"Who's that chick?" asked Jason out of the blue.

My attention zeroed in on his pointing finger and followed it across the bar.

"She's been around the last few days," he mentioned. "I think she's part of the tour crew or somethin'. I think she does makeup."

The girl in question did look familiar, real familiar, but I guessed maybe I had seen her around a bit. She was real cute-honey-colored hair, tight little body with a rockin' ass and a decent rack. She had a pretty face, too.

"I don't know, man," I replied.

"Yeah, well, maybe you should."

"Hey there," I said, walking up to the honey-blonde bombshell. "What's your name?"

Man, she's cute, I thought. Her eyes were hazel and they were looking at me as though I had scared the piss outta her.

"Phil?" she asked, her voice sounding small.

Well, she was kind of tiny now that I was standing next to her.

"Yeah. I guess you know my name, but I wanna know yours. Unless yours is Phil, too?"

Startled, she looked around the bar but then smiled. "I'm Camryn."

"Hey, Camryn. Can I buy you a drink?"

"Sure," she replied.

I took the stool next to her. "Jason said you do makeup for some of the bands on the circuit," I said, trying to start up a conversation.

"Yeah. Mostly Cornered Cannibal, but The Undying use my services, too."

I nodded, my chest twisting up inside at the mention of the Cannibals. I hadn't seen the guitarist for that band yet, and I wanted to keep it that way. We were touring with them through the British Isles, but Sheri had made sure that when we were staying in hotels, it wasn't the same ones.

GianFranco can go fuck himself. His level of fucked-up is beyond anythin' I need to be a part of.

"Where you from?" I asked her.

"California-LA," she replied. "You?"

"New Orleans," I told her, pronouncing it Nawlins. My father always hated how I had slipped into the dialect of the region, but it had become such a part of me that it was hard to shake.

She laughed. "Of course-NOLA. How stupid of me."

"You don't seem stupid, so no worries," I said. "You got a boyfriend?"

"Not really," she replied.

"What does that even mean?"

"It means I date, but I'm not committed. In this business, it's best to stay unattached."

Too fuckin' right. "Yeah."

It was perfect really. If she was interested but not too interested, then maybe we could work something out. I'd gotten tired of banging new pussy all the damn time. I didn't give a shit what Flipper and X had said. It was better to have a woman who knew what got me off, and I knew what got her off. With the groupies, I got sick of sharing with the guys and the roadies.

I mean, really, we've fucked the same fuckin' chicks. It's kinda gross.

Some of the groupies would give it up just minutes after doing it with someone else.

But Camryn was a fresh face and attitude, and if she was touring with the other bands, then maybe it wouldn't be a bad thing. I wouldn't have to see her all the time, and we could be banging on the side with no guilt.

"You busy tonight?" I asked her.

Camryn's eyes traveled the length of me, stopping a little longer than necessary on my crotch. Her sweet little Cupid's bow mouth curled up.

"What do you have in mind?"

"I was thinkin'," I said, pitching my voice low, "that maybe you'd wanna come up to my room with me."

Jaded eyes met mine. "Just sex?"

"Somethin' like that."

"You into weird shit?"

"Not unless you want it."

She nodded, smiled, and told me, "After you, big boy."

Camryn was cool, and she wasn't into weird shit, which was just fine by me. She didn't ask the usual questions I would get from other new pussy. Why do you hold your dick? Why won't you go down on me? Why don't you make any noise when you come?-that sort of shit.

1. I hold my dick 'cause I want to.

2. I don't put my face in a cunt I won't put my baby in.

3. It ain't like it's special, so get over yourself. I don't make noise when I whack off either.

After she came a few times and made me come, too, Camryn sighed, rolled off me, and lay next to me, panting. Granted, she had done most of the work, telling me she liked being on top best, so that was what I'd given her.

"Fucking awesome," she said, gasping for breath.

I didn't really have much to offer in the verbal department. Like always, I'd closed my eyes and dreamed it was my Baby Girl riding me. The fact that it wasn't was what always gave me staying power. As cute and fresh as Camryn was, she wasn't Kenna. She was sweet and funny, and yeah, I liked her more than the other chicks I'd fucked, but it wasn't like she was anything that could compete with what I needed to find.

Rolling the condom off, I tied the end and tossed it on the floor.

"You need me to go?" she asked me when her breathing had gone back to normal.

Smirking at her, I asked, "What would you do if I said yes?"

She smirked right back. "I'd go."

