by Amiee Louise
“This is Flash, the best fucking guitar player in the world.”
The crowd whoops and cheer.
“Hello, Glasgow!”
Jax jumps up and down with excitement. Sam sweeps his arm out to the side and Brody steps to the other side of him. He strums a more elaborate solo and winks at a girl in the front row; she looks like she might faint.
“This is Snake, the craziest motherfucker on the planet.”
Brody wiggles his split tongue suggestively and grins. “Ladies.”
Lucas pounds his drums and does an impressive drum beat.
“Up in the back, we have The Axeman, best fucking drummer I’ve ever seen.”
Lucas finishes with a twirl of his drumsticks, salutes, and winks.
“And I’m Bolt,” he growls into the microphone. “How are we all doing up in here tonight? All you crazy Glasgow people are you ready to take the roof off this fucking place?”
The crowd gets wilder as he carries on speaking. I am mesmerized by his stage presence; I can’t take my eyes off him. He is a true showman who knows how to work a crowd. The crowd is practically eating out of the palm of his hand.
“We all want to treat you to a brand new song we’ve been working on for our next album, how does that sound?”
The crowd gets louder, and I am almost convinced that I can feel the whole place vibrating with the noise.
“This one’s for you.” Sam looks at me and smiles warmly.
“Give me a beat, Axeman, one-two-three-four.”
Lucas pounds a drumbeat. Brody takes centre stage and strums a complex solo, and then Sam steps forward bathed in a lone spotlight.
“You unlocked my soul, and I let you in. I felt like my heart would burst through my chest. My self-control being judged, and you were the test. The voices in my head are screaming, run as fast as you can and don’t, don’t look back. Say you’ll walk beside me, let me give you all that I am. When will you make that move and turn those words into bittersweet truths? My doubts drifted with the breeze, my soul took flight, and I couldn’t run away if I tried.”
Sam’s voice is like pure liquid gold. The way he sings the lyrics, with such meaning and sincerity, I am hooked. Whoever the mystery woman was, she was right, I love this man with all that I am, and I couldn’t walk away if I tried.
8
Peyton
After the gig is finished, Cole is instantly at my side to escort me to the backstage area.
“Did you recognise that woman who was standing next to me?”
Cole looks to the floor and avoids eye contact.
“You know her, don’t you? Who is she?” I know my tone is accusatory, but I can’t help myself.
“It’s not my place to say, Peyton, just like any other bloke, Sam has a past.”
I raise my eyebrows.
“That’s bullshit, Cole, and you bloody well know it!” I shout and go to walk away, not wanting to be around him right now. I am sure I’m getting close to my period with the mood swings and tiredness. Cole grabs my arm.
“Peyton, he is a good bloke, please don’t shoot him down until you’ve heard him out and please don’t push him. If you need a chat afterwards, come and find me, sugar.”
Now I am worried. What would I need to speak to Cole about? I vow to speak to Sam about it as soon as I can. Cole lets go of my arm, and I walk ahead of him, making it clear that I’m pissed off, and our conversation is far from finished. I see Sam’s tall frame walking towards me with a white towel around his neck and drinking bottled water. He looks delicious covered in sweat. He smiles his dazzling panty-dropping smile, and I run towards him. He catches me before I knock him off his feet and I wrap my legs around his waist.
“Hey, beautiful, someone’s pleased to see me. Did you enjoy the show?”
I smile and kiss him on the lips.
“You were fantastic, baby, just like I knew you would be,” I whisper, and he laughs.
“Thanks, did you like the song?”
I nod. “I loved it.”
“You ready for the after party? We need to go back to the bus to get changed.”
He plants a chaste kiss to my lips and sets me on the ground. Cole whispers to Sam, and his face drops. Sam brushes Cole’s arm and winks.
“Cheers for letting me know, mate, I really appreciate it.”
Cole smiles and leaves.
“What was that all about?”
Sam shakes his head. “Nothing for you to worry about, angel. Come on, let’s go.”
He kisses me gently on the end of my nose, clasps my hand in his, and we go to the backstage door. There are legions of fans waiting outside, screaming their familiar chant.
“Vengeance, Vengeance, Vengeance.”
The other boys join us, and we make our way through the sea of bodies in the car park, flanked by at least five large security guards in matching black suits. Brody hangs back and pulls two girls from the crowd. He casually saunters across the car park with his arms around both of them. Lex is waiting by the bus with his hands tucked into his pockets, and he salutes as we approach.
“Good show, boys?”
They all nod.
“All good, Lex,” Lucas says with a wink.
We make our way up the bus steps. Sam kisses me on my forehead and runs up to the upper deck. I sit on the sofa and Lucas places a bottle of beer in front of me.
“Here you go, Peyton.”
