Chapter Twenty-Seven: Games

                                    

                                          
It has been a few hours and we are back on the road on the way to Colorado. I rolled my eyes and then looked at Joe, who was playing a game of cards with his brothers. He was using my deck of cards while playing those games. I folded my arms until I got a phone call. My phone rang with Nonsense by Sabrina Carpenter as the ringtone.
    I picked it up and it was my mother, screaming at me so much and so fast I can't comprehend a word she's saying.
    "Hey, mom, I'm going to need you to slow down." I said, and then I looked over at Joe, who was looking back at me with his serious Jonas look.
    "Where are you?" My mother asked. "You're supposed to be in Montana!"
    "I'm off till Wednesday." I replied. "You don't need to be worrying."
    She paused and then sighed, as she is probably thinking about the entire situation.
    "Why are you off till Wednesday?" My mom asked me. "Tessa said you should be back by today."
    "We went to a Jonas Brothers concert yesterday, and something must've happened to make her mad at me," I answered. "I don't know what I did, she just stormed out of the venue and left me there!"
    My mom gasped and then I heard her armchair creak as she was taking her time to process what I just said.
    "Do you need to be picked up?" She asked me.
    "No, mom. I'm fine." I answered.
    Clearly, my mother hasn't read the Joe Jonas articles. She has never been the type of person to look at those anyway. She was more concerned with things like work and figuring out how to get my father back after they divorced seventeen years ago.
    After I hung up the phone with my mother, Joe stopped playing cards with his brothers and sat next to me, wrapping his arms around me as I placed my phone on the table. 
    "You okay, baby?" Joe asked me, planting a kiss on my cheek. I nodded lightly
~
    As we finally got into Colorado, Joe got out of the bus first and stretched his legs. Kevin got out after him and then began to stretch his legs as well. It was just Nick and I in that tour bus. Just staring at each other awkwardly.
    "Hey, Jess," Nick said. "You don't have to be Joe's pet, y'know. He's just using you to get some steam off after his divorce. He'll leave you the moment he's over it."
    "I know." I lied.
    Nick came in closer and he sat next to me, right where Joe was sitting. He wrapped his arm around me and I moved it away, acting like I am Joe's girlfriend.
    "You don't need to be afraid of me." Nick said. "I know I am presented as an intimidating man, but I just like to keep things professional when the cameras are around."
    Nick leaned in for a kiss and I pushed him back, confused as to why he was kissing me in the first place. Didn't he respect his brother enough?
"I'm with Joe. This is not morally right for either one of us." I spoke. "I'm with your brother!"
    "Suit yourself." Nick said, leaving the tour bus.
    Did Nick Jonas just try to kiss me? I shook my head, hoping this was all a dream. I am going to act like it was a dream. I stayed in the tour van for a couple of hours and packed the clothing up. I layed in the bed in the van by myself and slept there.
~
    I woke up and Joe was asleep right next to me. What was Joe doing in here? A little while after me, Joe woke up and he noticed that I was awake. Today was the day of his concert and he didn't look anywhere of the sort ready. 
    "Hello, handsome." I decided to be nice. "It's nine AM. I think you should be heading to a concert rehearsal."
    Joe leaned up and then he got out of bed, staring at me. I removed the drool from his mouth and rubbed it on the green and red shirt the brothers gave me yesterday.    
    "Hello, beautiful." Joe said, kissing me. "You are right. I do have to go to rehearsal..."
    There was a pause and before I could say something, Joe cut started to talk.
    "But you're going to rehearsal too," Joe added. "I need someone in the audience to see how we are."
    I rolled my eyes and shook my head as I laid myself back down to sleep.
~
    Here I am. Joe eventually convinced me to go to the rehearsal and I just sat down in a random seat in the floor seats. Not too close, since I finally have a choice in where I sat. I sat about ten rows back and when I saw Joe on stage, he signaled for me to move forward.
    I moved one row forward and he looked at me with an are-you-serious look on his face. I rolled my eyes and nodded. He finally gave up in trying to convince me to move closer and they dimmed the lights, which was a sign that rehearsal was starting. 
Nick was looking out and waving at me too, which I ignored. They came out from under the stage and it was like every other concert I watched before, except that they were in the Denver Jonas concert tees and And1 shorts. I chuckled because they looked so informal, yet the set around them looked so formal and flashy. I sighed and then Joe rushed over to me through the middle set of stairs.
"How'd I do?" Joe asked me, as he leaned down to hug me from the chair.
I stood up and held his hand as I hugged him in a better, easier way for the both of us. He chuckled and then kissed me in front of everyone. I am going to have to get used to that public kissing thing.
~
    The concert starts in two hours and I am sitting in the tour bus with Joe. It's just the two of us and even the tour bus driver is out and about, getting themself whatever they want to.
    "You think they buy it?" Joe asked.
    I nodded. I am starting to think that Joe and I feel like a real relationship, but I can't get too invested. Not now, at least. Him and I aren't even real and all this stuff is just for the cameras.
    "I think they do," I said, not paying any mind to what happened with Nick earlier.
    "Listen," Joe said. "This will be over soon, I promise. The press is starting to like me already!"
    I feel too deep now. I don't want it to be gone. As much as I was annoyed with him almost all the time, I miss being annoyed at him. While it's not gone, I feel like it is. Soon, I am going to have to go back to my regular life and he is going to be on his tour, going out with other girls and finding himself and his reputation back to normal. 
    Just the way it should be. No games.
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A/N: Hey guys. Thank you all so much for the support and again for 2K READS!!! I appreciate all of you guys so much and I am so grateful for every single one of you.