by Nikki Wild
I groaned inwardly.
“Just… I don’t mean to pry, but did they… are they…”
“No,” I quickly shut down that train of thought, realizing what he was saying. “They focused on me. Jesus Carter!”
“Alright, cool,” Carter chuckled overly awkwardly. “Because that would have been pretty fucking weird.”
I turned to him, unsure of where to go from here. “Can you…” I began to ask. “Do you have any advice you can give me?”
Carter sighed, staring off into the distance. “If this is just something based on physical needs, then that’s fine. So long as everyone’s on the same page. But don’t let emotion into it, because that’s going to end with someone getting hurt – maybe more than one. Phoenix, this is why we’re not supposed to fuck in the band…”
“Too late for that,” I smiled sadly.
“Yeah… but I think the worst thing you can do now is shut it down without any kind of an explanation. If you can’t handle this, they need to know, and they need to know soon.”
I chuckled. “You almost make it sound like I can hurt their feelings, given what their reputations are…”
Carter shook his head. “I’ve seen the way that they look at you. How both of them look at you. It isn’t your fault, Phoenix… they’re both complicated people trying to deal with something distinctly new.”
I gazed into his eyes. “Which is what?”
“In a word?” He smirked. “You.”
“But… why me?”
“No idea. But it seems to be lining up nicely. The Carpenter Twins certainly have their allure,” Carter replied wistfully. “Hell, if the third one was still around, who knows what kind of mess you’d be in right now…”
I paused suddenly.
“Third?”
The color drained from Carter’s face. “Forget you heard anything about that…”
I defiantly stared him down. “What are you talking about, Carter? Why did you say the third one?”
“That’s not mine to tell,” he groaned, “and they’d kill me if they knew I’d said anything. Just… wait until they’re ready to tell you themselves.”
“That’s not enough for me,” I countered.
“Then make it enough for you,” Carter snapped. “It’s not my place to betray their trust. They will tell you, probably sooner than later if you stay on their good side. But for now, for fucks sake play dumb.”
“Alright,” I nodded sadly.
Carter moved to leave, but I grabbed him one last time. Maybe someone else could talk to me and get my mind off of things. “Wait. Do you know where Jeremy is?”
“Oh,” Carter thought for a moment. “No idea. He said he was running out to go pick something up for the band. Should be back soon.”
“Cool,” I acknowledged, letting him go. “Well, you know… Enjoy the sex.” I gave him a light, awkward punch to the arm.
With one hand on the door handle, he shook his head at me. “Don’t do that.”
Once he was gone, I was left outside in the dark with enough awkwardness in the air to be an asphyxiation hazard.
Without anything better to do, I wandered back to the tour bus. Stripped of other options, It looked like the only thing left to do was watch Trevor playing his video games.
Thankfully, the twins weren’t in the den. I rummaged up the stuff to throw a pair of turkey sandwiches together, and I brought Trevor one and slumped down near him.
“Oh, sweet.” He took a hand off the controller to grab the paper plate, stuffing his face with a bite of sandwich. “I was getting hungry. Thanks, Phoenix.”
“No problem,” I sighed, looking down at my own sandwich in my hands. “What are you playing?”
He swallowed another bite of the snack before nodding towards the screen. “Just one of those old platformers they made for the old Super Nintendo.”
“Platformer? What’s a platformer?” I asked, looking at the screen blankly.
“Yeah, like Sonic, Mario, Spyro the Dragon, that kind of thing,” Trevor clarified. “You make your little dude run around, collecting stuff, fighting enemies, killing bosses. Usually there’s a lot of jumping. Hence the name.”
“Never had time for games… Is it any fun?”
“I mean, I like it,” he smiled warmly. “It’s pretty old. Not as awesome as the big ones. This one kind of fell under the radar, but I like the soundtrack and the gimmicks.” He eyed me sideways. “Want to give it a try?”
I shrugged. “Sure. Why not.”
