by Amity Cross
After everything it’d taken to get here, I trusted Sebastian to do the right thing, but I didn’t know if I could hold myself to the same standards. Here I was, thinking I was this forward-thinking modern woman, but secretly, I was a jealous mess over the beautiful women stripping at my man’s feet.
I couldn’t watch this, or shit was going to get messy.
Tugging on Harry’s sleeve, I said, “Can you tell Sebastian I’m going to get a drink?”
“There’s water here, Miss Rowe.” He went to hand me a bottle of water and I shook my head.
“I need to get a drink.”
“Oh.” He smiled, nodding sympathetically. “I’ll just be a moment.”
I stood back as he walked up behind Sebastian and relayed my message. The fan who got her boob signed had moved onto Damon and was currently thrusting her rack into his face.
Sebastian glanced back at me and mouthed, “Are you okay?”
I nodded.
Frowning, he whispered something into Harry’s ear then gestured for him to go as the line moved forward.
“They’re here for another forty-five minutes,” Harry said. “Where would you like to go?”
I narrowed my eyes. “He asked you to come with me, didn’t he?”
“The mall is packed with Beneath fans,” he replied. If he was offended by the fact I already wanted to ditch him, he didn’t show it. “You’ve been in the tabloids a lot since you and Mr. Hale started dating. It’s highly possible you’ll be recognised.”
“So I can’t walk through a shopping centre without being harassed? That’s a thing I have to worry about?” I sighed, realising that there were two kinds of Sebastian fans—ones that were for Juniper Rowe, and those that were for Mallory Grigorio. An image of a smoothie being dumped on my head flashed through my mind and my shoulders sagged.
“Possibly,” Harry replied.
“What a trip.” I curled my hands into fists and set my sights on the mall around us. “Okay, then. Let’s walk.”
Once Harry and I cleared the mass of Beneath fans at centre stage, we were able to stroll a little more freely. I took in my surroundings, hardly believing I was in America and had my first stamp in my crisp, new passport.
There were shops in the mall I hadn’t heard of, and ones I’d seen on TV back home. It was surreal being in another country—everything was so similar, yet so different. The money was strange, people had weird accents, everything was bigger, and it felt like I was walking in a dream…or on the set of a television show.
“There’s a Tasti D-Lite here,” I declared, staring at a brightly lit ice cream parlour. Me, like everyone else outside of America, had seen it on an old episode of Sex and the City once. “I thought it was a New York thing.”
“It is,” Harry said. “They’re opening stores all over the place now. Would you like some? It’s really good.” He pulled some cash out of his pocket and wiggled his eyebrows up and down. “Courtesy of Mr. Hale, of course.”
“Oh, you’re wicked.” I took the money and laughed. “He gave me a credit card, can you believe it?”
“I can, because he asked me to organise it. Don’t be shy about using it, either.” He nodded towards the menu. “What would you like?”
“Something with sprinkles,” I declared. “You can’t have ice cream without them.”
We both ordered large cups, and once we were armed with our whipped ice cream, we found a table in the food court.
“How long have you worked for Sebastian?” I asked, before shoving a spoonful in my mouth. “Holy fuck, this is amazing.”
“I told you!” He smiled as he nodded towards the ice cream. “I’ve been working for Mr. Hale for about seven months. Though, I don’t think he released I was even there until a few weeks ago.”
“Why?”
“Oh, I think it has to do with a certain woman.” His smile was contagious, and I grinned back at him.
“Has Sebastian really changed that much?” I mused out loud.
His reputation certainly proceeded him wherever he went. Mother’s locked up their daughters while the mothers creamed their knickers, there were detailed waivers for each hotel they had to sign pertaining to damages, and staff at various establishments expected them to act a certain way—loud and obnoxious, with a side of possible violence—and catered for any fallout.
“Yes,” Harry declared, “he has.”
“I want to ask how, but I’m not sure I’d like the answer.”
