King of Nice

by R H Tucker

  I cringe at the thought but still have a smirk.

  “Roxy,” Leah snaps. Looking over at me, a frown forms over her lips. “Skye, uh … there’s something you should probably see.”

  My eyes jump back to Roxy, who can’t look at me. Staring at the countertop, she starts to frown, too.

  “Jeez, guys. You’re acting like someone died. What is it?”

  Taking a deep breath, Leah glances over at Roxy, but she doesn’t return the stare. Reaching for the tablet that sits in front of her, she opens the cover on it and pulls up a browser, which already shows the gossip website, Page Five. The headline catches me instantly.

  “The King of Nice is Dead - Long Live the King of Vegas,” I read it aloud to myself. My eyes snap up to Roxy. “What is this?”

  When she doesn’t answer, my eyes find Leah, who can’t keep eye contact with me. “EJ kind of … maybe you should read it.”

  “We all thought the King of Bad would rule Vegas during the Kings of Karmichael’s monthly stay for the Rocket and Moon Music Festival,” I read aloud. “No one thought the Kings’ resident Mr. Nice Guy would hold his coming out party as a heartthrob himself. First, there was a red carpet make-out session, but last night, EJ Tyler got in yet another Vegas brawl. Onlookers said he was defending the honor of Skye Robbins, bassist for The Electrocutes, and who the King has been linked to.”

  I look up at Leah, confused. “I don’t understand. This is what we’ve been aiming to do.”

  She stares at Roxy. When Leah doesn’t answer, I glance at Roxy, who frowns and nods to the tablet. “Keep scrolling.”

  Sliding my finger across the screen, I jerk my hand back, seeing a picture of EJ making out with Crystal Diaz. “What …”

  “Sorry, Skye.”

  “After Robbins left the party, being held by reality star Gracie James, EJ seemed to embrace his new role,” I continue reading under my breath. “Doing shots with Crystal Diaz, then dancing with her on the dance floor, both with his feet and his tongue.”

  I take a deep breath and turn off the tablet. Closing my eyes, I don’t know how to react. What I told them was true, this is what we’ve been working toward. I started this, and turning us into an actual couple was never part of the plan, no matter how many times I thought there was something between us. EJ’s a good guy. That doesn’t change the fact that he knew as well as I did what this was. This was an arrangement.

  I’m sure last night, even if he likes hanging out with me, he remembered that. We were at a party with celebrities and paparazzi everywhere. Why wouldn’t he capitalize on that to finally put the nail in his King of Nice coffin?

  “Skye?” Leah asks, reaching over and touching my arm.

  “It’s fine,” I reply.

  I can tell from her expression she doesn’t believe me. After glancing at Roxy, she looks back at me. “Are you—”

  “It’s fine, you guys.” I try to sound unfazed. “I told you, this was always the plan. Now …” I search for the words, feeling the emotion in my throat and eyes. Blinking it away, I shake my head. “Now, we just need to make sure I can capitalize on this. What would’ve been better was if I had been there.”

  “What?” Roxy asks, staring at me like I’m crazy.

  “If I had caught him, I could’ve run out of there, acting like he broke my heart. He seems to have finally dirtied his name enough, and that would’ve been the clincher for me.”

  “Skye, it’s all right if you’re not okay with this. I know you like him,” Leah says.

  “It doesn’t matter.”

  “Skye.”

  “I’m serious.” I adjust my tone, hoping to come across confident. “Look, this was my plan. Our plan, actually, if I remember correctly. You guys, this was never going to be a happily ever after. It was a means to an end.”

  “But …” Roxy keeps her eyes on me, her face strewn with confusion and sympathy. “You guys are … I like you two together. Skye, he has to feel something for you. I know you do, too.”

  “None of that matters.” I fold my arms across my chest. “He obviously isn’t as into me as you think. He knows what this is.”

  They stay quiet, their eyes roaming from me to the counter, then around the room. Roxy opens her mouth to counter my argument, but then she closes it. Offering me a sympathetic frown, Leah reaches over to hug me.

