Free Girl on Tour (Kylie Ryans) by Caisey Quinn Page A

whistle fucking Dixie when I’m through with you.”
    She watched as Mia took a step back. Clearly, she’d gotten her point across. So she winked. “Anyways. Lovely chatting with you. As usual. See you at dinner.”
    She’d been trying so hard not to think about what may or may not have happened with Mia and Trace before she came along. But it was becoming damn near impossible not to wonder.
    S he was showering when she remembered the text her manager had sent the night before. He’d scheduled a video chat meeting for her with a possible agent. Her late night talk with Trace and the early morning confrontation with Mia had scrambled her brains. She finished up quickly and threw herself together as best she could.
    When she made it to the media room, the door was locked. Kylie never even closed it, much less locked it. She checked her phone. It was ten minutes after the time Chaz was supposed to send the video chat request. He was a stickler for punctuality.
    “Um? Is there a reason this door’s locked?” she called, knocking softly.
    “Go away,” a muffled voice called back.
    Great. “Lily, open the door. I need to use the computer.” She took a deep breath. The constant hogging of the bathroom was one thing. But this was affecting her career. She texted Chaz to let him know she wasn’t able to get to the computer but was working on it. She knocked again, harder this time. “Seriously. I have a video chat meeting with my manager, like now . It’s important.”
    “Use your phone. I’m on the computer right now.”
    You’re always on the damned computer. “My phone has shitty service and a delay. Please, Lily. I promise I’ll try to be quick about it.”
    “God!” Lily shouted as she slid the door open and glared through red-rimmed eyes. “Mia was right about you. You’re such a self-centered bitch!”
    She didn’t even have time to respond before the girl stormed past her. So she screamed at her retreating figure. “I’m self-centered? Seriously? Look in the frickin’ mirror sometime! You and Mia can both kiss my self-centered ass!”
    With that, she locked herself in the media room. But she didn’t call Chaz right away. Instead she sat in the booth and took a few calming breaths, composing herself the best she could. Her phone buzzed. She looked at the text from her manager.
    We’ve been through this. If you’re not going to take your career seriously then I won’t waste my time. I rescheduled for tomorrow morning at 8am. Don’t be late.
    She rubbed her hands over her face and fought the urge to cry. Or hit something. Or hit the two other girls on the bus until they cried. God. She needed to see Trace’s face so bad she could hardly stand it. Needed to see his smile, hear his laugh. The real one, the one that gave her chills and warmed her all at once. Now.
    As soon as the window with his handsome face popped up, she smiled. She knew she was probably blushing at the memory of their last conversation. “Hey,” she said softly.
    “Hey, pretty girl,” he greeted her. “Sleep well?”
    Just the sound of his deep warm drawl soothed away all of the swirling tension and turmoil inside of her. Kylie bit her lip and tilted her head to the side. “Not as well as I would have if you were here.”
    She couldn’t see them all that clearly through the pixelated image on the computer screen, but she would’ve bet her Gibson Hummingbird that his eyes were turning that stormy shade of hazel she loved so much.
    “Babe, if I was there, you probably wouldn’t have slept at all.”
    She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and leaned forward, propping her chin on her hand as she did. “I’d be okay with that.”
    “Kylie! Did you drink the last of the milk?” Mia’s voice interrupted her intimate moment.
    Kylie leaned away from the screen and hollered back. “No! The self-centered bitch didn’t drink your precious milk. Must’ve been Lily.”
    She smiled apologetically into the webcam. “Sorry