There was the sound of scuffling and laughter, and then a mussed-up Devon answered the door. Minus a shirt and shoes, he stood there with his jeans unbuttoned.

Button fly. Nice.

Pervert that I was, my eyes zeroed in on his black happy trail and followed that sucker into his pants. Since it was a cloudy day, I’d left my sunglasses on the bus, and both Devon and Phil busted me.

“Woman!” barked Phil. The hand attached to the arm draped around my shoulders came up and clapped over my eyes. “Dude! What the fuck?” he snapped at Devon.

The sound of a woman giggling came from inside the bus.

I smirked. “Knock it off, Phil.”

“You were totally checkin’ his ass out!”

“I don’t think it was my ass she was looking at, man.”

Snorting with laughter, I wiggled out of Phil’s blindfold. “We brought you some breakfast.”

Devon, under the evil glare of Phil, hastily buttoned up his jeans, and a redhead tripped off the bus.

“Thanks for the, um…ride, Devon.”

Devon’s pretty face split into a smile as I handed him the Tupperware. “Anytime, Sophie.”

Sophie was a fucking knockout. Even Phil did a double take, which I chose to ignore since I had totally been checking out Devon, and then he craned his neck to watch her sweet rear end walk away.

“Still ain’t as awesome as yours,” he said to me as she turned behind the crew bus and disappeared from view.

“True,” said Devon, giving me a wink and a smirk.

“Fuck you, douche!” Phil hissed, snatching back the Tupperware. “You can fuckin’ starve!”

I took the Tupperware out of his hands and handed it back to Devon.

“You guys want to come in for some coffee?”

“Sure,” I replied.

“No,” snapped Phil.

We headed into Devon’s bus, and Phil sniffed the air as Devon opened the coffee canister.

“Fuckin’ stinks of sex and shame in here,” he grunted.

“Pfft. Can’t imagine what your bus stinks of then.”

“Weed and sex. No shame,” Phil promptly answered.

Devon and I cracked up. He placed three mugs of coffee on the table and sat down across from us, digging into his breakfast.

“Fuck, this is good,” he grunted, eloquent European leaving in the face of decent food.

“Don’t get used to it,” grumped Phil. “Can’t you put on a shirt or somethin’?”

“I’m in my own fucking bus! I’ll not wear whatever the fuck I want!”

“There’s a fuckin’ woman here!”

“I know! And she’s the only one not giving a fuck!”

I had to bite my lip to try to keep the smile off my face. Phil busted me and scowled.

“What?” I snapped at him.

“Quit starin’ at him.”

“I wasn’t.”

“Were.”

“Wasn’t.”

“Were.”

“Shit, are you two always like this?” Devon asked.

“Yes,” I replied.

“No,” grumped Phil.

“You two must have some pretty awesome sex.”

“Yes,” Phil and I replied in unison.

“At least that’s working out for you.” Devon laughed. “Still set up at the Fairmont?”

“Yeah. Where are the Cannibals staying?”

“Last I heard, they were gonna head straight to Portland and stay there until the next show.”

“Sweet. We won’t have to see those fuckers at all. You stayin’ with us then?”

Devon nodded. “Better company and all that. I’m worried about Brigid though.”

My stomach knotted at the sound of that woman’s name, but Devon couldn’t tell it bugged me. Phil, on the other hand, gently squeezed my thigh, letting me know he knew I was uncomfortable.

“How come?” asked Phil.

“I think she’s using again. She looks like shit when she’s allowed out of the bus—”

“Allowed?” I raged. “She needs permission to leave the fucking bus?”

Devon nodded again, chewing a hefty mouthful of waffle. Taking a sip of coffee, he then elaborated, “Yeah. She’s on the bottom of the totem pole, so to speak, so she’s Jürgen’s little whatever he needs her to be. It’s not like this is her first time touring with me. She knew better than to get involved with them. She’s in over her head, and I don’t know what to do for her. I tried to let her know that she’s welcome to come and stay with me—just as friends, you know? But…she wouldn’t hear me. I could see it in her eyes though. I think they’re drugging her.”

“What? Like against her will?” I asked.

“No. They’re fucking evil—don’t get me wrong—but their, um…victims…they have to be willing. Legal recriminations and all that. Everyone in their entourage has to sign a disclosure agreement and contract.”

Phil nodded because, in fact, he really did know.

Then, I found myself wondering, Just how much does Phil fucking know? Did he participate with the Cannibals in their lifestyle at one point?

“So, you think she’s on heroin again?” I asked, attempting to put the raunchy images of Phil engaged in orgies out of my mind.

“Yeah. I don’t want to believe it, but…it’s the only thing I can think of that would keep her with them at this point.”

“I think she’s been using since New Orleans,” I said. “I saw her when Gordy fucked up his foot, and she looked as though she was on something. I’ve worked with addicts, and she was showing signs of recent opioid use. She started wearing long-sleeved shirts more recently, so she might be upping her dosage and going for bigger veins.”

Guilt crossed Devon’s features, and he closed his eyes.

“Hey, this ain’t your fault, man,” said Phil, dropping a huge paw on Devon’s shoulder from across the table.

“Yes, it is. I brought her here.”

“You couldn’t have predicted that this would happen,” I said. “So…what do you need from us?”

“What do you mean?”

“Do you want to do an intervention? Should we kidnap her from the Cannibals?”

Devon smiled sadly. “And here I thought you hated her.”

“I’m a doctor. She’s a person in need of help. Personal feelings have nothing to do with saving a life. I’m trained and equipped to help someone go through withdrawals. I might need to get a few things, but I don’t think it’d be too much of a hassle. Just some IV fluids with minerals and vitamins.”

“That’s…that’s really nice of you.”

“I know what that does to a person, Devon. What I’ve seen addicts go through, I wouldn’t wish on my worst enemy, and she’s number one on that list. So…just let me know, okay?”

Phil squeezed my thigh again, and I sensed a rush of gratitude flood from him into me. He had truly cared about her, probably still did on some level. I found that it didn’t bother me so much. I was confident with our relationship, with my role in his life. Whoever Brigid had once been to him didn’t matter anymore.

“You wanna ride with us to the Fairmont?” Phil asked Devon.

“Sure.”

“Cool. We leave in about half an hour.”

“Sounds good.”

Phil looked around the bus while Devon scarfed down his breakfast. “Dude, is it only you and the driver on the bus?”

Devon shook his head. “I got a couple of roadies with me. They’re out and about somewhere. Why?”

“It’s fuckin’ quiet.”

Devon nodded. “I know. I like it.”

“I guess so, damn. Are they your guys or the Cannibals’?”

“Mine. But they get on with the rest of the crew. They’re good at not talking shit, too. Not that anything really goes on in here. I’m mostly just writing or playing.”

“Or bangin’ redheads.”

Devon grinned. “Yeah. That, too. What’s your hair color anyway, Kenna?”

Phil pushed me out of the booth. “Come on. He needs more coffee before he can be considered fuckin’ civilized.”

“So says the Ragin’ Cajun,” Devon drawled.

I laughed lightly. “Strawberry-blonde?”

“Hmm…it’s prettier than that,” he replied with a wink.

“I’m gonna stab you in the eye with your fuckin’ fork if you keep flirtin’ with my woman, GianFranco.”

Devon sighed. “I know. Just don’t touch the hands, okay?”

“Quit it!” snapped Phil.