15. Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chase

Saying goodbye to Daddy this morning when the bus pulled up fucking sucked. Especially knowing he wouldn't be able to join us this time.

"I love you, Little Songbird, and I'll be here waiting when you get back." Daddy's words wrapped around me like a fluffy blanket.

"I love you so much, Daddy. I'll call you tonight so you can read to me."

"I'd love that. Be safe and drink plenty of water, Songbird."

I kissed Daddy until the driver honked the horn. Except when I looked up it was actually Seltzer who'd slipped up front and did it. The driver had his hands in the air to show me it wasn't him.

Fucking Seltzer. Always fucking Seltzer. What the hell was he doing on our bus anyway? But when I got onboard I was welcomed by all four of my bandmates.

"Is there a party I wasn't aware of?"

"Nah, just figured you could use your band brothers." David was a true best friend.

"Thanks."

I waved to Daddy from the tinted windows though he couldn't see me, but he still waved back. Daddy had to go back to work today to get ready for his classes next week, so he had lots to do.

Our first stop on this leg was Los Angeles, not a long drive mile wise but once you hit LA traffic everything went to shit. Coming in a day early for the show at the Hollywood Bowl was a smart move. Honestly, I didn't have any complaints with how Easton and Jeremiah had booked us. Even the back-to-back shows were limited. One week we may have three then the next they were separated by a day. They made sure we were well fed, mostly by Ely and Jordan, and rested up.

"Game of Halo ?" Seltzer held a controller out to me, and I snagged it.

"Might as well." I tossed my bag on my bunk to unload later and got to schooling Seltzer.

As per usual when we played, we lost track of time until the driver pulled over beside the other buses.

"Lunch time!" Rhone announced as he hopped off.

"Where are we?" I asked Jeremiah when we lined up. They had the dishes of food set out across a picnic table.

"Barstow, private fenced area the owner let us stop at."

"Oh, right on." Today was one of my favs, subs and potato salad. Big fan.

Chatter went on around me. The guys from Chaotic and Stoli talked about changing up a few things on stage. Joey surprised me when he slid into the seat beside me.

"How's it going?"

"It's going. Bet your bus is nice and quiet."

He laughed. "Yeah, sometimes too quiet. There are times I miss our early years. The four of us in one hotel room full of energy and talking until sunrise. Living in a van for weeks on end you learn things about each other you'd rather not know, but you also form an unbreakable bond."

"More than understand that. When my brothers started pairing off it got lonely for me." Now I had Daddy, but he couldn't be with us and three hours into our trip I was back to being lonely.

"One day it'll all change, for the better." Joey took a bite and gazed off toward his husband, Stoli. As if Stoli felt Joey's eyes on him, he turned and winked at him. The blush on Joey's cheeks said it all, these two were still ridiculously in love. "You'll have that, too," he said when he caught my watchful gaze.

"I already do but his job will keep him in Vegas while I'm on the road." I was proud of Daddy and the fact he was a professor. It was freaking cool but at the same time…

"I saw how Casey looked at you. He kept his eyes on you the entire time you played, and the smile never left his face. That man is wicked in love with you."

That I did know.

"Have you been doing the exercises I taught you before each show?"

"I have."

"You follow directions well."

That's ‘cause I'm Daddy's good boy , but I kept that thought to myself as my little wiggled and jiggled inside .

"So, your dad showed up in Vegas. That had to be a major boost. I'd likely lose my shit if my deadbeat mother showed up, though the last and only time Stoli handled it for me."

I'd only heard through the rumor mill how Joey's mom randomly showed up to a concert they had in Seattle wasted and obnoxious, and Stoli called security to try and keep Joey from seeing it.

Now that's love.

Much like what Daddy did with my dad.

"We hadn't talked since I graduated and moved into an apartment with David. He wasn't mean, in fact he was great when my mom was alive, but when she died it was like he did, too, and I was just forgotten." Even though we'd talked it still hurt to recall. Did I want a relationship with him? Absolutely, but he wouldn't hurt me again. Daddy would see to it that didn't happen.

"Sorry, my brother. I know how much that hurts. My dad was the same after mom bailed then when I broke my arm, Stoli's mom ripped him a new one and he did a total turnaround. Now he's remarried and we have a great relationship. Stoli and I go over and have dinner with them often. Hey, want to hop on with us and ride the rest of the way? I was thinking we could do a duet at Rocktoberfest."

"Are you fucking kidding me? That would be fucking awesome!" Joey laughed when I realized how many fucks my reaction included. "I mean, ya, man, that would be cool."

