by Faith Starr
“I guess we’re supposed to wait here for Dani to take us to the band’s get-together.”
Lily still danced on her seat, more so now than during the show.
The roadies immediately took possession of the stage while the fans shuffled out the exit doors.
“Ouch! Watch it, Lily.” She kicked my ankle with all her Michael Jackson moves. She mouthed an apology.
I sure hoped she would keep it together and not fall apart around Trevor Stone during the after-party. The one I had no option of excusing myself from. Lily would have my head if she knew what was going on in my mind. How I wanted to leave with all the other fans and not stay. How the song “Long Gone” had literally scraped open old wounds, leaving me feeling both raw and vulnerable. I didn’t want anyone to witness me like this. Especially Joey Fine.
6
Joey
We skipped off the stage, high as a kite from the fans’ enthusiasm for our final show of the tour. After months of being on the road, we were finally home for a break. The best part was we already had new songs written and ready to record for our next studio album. I couldn’t wait to take some time off to chill out and relax beforehand.
“Great show!” Camilla greeted us with open arms as we entered the lounge. She stopped before making direct contact with any of us, though, and patted us on the arms instead. Good move on her part. We were all soaked in sweat.
Dani came over with bottles of water. “The show was awesome! I’m so happy for you guys.”
“Why thank you, Dani. Did you expect anything less?” Logan unscrewed the cap from his bottle and chugged down the entire contents.
“From you guys, never.”
“I’m going to take a quick shower before the after-party.” If I didn’t, I would probably scare off the fans and guests.
“Sounds like a good idea. I think I’ll join you.” Trevor pulled the wet fabric of his T-shirt away from his chest.
My sister intently watched his actions. I elbowed her. Why the fuck did she ogle him with desire in her eyes? Uh-uh, so not happening.
She flashed me a look of innocence. I grimaced. She knew damn well what my gesture referred to.
Security opened the door for me and Trevor. We left the arena and headed straight for the tour bus. I surveyed the space that had become my home for longer than I cared to admit. I couldn’t wait to get the hell off it and home to my own bed.
I took a quick shower, knowing Trevor wanted to do the same. I wrapped myself in a towel and went to my bunk so Trevor could use the bathroom. I figured packing could wait until later. I usually didn’t carry much personal stuff on tour. A few duffel bags, nothing much. I busied myself getting dressed.
Trevor finished up in no time at all. We left the bus and hit the trail toward the arena.
“I hope that girl from the meet and greet doesn’t lose her shit again. That was crazy. Camilla told me you invited her and her friend to sit on the side of the stage during the show and meet us afterward. Thanks a lot.”
Trevor’s thank-you didn’t have an ounce of sincerity to it. Try, a ton of sarcasm behind it.
“I think her friend’s hot.” The image of her came to mind.
“Ah, so the truth comes out. I appreciate you thinking with your dick and throwing me under the bus, because I have a feeling I’m going to have a shadow all night.”
“You can’t deny the fanatical fan, whose name is Lily in case you hadn’t heard, isn’t hot, in a unique kind of way?”
He glared at me. “No, thanks. I’ll save the mental cases for Logan.”
He opened the double doors that led inside the arena. I followed behind him. The security guard on duty gave us the all-clear to go in by ourselves.
Trevor had been spot-on in his assumption that he’d have a shadow. As soon as we walked inside the lounge, Lily made a beeline for us with the beauty in tow. I had to ask her to tell me her name.
“I wanted to thank you so much for letting us sit on stage during the show. Tonight has been one of the greatest nights of my life so far. You guys were fantastic. And to be standing here right now—you can’t even imagine. This is surreal.” Lily began fanning herself.
Her color looked a bit pale. I hoped to hell she had no intention of passing out again.
“I’m glad you had fun. I take it you’re feeling better?”
I think Trevor asked more to protect himself in case she decided to do a repeat and flip out on him again.