“Mr. Hale loves women,” he said as he dug his spoon into his ice cream. “It’s refreshing to get a call at two a.m. and be asked to pick up clothing, rather than taking a trip down to the local 7-Eleven for…personal items.”
I tensed, the green-eyed jealous monster reared its ugly head once more. Condoms for fucking other women. That was before me, I reminded myself. That’s not the guy I know.
“So, do you like your job?” Changing the subject was a great idea right about now, but the colour began to drain from Harry’s face and he glanced away. Maybe not the right subject, then. “You can tell me. I’m an outsider here. Have you forgotten I’m enemy number one? Vix and I braid each other’s hair every night, didn’t you know?”
His shoulders relaxed and he laughed. “I bet she loves it.”
“We text each other all day and talk about boys.” I rolled my eyes. “And share all our hopes and dreams.”
“The only dream Vix has is owning her own mansion in Calabasas next door to a Kardashian.”
I snorted and covered my mouth before I spat ice cream all over the table. Harry disliked her just as much as I did, which meant he wasn’t one of her little spies. Good.
“So, do you like being Sebastian’s assistant?”
“It’s tough being on call, but I get to travel the world and get paid while I’m doing it. Sometimes it’s… Well, it’s shit when a tiny mistake means I get the shit ripped outta me, but I have a feeling it’s going to get better.”
I stared at him in surprise. “Sebastian yells at you? Over what?”
“Mr. Hale didn’t know I existed until you came along. He used to call me ‘that guy,’ so he never yelled at me about anything. It’s Vix and her entourage who lord it over the other assistants. Almost everyone is in her back pocket.” He must’ve realised that what he was saying might get him into trouble, because he straightened up and schooled his expression into his usual passive professional nothingness.
“Don’t worry, Harry,” I said. “Your secret is safe with me.” I scooped out the last of my ice cream and shoved it into my mouth. Letting it melt on my tongue, I pondered our situation.
“Is it what you expected?” His question took me a little by surprise, but I had opened up the friendship door. “Being here, I mean.”
“I had an idea of what it was going to be like, but… The reality is different.” I sighed, mulling over the scene back at the signing. “I was living in a town with one hundred people in it. Now it’s all paparazzi, parties, sold out concerts, and private jets. I think I’m just going to need a minute, you know?”
“It’s a demanding life.” Harry nodded, gazing at me with an air of adoration that made me feel slightly uncomfortable. “Even looking from the outside in, I can see the pressure the band is under. Even we get worn down after a while. I haven’t had a steady relationship in years. I can’t even remember the last boyfriend I had that stuck around more than a couple of months.”
I tilted my head to the side. “Boyfriend?”
“I know, right? Not many people pick up the gay factor. Maybe that’s part of the problem.”
“Is this what you want to do?” I asked. “Be an assistant to a rock star?”
“Not exactly, but it’s a foot in the door,” Harry admitted. “It’s a way to build contacts, get to know people, who they work for, what they do. I’m just the assistant, but I get to talk to everyone. If I make a good impression, all those important people will remember my name. When I finally move up and manage a band of my
own, they’ll want to do business with me because I wasn’t just another douche assistant.”
Small had nothing on what I was feeling right about now. Harry had it together, knew what he wanted, and was making the necessary sacrifices to get there. I felt like a stage-five clinger, hanging onto Sebastian while floundering at life.
Harry checked his watch and began to gather our trash. “We better go back, Miss—” I held up my spoon and scowled at him. He coughed and smiled at me. “Juniper.”
“That’s better. When you call me Miss Rowe, I feel like a school teacher.”
“Duly noted.”
On our walk back to the signing, my anxiety began to rise. The crowd was still at capacity, but it seemed to have thinned some.
I swallowed hard and glanced at Harry. “Do you think all the boobs are put away now?”
He threaded his arm through mine and smiled in an attempt to reassure me. “There’s always boobs, but it’s just part of their image. Tits don’t mean much in this scenario, not to Mr. Hale.”
