by K. S. Thomas
We found his Ford parked along the sidewalk just outside the shop and got in.
“You’re welcome, by the way.” She was busy putting on her seatbelt in the most cheerful manner any one possibly could do such a mundane task.
“What am I thanking you for?” I put the key in the ignition and started it up.
“Um, hello?! I just scored you his number and a first date!” Then she leaned back into the seat and rolled down her window, enjoying the breeze and giggling to herself. “Not like I couldn’t have arranged for a car without Blaise finding out about it.”
Shit. She was right. Fucking crazy, but right.
***
Trying to focus on work after Royce had left was pretty fucking impossible. All I could think about was how long it’d be before I’d hear from Ava. And that was only because it meant I was one step closer to seeing Royce again.
Royce Lemmi. The whole thing still hadn’t completely sunk in. Talk about your entire life changing in the blink of an eye. Of course, it hadn’t actually changed yet. But the potential for change had definitely been unleashed. For all I knew, I was on the brink of a massive career shift for the better and, if I allowed my fantasy to run wild with this, possibly on the verge of dating Royce fucking Lemmi – Finding Nolan’s bass player extraordinaire and the hottest man in rock and roll today.
But that was fantasy. Or at least, that’s what I tried to tell myself. Then, the more I thought about him standing there in my apartment, remembering the way he’d smiled at me, flirted even, the less imaginary the whole thing felt and suddenly, I couldn’t help but believe myself when I started to think that I actually had a chance with him.
Chapter 4
“Where the fuck have you two been?”
Leave it to Blaise to give such a warm and heartfelt welcome the moment we came walking in through the door.
“Getting fucking coffee,” I said, matching his tone, if only to mock him. Ava was already snaking her arms up around his neck and smothering him in a kiss as if she was attempting to erase his memory via his tongue. It actually seemed to work. He had that dopey ass grin only Ava could give him by the time she pulled away. Of course she was smirking.
“Did you guys leave us any breakfast?” I walked further into the suite toward the kitchen. The place was bare. Not a single dirty dish in sight.
“What breakfast? We haven’t eaten yet.” Angel strolled over from his room on the other side of the living area.
Ava sighed. “Seriously. You boys would starve to death without me. Some days I wonder how you manage to get dressed without my help.”
I almost laughed out loud remembering the early days when Ava had laid out clothes for the guys before each show. Obviously I’d always been exempt from that, which was why I was amused while the others were probably busy trying to block the memory from their minds.
“What’s up with you?” Angel was eyeing me curiously.
“Just enjoying the morning show as always.” I nodded toward Ava, who was already on the phone with room service ordering up a buffet that could feed a small country and would likely end up being carted off in to-go boxes for the road crew to finish off later.
Angel shook his head. “Nah, that’s not it. You’ve got something else happening there. What is it? You guys do something extra stupid while you were out on your little secret coffee mission?”
Ava hung up the phone and jumped in to answer. “Royce met a boy.” She wiggled her eye brows in a totally ridiculous way. “And he was h-o-t! Seriously. Like, worthy of a ‘humina humina humina’ kinda hot.”
Angel grinned. “No shit. Where’d you meet this dude?”
“At the coffee shop.” I shot Ava a dirty look and then added, “The one we had to hide out in when the paparazzi nearly attacked us.”
“What?!” Blaise’s dopey grin was gone in an instant and Ava was busy blasting daggers at me through her eye balls. I didn’t care. She had it coming.
“It was no big deal.” She waved her hand dismissively and tried to make a casual exit, but Blaise was hot on her heels.
“Sounds like a pretty big fucking deal to me, Avalon! This is exactly the reason I don’t like you taking off on your own.”
Ava was no idiot. She was strategically leading him straight to their bedroom. “I wasn’t alone. I was with Royce.”
Blaise’s response was a noise I couldn’t not take offense to, but there was no point in jumping in on the argument. Ava was already closing the door behind them. Next time we’d see them, Blaise’s dopey ass grin would be back and she’d likely have one to match. Sometimes all their lovey dovey shit was gag worthy, but then maybe I just felt that way because no one was putting dopey ass grins on my face.
