“Morning!” Andrew greets us at the front door. He holds his hands in the air. “I’m unarmed, don’t shoot me, Chaser!”
“Heard you pulled a gun on him last night.” Vinnie walks up and hugs Chaser from behind. “Been wanting to blow a hole in him for years myself.”
“You fucking love me, asshole,” Andrew shouts.
Everyone in the restaurant is staring at us now.
Peter runs up to us. I’ve only met Kickstart’s tour manager once, but he’s a nervous guy who doesn’t seem to be a fan of mine. “Please tell me you didn’t pull a gun on Andrew Lane. He’s been telling everyone you went Dirty Harry on him last night.”
Chaser shrugs, casually, as if he threatens to shoot people on a regular basis. “It was the middle of the night. I thought he was a burglar.”
Pete’s beady eyes land on me, and his nuclear expression threatens to melt me into a puddle. “Do you need to cause trouble everywhere you go?”
“I didn’t do anything.” I hold one hand up to the heavens. “I was asleep.”
“Watch it, Pete,” Chaser warns. “I’m still feeling trigger happy this morning.”
He chuckles as Peter flails his arms in the air and stomps away.
“Are you going to get in trouble?” I whisper.
“Nah.” He waves off my concern.
“What if Andrew files a police report?”
“As dumb as he is, he’s not a snitch.” He rubs his knuckles over my cheek. “The gun’s legal.”
Somehow, I doubt that.
We make our way over to the buffet. I scoop a pile of soggy eggs and bacon onto my plate, grab a glass of orange juice and scan the room for an empty table.
“Mallory!” Andrew waves his arms and pats the seat next to him. “Chaser!”
Chaser grumbles under his breath but pulls out a chair across from Andrew for me and then takes the one next to me.
“When’d you get in, Mallory?” Andrew rests his chin in his hands and leans forward.
“Late. My flight got canceled twice.”
“Chaser didn’t say you were coming to visit.”
I raise an eyebrow. “Is that your excuse for bringing a girl over for him?”
He flicks his gaze toward Chaser. “Just fucking with you, bro. I didn’t think you’d get so pissed.”
Chaser shrugs. “Now you know.”
Still unsettled from last night, I can’t stomach the lukewarm food and end up pushing my plate away.
“You want me to grab you something else?” Chaser asks.
“No, it all looked pretty bad.”
“You pregnant?” Andrew asks.
Chaser closes his eyes and inhales a long, slow breath. I rest my hand over his in an attempt to keep him from blowing up.
“Not that I know of, Andrew.” I force a sweet smile. “But if I am, I promise you’ll be the first to know.”
Next to me, Chaser chuckles.
“Cool. Can I be the godfather?”
“No,” Chaser answers without looking up from his plate.
“Why not?”
“Probably because you keep trying to get him to cheat on Mallory.” Alvin taps his cheek. “I mean off the top of my head, that’s my first guess.”
“Nah, her man’s passed with flying colors. She should be thanking me. Right, Mallory?”
“Oh, absolutely, Andrew. Thank you so much.”
He grins, either oblivious to the sarcasm or willfully ignoring it.
How the hell did this strange and childish man manage to become so successful?
“Guys!” Peter stops at the end of our table. “I need a word with you. Now.”
Chaser leans over and kisses my cheek. “Hotel tonight. Let’s try to check in early.”
I’m too excited about not sleeping on the bus to question whether we have the money for a hotel. “Okay.”
He kisses my forehead. “Go pack up your stuff. I’ll meet you outside the bus as soon as we’re done.”
“What’d Pammy say when you told her you were coming to visit?” Andrew asks after the guys leave.
“Not much.” I shrug and keep pushing the food around on my plate.
Andrew’s big, tattooed hand comes into my field of vision, pushing my plate aside. He drops an apple on the table in its place.
“Where’d you find that?” Actual fruit had been absent from the buffet.
“I swiped it from the front desk at our hotel.” He lifts his chin. “You can have it. My apology apple.”
This is why it’s hard to stay mad at Andrew for long. I pick up a knife and slice the apple in half, then quarters. “I’ll share.”