  Before she can touch me, I spin around and head back to my room. “I’m gonna take a shower.”

  It was all an arrangement, and now it’s coming to an end. What we had was never real. So why do I feel like he cheated on me last night?

  27

  EJ

  After sneaking out of the party last night, I headed home, ate a slice of cold pizza, and then passed out. I feel like crap for making out with Crystal, even though technically, I guess there’s no reason to. Skye and I aren’t a real couple, so I shouldn’t feel bad about kissing someone else, but I do. So the first thing I do is send a text message to Skye since she said to contact her today.

  But that was yesterday, and she didn’t reply all day.

  Now we’re driving all over Vegas for some interviews, another photoshoot, and a VIP meet and greet before our performance tonight.

  I’m sitting with Jade in the back row of the huge SUV we’ve been driving around in. Maddox calls out from the seat in front of us, “Hey, no handholding back there!”

  “Very funny,” I spit back dryly.

  It’s a little funnier today, now that everything is out in the open about Skye and me, but only a little. To think Derrik thought Jade and I were going out behind their backs is still crazy to me. I love Jade, and she is hot, but she’s also like a sister to me. And not in the “best friend’s hot little sister you should stay away from” kind. Besides that, she has a boyfriend. I’d never do that. Which reminds me again of last night, and I feel bad about it all over again.

  Getting to our last radio interview, I check my phone for what may be the hundredth time. Still no messages from Skye. Shaking my head at myself, I shove my phone back in my pocket and take a seat. I place the headset over my head, and listen as the disc jockey plays the intro to the radio show.

  “We have in the studio with us now one of the headliners of the Rocket and Moon Fest, the Kings of Karmichael. How are you guys?”

  “Good,” Derrik answers for us.

  “We will be taking callers, offering two VIP passes for next weekend’s show, and we will start taking calls for that in just a minute, but, you guys! We have to get to what everyone seems to be talking about today. EJ Tyler, the King of Nice is dead!”

  Maddox laughs, and I offer my own embarrassed chuckle.

  “Everyone knows you’ve been the nice guy in the band, so much so that you were given the name King of Nice. But you seem to have killed that monarch and are usurping his throne. Who is this EJ Tyler?”

  A nervous laugh floats out, and I look around the room to find Jade and the rest staring at me. “Um … yeah, I don’t know.”

  “Oh, come on,” the DJ hits back. “There’s got to be more to it than that. Plus, you’ve been seen around town with Skye Robbins of The Electrocutes, who are also performing at the festival. What gives, man? Where’s this new side of EJ coming from? The public wants to know.”

  “Oh, this EJ Tyler?” Maddox laughs, shaking my shoulders. “This is the guy we’ve been saving for Vegas. We just had to make sure he broke out of his shell.”

  “Right,” I laugh at his comment. “Seriously, it’s not a big deal. It’s like they say, what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas.”

  “Yeah, except when the world knows you.”

  Another nervous chuckle. “Um, yeah, so about the show.”

  “Right, right.” He waves me off. “Okay, we’ll get back to the music festival, but I do need to ask just one more question. Your new attitude is not the only thing everyone is talking about. Crystal Diaz, what is going on there? Have you moved on from Skye, and are you dating Crystal now?”

  “What? No,
nothing like that.” When no one else speaks up, including the DJ, I try to think of something else to say. “It’s … um, we’re just friends, you know? The Crystal thing just kind of happened, and me and Skye … we’re just friends.”

  “With benefits!” Maddox shouts, laughing.

  “Long live the king,” the DJ retorts with a chuckle, but it doesn’t make me feel any better.

  In the grand scheme of things, it’s probably the best thing to say. It shows everyone that I’m not attached to anyone particular, and that means I’m not in a relationship. I’m just a guy doing what every young, single guy in Vegas would probably be doing. Still, it doesn’t make me feel any better about everything that happened last night.

  After our last stop of the day, a meet and greet at the Hard Rock Hotel, we finally get to the festival with only a couple of hours before our set time. And I still haven’t heard back from Skye. I’ve put off sending her another text message because I didn’t want to come off needy or anything like that, but I can’t stand this.

