How Not To Be A Groupie

Despair and dread filled me up from head to toe. I watched the bus roll out of sight with my clothes still in it. Here I was standing in the middle of a parking lot, practically ass naked. How could I be such a fucking idiot?

"Somethin' wrong?" Bon asked, his voice very close to my ear. I jumped in surprise, clutching my blanket tightly. Turning to face him, I could feel my face heat up. How could I explain what happened? Bon could tell something bothered me. "What is it?"

"I....I...." Taking one last look at the bus that wasn't there, I sighed. "I left my clothes on the bus."

Bon frowned at first then his eyes widened as he looked me over. "Ya' mean you're..."

"No!" I said quickly. "No, I have underwear on." Bon nodded and tried cracking a smile. 

"That's good then," he said. "Ya' want me to walk ya' back to the room?" What I wanted was to bury myself and never come out. But it was a friendly offer all the same. I had to take what I could get. 

"Yes please," I said, hanging my head. "On the double."

Bon started unbuttoning his shirt and I wasn't sure where to look. Off his shoulders it went and he handed it out to me. "Here, wear this till we get there."

My hold around the blanket tightened. "I...really don't want to take this off..." I mumbled. Bon nodded and hung the shirt over one shoulder. He took the blanket from my fingers and held it around me like a curtain, my arms instinctively covering myself from his view. Bon didn't make a big deal out of it and I figured he'd seen enough women for three lifetimes. I was hardly a Playboy Bunny. Taking a deep breath I uncovered myself and grabbed the shirt from his shoulder and pulled it on. I buttoned it up, and it hung over me like a dress. 

"You can leave a few buttons undone," Bon smiled. "Like me."

"You wish," I muttered, fastening the last one. The shirt hung off one shoulder, my bra strap showing underneath. Bon replaced the blanket back over my shoulders and kept one arm over them too, leading me back to our shared room. 

In the lobby were a few women who greeted Bon with very large smiles. That is, until they saw me. I kept my eyes straight ahead but I could feel their cold stares watching me walk with Bon to the elevator. I knew exactly what this looked like, me wearing his shirt, his arm around me. "Don't pay 'em any mind," Bon whispered.

"I can't help it," I said, covering myself more with the blanket but it was too late. They saw me and already had their truth formed. I bit my lip, wetting the already chapped spots. 

"Mornin' ladies," Bon said, acknowledging the women in the lobby. Then he planted a wet one right on my cheek. 

"What was that for?" I asked, trying to keep my voice down. I could hear the women whispering behind me and I could have clobbered the man. I used Bon's shirt sleeve to wipe my face. 

"Let 'em think what they want, ya' know?" he said. "We know what happened." 

I wish I could. After trying so hard to be an ally to women everywhere, I was parading around like some big shot groupie who got to spend the night with a rockstar, practically begging to be seen by any jealous woman within a hundred miles. 

And that didn't sit right with me. 

Finally, after what felt like hours traversing the hotel for our room, we stopped at the door and Bon released me from his hold. He dug around in his pockets for the key, me knowing damn well mine was in the bus along with my beloved clothes. After a minute of futile searching and coming up with nothing, Bon sighed. "Somethin' tells me the keys are on the bus," Bon said.