He handed the controller over and pointed out what buttons did what. Unlike the crazy amount of switches and sticks and buttons you’d see on the game systems these days, there was a nice simplicity to only having a direction pad, the start and select buttons, and just a few other places for a thumb to push.
While eating his sandwich, Trevor watched me fumble with the game. He chuckled when I would turn my shoulders as I made the character jump one direction or the other.
“Not bad,” he chimed in when I finally lost a life. I didn’t make it out of the level, but a tricky jump sent my character off-screen.
“I suck at this,” I confessed.
“Is this your first time playing a game?”
Had to think about that a moment. “I guess so. I don’t think I’ve ever done this kind of thing before.”
“Well, here are a few tips on this one…”
He walked me through part of the level, taking the controller back and playing slowly so that I could watch what he was doing and why.
While I studied his playing, I ate more of my sandwich. All that sex had built up a strong appetite, and I was thinking that I needed to go make another one.
“You still hungry?” he said, noticing the way I was destroying my sandwich. “I’ll get it this time. Do you want the same thing, or maybe something else?”
“Surprise me.”
“Can do!”
While he popped up and into the kitchen, I replayed the level. This time, I had a better grasp of how the physics worked – how long to hold the jump button down, how fast my character could run, how often I had to hit a button to keep him swimming…
Trevor sat back down with a pair of double-decker club sandwiches. He’d loaded them with chicken, turkey, ham, lettuce, pickles, onion, mustard – all the fixings.
“Jesus Trevor,” I gasped as he set the huge thing in front of me. “I mean, I think I’m hungry enough to eat it, but goddamn.”
He grinned sheepishly before taking a bite of his own. “I figured you were probably starving after the afternoon you’ve had…”
The sandwich paused halfway to my mouth, and I looked at him with horror.
“Wait… what?”
“Well, I mean, I heard you guys,” he commented offhandedly. “They did a good job insulating the bus, but it’s not going to stop orgasmic screaming.”
Trevor laughed as my heart sank in my chest.
“Didn’t realize who was in there until I heard you moaning their names. It was quiet enough that you could only tell from the bunks, but hell... Way to go!”
He raised his fist for a bump.
“Does everyone know about it?”
“It’s not that big of a deal,” he shrugged. “I mean. I certainly don’t care. If Carter found out, he’d probably be a little pissed, but he’d get over it. He’s just afraid that you’ll go all Yoko Ono, and something would happen to rip the band apart. I think you’re a big girl who can handle herself.”
“Carter knows,” I groaned.
“Oh,” his smile fell. “Well, like I said, he’ll get over it. Good thing that he saw this coming, though.”
“Did he?” I asked.
“Oh yeah, he’s been afraid of this for a while. All I can say is this is the best-case scenario, knowing those guys. Maybe now they can stop strutting around in here like a pair of peacocks in the middle of mating season.”
I set the sandwich down, grumpily holding my head in my hands out of sheer emba
rrassment and humiliation.
So much for that appetite.
“Hey,” he put a hand on my upper back. “Really, it’s not a big deal. I’m happy for you. I’m happy for all of you.”
“Yeah?” I looked up. “Am I not making a huge fucking mistake?”
“I’m not blind,” he smiled affectionately. “I’ve seen how you guys look at each other since the beginning. The way they can’t keep their eyes off of you, or that you can’t ignore them when they’re in the room? This was inevitable, don’t you think?”
“I guess so,” I groaned.
“So stop pretending you’re a victim here. Way I see it, you got everything you wanted. We’re on this crazy ride together and none of this is going to last forever. Just go with it,” he shrugged. “Ain’t nothing wrong with that. If feelings get into the mix, everyone needs to be honest. Tell them what you feel. Expect that out of them. Enjoy yourself. Hell, I can’t think of better stress relief for the road. Can you?”
He had a point.