Joey laughed his ass off. "Way to bring it back around. Did you ever hear about the first time I met my hero, Jonathan Davis?" I shook my head. "Ask Stoli, he recounts it best, but it equals me being a total idiot. I scared the shit out of Jonathan screaming in lieu of using my big boy words."

"Yes, he did," Stoli squeezed my shoulder. "Grab what you need and meet us on our bus. It's a seriously funny story and oddly enough it happened at our first outdoor festival."

Joey and Stoli were seriously the coolest fucking A-list rockstars I'd ever met.

My band brothers went back to their buses so leaving David and Jordan alone was likely appreciated. I grabbed my notebook and phone charger and jogged back over to Joey and Stoli's bus, then we were LA bound.

"Let me grab my acoustic and we can work on some of the music if you want," Stoli offered, then headed to the back and grabbed it.

"That's totally dope. You guys are seriously cool as fuck."

"We started out just like you did, more or less. Saw some seriously fucked up shit along the way." Joey stared off, likely recalling those moments. "Enough of that. What song do you want to do? One of yours or one of ours? "

I knew every. Single. Social Sinners song. "Let's do one of yours. What do you think about doing it when the fan who won the contest comes up on stage?"

"I think that would make for a killer media stunt. All right, which one of our songs do you want to do?" Joey asked again.

"How about ‘Black?'" I fired off a text to the Embrace band chat to let the guys know. Pretty sure they all knew the song already, but they had to be prepared so we didn't fuck it up.

"Way to make it easy on me." Stoli strummed the opening chords and the three of us jammed.

Felt great to keep up with them and not fuck up the lyrics. Helped too that it was my favorite Social Sinners song, so the words were imprinted on my brain.

"Not sure you know the history behind that song," Joey said as he stared at the man he loved. "It was written during a really dark time in my life and I almost lost Stoli because of it."

"You almost lost your life because of it and a life without you, my love, is a life I don't care to live." Stoli's words blew me away. The love these two had for each other was amazing. Childhood best friends to lovers. Their families intertwined and you rarely saw one without the other.

The buses pulled in and around to the private fenced-in parking area hidden away from the general public. There were restrooms with showers and a cool pond with a small dock attached. Nothing you could put a boat in but still something cool to Zen out beside. Who knew there were nice, relaxing areas in LA?

"Whoa, this is cool," I said as I stepped off the bus. "Wow."

"This place is freaking dope," Seltzer announced as he stepped up beside me. "Nice choice, Easton and Jeremiah."

"This was all Jeremiah. Good job," Easton told him.

"Fizzbo wasn't happy." Jeremiah shook his head.

"No, I wasn't," the wall of scowly muscle said as he and a couple of unfamiliar guards approached. "But we've got eyes everywhere. No perps will get within a hundred feet of you guys."

"Excellent, thank you for diligent commitment to the safety of our talent," Jeremiah replied in such a professional manner I nearly bowed.

"Guards, take your stations and keep your eyes and ears open," Fizzbo commanded his troops.

A handful of guards escorted Ely, Jordan, Rhone, and David to the kitchen area for dinner prep. I was inspired by the area and started snapping pics and fired them off to Daddy then flipped the camera around so he could see my face.

Me: Daddy, look how beautiful it is here at the Hollywood Bowl.

Daddy: The most beautiful part of that picture is my Songbird's smiling face.

Me: Wish you were here. Guess what?

Daddy: Me too, my love. What?

Me: Joey asked me to do a duet with him at Rocktoberfest. I am totally fanboying out!

Daddy: Ha-ha, he should be the one fanboying because my boy is AMAZING!

Daddy would love this place, hopefully one day I could share it with him.

The drivers had parked the buses in a protective perimeter per Fizzbo's direction. The formation left the center open for us to go between buses without being recognized. Venue staff set up tables and chairs for us there as well. We had our own private area to hang out in which was nice.

We'd been to so many places I'd only dreamed of visiting as a kid and for this trip, that was Disneyland. So close yet totally out of reach but one day I'd go there. The Mall of America when we were in Minneapolis, the Grand Canyon in Arizona. All these wonderous places we drove by but never stopped. My bucket list grew by the day.

But one day…

"What's got you frowning, little man?" David asked as he sat next to me at one of the tables.

"Just thinking about all the touristy places that we drive by and don't get to stop and visit. We are so close to Disneyland I can almost touch it." I sighed. "I really want to go there."

"Understood. Maybe Daddy Casey will take you?"

"That would be fun." I wondered if Daddy had ever been.

Me: Daddy, have you been to Disneyland?

Daddy: Nope.

"Daddy hasn't either."

Me: Can we go sometime?

