hadn’t been able to sleep all night. He must have finally passed out when the sun was coming up. He glanced at the alarm clock. It was 2 PM. Fuck. That was probably bad. The banging finally stopped and his head lolled against the pillow again. He sank back into a senseless stupor until he heard an unpleasant screeching way too close to his ear. “That’s it. Time is up, buddy. You’re just going to have to deal with whatever you’re trying to sleep off.” He poked open an eye and saw Katie standing over him. She looked as gorgeous as ever, even with the death glare she was sending him. He smiled. “Mmm. Have you changed your mind? Or is this just an awesome dream I’m having?” She frowned as she looked him over. “Really, Tyler? Were you that drunk last night? You didn’t even take your pants off?” “Disappointed?” He could feel his cock pressing against the tight denim jeans. Guess it was back to life . She looked exasperated. “Can you be serious for just one moment?” He scrubbed at his face with his hands. “How did you get in here anyway?” “Your bodyguard has a key card to your room. What does it matter? You’re totally late! The whole band is at sound check right now. And they’re pissed. Rightfully so. And so am I. Get up already!” Tyler got out of the bed and stretched. “Why didn’t he wake me up hours ago?” Katie handed him a bottle of water. “He’s not your babysitter, Tyler. And neither am I. His job is to make sure you’re safe out in public. And my job is to create a TV show around you. Not to drag your sorry ass out of bed. You’re lucky I didn’t come with cameras.” Tyler took a long sip of water. There used to be a time when he could do lines of coke all night and not feel any ill effects the next day. This time the come down was hard and the high he had felt the night before had been way too short. “Yeah, the guys are going to be pissed. Scott, too. It’s not a great way to start the tour.” Katie agreed with him. “Scott was on a rampage. He said he would have loved to have come and knocked some sense into your head, but he was too busy with the band. And the sound check. So you better hurry up and get ready. You have five minutes before we leave.” Tyler dragged a hand through his hair. “Where’s my bag? There it is. Okay, I’ll just hop in the shower.” When he came out feeling half alive, Katie was waiting for him. “Is that your only bag? Where do you keep all your clothes?” He zipped up his toiletry bag and dropped it into his only luggage, a small carry-on bag. “We have to travel light on tour. Most of our wardrobe gets hauled around and unloaded in our dressing rooms for each stop. We don’t carry much on the bus.” She was chewing on her lip. “Oh. I hope I didn’t bring too much for my bus. I have three suitcases with me. And a shoe bag. It’s a long tour with not much opportunity to do wash…” Tyler laughed. “Three? Where the hell are you going to put all that shit?” Katie shrugged. “This bus thing is new to me. I guess I’ve got a lot to learn. All right, we’ve gotta go. You know they’ve begun filming at the sound check. You’re missing out already. Don’t you want to be the star of the show?” Tyler felt a hint of misgivings stirring in his gut. “I don’t know anymore. Usually I’m so juiced to get started on tour, but this time I’m just not feeling it.” Katie’s eyes widened with surprise. “What?! Tonight is going to be my first Cold Fusion concert. I’ve been really excited about it and I’ve got really good seats. So don’t’ mess this up for me.” Tyler felt the familiar thrum of excitement stir in his veins. “What’s your favorite song?” She blushed before answering. “Well, I really like Here to Stay and all the popular ones. But my favorite is Sweet Oblivion . It just speaks to me. The lyrics are so deep.” Tyler raised a brow. “It’s probably not about what you