“You came to find me that night,” I said out loud as I remembered hiding in the shadows in the back of the truck where I’d been loading up the band’s merch.
“How did you know that?”
It was my turn to look guilty, but he also didn’t seem surprised. I just stared at him as he watched me and then a slow smile graced his handsome features. “Seems I was watching you at the right time that night. I saw you leave the truck after you thought we were gone.”
“Oh,” I huffed out.
“Yeah, oh. Why didn’t you just come out and talk to me?”
“I was having a hard time wrapping my head around some of what I heard,” I admitted.
“Like what exactly?”
“Evan, I’m just a poor girl who grew up with nothing. I know what I look like. I hear what those women say about me at the shows. I’m just some girl next door plain Jane chick in baggy clothes that no one ever sees.”
He slid closer so that our noses were nearly touching. “You’re wrong. They’re jealous. I see you, and they know it.” With that our lips touched and I can honestly say I knew what euphoria felt like.
Chapter 7
~ Chelle ~
Tired did not begin to explain how I was feeling. I was so thankful the night was almost over. After staying up most of the previous night talking to Evan and then making out with Evan, I had not managed to get much sleep. That didn’t matter to the chittering bobble-heads who were currently poking around at the merchandise while they constantly scanned the crowd. I knew what they were waiting for. Word got around that the opening band was often times available for signings during The Infinite Everything’s sets. Tonight the members of Fourth Down had some sort of meeting and they were all in a bit of a tizzy. I received a text from Everly that they probably wouldn’t be out here, as there had been a shake up with the PAs and now Everly would be working for the headlining act.
I guessed I wasn’t the only one getting a promotion this tour. The only thing keeping a smile on my face tonight though was remembering the time I’d spent with Evan last night. It had been magical once we cleared the air. “Where are they?” A girl finally snapped out at me.
“I’m not sure who or what you’re looking for,” I explained in my best customer service voice. Honestly, I knew, but fuck her! If she couldn’t ask nicely she would have to get to the meat of her question the hard way.
“You know who I’m talking about, bitch! Where the fuck is the band? I’m missing The Infinite Everything’s last fucking song to be here so they can sign these babies,” she stated as she lifted her chest to show me her tits There were already a few signatures there, tattooed along her rib cage and up on the top swell of her breast in pride of place sat Evan’s. She saw me take notice of that one in particular. “I got that last year when they came to a place near my school.”
I cringed wondering if she meant high school or college. She appeared on the youngish side, though I had originally pegged her for around 22.
“The band won’t be out tonight. They had a meeting to attend,” I explained. Granted the meeting was held prior to the show, but these girls didn’t need to know that.
“What the fuck? Why didn’t someone announce that then? We’ve been waiting here staring at your ugly ass for nothing all this time!” By now the girl’s raised voice was more of a shout.
“The guys did not announce that they would be signing tonight, so I’m not sure why you were here waiting,” I told her firmly as I glanced around and saw security headed our way.
“Fuck you! They never announce when they’ll be out here, and you know it.”
I just shrugged my shoulders as one of the venue’s rent-a-cops came over. “Ma’am, what seems to be the problem here?”
“This cunt is giving me a hard time,” she told him snidely. I just glanced in his direction without really taking my attention off of the woman who was becoming a real pain in my ass. He tipped his head toward me to indicate he already knew what was up.
“Why don’t we step over here off to the side and discuss what has you troubled?”
“Why don’t you kiss my ass, and get the band out here to sign my tits like they were supposed to be?”
Again, she flashed her tits to the cop. When I said the venue’s rent-a-cops I meant that in the literal sense, not the derogatory one. He was an actual city police officer working here in an official capacity.
He plucked his badge - the one hanging from the chain on his chest - up to her direct line of sight and then calmly told her to turn around and place her hands on the wall in front of her. I almost laughed, but managed to check it before the burst of joy emerged from me and caused an even larger issue.
“What the fuck? You can’t arrest me for shit. I haven’t done anything.”
“Indecent exposure, resisting arrest,” he started ticking off her offenses. “Would you like me to continue? Causing a public disturbance, harassing the employees here,” he winked at me when he said that. “They’ll probably throw the last two charges out, but since you pulled your breasts out, twice, with a child standing nearby I’m pretty sure they won’t go easy on you there. You’ll probably have to register as a sex offender.”
“What? You’re crazy! I’m calling my dad! He’s a lawyer,” she was screaming as he cuffed her.
“That’s good, because you’re going to need one.” The officer then called in for backup as her friends were starting to get all fired up about their girl getting arrested. Once he had backup on the way he started reading the woman her Miranda rights. The crowd pressed in tighter, and suddenly I feared for the officer and a woman standing with her pre-teen daughter just outside of the merch area.
“Ma’am,” I called quietly to the lady and her daughter. She turned and glanced at me, fear evident in her eyes. You could feel the tension about to burst through the room. It was just waiting for the spark that would ignite the powder keg.
