by JA Low
“So what does it say?” Evan asks, curiously looking at the Arabic writing.
الجايات أحسن من الرايحات.
“What is coming is better than what is gone.”
Derrick and Evan stand in silence taking in the words.
“Fuck, Si, that is cool,” Derrick pipes up, giving me a grin.
Evan just nods, handing me a bottle of water.
“You’re up next, let me just clean up and get fresh supplies,” Zander addresses Derrick with a smile.
Ten minutes later it is Derrick’s turn to be in the hot seat. Laying on his back with his shirt pulled up, pants pulled down exposing his hip, he is getting the words ‘Suck my…’ You can guess the rest when your eyes fall to where that sentence finishes. He thinks it’s hilarious, as does Zander.
Meeting up with Vanessa and Isla, all of us tattoo virgins on a high, we show each other what we got. The guys high five Derrick on his tattoo as well. I think some of the boys were jealous of D’s idea. Isla got a cute little feather behind her ear, and Vanessa got blackbirds across her foot. Some of the boys even headed next door to the barber shop to get themselves cleaned up. Once we were all finished, we headed to the California Bros. bar. The other brother, Weston, ran the bar while Ash ran the barber shop.
“Do my eyes deceive me? Am I being graced by the presence of Dirty Texas?” The guy, who I assume is Weston, comes bounding over toward us. “Zander called and said you were coming in. Come on, follow me, we’ll set you up.”
Walking through the semi busy bar, out the back to some stairs, we enter a deck area which overlooks Venice Beach. “You shouldn’t be harassed up here. So, are we having the usual, fellas?” he asks, to which they all nodded.
“Ladies? Bottles of champagne, or would you like beer?” he asks, raising his eyebrows because I'm pretty sure he wasn’t expecting us to agree to the beer. He suggested sending up a tasting rack of their in-house beers for us all to try.
Weston’s eyes lock onto Isla’s. “Good to see you again, Isla.”
Making her blush, Isla mumbles a ‘hello’ to Weston.
“Still waiting for you to get back to me about that date,” he states, smiling at her.
“She’ll be busy. We're off to Europe soon,” Finn answers for her.
My eyes are bouncing between the two men.
Isla’s mouth gapes opened at Finn before saying, “Ignore him, Wes, he’s just doing my brother’s dirty work while he’s not here. Let’s catch up before I go. I’ll text you.” Her smile so bright it’s blinding.
Finn grumbles about it.
Wes' face lights up.
I was internally high-fiving Isla. Good on her. I bet she has no time to date when she has to look after these guys all the time. Plus, Wes is hot, why not enjoy his company before she goes to Europe? Finally, the rest of the band joins us for a drink. The beers are pretty good, but we switched to champagne after the first round, then cocktails after that. The late afternoon turned into evening quite quickly. The paparazzi hear the boys are at the bar and camped out on the beach to get photos; luckily the plants have hidden us from their view. The top area is blocked off from the rest of the patrons so we won’t be disturbed. Zander and Rachel join us once they’ve finished their day, as does their brother, Ash. Seriously, this family was birthed by super models.
Evan catches me coming back from the restrooms. Pulling me behind a plant, he kisses me like crazy. “I’m so hard for you at the moment,” he whispers into my ear, while taking my hand and rubbing it against his jeans. He most definitely is. “Watching you get your first tattoo today was sexy as fuck, but I didn’t like the way Zander looked at you or that he had his hands on you.”
I roll my eyes at his declaration. We had kept our hands to ourselves while we sat around drinking and talking; and it was hard, especially when I overheard one of the waitresses saying that she was going to try and hook up with Evan again. My eyes were looking at the petite, young blonde, her perky breasts pushing out from under her tight black top, her booty shorts showing off a sweet ass. I noticed Evan’s eyes glance at her a couple of times making my stomach turn, but then he would catch mine, raise his glass in my direction and give me a wink. Bastard.
“It’s the same way I feel knowing a woman you have slept with is walking around here and is trying for round two.”
