The Album: What happens when you fall in love with a rock star? (Cruise Control Book 1)

by Sian Ceinwen

  Ariana was distracted from her reverie by a shuffling behind her. One of the security guards was attempting to drag a fan out of the crowd. She looked as though she was hyperventilating.

  As he pulled both her and her friend over the barrier and escorted them out from the Pit the way that Ariana and Heather had come in, the crowd behind them surged forward, eager to get those few inches closer to the band.

  It happened in an instant. She heard one fan yell at another one for standing on her foot, and then the front row became a mass of limbs. One girl punched another one in the face, two more girls were pulling each other’s hair, and security poured in from either side of the entrances to the Pit.

  Ariana and Heather stood quickly and moved right up against the stage, pulling their stools beside them. They turned their backs to the stage so they could watch what was happening. Security guards were hauling fans over the barrier one after the other, trying to get those who were fighting away from the rest of the crowd.

  Two girls were screaming obscenities at each other as they continued to flail around, trying to kick or punch each other but only managing to hit the security guards they were each being held by instead. Onstage, the band noticed what was happening, and the song they were singing tapered off, much to the confusion of anyone who wasn’t within the vicinity of the front row.

  “Please, calm down,” Gabriel’s velvet voice urged the crowd. “We don’t want anyone to get hurt.”

  “We’re also not impressed by any fan who harms another fan,” Sebastian added.

  “We just want you all to have a good time; there’s plenty of us to go around!” Gabriel added with a heart-stopping smile to the entire audience. “Now, where were we?”

  They picked up the song where they’d left off, and the crowd cheered. Ariana and Heather placed their stools back where they had been originally and sat down again. The next song was a ballad.

  It was a love song that she knew had actually been co-written with Harrison and was based on Heather. But Gabriel was singing it to Ariana. He came to the middle of the stage and locked eyes with her as often as he could allow.

  “Oh my god, he just looked directly at me!” One of the girls behind her screamed, and Ariana smiled to herself.

  “Just in case you were wondering,” Heather said, leaning in as close as possible and speaking directly into her ear so she could hear better, “he was not looking at her.”

  They both started laughing. Gabriel saw them and looked confused for a second but didn’t miss a beat in the song. He continued to sing, and she knew that, of course, he was singing to her. She felt herself fall that little bit more for him. How could she resist when he was so charming and serenading her on stage in front of thousands of people?

  Ariana lost herself in the music, finally able to relax and enjoy the atmosphere. There was a reason she had become a fan of Cruise Control to begin with—their music had the ability to transport her to another time and place. Every song had a meaning, and she was able to float away with the band until they finished the concert.

  As they wrapped up the last song, she and Heather stood and cheered and clapped with the rest of the crowd. It had truly been a great performance. They headed backstage and found the band congratulating each other on the show. As she walked up to Gabriel, he stepped forward, placed his arms around her waist, and spun her around in circles. She couldn’t help but laugh.

  “Did you enjoy the show?” He asked her after putting her down.

  “Absolutely! You were amazing, Gabe.”

  “I was, wasn’t I!” He said unashamedly, and she hit him playfully on the arm.

  He led her down a corridor to his green room and opened the door. She walked through in front of him and sat down in a cushy armchair in the corner of the room. He shut the door behind himself and walked over to a rack that his regular clothes were hung on.

  “What were you and Heather laughing about?” He asked her as he pulled his sweaty T-shirt over his head, revealing his muscled chest. Ariana blinked for a moment and had to compose herself before she could reply.

  “Oh, there was a comment from one of the fans who thought you were singing If I Were You to her.”

  “Aha, she must’ve been behind you, then,” he smiled.

  “Did you like the song?” He asked her.

  “Yeah, it was beautiful. I hadn’t heard you perform that one live before. It’s such a wistful and dreamy song, whenever I hear it I imagine this beautiful beach with a storm rolling in across the ocean.”

  “You really do have a way with words, you know.”

  He crossed the room to where she was sitting. He still hadn’t put a new shirt on, and sweat was glistening on his chest. She could smell his cologne mixed with the scent of his sweat, and she found herself aroused.

  He placed a hand on either side of the armchair, trapping her in it. He bent down and kissed her on the lips, thoroughly and expertly, exploring her mouth with his tongue and moving his hands to cradle her head while they kissed.

  When it ended, he kissed her lightly on her forehead and left the room to shower in the attached en suite, leaving Ariana breathing heavily in the armchair.

  When he was near her, she couldn’t possibly imagine that being with him was anything other than utterly right. He filled her thoughts so completely when he was around, with his larger than life personality and his good-natured sense of humor.

  How could she possibly entertain the thought of being anywhere other than wherever it was that he happened to be? It was the times that they were separated that she had room for doubt in her mind.