“Oh fuck, do you hear what we’re saying? We’re talking about boobs like they’re weapons of mass destruction.” Despite myself, I started to laugh. This was silly, feeling jealous over a signature on a random boob.
“I love tits,” Josh said as he climbed down off the stage. “They all came out to see me today and now my Sharpie has run out of ink.”
The first date of Beneath’s four-month tour of the United States kicked off at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California.
Backstage, Sebastian was pacing again.
I’d found myself a cool ripped T-shirt from the selection hanging on the rack by the dressing room door and pulled it on, my comfy black jeans hugged my arse, and my feet were shoved into my trusty combat boots. I’d even done my makeup, trying out the smokey eye look again. There was no need to dress up for a concert, but I wanted to look at least halfway bad arse, especially since I had an image to uphold—the girlfriend of Sebastian Hale, rock god.
“Do you want me to watch tonight?” I asked from my perch on the table.
“There’s a VIP area out in the stadium,” Sebastian said, stopping before me. “You’re welcome to watch from out there, or on the screens back here. I’d love to have you waiting for me in the wings, but they don’t like people hanging out on the side of the stage here.”
“That’s cool.” I snaked my arms around his neck. “It’ll be good to see you play from out there.”
“Knowing you’re out there watching…” He sucked in a sharp breath and angled his head towards mine. “I’m hard just thinking about it.”
I moved closer to him, my body brushing against his. “How many people are out there?”
He thought about it for a moment. “Forty thousand, give or take.”
“Forty thousand people?” My eyes widened. “Seriously?”
“They’ll think I’m singing for them, but I’m singing for you.”
“Lucky me.”
His mouth found mine and we kissed, long and hard, his tongue swiping deep.
“Kill ‘em dead out there,” I said, my breath catching.
“Kill ‘em dead? What happened to break a leg?”
“It’s too tame for the likes of you,” I retorted, giving him another swift kiss.
Leaving Sebastian to his pre-show rituals, I wandered through the backstage area. It wasn’t long before I got horribly lost and turned around and had to ask a security guard to show me the way. When I finally made it, the size of the Staples Center was overwhelming, so I scurried to find an empty seat in the roped off area before I got vertigo and fell down the starts.
Scanning the stadium, my heart swelled. Every day I was with Sebastian, my eyes were opened a little wider. A surprise tour with hardly any notice was sold out within minutes, and on this scale—my mind was blown. I had no idea how many people loved this band. Beneath was a phenomenon.
“Hey!”
I glanced up as a woman edged her way down the row, waving at me as she went. I froze slightly as I realised she was yet another beautiful woman in a long line who gravitated to Beneath. Her long black hair was styled in soft waves, and her outfit was relaxed yet she managed to radiate the confidence of a catwalk model. The black Beneath T-shirt she wore was knotted at her waist, showing off her toned midriff, and the leather-look-a-like leggings she wore left little to the imagination. Chunky heels and a leather biker jacket finished off her ensemble. Basically, she looked like a tough bitch with a side of Vogue.
“Juniper, right?” I nodded, and she took it as an invitation to sit beside me. She studied my outfit, blatantly measuring my Instagram-ability, or something like it. “Oh, your hair is so pretty! Is that your natural colour? If not, I need the name of your hairstylist.”
“Oh, it’s natural.” I blinked, dazed by the raven-haired woman who seemed to have installed herself as my surrogate best friend without even introducing herself. Apparently, I was supposed to know her already.
“Ugh, I’m so jealous. My hair is impossible to colour. Something about all the pigment.” She waved her hand and looked out over the stadium.
“I’m sorry,” I said, “but who are you?”
“I’m Victoria,” she replied, her accent sounding strange. One minute it was American, the next it had hints of Australian. “I’m Damon’s little sister.”
“Oh, I didn’t know he had any siblings.”
She rolled her eyes and flicked her hair over her shoulder, throwing a waft of some expensive perfume my way. “Ugh, it’s so like him not to mention me.”