He scoops up one of the slices and chomps down. “Rest is yours,” he mumbles around the mouthful.
“Thanks.” I glance around the dining room but all the servers seem to be afraid to approach our section. Can’t blame them.
“What’s wrong?” Andrew asks.
“I was going to ask if they had any peanut butter.”
He stands and slaps the table. “Be right back.”
I nibble on one of the apple slices and search the room, hoping Peter isn’t yelling at the guys over something stupid.
“Here you go.” A heavy tub lands on the table in front of me.
“What the?” I scan the industrial label on the side. Extra Creamy Peanut Butter. “Oh my God! Where did you steal that from?”
“I borrowed it from the kitchen.” Andrew grins and hands me another apple.
I can’t stop laughing. “Thank you.”
A seriously annoyed man in an apron walks up behind Andrew and taps him on the shoulder. “Excuse me, sir. You can’t just—”
“Shhh.” Andrew places one finger over his mouth and reaches into his pocket, pulling out a fistful of crumpled money and shoves it at the man. “Go. Just go, dude.”
Still laughing, I shake my head and peel the lid off the container. “You’re nuts.” I take a clean spoon and scoop out a hefty amount of peanut butter and drop it into an empty bowl.
“Thank you, sir.” Andrew sticks the cover on the tub and pushes it over to the man in the apron. “That’ll be all.”
The man leaves, grumbling all the way.
“That’s so sweet, Andrew. Can’t wait until Chaser hears. Maybe he’ll actually blow your brains out this time,” Kyle yells across the room.
Andrew raises his hand and flips him off, without taking his eyes off me.
Ignoring Kyle, I spread some peanut butter on one of the apple slices and hand it to Andrew. I prepare another one and offer it to Vinnie.
“Thanks, hon.”
“Do you ever,” Andrew stops and swipes his tongue over his fingers, “Like, let Chaser lick stuff off your body?”
I close my eyes and sigh.
“What? It’s just a question.”
I point my butter knife at him. “You had to ruin the nice thing you did.”
“That’s his modus operandi,” Vinnie says. “In case you haven’t noticed.”
“Oh, I noticed.”
“It’s a tricky thing,” Andrew continues. “You have to make sure you get it all; otherwise, you have food smeared in places that get uncomfortable. And it’s all sticky.”
“Thanks for the tip.”
“Ah-ha! That means you’ve never tried it.”
I finish eating and grab a cup of coffee before heading outside to the bus. Andrew catches up to me, slinging his arm around my shoulders and steering me toward his band’s bus.
“What are you doing? I need to grab my stuff.”
“I have a present for you.”
He sighs and gives me the wounded puppy expression when I refuse to get on the bus with him. “I’ll wait right here.” I promise, firmly planting my feet on the asphalt.
A few minutes later, he returns with a black T-shirt. “I just got a new order of these in and wanted you to have one.”
“Oh, thank you.” I unfold it and chuckle at the Vicious Vandals cartoon on the front. Andrew’s happy f
ace, smack dab in the middle. “Did you draw this?”
“Yeah. Someone else did the shading and had them printed up for me, though.”
“You’re multi-talented, huh?”
He points to the right side of his head. “Yeah, but only left-brain stuff, you know?”
I bite down on my lip, trying not to laugh. “I know.”
“Will you wear it to the show tonight?” His mouth stretches into a slow smile. “Please?”
He has done an awful lot to help Kickstart out. Wearing his shirt for one night seems like a simple way to say thank you. “Maybe.”
Chaser
Peter’s lengthy meeting to warn us not to fuck up our Rolling Stone interview this afternoon doesn’t improve my mood.
Rolling fucking Stone wants to put Kickstart on the cover. How the fuck did that happen?
“They want to talk to Mallory, too. That won’t be a problem, will it?” Peter asks.
“Nope.”
“Just steer clear of any questions about Bloody Revolver. We don’t want that to become an issue again.” Peter was so scandalized when he found out I’d beaten Davey Revolver bloody in England, he can’t stop bringing it up. Apparently, he’s a big Bloody Revolver fanboy. One more reason I hate this dude.