She inched her daughter closer to the counter, almost afraid to let anyone see them moving. The young girl was shaking. I unlocked the counter top that could flip up and open to allow employees inside and had them scoot inside with me before slamming it back down and locking it once more. Granted, the bigger people in the crowd could easily hop over, but I was hoping they wouldn’t bother. It wasn’t like I was selling TIE merchandise. Fourth Down was making a name for themselves, but I wasn’t sure they were full on riot-to-steal-their-gear worthy just yet. “Stay down. He already called in for backup,” I told the mom and daughter. They crouched low behind the wall. The mom placed her hand on top of her daughter’s head as if to protect her from any debris that may go flying and then she leaned in kissed her.
My heart squeezed in my chest. It was something I had ached for over the years to have a mom hold me like that. My brother had done a good job of making sure we were fed and clothed over the years, but he was so tired from making that happen that there were a lot of times we went days without actually interacting with more than a couple words or grunts of acknowledgment.
Above the rising cacophony of noise I finally heard a familiar voice, but instead of being relieved I was horrified. Evan was somewhere out there, and he had no clue what he was about to set off once the crowd noticed who it was. “Shit,” I hissed out.
“Get your asses here, pronto!” I heard the officer shout into the little thingy on the side of his uniform.
“Chelle!” Evan called out.
As soon as I turned to look at him a fist hit my jaw and stunned me stupid. What in the…
“Chelle!” Evan screamed out. I had no clue who had hit me, but I wasn’t about to stand there and take it. I had never been anyone’s victim. I swung back and my fist connected with a woman who screamed out, “Bitch!” She was just about to get a hold of my hair when someone yanked her down off of the counter she had climbed up on. That was second Evan made in a span of 15 seconds. This was the friend of the woman who had just caused this mini-riot.
“Oh my God, Evan Mercer is h
olding me!” She shouted right about the time he dropped her on her ass and pointed a finger at her before commanding her like the dog she was. “Stay!”
Evan flew over the counter and took my cheek gently in his hand. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine, just a little freaked out.” The rest of the guys from The Infinite Everything along with the guys from Fourth Down and all of their security started piling in around the same time the officer’s backup finally started wading through the crowd. Most of the people calmed down immediately when they saw the bands there. They figured their bad behavior had earned them their just rewards. The guys all made their way back behind the counter where I was standing with the mother and daughter I brought back here with me.
“Listen up!” Jer shouted over the hum of the crowd. Everyone got quiet waiting to hear what he had to say. “What just went down here was unacceptable! This woman right here, Chelle, works for all of us. She works hard to make sure you guys get the merchandise you want. She isn’t responsible for whether or not any of us show to sign your shit. We do not guarantee that we will come out and do that at any show. Sometimes there are security reasons why we can’t. Like the one you all caused tonight! We refuse to sign shit for people who would hurt others to get us out here. No questions asked. I don’t give a shit if we lose you as a fan. We don’t need this kind of fandom. The kind where a mom and daughter who came to enjoy the show nearly get caught in a riot, because some entitled bitch couldn’t get what she wanted when she wanted it!” He then turned to the little girl and her mom and apologized for his language. “Sorry about that,” he stated calmly to them.
“No, you had it right,” the mom told him. I couldn’t help smiling at her reaction.
The bands stayed put with us behind the counter until the police and security managed to clear everyone out. They started to pull the family out too, but I insisted they get to stay and hang out with the guys for a little while. I even threw down $50 of my own money to make sure the girl got a hoodie that they could all sign. Someone stuffed the money back in my pocket, and each of the bands took her on a mini shopping spree and signed everything for her and her mom.
“Are you okay?” Evan asked as he leaned down to whisper the question in my ear.
“She had your signature on her boob,” I told him.
“What?” He asked as he stood up, back straight, and muscles suddenly tense.
“The woman who started all that and treated me like crap, she showed me all the tattoos of signatures she already had on her body and yours was on the top of one of her boobs.”
Evan hung his head down low and shook it back and forth as if he couldn’t believe what I’d just said. “Fucking hell,” he muttered. “I’m so sorry, Chelle.” He turned and walked away from me then. I didn’t mean to send him away, but the words blurted from my stupid, filterless mouth before I could pull them back.
“What was that about?” My brother asked.
“I told him the woman who started all that drama had his signature tattooed on her boob.”
“Shit, don’t tell me you gave him the same lecture you gave me about signing people’s flesh?”
I grimaced. “I explained my personal feelings on that last night when we were talking,” I told my brother honestly.
“Last night?”
“When he came back from your celebration, I was out in the lot with the drivers and we talked.” No need to fill in the detailed blanks about going back to the bus or doing more than talking. There were some things a brother didn’t need to know about his sister. Dave eyed me before offering up a bit of his own advice.
“You know what this life is like, to an extent. I don’t want this for you. It gets messy, and you deserve someone who will always have your back, instead of heading out to the next concert and piece of ass on the side while he’s gone.”
“Is that what you plan on doing when you find the woman you finally want to settle down with?” I didn’t miss the way his eyes shifted over to Mags. It seemed my big brother had a crush on one of the members of The Infinite Everything too.
“You know I’m not like that,” he stated abruptly.