“Yeah… maybe you’re right,” I told him. “I freaked out on them a little bit ago. I should probably go apologize to them and see if we can make this work.”
“Absolutely,” he replied. “Good plan.”
I hastily threw my arms around him. “Why is this the first time we’ve ever really sat down and talked?”
“Because I’m glued to this screen,” Trevor chuckled. “I think you’re a badass chick, Phoenix. Let me know if there’s ever anything I can do to help. You know I’ll listen.”
“Thank you, Trevor,” I pulled back.
“No sweat.” His eyes glided over my shoulder and towards the front door. “Hey, I hear something. I think Jeremy’s back. Wasn’t he running out to go get someone?”
“You mean something?” I asked.
Trevor frowned, his eyes still on the door. “No, I’m pretty sure he said someone…”
“Who could he possibly be–?”
The door slammed open, and Jeremy walked in carrying two bags of luggage. My jaw dropped as our guest waltzed in right behind him, a terrific grin spreading across her face.
Nicole smirked, throwing open her arms.
“’Sup, bitches!”
Phoenix
“Nicole?” I blinked, jumping up to swallow her in a huge hug. “How did… what are you doing here?”
“You’re looking at the newest employee of Snow Leopard Records,” my best friend told me with a gigantic grin. “Steven Stone and his team liked the freelance promo stuff I lined up for you guys before, and the second that they figured out who mentored me, I got the phone call.”
We pulled back and I held her shoulders, my eyes lighting up. “So that means…”
“It means the team is together now,” she chuckled. “Steven hired me as a promotion manager, and my first gig is to take this band under my wing and do some serious fairy godmother shit.”
“Holy fuck,” I gasped. “Are you coming with us on the tour, then?”
“You’re damn right I am!” She laughed, wrapping an arm around my shoulder and pulling me across the living room. “But first things first, someone guide me towards the booze!”
Trevor answered the call, tossing the controller down and digging around for the liquor. He pulled out a set of glasses and a bottle of whiskey.
“Hell yeah, you were holding out on me!” Nicole laughed. “Let’s get this party started!”
Jeremy walked back from the direction of the bathroom, eying the alcohol as Trevor started pouring glasses.
“That seems appropriate for tonight,” he smiled, glancing up at Nicole. “It’s great to have you around, kiddo. Let me show you your bed and all that. You’ll have to make due with one of the bunks. Phoenix already claimed the bedroom.”
“Fuck my bed,” Nicole laughed. “First, we get schwasted, then we figure out where I’m collapsing for the next month or two. I’m celebrating tonight!”
Jeremy gave me an amused look. “Well, how do I argue with that?”
“You don’t,” I shook my head laughing. “Not with this one, that’s for sure.”
He grabbed his glass. “Don’t I know it.”
We all grabbed our drinks and knocked glasses together. “What are we drinking to?” I asked as the tumblers clinked.
“To family,” Trevor quickly spoke.
We all looked around at each other, nodding our satisfaction.
“To family!” We cheered, lifting our glasses before kicking back the delicious, burning liquor.
There was a rustling nearby, and the door towards the bedroom pushed open. Aiden staggered out, half-dressed and clearly groggy as hell.
“What’s going on out here?”
Jeremy replied: “We’ve got company!”
Aiden paused as he made eye contact with Nicole, scratching the back of his neck in confusion.
“Wait… what? Why are you here?”
“Meet your new official promo chick,” Nicole smirked as she set her glass down. “The record company put me on the pay roll, so I can officially start making some wicked cool shit happen for the band.”
“No shit?” He chuckled darkly, his drifting gaze lingering on me a little too long. “Well, I’ll be damned… Welcome aboard, sweetheart.”
“Thanks, Aiden,” she smiled warmly, her gaze shifting from the Decadent Desires singer to me. I could hear the cogs spinning in her brain, and I decided to quickly change the subject.
“Who wants another round?” I blurted out. “I sure as shit do!”