“Why?” Alvin asks. “The world should know what a sleaze bucket he is.”
Peter glares at him.
“Oh, that’s right, Alvin,” I drawl. “Then we’d have to explain that our singer is just as sleazy.”
“I thought we’d moved past this?” Jacob says.
I shrug. “Peter started it.” I shoot a glare his way. “Why the fuck would I ever bring up that fiasco?”
“It may be a respectable magazine, but they still want to dig for dirt.” He huffs and flips through the papers in his lap. “Talk up the tour with Vicious Vandals. Your friendship with Andrew and the guys. Fans love hearing that their favorite bands are friends and hang out behind the scenes, so talk up that angle.” He flips through a few more pages.
“Anything else?” I’m not thrilled about leaving Mallory alone with Andrew on the loose.
“Please don’t fuck up this interview. It’s a big fucking deal.” He casts his murderous manager face at Jacob. “Do not show up drunk or high. There are enough rumors about your addictions swirling around without you confirming any of them.”
Jacob has the nerve to act insulted. “I never drink before I go on stage. Well, anymore.” He rubs his hand over his throat. “I can’t do much talking at the interview anyway. I need to preserve these babies.”
“I’m sure they’ll pick up your slack.” He nods to Garrett, Alvin, and me.
Once we’re set free, I hunt Mallory down and find her stretched out in my bunk on the bus, reading a book. “Ready to blow this cage?” I ask.
“Thank goodness, I was starting to wonder if Peter locked you up before the show.”
“He can try.” I drop down on the sliver of mattress available and run my hand over Mallory’s legs up to her shoulders. “Would you like to go somewhere we have some privacy?”
She closes the book and rolls to her side. “More than anything. I’m all packed.”
I pick up her duffel bag, find my own and stuff a few things inside, then take her hand. “Peter arranged early check-ins for us.”
Outside, Mallory stretches her arms toward the sky. “I’m looking forward to a real bed.”
“Me too.” Not even for carnal purposes. I’ve got so many kinks in my neck and back from being jammed into the tiny bunk for so many nights, I’m not sure I’ll ever walk straight again. “Andrew behave himself after I left?”
She snort-laughs. “He’s crazy. He gave me his apple, and when I mentioned I wanted peanut butter to go with it, he stole a giant tub of it from the kitchen.”
Not sure I like any man—but especially Andrew—feeding my woman, I simply nod. “That’s nice.”
“I think it was his way of apologizing for last night.”
“Sure.”
“This has been a good tour for Kickstart, right?”
There’s no denying we’ve gained a lot of new fans. Robbie has been manning our merch booth and swears we sold more T-shirts than Vicious Vandals the other night. A big deal for the opening act. “Yeah, it’s been good.”
“I’m so happy you’ve found the success you deserve.”
“Ahhh.” I take her hand and spin her around the parking lot a few times until she’s laughing uncontrollably. “Success can never be owned, little dove. We only rent it. If we want to hang on to success, the rent’s due every day.”
“Wow.” She thumps into my chest and stares up at me. “That’s deep, Chaser.”
I lean down and whisper in her ear, “I’m going to pin your ankles to your ears when we get to our hotel room and show you the meaning of deep.”
She slicks her tongue over her bottom lip and darts a look at the tour bus. Good to know she wants me as bad as I want her, but I need a bed this time.
“Come on.”
We race across the hotel’s parking lot and into their front lobby.
The hotel’s desk clerk seems less than thrilled to have a bunch of dirty rock stars invading the place. Given some of the guys’ antics that have been reported in the papers on this tour, I can’t blame him.
“Hey.” I lower my voice and lean in. “Any chance you can put us on a different floor from the rest of my ‘em?” I glance at Mallory. “We’d like some quiet.”
He hums and flips through his giant book. “I can put you on the seventh floor. The rest of your party is on five.”
“Perfect. One more thing. Promise me you won’t give our room number out to anyone? No matter who asks. I don’t have any sisters or brothers. And my dad’s all the way in New York.”
“Yes, Mr. Adams.” He sighs as if he’s dealing with an idiot. “It’s against hotel policy to give out the room numbers or names of our guests.”