“Yeah, I do, so it’s pretty narrow-minded of you to assume that everyone else in the industry doesn’t live up to your own values. Not everyone in the business is a manwhore.”
He kicked an eyebrow up at me in question. “What? It’s true.”
“Yeah, I’m sure it is, Sis, but it’s also true enough that the men in this band have been photographed with enough women and only one of them has been in a serious relationship in the past few years. I’m thinking this isn’t the pond you want to dip your fishing pole in.”
I laughed. “Isn’t it the guy that’s supposed to dip his…” My brother covered my mouth with his hand to shut me up.
“Nope, not going there. No fishing in the pond we work in, Chelle. That’s bad for business.”
“Yeah, same goes for you then,” I told him when he let go. Once again his eyes tracked to Mags who appeared to be flirting with the photographer chick the band had along for the ride.
“I don’t think that will be a problem,” he stated before walking away to go hang out with his new band.
Chapter 8
~ Chelle ~
Everly was nice enough to get me a replacement for the night. Not that it was even her job to do so anymore since she was now officially working for The Infinite Everything instead of Fourth Down, but I thought it was sweet of her to make sure I got to see my brother performing on that huge stage with Fourth Down. It was a dream come true to see him up there making music and looking so absolutely right in that moment. My brother was meant to be on that stage.
I swiped at the tears streaming down my face as a familiar touch pressed up against my back. “Looks like he was with them all along, doesn’t it?”
I nodded my head. “Yeah, they blend so well. It’s incredible.” I turned in his embrace so I was facing him for a moment then I leaned in and kissed his cheek. “Thank you again for everything you’ve done for my family,” I whispered in his ear. He kissed the side of my head and turned me back around to watch the show. At some point he moved and I felt the absence of him behind me. I knew he had to go get ready since the guys were about to close their set up. Still, I missed the warmth of him at my back. I ached to tell my brother about Evan, but one look at his face - that rapturous glow he was sporting - and there was no way I could ruin his moment in the spotlight by adding another worry to his shoulders. David didn’t need to know just yet. That meant I was going to have to talk to Evan about the public displays of affection.
Later, as I’m sitting in an obscure little cafe with Evan I tell him about my concerns. “I don’t want to ruin his happy, you know?”
“You think me dating his sister will ruin his happy?” Evan did not appear too thrilled about my request to keep things between us quiet for now.
I sighed. “It’s not that I think he would hate the idea, but he’d worry, because look at everything we know about musicians and how serious they treat their relationships.”
“He already gave you the lecture to steer clear of us, didn’t he?”
“Of course he did, he’s a good big brother,” I laughed as I told him this, and it broke some of the tension. “Besides, I have to live with the road crew. Do you know what kind of shit they’re going to hand out to me if they see you pawing all over me?”
He ran a hand down his face as if to wipe the grimace off. He failed, because the frown lines still appeared next to his full, beautiful lips and on his forehead. “I didn’t even think about the fact that you would still be on the bus with the road crew.”
I laughed then. “Where did you think I would be?”
“I don’t know. I figured your brother would have moved you to the band bus with him especially since Everly moved to our bus.”
“Well, we can’t all play musical busses, now can we?”
“You could. I don’t know why David didn’t move
you with him.”
I shrugged my shoulders. “He tried to and I nixed his idea.” When Evan gave me an incredulous look I just tacked on to my response. “He’s my brother, he’s overbearing at times. I love him for it, but this way he’s not up my ass about where I’m going and what I’m doing as much. He’s too busy to be worrying about my every move, and this way we won’t see each other as much. I know you think it’s weird, but Dave is sometimes more like an overprotective dad than a big brother. We grew up with him taking care of me, and that isn’t going to change anytime soon. So, I take what I can get and try to make him happy, and ease his mind, because he’s done so damn much for me.”
“Fine, but if he asks me to my face I am not going to lie to him.”
I swallowed thickly at the fierceness in his admission. “I wouldn’t ask you to do that. If he asks, tell him the truth. If he doesn’t then you don’t need to volunteer the information. Is that okay, for now?”
“For now only. We need to come to an agreement about how long we give your brother to enjoy his happiness before I get to enjoy mine without any boundaries.”
“We will, I promise, but right now I’d like to explore some other boundaries.” I grinned mischievously at him and then didn’t wait for his reaction. Instead, I launched myself at Evan and kissed him like I’d never get a chance to taste his lips again.
He groaned against my mouth before moving back. “Why are we in a public place again?”
“We’re obviously bad planners,” I stated simply. He lifted me out of my seat and swatted my ass as he did so.
“Let’s go do something we’re both good at then, behind closed doors.”
Lucky for us we were at one of the stops that required we be in a hotel for a couple days. The roadie hotel was the same one that Fourth Down was staying in as none of us had the baller budget that The Infinite Everything members had. They were staying at a luxury hotel up the road. “Are we going back to my place?” I asked breathlessly after our kissing session on the street ended. For two people - okay one person - determined to be discreet about their relationship, we were failing miserably.
The Infinite Beat (T.I.E. Book 2) Page 8