“So, you met a boy.” While I’d been busy watching the Ava and Blaise show, Angel had apparently remained fixated on my morning news.
“Yeah, can we call him a man? Because he was definitely a man.” I felt my eyes do a dramatic flutter and next thing I knew, there was a distinct dopiness about my smile. Holy shit.
“Um, yeah. Or, you could tell me his name. You did get his name, right?”
I nodded like it was obvious, but if Ava hadn’t been there, I’d probably just be calling him hot barista guy. “Hudson. Well, it’s Kieran, but he goes by his last name, Hudson.”
Angel bobbed his head up and down. “Cool, cool. So, Hudson. What’s he do other than drink coffee?”
“He wasn’t drinking it, he was making it. But that’s just his day job. He’s actually this incredible photographer. Ava’s gonna see about setting up a shoot for us.” I had to consciously force my mouth to stay within its proper perimeters because it was threatening to stretch out beyond my ears, and my face was already hurting as it was.
“Nice. Ava, the matchmaker. Ever think it’s weird how she manages more than just the professional aspect of our lives?”
There was a knock on the door and I started toward it. “All the fucking time, dude. All the fucking time.”
When I opened the door it took three servers and five food carts to deliver breakfast. Pretty sure it was the scent of waffles that finally managed to drag Derek out of bed, however, Blaise and Ava didn’t make a re-appearance until the three of us were well into our second helpings.
After eating, fun Ava was gone and Ava, the raging workaholic, had her crazy meter running on high, rattling off the day’s schedule and scolding us all for being late before we’d even had a chance to leave the suite yet. Blaise tried to detour her to the bedroom in hopes of mellowing out the nutsoness, but he wasn’t nearly as subtle or smooth about it and Ava called him out on his attempt halfway through the living room.
Twenty minutes later and we were all in the back of our limo headed for our first appointment of the day. From there, things didn’t slow down until dinner, for which Ava had made reservations at a pretty swanky place downtown. It wasn’t unusual for her to invite a handful of people she felt were handy to schmooze. Mostly music reviewers, local Dj’s, etc., and depending on which city we were in at the time, the list grew or shrunk accordingly.
Tonight’s turnout was pretty much down the middle. Plus one. Kieran Hudson.
Considering I’d been turned on by the sight of him in his khakis, t-shirt and coffee shop apron, seeing him standing there in those well-worn jeans, plain white-t and black blazer had me about to swallow my own tongue.
“What’s wrong? You have to pee or something?” Angel had come up beside me. Wasn’t until he’d said something that I noticed my physical reactions had been far more extensive than I’d realized, including a ridiculous shuffle I was doing in place, much like a four year old doing the pee pee dance.
I forced my feet to remain still and wound up bobbing my hips to and fro instead. I’d never been so anxious over a guy in my entire life. I felt like a fucking chick.
“No, I don’t have to fucking pee. I’m just ready to get this show on the road. How many people does Ava have to make small talk with before we can all s
it down and eat?” Since we’d all filled up on left over waffles right before leaving the hotel, my hunger based argument fell pretty fucking flat.
“Oh, I see. I was starting to think maybe your little dance routine had something to do with that guy who hasn’t stopped staring at you since he walked in. Thought maybe he was that Hudson dude you’ve got a thing for.” Angel looked like he was trying hard not to laugh at me and failing epically.
“I’m going to remember this, you know? There will come a day when some girl will have you falling over your own feet and making you forget your own fucking name, and I will be there to point out how much you look like an ass. You know it’ll happen. Happened to Blaise, and nobody thought that was possible.” In hindsight it was blatantly obvious, but at the time, no one would have guessed Blaise, the manwhore, would ever have given up his womanizing ways for the love of one Ava Jennison.
Meanwhile, Angel, manwhore number two, was hardly taking me seriously. “Yeah, okay. But until then, would you like me to carry you over there and re-introduce you since it looks like you may be experiencing some of those symptoms yourself right now?”
