Sexy Lies and Rock & Roll by Sawyer Bennett

lipstick is smeared as if she’d given all of us blow jobs.
    Dilana is on keyboards. She has long, dark hair she’s worked into long dreadlocks over the years that are held back by a silver-threaded black headband.
    She hadn’t given us all blow jobs, of course, but had been making out with that tequila bottle because she apparently drinks like a fish. Dilana is the wildest out of all of us, and I’m pretty sure her sleeping bunk is going to be seeing a lot of action on this trip. I don’t know how many times tonight she mentioned she was horny.
    “Let’s play some strip poker,” Dilana yells, and I truly do wince this time. That was really loud, and as if on cue, Emma’s bedroom door flies open so hard it rebounds off the wall with a crack.
    Sirius comes flying out, his puppy butt wagging hard at the prospect of new people to play with. He reaches Cap first, who barely gets turned around before Sirius launches at him. Cap’s as drunk as all of us, and he goes crashing to the floor with sixty pounds of furry dog on top of him, licking his face. Jimmy starts laughing so hard he doubles over, then falls back on the couch, and Dilana takes a huge swig of the tequila, wipes her mouth, which smears more lipstick, and exclaims, “I said I want to play strip poker.”
    My eyes slide to Emma, and I brace for her to go off on us. She stands there in pajama pants done in gray and turquoise stripes and a loose white t-shirt that has a modest V-neck.
    With narrowed eyes, she glances down to Sirius slapping Cap’s face with his tongue, to Jimmy who is still laughing on the couch and oblivious to the tiny woman glaring at him, and then finally over to Dilana, who leers right back at Emma.
    Slowly, she looks to me and in a very formal voice thinly laced with a pinch of disgust, she says, “You are all being unbelievably rude. If you intend on partying in this bus, I insist you put me up in a hotel so I can get some sleep. Some of us have to work in the morning.”
    At this, Jimmy stops laughing, and Cap manages to push Sirius off him so he can sit up. Dilana steps up to me, throws her arm around my shoulder, and tells Emma, “Come on, girlfriend. We’ve got tequila and strip poker. You should party with us.”
    Emma’s nose wrinkles as she looks to Dilana, but she’s very polite when she says, “No, but thank you. I just want to sleep.”
    “Emma…” I start my apology off, hoping perhaps to convince her to join us for a drink.
    But she lifts her chin in the air and asks in a frustrated voice, “What’s it going to be, Evan? I’m really tired and would like to get some sleep.”
    With a sigh, I push my fingers through my hair and, staring straight at Emma, I say, “Sorry gang… you heard the lady of the bus. There’s not going to be a party here.”
    Dilana is the first to respond by spinning on her heel and careening back down the steps as she says, “Strip poker commencing in the other bus. Come on, dudes.”
    Cap pushes up off the floor with amazing dexterity, but a little too fast as he falls onto the couch right beside Jimmy. But then he pops right back up and gives a little bow toward Emma. “Sorry for waking you up.”
    He turns and slaps Jimmy upside the head. “Come on, man… Dilana might be getting naked right this very moment.”
    Both men stagger their way out of the bus, leaving Emma and me standing on opposite ends looking at each other.
    “I’m really sorry that—”
    “Sirius… come,” Emma says sternly and the puppy jumps up and runs to her. Without another word, she turns her back on me and goes back into the bedroom, shutting it quietly behind them.
    I stare at her door for a few minutes, still feeling slightly guilty but also acknowledging the little sting of rejection. So she doesn’t want to hang with us…
    Fine.
    My new band seems like they’re a ton of fun, and this is a night to celebrate. Our last night of freedom before the tour starts, and I’m not nearly drunk enough to do