Page 31 of From the Ashes
“Bus? What bus?”
“Oh, we’re taking a bus across the country to do all these. Believe me, you don’t want to deal with airports and rental cars for all this.”
“We? Are you coming too?”
“I’m your agent. Of course I’m going.” I could already hear the smirk in his voice. “Somebody has to keep you in line during this trip.”
“Uh-huh. And I’m sure the free blowjobs you’ll require have nothing to do with it.”
“Well… there is a private suite in the back of the bus. It has a queen-sized bed so…”
I rolled my eyes and huffed, but I couldn’t help smiling. Leave it to Tony to have already scoped out this bus so he could make sure we could fuck on the road.
“Besides, I’m sure you’ll need to blow off steam. So, let’s call it mutually beneficial?”
“That’s fine,” I muttered. “As long as you don’t go falling in love with me.”
“Phoenix McKean, you know I already love you.”
“Only because I made you a shit ton of royalties.”
“That definitely helps.” He paused for a moment. “But we both know this is just casual between us. You don’t love me like that and I’m not the settling down type, anyway. I like my weekends free and my dick freer.”
“I know that. And don’t worry, I’ll never ask you to give that up. I know we’re just friends.”
“Good. Now when do I get my first BJ on the road?”
“Why do you get to go first?” I scoffed. “I’m the one making all the money!”
“Fine, fine. I’ll blow you first.” A voice rose up behind Tony and I heard him muffle the phone for a moment. After a few seconds, he came back. “Looks like our plane tickets are all ready to go. We fly out tomorrow morning.”
“Tomorrow?! How long have you known this was going to happen?”
“Like two weeks,give or take.”
“Fucking christ, Tony! You couldn’t give me a little warning? I was planning on going out tomorrow! I have money now, so I’d like to have a life as well!”
“Oh please. That check has barely cleared. You can’t have that many plans.”
I pursed my lips in annoyance. He was right of course. But still, I wanted to take a fucking break. It took me five long years to write the goddamn book to begin with, then another year to get it sold to one of the big publishers in New York. After that it was endless edits, meetings, designing, rewrites, and publicity. It just never seemed to end. And now, when the book was finally out and selling like crazy, I didn’t even have time to enjoy my hard-earned success. Instead, I was being shoved on a bus and driven across the country for who knew how long to sign books for strangers that werefartoo parasocial for my liking.
“How long are we going to be on the road, Tony?”
“Don’t appreciate that tone, Phie.”
“How long?”
“Uh… you know… maybe three months.”
“THREE MONTHS?!”
“Calm down, Phie. It’s March anyway. What are you going to do in Boston in the middle of March? Enjoy the outdoors? Please.” He blew a raspberry through his lips. “Boston is fucking miserable ten months out of the year and that’s mostly because of the people. I still can’t fathom why you wanted to live there in the first place.”
Because it was a big city and because it was the opposite of where I’d grown up. It was also near New York and the big publishing houses. But the biggest reason was because it was as far away as I could get from home without leaving the country. The distance helped mepretend that I didn’t feel the pain anymore. Not that I would ever tell anyone that, especially Tony. I’d never hear the end of it.
“Fine,” I huffed at last. “But you get to figure out how you’re getting my bike on the bus.”
“You want me to fly your goddamnmotorcycleto Savannah in the morning so you can travel with it?”