  Me: Are u there?

  Me: Is ur phone broken?

  Me: U said we should talk.

  “Hey, you okay?” Jade asks while we hang out in our backstage room.

  “Yeah.” I nod, twisting my phone in my fingers. Maddox and Derrik are backstage somewhere else, I think filming something for a Youtube channel.

  Laughing, she sits down next to me on the couch in our room. “Okay, that sounds anything but certain.”

  “That’s because it isn’t.” Lifting my shoulders, I turn my phone back on to see no new messages. “The other night, before she left the party, she told me that we should talk. I was actually looking forward to it, but I’ve texted her and she still hasn’t replied.”

  She pinches her lips together and gives me an expression I’ve seen before. Two years ago, when we first started touring, she got into an argument with Maddox. Without thinking, she pushed him, and he tumbled over my guitar stand backstage. The guitar fell, and the neck broke on it. By the time I got back and saw it, I found Jade with a grief-stricken face. The same one that she has now.

  “What?” I ask.

  “So, I don’t know that this might be the reason, but … Have you seen Page Five?”

  “What, the kiss?” I reply, dumbfounded. “Jade, come on. It was a stupid drunk kiss. Skye and I aren’t really a couple, there’s no way she could possibly be mad over that.”

  First, she stares at me like she doesn’t recognize me. Then she starts laughing and slaps my shoulder. “Oh, EJ. I forget that you’re new to all of this.” She taps my phone in my hand. “That girl? You two may not be technically a couple, but something is going on, and she likes you. So whether you’re really together or not, seeing you with another girl was probably painful for her. And it’s Page Five, so you know she’s seen it.”

  Staring at the dark screen on my phone, I start to turn it over in my fingers once again. “What should I do?”

  “Don’t give up. Maybe try to talk to her tomorrow. Just don’t give up until you two really talk and figure it all out.”

  28

  Skye

  EJ: R u mad at me?

  It’s been four days since the party. Since the kiss. And I haven’t thought about it at all. I didn’t think about it on Sunday when he texted me all day. Or when I knew he was performing with his band. Not on Monday, when he tried calling me. Three times. And I haven’t thought about it yesterday or today, re-reading text messages, which ended yesterday asking if I was mad at him.

  “You can’t avoid him forever.”

  “I’m not avoiding him, Leah.” All three of us are walking through the shops at Caesar’s Palace. Since it’s the last week we’re in Vegas, we’ve been lounging all week, revisiting some of our favorite places, and making sure we check out any place we might’ve missed. “And it’s not forever. It’s only another week. Actually, less than a week.”

  “Skye, just talk to him. It’s obvious he’s making an effort.”

  “Rox, there’s nothing to try and make an effort over. You know what this was. I know what this was. And most importantly, he knows what this was. It’s much better to cut him off, cold turkey.”

  “Well, you can’t do that,” Leah responds.

  Walking into a high-end retail place, she starts to browse a rack of sparkly tops, while I chew on the straw to my iced mochaccino. “Stop hassling me about this!” I growl, still clenching the straw between my teeth.

  “Whoa! Down, girl.” She giggles, giving me a side-eye. “First of all, if that reaction doesn’t prove once and for all that you do like him, then you’re hopeless.” I roll my eyes at her comment, starting to browse the shimmering tops myself. “Secondly, if you’re insistent on lying to yourself, at least make sure you have your timeline in order. You can’t cut him off cold turkey yet because you still need your breakup scene with him.”

  I cringe, wrinkling my nose. “The breakup. Ugh, I forgot about that.”

  “Is this too much?” Roxy holds up a shirt that appears to be about three sizes too small for her, and bright neon green. Leah and I both look at each other, and then give her a cringing nod of the head. “Thought so.” Hanging it up, she folds her arm. “The breakup shouldn’t be a problem for you though, right, Skye? I mean, if you don’t like him.”

  A line crosses my brow, and I snap my head at her. Leah perks up, watching intently, and I remember what I’ve been telling them. What I’ve been trying to believe myself. “Right. Of course not.”