“Yeah, I get that, but some people are pretty persuasive.”
“I’ll make a note, you’re not to be disturbed.”
“Thank you.”
He hands me two keys. I sign some paper, and we head upstairs.
“What was that all about?” Mallory asks.
“I don’t want Andrew to call the desk clerk and say he’s my long-lost brother or some shit, so he can barge in on us to show off his collection of leather thongs.”
On this tour, I’d learned he owns enough tiny cock hammocks to be considered an actual collection. And on hot nights, that’s all he wears on stage. All this time I’d thought that was a rumor. But, nope one-hundred percent true.
“Oh. Good call.”
Finally alone in our room, I slide all the locks home and turn to face her. She’s closer than I expected and reaches up to brush her fingers against my jaw and cup my face. “I’m so happy we’re finally alone.”
“You have no idea.” I lean down and press my lips to hers, slowly licking her lip.
She moans, angling her head, seeking more. I press forward, gripping her hips and yanking her closer. I thoroughly tease her with soft nuzzling strokes of my tongue.
“More,” she whispers against my mouth.
I shift both hands lower to grab her ass, pulling her closer with a demanding grip.
Except for traffic noises from outside and our heavy breathing, the room is silent.
“Missed you.” I pull back and study her face. “I’m thrilled the show gave you the recurring role, but I can’t stand us being away from each other for so long.”
“I hate it too.”
“We’ll have to figure out a plan. So the next time I’m on tour, you can come see me more often.” Even as I say the words, I don’t know how that’s ever going to work. She can’t dictate the production schedule any more than I can decide the touring schedule.
“We’ll be off for the summer…Marilyn says there’s a movie audition. The director really wants me to read for it, but I’d be in Canada all summer then.”
>
“Fuck.” I look past her, staring out the window at the gray sky. Summer’s prime touring season. “We’ll work it out. I want you to nail that audition.”
She nods, but I see the hesitation in her eyes. “I mean it, Mallory. We’ll be fine. You’ll fly out to see me when you can, and I’ll fly to see you on our days off.”
“Okay.”
I glance at the clock. “We need to get downstairs and over to the arena. There’s a reporter from Rolling Stone who wants to interview us.”
“Us, you and me? Or us Kickstart?”
“All of the above.”
“Do I have time to change?” she asks.
“Only if I can watch.”
I’m stopped from following her to the bedroom by the phone ringing.
“I asked not to be disturbed,” I answer.
“Sorry, sir. There’s an Andrew—”
“Give me that,” someone mutters in the background. “Chaser! Brother, where are you?” Andrew yells into the phone.
“We’ll be down in a few minutes.”
“What room are you in?”
“Thirteen-oh-one.” Like most hotels, this one doesn’t have a thirteenth floor, so that should keep Andrew busy for a while.
“On my way!” He hangs up, without saying anything else.
I’m still laughing to myself, picturing Andrew running around looking for the thirteenth floor, when Mallory shouts, “Ready!”
I glance up and take in her outfit, slowly absorbing every beautiful detail.
Black suede boots, tiny denim skirt, bracelets laddered up her arms.
My breath stutters.
A Vicious Vandals T-shirt.
No. Nope. No way.
A cartoon version of Andrew’s goofy face sits smack between her tits.
Hell-to-the-fucking-no.
The frown on my face must be working overtime. Mallory blinks up at me. “What? Andrew gave me the shirt and asked me to wear it tonight.”
I bet he did.
“I thought it would be a nice gesture for the interview…both bands support each other…the way Andrew’s gone on MTV and the tour…” Her voice trails off as the fuck no expression on my face doesn’t soften.
Despite the tornado brewing inside me, I gently set my hands on Mallory’s shoulders and lean down so we’re eye-to-eye. “Baby, I love you so much. That was a very sweet idea. And you know I’d never be some controlling asshole who tells you what you can and cannot wear. You’re so fucking sexy in everything you put on your body.” I stop and take a breath. “But you absolutely cannot wear that tonight.”
Blow My Fuse (Hollywood Demons Book 2) Page 30