He takes the cap off his beer and takes a long pull. “God damn, I needed that.”
I take a sip of my beer. Lucas is about to speak when Brody flops down on the sofa with the two women he pulled from the car park.
“This is Candy and Precious.”
They both giggle from their positions perched on each of Brody’s knees.
“My names Ke—”
Brody stops her by putting his finger to her lips. “Tonight you’re whoever I want you to be, sweetheart.”
A look of disgust passes over my face. Where does he get off treating women like that? I shake my head, get up, and go to the upper deck, not wanting to be in the same room as him right now. There is something about him that rubs me up the wrong way. J.D. stops me at the top of stairs, and he grabs my arm.
“Tour buses can be dangerous places for sluts like you, Peyton. One false move.”
He pushes me towards the stairs but then pulls me back roughly.
“Don’t fucking test me, little girl, because I can make your life a living hell while you’re on tour with us, just remember that.”
He smiles maniacally, and I feel the colour drain from my cheeks. I swallow hard and summon up the courage to deliver a comeback.
“Like I said before, you don’t fucking scare me, J.D.. You might be able to manipulate the boys, but you definitely can’t manipulate me, make sure you remember that,” I spit angrily. I jab my finger in his chest and snatch my hand away from him. I push past him and go into the bedroom. Sam has just got out of the shower with a towel around his waist.
“Is everything all right, angel?”
I nod, trying not to let the incident with J.D. show on my face, even though deep down I am a little unnerved by the whole thing.
“Brody’s just bought two of his groupies back to the bus.”
He rolls his eyes. “So it begins!” He says with a laugh. “It’s kind of a first-night tour tradition for Brody, he calls it his ‘bag ‘em and shag ‘em routine’.”
I roll my eyes and Sam goes into the bedroom. I lean in the doorway and watch as he gets dressed. He changes into a pair of ripped, faded, blue jeans that are slung low on his lean hips, a black AC/DC vest, New Rock boots, and he gels his hair into his signature spiky style before he pulls on a black leather jacket. He looks the epitome of what a bad boy rocker should look like. He catches me staring, and he chuckles softly.
“Do you never get tired of ogling me, angel?”
He rolls his eyes dramatically, and we both laugh.
“Never, I like to ogle! I’ll never g
et tired of looking at you; I can’t believe my luck sometimes, baby.”
He smiles and pulls me into his chest. “I love you so much.”
He kisses me gently and takes my hand in his as we walk down the stairs.
“It’s about fucking time! I can see your vagina from here, Sammy!”
Jax laughs, and Sam hits him playfully. We all pile off the bus and get into the waiting limo driven by Cole. We make the ten-minute journey to a club called The Polo Lounge. Sam has his arm slung around my shoulders; the doorman nods to the boys and lets us through the velvet rope.
“What are you drinking, angel?”
I lean in to him.
“Vodka and cranberry, please, baby.”
He nods, and he beckons Lucas over to him. He whispers to him, and Sam winks. Lucas takes me by the elbow.
“Come on, sugar, let’s go sit down.”
I follow Lucas, and we go into the V.I.P section. We sit down on a large, brown-leather seating area surrounded by glass tables. Lucas sits next to me. The music is pumping, and the club is packed with people. A few minutes later, Sam joins us. He puts the drinks down on the table, and a waitress in skimpy shorts and a gold bikini top puts four buckets down with four bottles of Cristal champagne in. She smiles an all-too-bright white smile, and Brody shoves a bunch of twenty-pound notes in between her breasts. He winks, and he pats his lap. I swear that boy has no shame. Sam sits down on the other side of me; all of the band's entourage have joined us. Including Donovan, Caleb, Blu, Tate, Skip, Cole, and Lex. J.D also joins us, much to my dismay. I take a long sip of my drink, and Sam wraps his arm around my shoulder.
“Is everything OK, angel?”
I nod and smile.
“Yeah, of course it is, baby, why wouldn’t it be?” I say a little too enthusiastically.
Sam cocks his head and regards me intently. We spend most of the night chatting, laughing, and drinking. Halfway through the night, I get up and go to the toilet. As I approach the ladies, I see J.D with his back to me, so I decide to hang back in the shadows and listen.
“I want her fucking gone, Lyla; I want you to make sure they split up for good this time.”
The person he is talking to steps to the side. The woman from the gig. I put my hand to my mouth to stop myself from making a sound.
“I tried, J.D., I really tried.”
J.D. shakes his head.
“No, you obviously didn’t try hard enough. She is a manipulative little slut who’s using Sam as her meal ticket; I’ve seen girls like her a million times.”
“He really loves her, he is … different. He’s not the same Sam I fell in love with. He’s grown up; as much as it hurts to see him with her, I can’t do it to him.”