Evan’s face drops, he looks at me seriously for a moment, a cocky grin plastering across his face a moment later. “Honestly, I don’t remember, but if it helps, she’s slept with all the men at the table.”
I let out a gasp. Yeah, I guess that does help.
“The only woman I’m taking home is the one standing in front of me,” he says, kissing me again.
Wrapping my arms around his neck, I reply, “Good answer. Now take me home, Evan.”
18
Evan
“Seriously, I can’t believe you're dragging me here,” I grumble, as we all fall out of the SUV. It is too fucking early for my liking. Pushing my sunglasses over my eyes I try to starve off the glare of the sun. The loud pitched squeals of children pierce my hungover brain.
“This is the best idea ever,” Christian beams with excitement. He is bouncing on his feet; his eyes are wide with exhilaration. Of course, Disneyland is one of his favorite places; he gets to be a big kid.
“Here, grumpy, put this on,” Sienna says, handing me a pair of Mickey Mouse ears.
Is she fucking serious?
Her face lights up with a huge smile; my breath catches for a moment as she pops on a pair of pink Minnie Mouse ears. How can I deny her anything when she's looking at me like that?
“You want to be the Mickey to my Minnie?” she asks, whispering into my ear.
“How the hell do you make mouse ears look fucking sexy? You’re messing with my head. My cock doesn’t know if he should be happy or not. Stop confusing him.”
Letting out a laugh, Sienna smiles and bounces back to her friends.
My eyes watch her go, she is perfect.
“Suck it up, princess. It will be all over soon,” Oscar says, slapping me on the back as he walks away with a pair of ears on his head.
We look ridiculous, but at least everyone else does as well.
Okay, okay. I take back my Scrooge ways, today was fantastic. We did the classic rides, It's A Small World, the spinning cups at the Mad Hatters Tea Party which made me want to hurl, the Matterhorn Bobsleds, Pirates of the Caribbean, Space Mountain and a million others that we tried. Of course, we had to try all of the food that was on offer; burgers, fries, ice cream – you name it, we ate it, which is why we are running around like mad men on a sugar high.
We also went shopping. Everyone bought character t-shirts for one another. We got our photos taken with nearly all the characters walking around the park. Of course, we were stopped for photos and autographs ourselves, but it didn’t matter because we were all in such a good mood that the constant attention, for once, wasn’t a burden. It also helped being a VIP; we could scoot to the front of the line on all the rides. We cuddled farm animals and a goat bit Finn’s ass. That had us laughing our asses off. We rode the monorail around the park when our feet got too sore.
We also jumped onto the train, and then the paddle steamer. We tried some old fashioned shooting games in Frontierland too. Growing up on the farm, I had those city slickers beat. Of course, I was the champion, winning a huge Mickey Mouse that I gave to Sienna. She declined it which hurt a little, but then I realized she wanted me to give it to a little girl in a wheelchair who had been watching us instead. It was such a generous thing for her to do. I’ve met many women who would’ve cherished that toy as if it was gold bullion.
As day turned into night, we decided we would head out to Downtown Disney for a meal then back again to watch the fireworks. We settled on the House of Blues for music and booze. The ladies appreciated the cocktail menu, and we feasted on burgers, salads and maybe one too many cocktails. The conversation was flowing nicely; ever
yone was in such a great mood. Christian even suggested we get up on the stage for an impromptu concert; maybe he was drunker than we thought, but after the girls started shrieking with delight, we did just that. The manager quickly kicked off the house band and handed over their equipment.
“Good evening,” Axel croons into the mic. The crowded dining room and bar erupt into cheers.
“Just thought we would give you a little jam session before we head to Europe on tour. If there is anyone out there not sure who we are, we are Dirty Texas.”