Daddy: If you can get it set up with Jeremiah and your guards, I don't see why not.

"Ooohhh," I flipped the phone around for David to see. "Daddy says we can go sometime."

David grinned. "I'm happy for you, Chase."

"I wish Daddy were here. I miss him. Hey, David, I wanted to let you know when we get home, I'm moving in with Daddy. "

"I totally get it. I don't like being away from Jordan, either. But know that I will always be there for you, no matter what. I love you, my brother." David hugged me.

"Love you, too, as my best friend David and as Daddy David. You helped me more than you'll ever know. I have so much fun playing at Daddy's, but the club isn't for me. There are too many people there and I feel like they're staring at me." Gave me the heebie jeebies feeling all those eyes on me. Ugh.

"It's not for everyone. Some like to be watched which is why they're there so just remember it's not nice to kink shame. Got it?"

"Got it. I'll just play at Daddy's. Or Henry's. Oh, or my other friend, Jamie's. Their Daddies made them super sweet playrooms. Maybe Daddy will make me one someday." I could already see it. Action figures all over, a huge collection of teddy bears and cars and trucks and building blocks. It would be so much fun.

"Incoming, Buddy," David warned me as our private time came to an end.

Time to be grown up Chase again.

Ely came out with a tray of steaks following a guy pushing a giant barbeque.

"Nice, my inner carnivore is wide awake." Seltzer rubbed his hands together like an evil scientist. "Need me to man the grill, Ely? "

"No. The last time you did you nearly singed your eyebrows off."

"Now that shit was funny," David managed to get out while rest of us were rolling with laughter. "Burned all your arm hair off, too, jackass."

Seltzer shot him a double bird. "Fuck off!"

"I prefer my steak sans hair," Stoli chimed in. "What can we do to help, Ely?"

"Now you, I trust with the grill, so here," Ely handed Stoli the spatula. "I'm going to help Jordan bring out the rest of dinner."

"Suck up," Seltzer called Stoli.

"Jelly, little boy? I am a grill master, just ask Joey."

"Dude, he's your husband. He'd totally lie."

Seltzer and Stoli went back and forth until Diamond walked up, took the spatula out of Stoli's hand and took over. Not a word was said and no one in their right mind would argue with Diamond.

Ely and Jordan came out pushing carts filled with food, plates, and utensils. We all pitched in and helped get set up while Diamond finished the meat.

Good thing that funny shit was only in my head or Diamond probably would've kicked my ass.

Or not…

When a man liked meat.

Damn, I'm a funny fucker.

"The man with the meat cooks the meat," Diamond proudly announced to a round of unpleased moans .

"Ethan, we are not going through this again. No dick measuring contests. Do you understand?" Easton wasn't having it. There were only so many times you could threaten social media outlets with lawsuits if they didn't delete the pictures of your husband's junk before they finally called your bluff and said fuck it.

Plus, we'd all seen D's junk far too many times and the man was well endowed, so he'd get no argument from me.

It was great, sitting around with our Masterson band brothers. Well, not all of them, but two and three-quarters of their four bands, and catch up. Stoli strummed random songs and whoever knew the lyrics sang along. I stuck around until Daddy's call came in.

"Daddy," I answered as I walked off. The others were far too engrossed in the guess the song game, so I was able to sneak off to my bunk unnoticed. Well, by all but security. One of the guards followed me back and stood outside the bus door after I went inside.

"How's it going, Songbird?"

"It's actually been fun. Kinda like camping." I used to go with David's family every summer. It was a blast, swimming in Lake Mead and crashing in a tent under the stars. "We just barbequed and did a sing-along game. How was your day? "

"Uneventful. No students this week, just professors and staff, so it's nice and quiet. Thank you for the pictures earlier. I like seeing where you're at."

"Good. I'll send lots of pics. Oh ya, I told David I'm moving in with you when we get home." My little was brilliant, always telling Daddy what we wanted. Plus, it made Daddy really happy.

"How did that go over?"

"He said he's happy for us and that you're a good Daddy."

I loved Daddy's smile. "Happy to hear it. Do you really want to move in with me? You weren't just saying that to please me, were you?"

"No, Daddy. I don't lie and neither does my little. I want to be with you forever." There you go, you can do this, Chase. Go after what you want.

"You've made me a very happy Daddy. Now, how about that story?"

I glanced at the shelf in my bunk area. "Uh oh, Daddy, the books are here."

"Not to worry, Songbird, Daddy downloaded them to his reading app. What shall it be? Puppies or farm animals?"

Daddy was so smart. "Farm animals!"

Shoot, I fell asleep again.