David handed the tablet back to Adrian. Talk about crawling skin. He practically heard a slick, ugly voice while reading those words. He’d run into this type of guy before. Far worse was when he ran into them now because they no longer filtered themselves around David.
The world was different on this side of his transition, but no less scary.
“You haven’t showed this to Mish, have you?”
Adrian shook his head. “I know better. That’s also why I’m out here. I need to burn off my anger before I head back, or Dominic will read me like a book.”
Marcella waved in the direction of the stage. “I take it all is fine out with the public?”
“Yes. This venue’s tighter with the security and has less access points.” David paused. “As far as the crowd, the fans are even more excited than the last show.”
Finally, a smile appeared on Marcella’s lips. “Get used to that. You’re going to see it at each stop. I don’t know how the band manages it, but they only get more energetic and wilder as the tour goes on, and the fans are the same way.”
He chuckled at that, then sobered. “I also ran into some reporter from HitsDaily. She asked me point blank if I was Mish’s latest fling.”
“Are you?” Marcella’s voice was entirely neutral.
He could have denied it, but that wouldn’t have been truthful. Plus Adrian had a look that meant David wouldn’t get away with hedging his bets.
“I don’t know yet,” he murmured. “I’m letting Mish decide that.”
Her lips twitched upward. “And what did you tell the reporter?”
“That I was security for the band, wasn’t available for interviews, and that I had a job to do, before I excused myself and walked away.”
That grin grew wider. “Good man.”
He didn’t know if she meant how he’d handled the reporter or his earlier statement.
“You didn’t happen to get the reporter’s name?” Adrian tapped away on his tablet. “Because there really hasn’t been scuttlebutt about you and Mish, other than that stuff early on. But that doesn’t mean sites aren’t going to sniff around to try to find out more. They always do.” He flipped his tablet closed. “They’re still trying to figure out if Dominic and I are really together, since there’s been no announcement about a wedding.”
David rattled off the reporter’s name. “How do you guys put up with that shit, anyway?”
Adrian made a face. “By ignoring it. It bothers Dominic something fierce, but I’ve gotten used to it.”
Marcella cleared her throat. “We try to keep the band’s personal lives as private as possible.”
“Not like I’m going to kiss and tell,” David said. “I like my life private as well.” Especially since being in public more might mean being outed to more people than he wanted as the paparazzi traced back his past. He didn’t particularly care about being known as trans—it was the fucking stupid questions about being trans that he hated with the passion of a million suns exploding at once.
Marcella nodded. “One of the reasons Ray preferred you for this job above the other candidates.”
Just then, the door to the dressing room opened, and Ray poked his blond head out. “Everything okay?”
“Fine,” Marcella said, her business face on. “Just getting updates from David and Adrian.”
Ray rolled his eyes, as if he knew what they’d been discussing. “Okay, we’ll talk about it tomorrow.” He slipped out into the hall and closed the door to the dressing room before leaning on it. “Tell me how it is out there.” His eyes met David’s. “The atmosphere.”
“Thick with excitement. Pit’s full. Lawn is filling up. Seats are a little empty, but I gather those sometimes are for the opening act.”
Ray twisted his face and looked just shy of sticking out his tongue. “They’re missing out. Two Times Strong is great. Speaking of which...”
Oh, that imploring expression. “Yes, there’s a spot you guys can watch.”
“Fucking awesome. I’ll let the others know.” He stole back into the dressing room.
Soon after, the rest of the band made their way out into the hall, and David damn well lost his mind when Mish walked through the door. From white and flowing to a short black leather dress and hot-pink fishnets, makeup, and jewelry. Quite a contrast, but equally as sexy and scorching hot.
His desire must have been obvious, because her smirk was out of this world, and she fucking winked at him. “Like what you see?”
Marcella chuckled low. Thank god Adrian was focused on Domino.
David fell in step next to Mish. “Of course I do. You’re stunning in everything you wear.”
“Mmmhmm. I’ve seen you look at me before and I saw you look at me now, and there is a difference, David.” Her eyes danced. They were hazel in the light of the hallway, and framed in black and pink.
“There is something about leather,” he said. The thought of peeling Mish out of a dress like that before going down on her flickered through his mind and he nearly tripped over his own feet.
She kept her laugh soft, since they’d made it backstage. David touched her shoulder. “Need to show Ray where to go.” He worked his way past and her hand skimmed his ass.
Oh yeah, they really were gonna do this.
He ignored the uptick to his heartbeat and found Ray at the front of the pack, a step ahead of Zavier. David tapped him and spoke close to his ear. “Over this way.”
They wove through until they reached the side of the stage. From this vantage, they’d be able to watch the show but be hidden from all but the performers and techs. In fact, Two Times Strong was also in the wings, waiting for the signal to go on stage.
Ray worked his way up to the front. “Hey,” he said. “Knock ’em dead.”
Lane laughed. “If we kill them, who’s going to watch your show?”
There was that stunning grin that Ray Van Zeller was known for. “Eh, we’ll just bring ’em back to life when you’re done with ’em.”
Just then, the house lights turned off, the crowd cheered, and Two Times Strong ran out onto the stage.