“Yes. I feel wonderful. Please forgive my behavior earlier tonight. I’m such a big fan, and I guess meeting you in person kind of sent me over the edge. But like I said, I’m good now. At least I hope I am.” She gave a nervous giggle.
“Can you do me a favor and step away from the edge?” Trevor joked, but I knew he meant every word.
Her lips curled up at his comment. Guess she didn’t take it seriously.
“By the way, I know your name is Lily, but I missed your name, sweetheart?”
Trevor acted respectful in his questioning, but I gave him a knowing look. What was with the “sweetheart” part? He knew I found the woman hot. Besides, I should have been the one to ask Lily’s friend her name.
“Teva.”
Fuck. She had the cutest little dimples. I could only imagine the magnificence hidden beneath her jeans and T-shirt. My cock ached for release from my denims. Down, boy.
“Teva? That’s an interesting name. What’s the origin?” I didn’t understand my desire to know but for some reason, I was curious to learn more about her.
“It’s of Hebrew origin. It means nature.”
“It’s pretty. It suits you.”
She gave me a shy smile. Trevor gave me the evil eye. Screw him. Sweetheart. I knew what his glare referred to—me hitting on an innocent fan—and he needn’t worry. I kept my dick on a tight leash. In this case, a long one.
“My name means blossoming flower.” Lily jumped right into the conversation.
“That’s a lovely name as well, for a lovely woman.” I acknowledged her, forever a gentleman. Couldn’t help it.
She blushed.
Shit. I hoped she didn’t take my politeness as flirting.
I purposely refocused my attention on Teva to shut that possibility down. “Did you enjoy yourself tonight?”
“Yes, the show was incredible. Thank you again for all you’ve done for us tonight. Highly unnecessary but greatly appreciated.”
Ah, and polite to boot.
“The night’s not over yet.” The words sort of just slipped out of my mouth. I couldn’t tear my eyes away from her. God, her skin was like porcelain. The touch of makeup she wore only highlighted the sapphire twinkle in her eyes, and the soft shade of pink lipstick filled out her full lips. Fuck, she was ten times prettier up close. A natural beauty, to say the least.
She seemed a bit taken aback. To be honest, I had stunned myself with my forthright comment. I had to keep in mind that these two women weren’t groupies. They were fans. They needed to be treated with the utmost respect. Not that groupies weren’t, but the guys and I had different sets of rules for different types of fans. Hopefully my cock was listening to my mind’s rationalization. The damn thing ached with anticipation.
“How about a drink?” I tried to break the awkwardness by changing the subject.
“Umm, sure.” She flicked a glance at Lily as though asking for permission. Trevor continued to glare at me.
Fuck. As much as I wanted to be alone with Teva, I couldn’t bring myself to leave him alone with Lily. He and I had too close of a friendship for me to ever betray him in such an awful manner. It would never happen, especially over a woman.
“Why don’t I get both of you a drink? I know Trevor has to make his rounds and speak with a few others here tonight as well.”
He nodded in thanks.
“It was great meeting you, Trevor. Would you mind signing something before you leave?” Lily unclasped her purse and pulled out a poster that had been folded into something the
size of a piece of American cheese. When she opened it up, there were crease marks everywhere. The poster had definitely seen better days. She handed it to him.
“You know what? We never got to take a picture before the show. Why don’t we do that instead? Our photographer must around here somewhere.”
“Really? That would be awesome. Can I still get an autograph too?”
“Of course.” Trevor smiled.
“Joey, why don’t you go ahead and get these two lovely ladies their drinks while I try to find Ginger? I’ll meet up with you in a few.”
“Sure thing. Come, let’s go to the bar.”
Gesturing with my hand, I allowed the two women to walk in front of me, giving me a fantastic view of Teva’s ass, nice and round. One I’d love to take a bite of.
Fuck, I needed to reel in my thoughts and behave. And now I sported a semi-wood because of my wandering eye.
We stepped over to the minibar in the corner.