The crowd goes crazy; girls run to the front of the stage trying to get closer to us. Our girls right up there with them, pretending to be crazy fans screaming our names. I think they may have had a little too much sun and cocktails. Sienna looks gorgeous with her sun-kissed skin and pink cheeks. She’s dressed in a stupid Elsa from Frozen t-shirt and a pair of pink Minnie Mouse ears. Her face lighting up while catching my gaze as we launch into our first song, and biggest hit, "Dirty."
Never taking my eyes off Sienna, as my fingers play with the strings of the guitar, I sing into my microphone. I am singing to her as if I am giving her a private show. She stands in front of me singing, dancing and shaking her booty. I’ve never felt more alive than I did in this moment, the first time in a long time I played for someone I wanted to impress. I tried to show her a piece of my soul, laid bare, just for her.
Maybe it was me that had way too much sun; thinking these thoughts, shaking my head because Sienna and I were only temporary. Once we arrived in London, that was it, no more sneaking around. It pained me, but I needed to break the connection that’s happening between us. So, I let my eyes look around the stage area where it was now four-person deep of screaming women, all trying to get our attention, and stupidly I decide to give it to them. I need to start distancing myself from her.
“OMG, Evan,” Sienna pants.
I have her bent over the sink in the bathroom attached to my room on the plane. Yeah, yeah, I know what I said. We would stop this once we were on the plane heading to London, but I changed my mind. I needed to have her one last time. Especially when she walks onto the plane in that white summer dress, her skin is all glowing from our days spent lying naked on the beach in Malibu. Her fucking vanilla scented perfume tickling my nose, making my dick twitch. Technically, we're still on American soil being on this plane. Yeah, it's a pretty thin excuse, but I'll take it because I'm currently balls deep in Sienna.
The past month with Sienna has been fun, and not because of all the sex we have been having either. She’s been fun to hang out with as well, in a non-sexual way. Days spent at the beach, getting tattoos, lazing by the pool, hanging out in the gym, her teaching me yoga, and of course, the day spent at Disneyland, which I admit I went kicking and screaming to, but in the end, had such a great time. The sex afterwards was fucking amazing, really no different to any other time I have fucked her, but this time she was tipsy and got a little freaky in the bedroom with me.
In her inebriated state she convinced me to wear the Mickey Mouse ears while we fucked. She thought I looked cute in them, but in the end, it made us giggle so much we couldn’t continue. Can’t remember the last time I was silly with a girl. The nights spent having her curled up in my arms as we fell asleep watching one of her reality TV shows felt so right – it scares the fuck out of me.
“Evan, we have to stop, we can’t keep doing this,” she says, cleaning herself up, checking her reflection in the mirror.
My fingers grip into her hips as I kiss her neck. “I know.”
Deep down I know it has to end because I will fuck it up. But now the time has come and I'm not sure if I can give her up.
“Thank you, Evan.”
Frowning, I look at her. What is she thanking me for?
“Thank you for making me feel beautiful again. Thank you for building my confidence up and thank you for almost spoiling all men for me,” she says, kissing me softly.
“I guess I was a pretty good rebound guy, hey,” I state, my voice sounding tense.
“Evan.” Sienna frowns at me. “You were so much more than that to me.”
Why the hell am I finding it so hard to let her go? “We had fun, sweetheart.”
“Yeah, we did.” She smiles at me.
“So…friends then?” Because I need to know that I can still have her around even though I can’t touch her anymore.
She raises her eyebrows at me, nodding. “Yeah, friends,” she agrees, giving me a quick kiss as she ducks out of the bathroom.
“I'm going to miss hanging out late at night with you.”
Sienna smiles at me putting her shoes back on.
“I can still pop in if you want,” I add hopefully.
She turns her head toward me and gives me a stern look.
“No, I mean to watch TV because you’ve got me addicted to the most stupid shows.” Sienna’s addiction to trashy reality TV shows is out of control, but she sucked me in with them.
She giggles. Nothing sounds better than Sienna’s laugh.
“Of course, but I'm sure that you’ll be busy now that you are back on the market.”
