Jace caught movement out of the corner of his eye. Eric stood leaning against the side of the bus sipping from his flask. The slim, silver container glinted in the limited moonlight.

Jace leaned beside him against the bus. The chill of metal at his back seeped through his T-shirt. He shivered. He missed his leather jacket. “You okay, man?”

“Why wouldn’t I be?” Eric took a long swallow from his flask and gasped when he drew it away.

“I didn’t think you’d get attached to Aggie. I just thought…” What had he thought? “She’d get more pleasure if you participated. I wanted her to enjoy really great sex. It wasn’t supposed to mean anything.”

“I’m not in love with her, if that’s what you think.”

Then what was his problem? Jace tugged on the earring in his right earlobe.

“It’s…” Eric took another long drink. “I want what you have. What Sed has. What Brian has. No one has ever loved me. Not really.”

Jace loved him—in a platonic way. He just wasn’t drunk enough to say it.

“My mother abandoned me when I was four. She gave birth to me, and even she didn’t love me.” Eric scoffed. “You’d think at least her love would be guaranteed.”

Jace considered telling Eric about his mother—how she hadn’t loved her son much either—but he couldn’t find the words. “The guys care about you.” They were family. The only family Jace had. Didn’t Eric see them that way too?

“It’s not the same. I don’t really matter—to anyone.” Eric took a deep breath. “I appreciate that you came out here to cheer me up and shit, but I’ll get over it. Tequila fixes everything.” He attempted a sip, tipping his head way back, and then upended the flask over the ground. “Figures I’d run out of numbing juice this far from civilization.”

“Wanna beer?”

“Nah. I need a few minutes to get my head on straight. Go back to Aggie.” He attempted another sip from his empty flask, sighed, and then tucked it into the inner pocket of his leather vest. “Go on. You’re bothering me.”

Jace hesitated, wanting to make Eric feel better. He knew it was stupid to feel that way, but he didn’t like Eric to be upset. “There’s something you should know about me.”

“I already know that you’re short.” Eric chuckled halfheartedly.

Jace took a deep breath. Everything was a joke with this guy. Jace pushed forward with what he had to say, even though he knew Eric would use it to make fun of him in the future. “You are the reason I am who I am today. You, Eric. You turned my life around. So if you think you don’t matter to anyone, you’re wrong. You matter to me.”

Jace pushed off the side of the bus and walked back to the entrance. He blew into his hands and clenched them into fists for warmth. The tips of his ears tingled, and his butt was numb from the cold. There was a warm and willing woman waiting for him inside. He wondered why he’d stayed in the chill for this long.

“Wait. Jace?” Eric called after him. “What do you mean I turned your life around?”

Jace had already said too much. He lifted a hand in farewell and climbed the steps to enter the bus. He was looking forward to crawling into bed with Aggie. Or he had been, until he saw Jon sitting on the floor outside her bunk with his back pressed against the wall. He was talking quietly through the curtain and toying with her discarded panties with one finger.

Jace didn’t need this shit right now. He didn’t want to fight Jon anymore. He wanted him to go away—for things to go back to the way they used to be before he got shot—before he met Aggie. Everything had been a hell of a lot easier to deal with back then. He just had to regress inside himself, and everyone left him alone. Back when he’d played with the band, but not as one of them. Yeah, easier.

But lonely.

He sighed. He didn’t want to go back to that place. Things weren’t easier now, but they were better.

Jon noticed Jace standing at the top of the steps. He said something to Aggie, stood, and brushed past Jace on his way outside. Jace wondered what kind of lie Aggie would fabricate to explain herself. The traitor.

She pushed the curtain back and peeked into the aisle. When she spotted him, she smiled and beckoned him closer with a wave. Like everything was fine. Everything was not fine. She knew how much Jace fucking hated that guy.

On his way down the aisle, Jace passed Trey watching his Greatest Moments in Baseball DVD. Jace could hear the quiet rumble of Brian’s voice from his bunk as he talked quietly on his cell phone. Sed and Jessica had fallen silent in the bedroom, which meant everyone would hear him when he confronted Aggie about Jon.

“What are you doing?” he asked.

“Waiting for you.”

“With Jon?”

She covered her lips with one finger. “Get in here,” she whispered. She shoved the curtain back, giving him a glimpse of her curvy, naked body. His thoughts grew thick with lust, but not so thick that she’d get off the hook that easily.

“I want a straight answer, Aggie.”

“And you’ll get one. Get in here with me.”

He sat on the edge of the bunk, slumped forward so he didn’t hit his head. “Why were you talking to him?”

“Take your boots off.”

“Aggie,” he said impatiently.

She sat up and leaned close to his ear. “Just get in here, and I’ll explain.”

He kicked off his boots and climbed into the bunk. It was a tight fit for two people, so after scooting and rearranging he ended up on his back, with Aggie on her side next to him, her back to the wall, her warm breath against his ear.

“I didn’t really want to talk to him, Jace,” she whispered. “I knew you wouldn’t like it, but I was trapped in here naked. He wants to ask you something, but he’s too afraid, so he wants me to ask you.”

“He’s afraid? Of what?”

“Probably that you’ll punch him in the face again.”

“Smart dude. So what is it?”

“Eric told him you were playing piano on the new album.”

“A couple songs. So?”

“So if you’re playing piano, who’s going to play bass?”

“I’ll record the two tracks separately, and then they’ll mix them.”

“But who will play it live?”

Jace’s brow furrowed. He hadn’t thought of that. “I don’t know. The album isn’t even done yet. Why is he asking about this now?”

“He doesn’t want to lose the band. Not entirely.”

“So I’m supposed to extend a hand of welcome?”

“That’s up to you. He said he didn’t want to go to the rest of the guys. He wants you to make the decision.”

“That’s weird,” Jace said. “Why should this be my decision?”

“You’re the bassist. He said after he heard you play live that he knew he was grasping at straws. He was hoping you might give him one last straw to cling to.”

“I’ll bring it up with the guys,” Jace promised.

Aggie snuggled against him. “I love you.”

Jace wasn’t sure why throwing Jon a bone had her all sentimental, but he’d take it. He touched her soft breast with his fingertips.

She yelped. “Your hands are freezing!”

“Then warm them up.”

“I’ll warm you up,” she said in a threatening tone.

He chuckled. “That’s the idea.”

Apparently, his idea of the best way to create warmth and her idea weren’t quite the same. She tickled him until he laughed and squirmed himself off the bed. He hit the floor with a thud. Still laughing, he rolled over to climb to his feet. Unexpectedly, he found himself airborne as someone lifted him off the floor and tossed him back into the bunk.

“You lost something, Aggie,” Eric said with a grin.

“Thanks, Eric. I wouldn’t want him to get away.”

“Keep him on a shorter leash.”

Aggie’s devious smile instantly had Jace warm and his pants tight. “Now there’s an idea,” she murmured.

He was glad she was already naked. It made it easier to fill his hands and mouth with warm, inviting flesh.

“I guess there’s no room in there for me,” Eric said and drew the curtain closed.