My eyes glaze over at her words. Why have I never heard of her? Sam said his only serious relationship was years ago with some girl he grew up with. J.D holds his finger up.
“I’ll make it worth your while. Five grand? Ten grand? How much is it going to take, Lyla? Name your price.”
Lyla takes a breath.
“I don’t need your money, but make it twenty grand, and I’ll make sure she dumps him. This is the last time, J.D., the last fucking time.”
She actually sounds angry which makes me wonder what her story is. J.D nods.
“Thank you so much, sweetness. You won’t regret this, you know it makes sense, I’ll be in touch.”
He hugs Lyla, and they both stride off in opposite directions. I step out of the shadows and rush to the toilet. I quickly swing open a free cubicle door and step inside. As soon as I lock the door, I try to compose myself. A few minutes later, I unlock the door, wash my hands, and exit the toilet. I am in desperate need of a drink, so I go off to the bar. I order my drink, and there is a guy standing next to me smiling.
“Grab your coat, sweetheart, you’ve pulled.”
I cock my eyebrow at him. Seriously? On what planet would that line actually work?
“Pulled what, a muscle?”
He chuckles.
“I deserved that one. Can I buy you a drink, sweetheart?”
His accent is soft and Scottish. I look at him and shake my head.
“No, I’m good, thanks.”
He shifts closer to me.
“Oh, go on, just one drink. You’re gorgeous.”
I move subtly away from him.
“I said no thank you, I’m fine. I’m actually here with my boyfriend.”
He smirks and moves even closer; I can feel his alcohol breath on my cheek. He touches my arm.
“Come on, sweetheart. If you were my girl, I’d never let you out of my sight, not for a second.”
I look up at him.
“Luckily, I’m not your girl then. Just fuck off and leave me alone,” I snap, and I unexpectedly feel a presence behind me and Mr. Scottish is removed from my side.
“You heard the lady, I suggest you take your hand off my girl and fuck off if you know what’s good for you.” Mr. Scottish holds his hands up in defence and walks off. “Are you OK, angel?”
I nod, and his face is marred with worry.
“I’m fine, baby, honestly.”
He plants a kiss on my cheek.
“When I saw him put his hand on you, I actually wanted to physically damage him,” he says through clenched teeth.
My possessive rocker is back. I suddenly feel an overwhelming sense of anger towards him, and I yank my arm free from his grasp.
“Stop fucking suffocating me, Sam!”
Even over the music, I can sense the eyes of the people in the club on us. He steps back, and his eyes widen.
“Angel, I’m just trying to protect you, please understand that,” he says softly, and I shake my head.
“No, Sam, I don’t, I just need to be on my own right now.”
He goes to speak, but I back away and storm off towards the exit, leaving him with a truly dumbfounded look on his face. I am so angry with him for being so suffocating, overprotective, and possessive. I can’t help but think that every time I think our relationship is moving forward, something comes along to push us back three steps.
I walk out of the club and into the cool night air, relishing the fresh air on my clammy skin. I feel an arm reach for me and grip my wrist gently.
“We should talk,” she says softly and without an ounce of malice in her voice. The woman from the gig. Lyla. She pulls me into an alley beside the club. “I’m doing this because you seem like a really nice girl, but you can’t trust him. He is good at acting, he has perfected the sincere rocker thing, but once you get to know him, once you break the surface, and once he is drawn you in, he’s got you right where he wants you.”
I cock my head and look up at her. Even in heels, she is at least a foot taller than I am and extremely beautiful.
“Who are you? He won’t tell me.”
She smiles. “I’m Lyla. Sam and me … We go way back. We were together for a while; I was totally smitten with him.”
She seems a little vague, which makes me more suspicious and I fold my arms.
“Why are you doing this? I don’t know you.”
She brushes my arm.
“I know that he’s serious about you and I can see it going the same way as me and him did. I don’t want to see you get hurt, and don’t get me wrong we’ll never be best friends not by a long shot, but I’d like to think I care enough to at least try to prevent what happened between Sam and me.”
I smile. “I saw you with J.D…”
Her face drops.
“It wasn’t what it looked like; you need to watch out for him,” she warns. “Promise me you’ll be careful around him?”
Her voice is full of concern, and I begin to wonder what she could mean. I am about to ask her when I hear a male voice call my name, “Peyton.”
I recognise the voice as Jax. I peek around the corner, and when I turn around again, Lyla is gone. Strange. I have all these thoughts rushing around my mind, and my head is spinning. I step out from the alle
y, and Jax rushes over to me.
“There you are. Sam is about to tear the walls down in there looking for you.”
I take a breath.
“Take me back to the hotel, Jax, please. I really can’t be around him right now, please.”