Read Online Night Moves (The Night Songs Collection) by Kristen Strassel - Free Book Online Page B

was just too much.
    “Not porn. Nobody puts anything in me. I call the shots, and I know my limits. I probably make more money than you do at the bank. I didn’t expect you to judge me, Mel.”
    Now I felt bad. “I’m not, but I don’t like to think of you selling your body just so you can support your Drake habit. I mean, that guy’s got more money than God, you’d think he wouldn’t want you doing that.”
    “It was his idea,” Erin said, quietly, as she finished off her third cup of coffee. “And face it, Melanie, we’re all selling ourselves in some way.”

E rin was right. We all needed to sell a piece of ourselves to survive. At least she could live with the piece of herself she gave up to keep her bank account afloat. Who was I to judge?
    “So how does this work?” I asked as we made our way back to The Raven parking lot. “Do you just follow the buses from town to town?”
    “Sometimes.” Erin either didn’t pick up on my snark or chose to ignore it. “Or if I have a job, I just meet up with him later.”
    “Do you have to wait to be summoned on to the bus?”
    “Come on, Mel, it’s not like that. He lets me know when he’s ready for me.”
    “And you just wait in your car until he crooks his finger? Jesus, do you have any idea how dangerous that is? These clubs are all in sketchy parts of town. Where do you sleep? When?”
    “I’m fine! Seriously. Drake gave me some stuff to help me stay awake.”
    Now it all made sense. Not eating, the endless chatter and fidgeting. “He gives you speed, you mean.”
    “Something like that. It helps me do what I need to do.” Erin’s words were clipped.
    “Oh, and let me guess, you can stop any time, right? What do your parents think of all of this?” Erin’s parents were old fashioned, super strict. She also had a bunch of big-ass brothers no one wanted to mess with, and an aunt who took being a nun very seriously.
    Sadness washed over Erin’s face. I’d hit a nerve. “I haven’t talked to any of them in a while. Are you happy, Melanie? I’m fucking everything up. I’m sorry I can’t be perfect like you. But look, we both wound up in the same place, didn’t we?”
    I made her cry. Shit. “Erin, I didn’t mean any of it like that. It’s just, I haven’t talked to you in so long and now you’re posting nudie pictures on the internet and chasing after some dead guy’s bus, and I know it came out all wrong, but I’m worried about you.”
    “Then why did you never call me back?” Her voice was so small. “I kept sending you messages, and texting and I never heard from you.”
    “I was busy. It’s not that I didn’t want to.” Don’t tell me this was my fault, too. I already felt badly enough.
    “I know. Your big job.” She sniffled. I wanted to hug her, but it would just be all wrong. We’d already sailed right past that.
    “My big fucking job that ruined everything. It ruined my whole life. And everyone else’s, apparently.” I slumped against the side of the bus. I didn’t want to just leave Erin waiting by herself in her beat up Honda, shivering and staring at her phone. “I’m so sorry, Erin. I missed you so much. All I’ve been thinking about the whole time I’ve been with the band is how much fun we had together, wondering what you were doing.”
    “All you had to do was ask.” Erin hugged her arms around herself. Out of nowhere, she jumped, her face brightened. “I’ll be right there, baby,” she said as she answered the phone.
    “Drake?” I asked.
    She nodded, wiping the tears off her cheeks carefully so as not to disturb the black kohl lining her lower lashes. “Listen, I don’t want to fight with you, Mellie. I’ve missed you so much. I’m happy to have you back. But if you stick around, you’re just going to see things are different around here. You start thinking of things differently. And you know what? It all turns out okay. It always does.” She hugged me. I didn’t expect it, but I was more