“What would you fancy?” I posed the question to both women.
“A club soda with lime would be great.” Teva replied first.
Hmm, assertive, a highly attractive trait.
“A heavy drinker.” I raised my brows, teasing her.
“Not,” Lily stated emphatically. “But I’ll go for it, since Teva’s driving. I’ll have a whiskey on the rocks, please.”
She didn’t come across as the whiskey type. Then again, I didn’t know her from Adam.
The bartender took the order. I chose a club soda with lime too. Alcohol didn’t do it for me. Too much family history with it.
“I guess you are as well.” Teva turned the joke on me.
She seemed to be loosening up a bit. She kept herself pretty wound up from what I could tell so far. I had to admit, it was refreshing to be around a woman who didn’t view me or the other band members as a showpiece. At least she didn’t give me the vibe that she did. Nothing about her screamed celebrity stalker. Lily, on the other hand, was another story altogether.
“So now that you’re on break, what do you guys plan on doing during your downtime?”
Apparently, Lily had bounced back from her hysteria-induced fainting spell and had become an entertainment reporter.
“We plan on taking it easy and working on our next album.”
“I can’t wait!” She jumped up and down in glee.
Teva winced at her friend’s behavior. If I didn’t know better, I’d say she felt embarrassed. Lily’s fervor didn’t faze me. Women regularly behaved erratically around me and the guys, albeit young ones.
“Will you be recording locally?”
“Lily, I’m sure Joey doesn’t want to play a round of Twenty Questions with you right now.”
Lily pouted. “I’m sorry. I tend to speak a lot when I’m nervous.”
“There’s no reason to be nervous. We’re just a bunch of guys who get off by writing and playing music together.”
“See, that’s what I keep telling you.” Teva held her hand out to Lily. “I’m sorry, it’s nothing personal. I’m constantly explaining to Lily how celebrities are regular people. How they eat and shit the same as the rest of us do.”
Bravo. Her response had me almost choking on my club soda. I chuckled, loving how she’d buried herself into a hole and was trying to get herself out of it, even though she spoke the fucking truth.
“Don’t worry. No offense taken. You’re spot-on. We’re no different from anyone else, other than maybe being a little more popular.”
“Try a lot more popular.” Lily tossed in her two cents’ worth.
“As long as we don’t let it go to our heads, then it’s all good.” I spoke on Logan and Trevor’s behalf as well as my own, which earned me a smile from Teva.
About now I needed to find an excuse to ditch Lily so I could spend some alone time with Teva, perhaps bring her to the tour bus. The thought alone had me taking a few deep breaths.
Trevor showed up in the nick of time. “I found Ginger. She said she’d be more than happy to take our picture.”
Perhaps he could babysit Lily for a while so I could sneak off somewhere with Teva.
Lily clapped her hands, charged with jubilation, the booze visibly starting to kick in as well. “Would you mind if we took one of the two of us, Trevor?”
She eyed me after asking the question, realizing she had shut me out of the picture. I couldn’t give two shits, more than happy to sit this one out.
“I’m sure that could be arranged.” I didn’t give Trevor a chance to respond. And if his eyes could speak, they would be cursing me. “Trevor, why don’t you go on ahead and take care of that while Teva and I sit tight and wait?”
“Sounds great.” Lily slipped her arm through Trevor’s, beaming.
“Wait right here. We won’t be long.”
Trevor kept his voice stern, a warning I understood perfectly. I got it, interpreting his comment as code for “stick around.” So much for giving Teva a private tour of the bus. If only.
Oh well. I would take full advantage of the little time we did have together.
“Your friend Lily is quite a spitfire.”
“Tell me about it. Please allow me to apologize for her crazy behavior. She truly is a wonderful person. Consider her to be an overemotional fan who’s grateful and ecstatic about this opportunity.”
Standing up for her friend revealed loyalty. I respected that.
“There’s no need to apologize. The guys and I are used to that sort of thing. The fainting part, not so much. I have to admit that was a first. I think you understand what I’m trying to say.”