I shook my head. “No, thank you.” Then I started marching straight for Hudson. Not because I’d suddenly found my nerve. It was all out of spite. Spite was fueling the whole damn thing. But I didn’t care. I was willing to use whatever I could to get me there.
“Hudson. You made it.” Anticipating an awkward handshake/hug confusion, I stuck both hands in my pockets and went with a friendly nod instead. Possibly the smartest move I’d made thus far.
“Definitely. Wouldn’t have missed it. I mean, come on. How often does a guy get to mingle with his favorite band and then get to go see them in concert?” His smile had reached all the way up to his brown eyes, and they’d crinkled at the ends. It was the sexiest damn thing ever and I felt my feet attempt to do the shuffle again.
“You don’t have to say that, you know? The bit about us being your favorite band. I’m sure Ava will still hire you.” I kept glancing back and forth between my feet and his face, like I was afraid if I maintained eye contact with him for too long he’d see all there was to see of me and run screaming from the building.
Hudson laughed. “I wouldn’t say it if I didn’t mean it. I really have been listening to you guys since the very beginning. The last two albums have been your best so far though. I can’t put my finger on it, but there was something new about the sound. Totally incredible.”
I nodded, scrunching up my nose because I knew what he meant and what the reason was. “Our lead singer went through a lot of changes when we were recording those. Huge, life-changing shit, so it’s not surprising that it translated into our songs.”
“Makes sense. Well, judging from the music, I’m guessing those changes were for the better.” He grinned, his gaze traveling past me and landing on Ava who was busy chatting up some chick wearing a suit, while Blaise was right beside her, unable to take his eyes off of her for even a second.
“You have no idea.” Falling for Ava had saved his life. Or maybe it had been her falling for him that had done it. Either way, I couldn’t deny that I would have moved heaven and hell to find a small slice of what they had for myself.
I was about to panic as I realized we’d reached an awkward lull in the conversation, when Ava suddenly spotted us and came flying over, welcoming Hudson with an overzealous hug I wished I’d had the balls to give him myself.
No surprise, Blaise was right behind her. “Dude, if I didn’t know you were gay, I might be a little worried seeing my girl throwing herself at you like that.”
Hudson laughed, holding out his hand. “Kieran Hudson, and I didn’t realize I was wearing my sexual orientation ID badge tonight.”
Blaise took it, grinning. “Blaise Nolan, and there’s no badge. Just a girlfriend with a big mouth and some sick need to play matchmaker every chance she gets.”
Fucking A. Between the two of them it was enough to make me want to plan another trip down by the river with a single bullet.
“Holy shit, dude. Seriously? Has neither one of you assholes managed to retain any sense of what is considered normal and acceptable behavior in a social setting?”
Ava, one arm still around Hudson, reached the other over my neck and pulled me closer. “Sorry.” She was apologizing to him, not me. “We’re kind of all up in each other’s business around here. You’ll get used to it.”
His brows raised. “Oh, will I?”
She shrugged. “Well, you better if you want the job I’m about to offer you.”
This was fucking awesome. He’d been informed he was my arranged date and that he was about to be on our payroll within a matter of seconds. From this moment forward, who the hell would ever know if he was acting on genuine interest or because he thought it was part of the job description.
I yanked my head out from under her arm muttering, ‘I need a drink’, as I stormed off in search of the nearest bottle of liquor.
***
This party was making my head spin already and I hadn’t even had a drop of alcohol yet.
“Is he okay?” I watched as Royce disappeared in the small sea of people apparently joining us for dinner. So far I’d only met three of them, two of which I’d known since coffee this morning.
Ava nodded reassuringly. “He’ll be fine.” Then her demeanor changed completely as she went on, “He’s totally pissed at me, but he’ll get over it.”
“I’ll go talk to him.” Blaise turned toward me, taking his attention away from Ava for only the second time since I’d seen them, “It was nice meeting you. For what it’s worth, I really hope you take the gig. Ava says you’re crazy talented, plus, you jumped in and looked out for her this morning, so that makes you the type of dude I want to have around.”