Why did that thought irritate me? Being back on the market. It’s not like Sienna and I are dating, but she was the closest girlfriend I have been with since, fuck, since Hailey, my high school ex, the girl that ripped my heart out. I gave her a tight smile as she skipped from my bedroom without a care in the world. Why the fuck is this annoying me?
Finally, we arrive in London. Thank goodness we are on our tour jet; we don’t have to battle the long queues at the airport. Right about now, this plane is making me feel claustrophobic, and I need to get off it. It is another gloomy afternoon in London when we arrive, perfectly matching my mood.
“You alright?” Axel asks when we get in the car witnessing my surly behavior.
“Just tired and over this fucking touring.”
“Yeah I know, it's the last one then we are free to set our own schedule,” Axel confirms, nudging me with his shoulder.
Axel turns to the rest of the boys in the car and announces, “Guys, this week let’s not go crazy, yeah.” His hazel eyes bouncing around to each of the guys in the car; stopping for a moment at his brother, doing the silent twin thing. “We can go out but let’s not burn ourselves out. I don’t want to have to start canceling shows because someone is sick or has lost their voice,” he says with finality.
The group nods in agreement. The thing is, Axel’s right.
We arrive at our home for the week, a five-story terrace in Chelsea. It’s easier to fit us into a house rather than take up a couple of floors at a hotel. Plus, it’s harder to find out where we are staying when we are not at a hotel. Also gives us the space we need. This one has a basement apartment that is set up as a studio; perfect for us to practice in or write when the mood takes us no matter the hour. Tomorrow we have rehearsals for the show on Friday and Saturday night. We haven’t strayed much from the setup we’ve been using for the North American tour; everyone knows what they’re doing, which makes it easier.
19
Sienna
Walking up a million stairs toward my room, lucky for me it's the last one at the top; only the roof terrace is above me in this five-story house. The outside looks very much old Victorian but inside it is fully renovated with a modern style. My room is all white with a king-size, four-poster bed, glass windows looking out over a gorgeous private garden filled with colorful flowers and an en-suite. At least my ass will be getting a good workout after going up and down these stairs all week.
“Hey, neighbor,” Evan says, popping his head in and making me smile.
“Seriously, you have the other room?”
He grins. I can see the mischief in his eyes as he walks toward me.
“Just so you know, we are the only ones on this level,” he smirks, giving me a wink.
“We’re friends, remember, no more funny business,” I say, reminding him and reminding myself.
“Yeah, I know
. Friends can hang out with each other naked, can’t they?”
Slapping him on the arm in surprise, I give him a look of disbelief, but inside my body is screaming yes!
“What about we hang out while you wear some sexy lingerie? I promise I won’t touch,” he grins.
Rolling my eyes, I give him a heated stare. “It’s a shame that someone ruined all my lovely lingerie.”
“Really?”
Nodding, I confirm that it is true. After ripping my panties off the first time, Evan found that it turned him on to do so and kept doing it, ruining all my good pieces of lingerie.
“I'm sure I can fix that problem. I'll organize to get new ones sent to you. I better go, we have some interview to get to.” As he rushes out the door, he pops his head back in. “You going to meet us at that club afterwards?”
“Yeah I think so.” Vanessa mentioned something on the plane about it. It’s going to be the first big test watching Evan with other women. I wasn’t sure how I’d react.
“I promise, Sienna, I won’t be upset when some hot soccer player tries to pick you up tonight.”
Was he not affected by our break-up? Was it a break-up? I mean we weren't dating or anything. Shit, I don’t know. I am so new to all this single shit.
“As if. You’re the one that is going to be surrounded by groupies.”
“Yeah probably,” he agrees, blowing me a kiss as he bounces back out my door.
Tonight is going to suck.
Vanessa sent the car to collect us once the band had arrived at the club. Walking into the VIP area, I notice large square booths with curtains draped around them, white egg shaped chairs hang from the ceiling, gold and silver accents glitter around the bar area. It is like we are partying inside a disco ball. Before we get too close to the group, Isla catches us as she walks out of the restrooms.