Once more, a hand landed on David’s ass, then slid up to his waist, and he was entirely unsurprised to find Mish next to him, towering even taller in her heels. She murmured into his ear as Two Times Strong struck up their first song, her breath hardening his dick. “This okay?”
He leaned into her embrace. “Baby, more than.”
“Good.” Her lips grazed his ear, and it was all he could do to not gasp or moan. Not that anyone would have heard it over the music from the stage. Through the buzzing in his brain, the thump of the bass, and the beat of the drums pounding through his body, it occurred to him that being this blatant with Mish might not be the smartest idea, especially with a nosy reporter running around out there.
But at least David knew exactly where Mish was. And right now? No one was getting any closer to her than him.
* * *
Mish’s heart pounded. Two Times Strong’s set had been stellar and pumped up the crowd so much that when the house lights went down for Twisted Wishes, the screams and shouts of the audience had been mind-numbingly loud, even through her ear protection. They’d burst out onto the stage and those calls and yells got louder, like the roar of a storm, and they were all for them.
When Ray leapt across the stage, Zavier burst into the beat of their opening song. Mish and Domino crashed into sound and then Ray’s voice was there, and they were off, blowing their fans out of their shoes.
Mid-concert, Mish’s head spun with so much passion, she didn’t know how she was still on her feet. Especially given the heels she’d strapped on. But hell, she’d played these kinds of concerts before, the ones where the fans were screaming and dancing, and each note played was a love letter to them.
Ray was already shirtless. She danced throug
h the end of “Haze,” then met with Ray away from the mics.
He had the devil’s grin. “You ready to sing?” Over his shoulder, the audience pulsed like a giant heart.
“Kiddo, you know it!” Singing at the previous show had been a dream come true. Doing it again would be unreal. “Let’s go.”
Ray bounced on his toes, then sauntered to his mic. “Hey, Syracuse, you all having a good time?”
The roar of the crowd was intense.
“So are we!” Ray pumped his fist into the air. When the crowd quieted down a tad, he continued, “You probably heard we’re doing something a little different with ‘Finding Light,’ right?”
More screams, which sent pinpricks up Mish’s arms.
They could probably see Ray’s grin from the lawn without the projection on the screens, it was so wide and brilliant. “Wanna hear Mish sing with me?”
Louder screams. Holy shit, David had been right—this crowd was primed.
“Okay.” Ray stripped the mic from the stand and did his bounce-bounce-jump move toward the very edge of the stage. “Here we go!”
They launched into “Finding Light,” and Mish danced and played through the opening bars, then shimmied up to the mic and belted out the first verse. As soon as she sang the first words, the fans in the pit went wild. Beyond that, she could only make out a throbbing mass of humanity and hear the roar over Dom’s guitar and Zavier’s drums, and her own deep bass.
Last show, Ray had sung the first verse, but they figured switching it up would keep the fans on their toes. Ray joined in for the chorus, and she crossed the stage to play with Domino for the next verse. From the pit, fans reached for them and the look in their eyes was ecstatic. She’d never been sure the band deserved that, but they worked to live up to every expectation.
By the end of the song, she was flying on adrenaline, the crowd, and the rush of the music. This was the best fucking job in the world. During the cheers while they all took drinks of water, Mish spotted David near the entrance to the pit, his arms crossed, which only showed off his muscular arms. His smile was stunning. Maybe it was the lights, but his eyes seemed to drink her in. She shivered.
Usually after these concerts, she was a heady combination of exhausted, wired, and horny. David was more than a chance to curl her toes and burn off excess energy, though. He was—god. She didn’t know. Fearless. Funny. He cared about her, but listened, too, which was so damn rare.
She nodded his way, which he’d see, but the fans would take as an acknowledgement of them—which it was as well.
David nodded back. He’d called her a goddess, but at the moment, he was a magnificent god watching over her. Over them all.
Ray took the mic again, much to the delight of the fans, and they launched into another song. On and on it went, until they’d reached the end of their set.
Two stellar, heart-pounding encores later, and they were heading back to the dressing rooms. All Mish wanted to do was find David, a wall, and some privacy, because that had been an amazing show.
But she and the rest of the band had to clean themselves up enough for the signing event, then make it through talking to a hundred buzzed fans. Then she and David would pile back into their very separate buses and head to New Hampshire.
However, she fully intended to have him in her hotel bed before she fell asleep tonight. Or tomorrow. Whenever the fuck they made it to the hotel. That boy was going to be hers.
Thank god nothing unusual happened in the signing line. She was careful not to lay anything on the table, and their crew had told the fans that the band couldn’t take any gifts. She got smiles, wide eyes, and stories that left her breathless and misty-eyed, but no more jewelry.
When the last person passed through, she leaned back in her seat and closed her eyes. “That was fucking awesome.” How was it that everything kept getting better? Then again, they’d been through some pretty rough shit to get to this point, so maybe this was payback for that.
“It really was.” Ray sounded happy and exhausted, much like her.
Zavier cupped the back of Ray’s neck with his hand and had this look of supreme satisfaction as he stared out past the table, probably at nothing at all.