“Well, if it makes you feel any better, I haven’t had much chance to get to know him yet. Things have been crazy.”
“I’ve seen. It’s been all over the tabloids, you poor thing.” She fluttered her eyelashes at me. “Those people can really sink their claws in a person.”
I blinked, not knowing how to take her.
“So, you and Seb, huh?” Victoria leaned back and smiled knowingly, waiting for me to spill.
Thankfully, Harry chose that moment appear out of the darkness.
“Juniper,” he glanced from me to Victoria,, “Mr. Hale wanted me to make sure you knew to meet him in his dressing room directly after the concert.” Leaning closer, he murmured into my ear, “That’s Damon’s sister, Victoria. She’s in Mallory’s squad.”
I knew the first bit, but the second was a revelation. Suddenly, I was glad I’d taken the time to get to know Harry at the signing that afternoon and hadn’t withdrawn like I typically did in uncomfortable situations. He had my back when it counted.
“Thanks, Harry.” I winked at him and he moved off, returning to his post backstage.
Could it really be true? Mallory Grigorio felt threatened by me?
I was the small-town girl with a tragic past, had no family, was homeless, and had no prospects or claim to fame, yet here was a member of her ‘squad’ trying her darnedest to get information out of me. Mallory was a super successful pop star with legions of fans, her own millions, and everything else going for her, yet she was obsessing over her ex’s new girlfriend to the point she’d sent one of her gal pals on a reconnaissance mission. It boggled the mind, it really did.
“So, Juniper,” Victoria asked, smirking at me, “what do you do with yourself?”
“Oh, I’m between gigs at the moment, so I’m just spending time with Sebastian on tour for the next little while.” I smiled sweetly. “What do you do?”
“Oh, I’m a model. I just did a shoot the other day for Harper’s Bazaar.”
“How exciting. I bet you get to go to all kinds of amazing places and wear all kinds of hot clothes.”
Her eyes lit up and she nodded. “I did Paris Fashion Week this year. The shows and parties are to die for. It’s crazy busy, but it’s such a rush. You should come to the next one.” Her expression caved into shock as fast as she schooled it to perfection again. She obviously wasn’t supposed to be inviting me places. “If you’re still here, that is.”
“If I’m still here?”
“I don’t mean to be bitchy, it’s just…” She paused and glanced around, making sure no one was listening. “Seb doesn’t really have the greatest track record where relationships are concerned. Meaning, he doesn’t really have any.”
Her words cut, but I didn’t allow it to show, not in front of her. Subterfuge, I thought. Sebastian warned me about this.
“You seem really cool,” she went on, laying it on thick. “I wouldn’t want you to be blindsided by anything.”
“There’s a first for everything,” I said with a bright smile. “You can report back to Mallory and tell her that Sebastian and I are gloriously happy together. We make hot, delicious love at least four times a day. Sometimes it’s double, and I can scarcely walk without feeling the aftershocks of all the explosive orgasms he gives me. See you at Fashion Week!”
And with that, I stood up and strode off, moving up two rows so I could watch the concert in peace.
13
Sebastian
San Francisco was a great city. It was just a shame I never got to see any of it.
After the fifth visit, the sheen had well and truly worn off, but being with Juniper and watching her excitement as she saw the Golden Gate Bridge for the first time made my cold heart warm…just a little.
We’d played two shows in LA and we’d just wrapped up the first of another two in San Fran. Next week, we were heading to Las Vegas for two days, then who knew after that. Day to day life was already becoming a blur. Maybe it was Phoenix. The only thing I remembered about Phoenix was the cactuses…or was it cacti?
“Fuckin’ Earth to Sebastian.”
A fist slammed into my arm and I scowled at Vix, who was sitting next to me in the car. We were on our way to some radio interview while Juniper was out sightseeing. What I wouldn’t give to be out there with her than in here with the untamable shrew.
“What?” I snapped.
“We’re almost at the radio gig,” she replied. “Try to keep talk on the tour and the new album, okay?”
