get on the bus. Can I call you back?”
“I need help,” I said quickly. “Where are you?”
“Where are you?” he countered. “We’re in Fort Lauderdale. What’s wrong?”
“I’m by the mall, just a few blocks away…” I told him exactly where I was.
“We’re around back, literally getting on the bus.”
“Oh, God, don’t leave without me! Please tell them to wait. I can have her drive me around to the player’s exit if you can call someone to get us through the gate. The game just let out so there’s a ton of traffic, but if you get me in…”
“I’ll talk to Coach right now. Call you back.” He disconnected.
Lulu turned the bus toward the arena, slowing down as she went against the post-game traffic, but I was so ramped up on adrenaline, I was bouncing on my toes as I waited for word from Zaan.
A minute later he called back.
“Gate Z,” he told me. “I’ll stay on the line until I see the bus and meet you outside.”
“Thank you.” I relayed the message to Lula and we drove around toward the right gate.
“Have her just pull over right by the guard,” Zaan was saying in the phone. “I can walk you in. That’s easier than her trying to turn around in this parking lot.”
“Okay.” I pointed. “Let me off there, Lula.”
“You sure, sugar?” Lula gave me a dubious glance.
“It’s okay. It’s my dad’s team. I’ll be fine.”
She slowed the bus to a stop and I leaned over to kiss her cheek. “I’ll text you tomorrow! Thank you.”
“Go get ‘em, girl. You know you love that boy.”
I gave her a rueful smile. “I don’t think it’s mutual anymore, but you never know.”
I jumped off the bus and as I turned, I saw him. Tall and broad-shouldered, his dirty blond hair falling over his forehead, it was still Zaan. He’d changed some, gotten bigger and stronger, but not that much, not enough that I wouldn’t recognize him. I couldn’t help myself and ran straight to his arms, throwing myself at him as if I was grabbing a lifeline.
“Hey.” He hugged me tightly. “You okay, babe?”
He called me babe. I nearly melted.
“Could you just hold me for a minute? Please.”
“Of course.” He wrapped his arms around me, pulling me against his chest.
I breathed in his aftershave, his masculine scent, and emotion burned through me. God, I’d missed him so fucking much.
“What’s going on?” he whispered after a few seconds. “The bus will be pulling up here any second with all the guys.”
“Can I fly home with you?”
He grimaced. “Lex, you know that’s against the rules.”
“This is an emergency. I couldn’t spend another minute on that bus and… if I get on a commercial flight the press will recognize me. I’ll talk to Jared.” Jared Wylde was the head coach of the professional hockey team both Zaan and my father both worked for, the Las Vegas Sidewinders.
“There’s the bus,” he motioned with his head. “Come on.” He took his arm from around me but kept a hand at the small of my back as we walked to the where the bus had stopped.
Jared came down, a frown creasing his face. “Sweetheart, what are you doing here?”
“Hey, Jared. I know it’s not usually allowed but I can’t get on a commercial flight tonight. I literally had the tour bus stop and let me off on the side of the road… I couldn’t take it another minute. There’s a shit-ton of crazy going on with the band. Please, please let me fly back to Vegas with you.”
Jared shifted, taking a deep breath. “If people find out about this…”
“The only way anyone will know is if the guys talk or we keep standing here. Please. I’ll explain on the bus.”
“Come on, then.” He motioned with his head and I hurried up the steps.
“Thank you.”
“Where’s your stuff?” He looked down in confusion.
“I told you, I had the driver drop me off. This is all I took. I’m done. I’m not going back. I don’t care if they sue me or if I spend every dime I’ve made getting out of my contract, but I’m done.”
“Jesus, sweetheart. Come sit down.”
I sank into the seat next to Jared and closed my eyes in relief. Zaan sat in the seat behind me, one big hand reaching forward to lightly stroke my arm through my jacket.
“Lexi.” Cody Armstrong, the team captain and a good friend of the family, sat across from me. “What’s going on, beautiful?”
I shook my head, suddenly emotional all over again.
“Here.” Zaan passed a bottle of water forward and I accepted it, drinking deeply.
Some things never changed, I thought. He might not love me anymore, but he still knew exactly what I needed, when I needed it.
“I couldn’t take anymore,” I said after a moment. “The drugs, the partying, the men… it was gross. I’m not talking about having a little fun—these girls are hardcore. Sharing needles, men, spending money faster than anything I could imagine. And the bigger the hits we had from songs I wrote, the more they hated me. I’m just done.” I closed my eyes and leaned back in the seat.
“It’ll be okay, honey.” Jared squeezed my shoulder. “We’ll get you home to your family and you can figure things out.”
“Thank you.” I blinked away tears. “I really appreciate you letting me fly home with you. I didn’t know what else to do.”
“Don’t worry about it. You’re family, Lexi.”
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Kat Mizera, Ian (Las Vegas Sidewinders Book 15)