“Thanks.” What else did you say to something like that? Then Blaise was gone too, leaving me alone with Ava, which made me slightly nervous, and not in the good way that Royce had made me feel. Wasn’t that I didn’t like her, I just wasn’t used to being around someone who never held back. It was like this chick didn’t have a filter. At all. I guess she didn’t need one considering who she was and what she did, but shit, it kept you on edge never knowing what was going to come out of her mouth next.
“You look scared.” And she was off.
I laughed quietly. “I am.”
She hooked her arm in mine and steered us away from the noise of everyone’s conversations and over to an isolated corner. “I know we can be a bit much. Royce is right. We live in our own fucking bubble, cut off from the rest of the world. Sometimes we forget our manners. Among other things.” She sighed dramatically. “Anyway. I think you’d fit in just fine if you gave us a chance. Thing is, I’ve had this publisher breathing down my neck for ages. They want a book about the band. A real, behind the scenes look at what they’re all about. They’ve offered to send over a writer to go on tour with us and everything, but I’ve always told them no. I just didn’t see that being a good fit for the band, you know? Anyway, seeing your photos got me thinking. I’d never have some stranger follow the boys around taking notes about every little thing they did or said, and then have him put his own spin on things when it came time to write the damn book, but I would totally let a photographer follow them around with his camera and have the pictures speak for themselves.”
I couldn’t believe what she was offering. Talk about a fucking dream job. “Are you saying you want me to go on tour with you guys and put together a collection to be published? As a book?”
She nodded. “That’s exactly what I’m saying. We’d have to work out the contract with the publisher, but I sent an email out to them this morning already, and they loved the idea. And, technically they’d be the ones hiring you. Well, sort of. I guess it would be a team effort. They’d be paying you for the collection that ultimately gets published, I’d be paying you for your time, travel and the rights to every image you produce of the band. I’m not gonna lie, it’ll be a big
project and you’d be looking at walking away from your regular life for several months, starting next week. If that’s not something you can do, or don’t want to do, I would understand.”
A million thoughts were running through my brain at once. Telling my mother. Finding a replacement for me at the shop. Telling the entire fucking world. Wondering what my douchebag father would say if he knew that my stupid little hobby was about to grant me the gig of a lifetime. Royce. And every other thought vanished.
“Listen Ava, this offer, it is amazing. I mean, truly, just mind blowing, turn my world upside-fucking-down amazing.”
She cocked her brow at me skeptically. “But?”
“But I’m going to need you to clarify if I’m being hired by the band manager or the band match maker.” Wasn’t until after I’d blurted it out that I’d wished I’d taken a moment to formulate my concerns more politely. But then, look at who I was talking to.
Her otherwise chill expression morphed into something serious and almost hurt. “For starters, that wouldn’t make me a match maker so much as it would make me a pimp, and some band managers may double as pimps and drug dealers, and God knows what else, but I don’t. Those boys are my family. I love them. I love Royce and yeah, maybe I love him in an overbearing, no boundaries sort of way, but I would never do anything to hurt him. So if you think for one second that I would put you on my payroll to somehow encourage you to show him some interest or whatever, you can walk away right now, because he deserves so much fucking better than that.”
Even though she momentarily seemed to hate my guts, her little speech had actually made me feel better.
“I know that. And I completely agree. Which is why I would have turned down the job if it wasn’t completely based on my skills as a photographer.” Fuck it. She’d already admitted she was overbearing and incapable of boundaries, why bother being any different. “Look, I like Royce. I realize I barely know him, but if there’s even a sliver of a chance of changing that, I’m not fucking it up. Not even for what would probably be the greatest job of my career. So, I needed you to clarify. I’m sorry if that offended you. I just wouldn’t want to walk into this second guessing my position or wondering if shit was about to blow up in my face.” I caught a glimpse of Royce standing on the other side of the room with Blaise, apparently in the middle of his own very heated conversation. “And more importantly, I wouldn’t want him to wonder whether my interest was genuine or not.” When I shifted my focus back to her, she was smiling.