Domino—well, Dom now—had his head on Adrian’s shoulder. The latter had taken a seat next to his lover once the final fans had left. Adrian’s lips were moving, but whatever he was saying to Dom didn’t travel to her ears. Zavier must have overheard, though, because he chuckled.
Dom, without even looking, lobbed his empty water bottle toward Zavier, who caught it out of the air. Probably something kinky, then. Those boys tried so hard to stay on the downlow and failed miserably every time—mostly because Zavier really had no shame at all.
God, she loved them.
Into her field of vision walked David, and yes, she still wanted to push him up against the nearest wall and taste those lips again, savor the heat of his hands on her body. See if he really wanted to worship her like he claimed.
“Hey, honey,” she said. “We done here?”
He laughed. “Darling, you’ve conquered all and taken the spoils. Time to head north!”
She leaned back in her chair, tipping it onto two legs. “I haven’t conquered you yet.”
“Get a room,” Ray murmured. “God, you’re nearly as bad as me.”
This time, Zavier’s laugh echoed around the nearly empty pavilion. “I’ll show you bad,” he said in a voice that had them all blushing.
Fifteen minutes later, they were on the bus, rolling out, and Mish couldn’t sit still. It was one thing to talk about hooking up, another to actually do it. Was she out of her mind for flirting so damn hard with a man working for the band? Sure, she’d fooled around with the crew before. A fling with Dane, then something a little more with Sasha. That could have turned serious, if Sasha had wanted more than a summer tour fling with a hot rocker before heading off to grad school.
But that had ended with their last concert that year. Had hurt a little, but Mish hadn’t blamed Sasha at all. Had to be on the same page with your partner to make something stick.
David wasn’t a member of the crew, not like that. He worked directly with her and the band. Given that she tended to gravitate more toward femme regardless of gender, she couldn’t exactly tell why he pinged her so hard. That was exciting and a little scary, which...was also exciting.
Fucking brains. Never could figure out her own.
Yes, David was handsome. Compact. Hard. Bearded. The kind of masc she did tend to like, when her attraction turned that way.
“Fuck,” she muttered before getting out of her seat and heading to the back. At least there, she could pace a little. And maybe—maybe—the boys would leave her alone.
No such luck. Ray waited a good ten minutes before joining her, though. As the band’s leader and her best friend, he had every right to be worried. Relief trickled through her. Maybe she needed to talk to someone. She’d been Ray’s sounding board often enough, even after he’d married Zavier.
She met Ray’s gaze, and his smile turned wry. “Oh, come on,” he said. “You expected me.”
“Course I did. You’re predictable, kiddo.” He was the glue that held them all together. Family.
He sank down onto one of the couches. “Don’t tell the press.”
“Wouldn’t dream of it.” She gave up the pacing, because it wasn’t helping at all, and took a seat next to him.
He angled his body. “Wanna talk about it?”
Yes. No. She dropped her head into her hands. “What if I said I didn’t?”
He huffed a laugh. “Consent, as Zavier likes to say, is important. If you really don’t want a shoulder, I’ll head back up.” He tapped her knee with his finger. “But somehow, I think you want me to stay.”
There was a hell of a lot of maturity in Ray. Not that he’d been immature before�
��he’d just been a bundle of worry that had thrown his bright mind off track. But in the past two years, he’d come into his own.
“I really like David.”
“Well, duh.” Ray bumped her knee. “Sounds like you want to do a little more than stare into his eyes, too.”
Oh god. Ray was teasing her. Weird to be on this side of that. “Yeah, well. I’m pretty darn tactile.”
He laughed outright at that. “You and the rest of us. I get that, I really really do.”
They were all touchy people, and not ashamed of sex at all—not even Dom, for all his blushing. They’d had their various flings at one point or another, before Ray and Zavier, and then Dom and Adrian, had hooked up.
“But am I into him because you guys are...” She waved a hand.
“Fucking in domesticated bliss, or something close to it?” Ray leaned back and looked smug.
“Yeah, something like that.” She shrugged. “Being serious for a moment, sometimes I do feel weird being the only one not paired up. Maybe I’m jumping on David because of that.”
Ray’s smile vanished. “Okay, that worry is valid. And maybe that’s a catalyst, but I’m not sure it matters in this case. I mean, I’ve pretty much wanted to jump Zav’s bones since high school. Turns out there was something beyond lust there.”
“Quite a bit more, in the case of you and Zav.” She’d heard them. Seen the toys. Been to their house. Yes, Zavier was aromantic, but that man wanted Ray like the ocean wants the shore. There was an inexpressible pull between them.
Ray’s sly smile was back. “You’ll know if there’s more there than a need to bone, but there’s nothing wrong with blowing off steam with him, if that’s what you both want. I mean, dude is hot and smart. He keeps up with your mouth, too.”
“Your eyes straying, Ray?” She had to get in a little teasing.
He held up the hand with his wedding ring. “I’m Zav’s. Happily. Entirely. I’m a little too monogamous and he’s a little too possessive. But we both appreciate the appearances of others, you know. You, though, can go touch.”
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