Jeremy chuckled. “Count me in.”
Trevor did the honors. Around that time is when Dylan finally sauntered out, clearly more together than his twin brother. From the get-go, the guitarist was ignoring my gaze.
I was beyond happy that Nicole was here, but that just meant necessary conversation couldn’t happen just yet.
Not with this many people around…
“Where’s Carter?” Dylan asked.
“He found somewhere to drag his groupie,” I answered quickly.
“Oh yeah?” Jeremy glanced over the top of his drink. “I would have thought he’d have just used the back bedroom for that.”
“We were using it,” Aiden replied.
“We?” The tour manager asked.
“Dylan and–”
“Me,” Dylan quickly cut in. “Aiden and me. We got tired and crashed. Carter came and banged on the door, but you know how Aiden gets when he’s exhausted…”
“Only one bed in that room,” Jeremy noted with a little confusion. “You’re telling me that you guys–?”
“Beats sleeping in one of those bunks,” Aiden grumbled. He glanced at Dylan, then me, quickly realizing how close to blowing our cover he had gotten. “Needed to sleep. Wanted the bigger bed.”
“Rrrright,” Jeremy shook his head, a chuckle escaping his throat. “Well, we should probably tell him the news soon.”
“Eh, let him fuck his chick,” Aiden noted. “I think we owe him that much. He can find out tomorrow.”
When he was tired, his voice was apparently dry and husky as fuck, and it sent something hot down to my core.
“Fair enough,” Nicole shrugged. “Doesn’t really matter to me, either way. My job isn’t officially kicking in until tomorrow.”
“Hell of a way to start your first day,” Dylan smirked at her. “Hung-over as fuck.”
“Not so crazy about the hangover part,” she admitted. “The fuck, though. That’s the part that gets my attention…”
Dylan choked on his drink.
We all laughed. Some of us, a little more awkwardly than others…
Jeremy started whipping up mixed drinks for everyone, and Trevor returned to his forgotten sandwich and video game. I plunked down next to him and started eating mine while Nicole stayed in the kitchen area, chatting with Jeremy and the twins.
It was great to see her here. Things felt like they were really coming together now. In hindsight, it was such an obviously good fit. She was
my best friend, clearly an old friend of Jeremy’s, and knew how to handle the diverse energies of the band.
The two of them were going to make a powerful pair to support us, and they were great heavy hitters to have in our corner.
Jeremy obviously had a good grip on handling the band and keeping everyone on track. He was polite, awesome, and knew how to rein in the twins when he had to… but he had no idea how to run promotion in today’s brave new world. Nicole’s talents were Greek to him, and he’d been struggling with grasping our social media needs.
With Nicole on the outer scope, acting as our bridge to the label and setting up crazy new opportunities, plus lending her expertise to the stuff he didn’t know how to do, Decadent Desires was going to be unstoppable.
“This feels right,” Trevor noted calmly.
“What, the controller?” I asked playfully.
He eyed me and shook his head. “Everything… Letting Alex go, bringing on a kickass female bass player, landing an awesome indie record label, and now we’ve got this promo chick on board… I think we’re in a damn good place Phoenix.”
“Couldn’t agree more.”
Trevor’s gameplay was effortless. While he casually commented on the changing nature of our lives, his little avatar zipped through a level, avoiding all the enemies and killing the boss without taking any hits.
“I think it’s time we started thinking about putting an album out,” he mentioned offhandedly. “A real album.”
“You think so?” I glanced over at the twins, who were enraptured in conversation with our newest member. “I guess it’s about time you had more than two self-produced EPs… I mean, hell, four of the songs in the set aren’t recorded.”
“We,” he said.
“Huh?”
“We,” Trevor repeated. “You’re a solid fixture in the band. You signed a contract, just like we all did. You need to start thinking about all of us together, not just those of us in the band longer than the last few weeks.”
“Yeah… I guess that’s true,” I admitted.