A smile broke free. “I can’t believe she fainted.”
“Yeah. I think that’s one meet and greet the guys and I will never forget.”
“I’m sure I won’t forget about it either.”
“I have to say, I’m kind of glad it happened, because otherwise, we wouldn’t be standing here talking right now.”
Her cheeks took on a soft shade of pink.
An awkward moment of silence filled the space between us.
“Hey, do you want to see our tour bus?” I didn’t know what else to say. The offer kind of spilled out.
Her eyes widened. “Umm… I don’t think that would be such a good idea.”
“I didn’t mean it to come out the way you’re probably thinking, even if it is in the back of my mind. I’d just like to continue to hang out with you and figured you’ve probably never seen a tour bus before.”
Her cheeks had now bypassed the pink family and drifted toward the reds.
“Hmm. I’ve never quite made a woman speechless during a conversation before. Another first for tonight.” I hated the uncomfortable vibe she gave off, her body tensing up. She shifted from foot to foot. I didn’t know how to undo the damage. “Please forgive me. I didn’t mean to be disrespectful or presumptuous.”
“I get it. Listen, I’m sure you’re used to women jumping at the chance to be alone with you on your tour bus, but I’m not one of them.”
Fuck. I had experienced yet another first, being shot down after a show. I wouldn’t have believed it if I hadn’t heard it with my own ears. It didn’t feel good either. In fact, it sucked.
“I understand. And for the record, I’m not a dick. I’m actually a decent guy when I want to be. Listen, I offered you a tour. Let me give you one. I promise to keep my hands to myself.” I held them up so she’d understand I spoke the truth.
She smiled and nodded. “Okay, why not. It’s not often one gets the opportunity to see a tour bus. But you have to keep true to your word to keep your hands to yourself.”
“You’ll have to see that for yourself. This way, my lady.” I held up my hands again and made space for her to walk, careful not to touch her. I would live up to my hands-off promise. One thing I never broke—my word. I always kept true to it. Until she gave me the go-ahead, that is.
I led her out of the arena to the secured and fenced-in area in back. The place was jumping with act
ivity.
“Wow. Is this where they load all the equipment?”
“Yup. This is where a lot of action you don’t see takes place.”
“Does the crew travel with you?”
“Some do. Some work for the arena. Those who travel with us are on different buses. They know the setup and takedown routine by heart and can do it in their sleep.”
“This is so cool. Are those the buses over there?” She pointed to the collection of buses parked next to one another.
“They sure are. Come. I’ll take you inside ours.”
We strolled over to the bus. I opened the door and assisted her up the stairs.
“Do the three of you stay together?”
“Yup. It’s like one big frat party.”
She smiled at my sarcasm. “Do you at least have your own room?”
“I wouldn’t quite call it a room, but yes, I have my own personal space.”
She scanned the main living area. “I see someone’s into video games.” She chin-pointed in the direction of the Xbox parked on the coffee table with controllers scattered around it.
That puppy belonged to me. Trevor owned the PlayStation, and Logan didn’t give a shit about either. He played whatever we played, preferring computer games instead.
“There’s only so much one can do to occupy time on an endless road trip.”
“I can’t imagine being stuck on a bus for months at a time.” She halted next to the coffee table.
“It pays the bills.”
“I’m sure it does. Do you ever get tired of living out of a suitcase?”
I gestured to the sofa. “Please, have a seat.”
After she sat, I plopped down next to her with a cushion of space between us. I didn’t want to intimidate her. I wanted her to feel at ease in my presence.
“It gets old after a while, but the performing never does. It makes all the countless hours on the bus worthwhile.”
“It must be an incredible feeling to stand on a stage with thousands of adoring fans screaming and singing your songs.”
“Best feeling ever, along with sex.” There went my big mouth again. I put my hand out in apology. Hey, I was a guy. She had to know I spoke the truth.