“Trey, do something about your friend,” Sed insisted.

Trey grabbed Brian by the top of the ear and pulled him viciously from Myrna’s embrace. “Save it for the honeymoon, stud.”

Brian leaned over to ease the pull on his ear. “Ow, ow, ow, ow. Okay!”

Fake-n-bake wandered out of the bedroom, fully dressed now. “Are you guys going out? Can I come with?”

“No,” the four band mates said in unison.

Eric stomped up the front bus stairs. “Here,” he said, thrusting a ticket at the blonde girl. “Enjoy.” He squeezed his lithe form between his band mates to stare at Sed, who was wiping the last traces of shaving cream onto a towel. “Don’t ask me to be your errand boy again, Lionheart.”

Sed chuckled. “You know you’ll do what I ask, Eric. No one else indulges your bizarre fetishes.”

Eric glanced behind him at the other guys. “Yeah, well, maybe I’m tired of watching you get laid.”

Trey and Brian burst out laughing. “Yeah right, Eric,” Trey said. “You ready, Sed?”

“Let’s go.”

Brian kissed Myrna good-bye. “You can come with us.”

“To a strip club?” Her eyebrows shot up in question. “No, thanks. I can get some work done on my band groupie project while you’re gone. You have a good time with the guys.”

He backed up a step. “I love you.”

“I love you too. Now go!”

He turned reluctantly and shuffled after the other guys.

“Don’t worry, Myrna. I’ll keep an eye on him,” Sed assured her.

“Thanks. And could you do me another favor?”

“Anything.”

Myrna tilted her head pointedly at Fake-n-bake, who was watching this all transpire as if it were on Pay-Per-View.

Sed took the blonde by one elbow and directed her toward the front of the bus. “Come on, time for you to leave.”

There was a loud thunk on the side of the bus. “I love you, Myrna!” Brian called from outside.

Sed shook his head. “God, I can’t believe he acts like that when he’s sober.”

Myrna chuckled. “Stay safe. Which club are you going to? In case I need to find you.”

He released the blonde’s elbow and stepped close to Myrna, using his height and breadth to its greatest advantage. “Are you being a nag or a drag, Professor Sex?”

She stood her ground, lifting an eyebrow of annoyance at him. “Which club, Sed?”

He chuckled. He loved a chick he couldn’t intimidate. “Paradise Found.”

Sed held open the chrome-plated swinging door for Brian and slapped him on the back as he passed. Brian winced, though Sed couldn’t tell if it was from being knocked around or because he’d caught his first glimpse of topless women. Even the cocktail waitresses treated them to full frontal nudity. Very nice.

“Sed, honestly. This bachelor party is unnecessary.” Brian paused on the threshold and raked a hand through his black hair. Tonight, he wore it like he did onstage—lightly gelled and sticking out at odd angles. Thank God he’d gone without his guyliner. “I’d rather just go back to the tour bus and spend the evening with Myrna.”

Sed rolled his eyes and shook his head. “Dude, after tomorrow, you’re going to be saddled with her for life. For life. She a great chick and all, but that’s a very long time. Enjoy your last night as a bachelor. Trey, do something about this guy.” Sed looked behind Brian. Trey had been there a moment ago.

No Trey now, just their bassist, Jace.

“Where’d Trey go? What’s a bachelor party without the best man?”

Jace jerked his bleached-blond head toward the bar three doors down.

Sed glanced at the sign over the door and rubbed a hand over his face. “A gay bar? When is he gonna decide if he likes dick or pussy?”

“I think the problem is he likes both,” Eric said.

“A lot,” Brian added.

“Equally,” Jace said.

“Don’t worry,” Eric said. “It shouldn’t take him long to pick up some tail.”

Sed sighed. He worried about the members of his band. Brian was the most normal of the batch and he was acting like a total wuss now that he was getting married. “Well, Brian, it’s your call.”

“Fine, we’ll stay. If you promise not to buy me a lap dance.”

“Dude, Myrna won’t find out. Who’s gonna tell her?”

“I’m sure Myrna would be cool with it. I’m just not interested.”

Eric grabbed Brian by the arm and urged him further into the club. “You need to loosen up, Mr. Stuffy von Stickinthemud.”

Sed followed them to the bar. He ordered a whiskey on the rocks and scanned the various stages, looking for the stripper he found most attractive. Two blondes on the center stage worked the pole together, caressing and kissing each other whenever their dancing brought their bodies together. “That is hot,” Sed said. They’d make a nice Sed sandwich. He wondered if he could convince them to work his pole together. He downed his whiskey and thumped his glass of ice on the bar for a refill.

“That is hotter.” Jace nodded at the leather-clad, black-haired woman brandishing a whip on the left-hand stage. His entire body jerked with excitement every time her whip cracked.

Brian took his beer and headed for the stage on the far right side of the room. The most sedate of the three stages featured a strawberry blonde in white silk, lace, and feathers. A wide, silk scarf concealed her eyes and accentuated her femininity. Though she couldn’t possibly see where she was going, she had her moves down perfectly and had no problem maintaining her mesmerizing, sensual dance without falling off the stage. Ah, well, it figured Brian would go for the sweet meat. Not that Sed minded, he had a soft spot for strawberry blondes. Jessica’s hair had been strawb… Christ, why couldn’t he stop thinking about her? The bitch had left him two frickin’ years ago.

All the tables near the stage were full. Brian scanned the room for an empty seat, but Eric took his arm and directed him to a table in front of the stage. Six college-aged men looked well settled there, but Sed knew Eric wouldn’t take no for an answer one way or another. Sipping his whiskey, Sed followed his friends.

“Hey, dudes, my buddy is getting married tomorrow,” Eric said to the young guys. “How about you all get lost so we can sit here?”

One of the clean-cut guys said, “I feel for your friend, really, but we were here first.”

Sed had to give the kid credit. Sed and his band mates didn’t look like guys you should fuck with. Tattoos. Piercings. Chains. Jet black hair, with the exception of Jace and his bleached spikes. Denim and leather. They’d probably fit in better at a biker bar.

Tall and muscular, Sed was the largest and most intimidating of the group. He moved to stand beside Eric as back-up. He’d rather have these guys frightened into giving Eric his way. Sed didn’t want to fight them, but he knew it wouldn’t take much to move Eric to blows.

“I think you should reconsider.” Sed glared down at the guys around the table.

Eric flexed his long fingers and cracked his knuckles.

“Christ, Eric, don’t get us all arrested again.” Brian massaged his forehead as if in great distress. “I mean you can only have so many deadly assault charges on your record before they keep you in the slammer for good. You know?”

Wide-eyed, the college-aged guys grabbed their drinks and moved to a table near the back of the room.

Sed smiled at Brian. “Smooth, Master Sinclair.”

Brian shrugged and sat at the table. He took a sip of his beer. Sed sat to Brian’s right. Eric to his left. Jace had vanished somewhere. Probably blowing a couple thousand bucks on the dominatrix on the other side of the room. Sed tossed his whiskey down his throat and signaled a cocktail waitress for another refill. Brian sipped his beer and glanced up at the dancer crawling across the stage toward them. He choked.

“Fuck me,” Eric said, his eyes on the stripper as well. “Isn’t that…”