Looking in her eyes, I felt as though I had met her before. I just didn't know from where. It was possible we'd met along the way, crossing paths at some point with these tours over the years. She had known my name.

But who the fuck doesn't?

"No commitment," I said.

"None."

"No whiny, bitchy possessive crap."

"Nope."

"Just friends and some fuckin' good sex?"

She cocked an eyebrow at me. "Was that good for you?"

"It was," I replied. As good as it'll ever be without my Baby Girl.

She nodded. "I can do that."

"Then, you can stay."

Kenna To celebrate the end of our first week as a practicing clinic, Gavin, Frank, Alys, Lili, Lucy, and I all went out for dinner at Sushi Point.

Lucy Travers, our receptionist, was a sweet, delicate, soft-spoken twenty-eight-year-old. Blonde with warm light-brown eyes, she was adorable. Extremely respectful, she absolutely could not call me anything other than Dr. MacGregor, not even when we were out to dinner with friends.

Frank was Gavin's brother and looked like him. Short, stocky, and bald, at first glance, one might think they were twins, but Frank was three years older than Gavin. He owned a painting company. Watching the two of them was like a live viewing of A Night at the Roxbury.

"So, Lucy, tell us a little about yourself," prompted Gavin after his third cup of sake.

"Oh, um..." Lucy turned an attractive pink.

"Do we scare you?" I asked, laughing.

Turning a darker shade, she replied, "Maybe a little bit."

"Don't be," said Gavin, smiling warmly. "Seriously, we're harmless."

"Do you have your own place or..." I asked, genuinely curious.

"I still live with my parents. My sister, Rachel, and I both do. They prefer us at home. They think we're safer somehow."

Yeah, that figures.

"Bummer," Frank grunted. "Me 'n' Gavin still live together, but we threw our parents out a long-ass time ago."

We all cracked up, except for Lucy.

"You threw your parents out of their house?" she squeaked, looking extremely shocked and bothered.

Dumbfounded, Frank replied, "Um, no. I was, uh, just joking, Lucy."

"Oh. Okay."

Lili turned to face me, her eyes wide with awe, and mouthed, Wow.

Yeah, Lucy might have been a bit too sheltered for our unruly bunch. Either that, or we just made her so nervous that she couldn't grasp sarcasm. She wasn't a stupid person. I knew this because I'd hired her as my receptionist.

"What sort of music do you listen to?" I asked.

"I listen to a lot of different stuff. Mostly country though. My parents love Garth Brooks, Faith Hill, the Dixie Chicks-that sort of thing," she replied, instantly losing my interest.

I fucking hated country music. If she started playing that garbage in my clinic, she and I would have some words.

"Faith Hill is kinda hot," said Frank.

Thanks, buddy.

Full to bursting, we ordered dessert anyway-little fried dumplings and doughnuts and balls of deep-fried green tea ice cream with red bean sauce.

"I think I'm going to vomit," groaned Lili, rubbing her little pot belly.

After paying the tab with the company credit card-given to us by Rita, who had bestowed us her blessing to charge tonight's dinner on it-we all waddled ourselves to the front exit.

Gavin gave me a one-armed squeeze. "This was fun, girl. We should do it again-so long as Rita's paying, that is. Shame she couldn't join us. Nutjob she is, she'd have made Lucy pass out with her stories."

Rita was a self-proclaimed exhibitionist. Bisexual, she'd had numerous affairs going with both men and women. Rita called herself a slut and proud of it, too. She worked hard and played even harder. She would've had Lucy clutching the tiny gold cross that hung around her slender neck, praying for a young priest and an old priest in no time.

"Yeah, maybe we should warn the poor girl," I suggested, watching her smooth down her fluffy white angora cardigan. "Rita's a bit of a handful."

"I wouldn't mind getting my hands on Rita," said Frank. "A bit bony, but she seems spirited."

Gavin and I lost it.

Leave it to fucking Frank to find something worth getting his hands on.

Lucy dutifully headed for home while Gavin and Frank tried to convince Lili, Alys, and I to go out dancing at the clubs. We really weren't the clubbing type.

"Aw, come on! We have every reason to dance our asses off!" wheedled Gavin.

"See you on Monday, Roxbury!" I called out before ducking into Alys's brand-new silver SUV.

We waited until we watched Frank pulling his truck out of the lot before sparking up a fat bowl.

"Oh my God, I needed this," said Lili. "My poor tummy. I might just have to take a shit."

"You want to head home?" I asked. "I was hoping for a few more drinks."