  Shaking her head at me, Leah moves over to another stand of clothes. “Whatever. I’m not going to fight you on this anymore, so if you’re insistent on never coming to terms—”

  “There’s nothing to come to terms with.”

  “Then, you need to figure out how to end it. The deal was for you to be heartbroken. How are you gonna make sure everyone believes that?”

  She’s not wrong. It’s been something that’s been on my mind lately. I thought about just calling it off two days ago. Using the pictures posted everywhere of EJ kissing Crystal would’ve been the perfect opportunity as far as breakups go. But I need to prove I’m in love with him. Which will be difficult if I don’t talk to him again before the festival ends.

  Leah’s phone rings, and I step over to Roxy, shaking my head at another top she’s looking at. Glancing over at Leah, I see her eyes widen, and she smiles at both of us. “Oh, that sounds amazing,” she says to whoever’s on the other end. “Tomorrow? Totally! We’ll be there.”

  Hanging up, she slides her phone away and starts jumping up and down.

  “What’s going on?” Roxy asks.

  “That was Scott—”

  “No,” Roxy interrupts, “our manager is not cutting off my access to clubs. I talked to him after the party, he said we’re fine.”

  Leah laughs. “Roxy, it’s not about that. Lost Link’s album just went double-platinum.”

  “Oh, that’s amazing. Good for them,” I say.

  “Yeah, and our label is throwing a party for them tomorrow night. They’re inviting a bunch of people to go, some artists from our label who are in town, and people who had guest spots on the album. You guys, it’ll be like an A-List party. Scott has us walking the carpet and everything.”

  “Wait a minute.” A finger goes to my lips, tapping away at the idea forming. “People who did guest spots on their album?” Leah nods. “Crystal Diaz sang the hook on one of their songs.”

  “So?” Roxy asks.

  “So that means she’ll be there. Tomorrow night’s the perfect spot for the breakup to happen. I can invite EJ, we can break up, and I’ll make a dramatic exit. We both win.”

  Leah and Roxy stare at one another.

  “What?”

  “Nothing,” Roxy replies, rolling her eyes. “Sounds like the perfect way for you both to get what you want.”

  I wring my fingers, waiting at the café in the lobby of our hotel. I sent EJ a message a few minutes ago, seeing if he was in the area, an
d he said he was just hanging out in his penthouse. Ever since we got the call, I’ve been going back and forth about this. As much as Leah and Roxy want to believe that I like EJ, and as much as I’m trying to do my best to show them that I don’t, we all know the truth.

  But the truth doesn’t help in this situation. Because we have a deal. And EJ already proved that he’s fulfilling his part of it. Now I have to deliver on my end.

  “Hey,” EJ says, catching me off guard, sitting in the chair across from me at the small table.

  “Hey.”

  “How’s everything?” His smile forces a genuine one out of me.

  No, Skye. Stick to the plan. “It’s good, thanks. Gearing up for this last weekend.”

  “Cool. So … I wasn’t sure if everything was okay between us. I’ve been texting you. A lot, actually. You probably think I’m a stalker now.” He laughs, but it’s not one of the normal ones, with a slightly crooked smile that softens his light brown eyes. It’s a nervous laugh.

  “No, EJ. I don’t think you’re a stalker.”

  “Then …”

  Stretching my fingers, I take a deep breath. What’s wrong with me? This is what the plan was, right?

  “So, I knew we needed to talk, and I think—” I start, but he cuts me off.

  “Yeah, I was thinking the same thing. Skye, I know you probably saw that kiss at the party, but I just wanted you to know—”

  “EJ, it’s fine.”

  “It is?”

  The unsure expression across his face almost makes me doublethink this whole plan. It reminds me of the time we spent on the High Roller, on the red carpet, or in my room. Those memories are real and their feelings with them. But this didn’t start because he asked me out, or we were set up on a blind date. It started because of me and my plan. And maybe he might feel something for me, but it’s not enough to keep his drunken lips off of other people. Which just proves that he’s still on board with the plan, too.