  The times that she could analyze their situation and wonder where exactly she would fit in his life. Would she always be there on the fringes? The other half of a famous rock star? Would her life be all about being on the road with him?

  What if she chose not to go on a tour with him, would she spend all her time, day and night, wondering what he was doing, where he was going, who he was with?

  She didn’t want to become the jealous girlfriend of the rock star, or even worse, the put-upon girlfriend who turns a blind eye, knowing exactly what goes on behind her back.

  Gabriel came back from the en suite then, and a towel was slung low around his hips. He smiled at her as he caught her eyeing him up, and she blushed.

  He turned to face the rack where his clothes were hanging and dropped his towel into the laundry hamper next to it. Ariana looked away after first enjoying the view of his absolutely perfect ass while he grabbed his jeans from the rack. By the time she looked back again, he had his jeans on, had turned around, and was leaning casually against the bench, topless and smiling at her smugly.

  “See anything you like, Ari?” He taunted her with a wink.

  “You know what my favorite thing is about Easter?” She asked him.

  “No, what?” He was confused by her change of topic.

  “Hot cross buns,” she smirked.

  “Very funny,” he grinned at her and pulled a clean T-shirt on, “let’s go; I’m pretty sure I’m running late for the meet and greet.”

  Ariana stood up and followed him out the door, though she seriously contemplated staying behind. She hated this part of the show, with them greeting the fans who got to come backstage. Most of them were there legitimately, which was great, but there were always those who had managed to get backstage through less above-board methods. The snide comment about ‘blowing the security guard,’ wasn’t too far off the mark.

  They walked back into the main backstage area. Ariana followed slightly behind Gabriel so as not to give anything away to anyone who didn’t already know that there was something between them.

  As usual, Ariana hovered at the edge of the room and just observed the proceedings. Each of the band members had a group of people around them, chatting to them, asking for autographs, and so on. Try as she might, Ariana couldn’t help but feel a tiny pang of jealousy each time someone would lean in too close to Gabriel, or put her hand casuall
y on his arm.

  One girl blatantly reached down and grabbed his ass while they were having their photo taken together. Ariana saw this because she was standing slightly to the side of them, so she was also able to see Gabriel’s expression. To his credit, he didn’t respond to it, just held his pose for the photo, thanked the girl for coming to the show, and for being a fan, then moved on.

  Ariana fought a pang of jealousy at seeing someone grabbing her boyfriend like that. It felt like confirmation of everything that she was worried about. It also made her mad that someone would touch him inappropriately without his consent. She knew that fans felt as though they “owned,” the band, but grabbing someone like that was just gross.

  Around halfway through the meet and greet time, just as Ariana was at the point where she really just wanted to head back to the hotel and sleep, she noticed Gabriel starting to seem annoyed. Looking around, it took her a minute or two to figure out that Sebastian had two girls with him who weren’t moving on to either talk to other band members or leave.

  The only way this could happen was if Sebastian had invited them to stay with him. Ariana couldn’t think of an inconspicuous way to go and talk to Gabriel about what was happening until she looked around and noticed a fan who had Hayden on her cell phone talking to her friend. Ariana pulled out her phone and texted Gabriel.

  Are you okay?

  He apologized to the group of people in front of him a few seconds later when his phone went off in his pocket. He pulled out his phone, read the screen, look around at her and smiled, then told the people he was with that he needed to answer this.

  You sneaky girl! I’m fine, just annoyed that Seb is probably going to get us bad press.

  She read the message and replied to it straight away.

  Not necessarily?

  Once again, he apologized to the people in front of him before replying.

  Two girls? Twice as likely that someone will talk. Texting each other is stupid, by the way.

  As she was reading his message, he apologized once more to the people he was with and signaled to Cooper that he was going to leave. Cooper frowned and shook his head at Gabriel to indicate that he couldn’t leave yet.

  Gabriel shrugged back at Cooper, then walked over to Ariana, and she followed him out to the arena exit in silence, unsure what to say. She glanced back and cringed when she saw Cooper glaring at their retreat.

  There was a large garage door there, and parked in front of it were a few white vans with drivers in them waiting to take the band and their entourage back to the hotel. He got into the first van, and Ariana climbed in after him. He placed his arm around her shoulders and leaned his head against the back of the seat with his eyes closed. He looked exhausted.

  “I just wish he’d think things through a little more carefully,” Gabriel said, apropos their previous conversation.

  “How do you know for sure that he’s bringing both of them back to the hotel?” she asked him.

  “I’d bet my Vanquish that he’ll come back with at least one, if not the both of them. Can you imagine if that story got out?” His blue eyes were as hard as ice.

  “I would’ve thought it would be good publicity for the band?”

  “Not all publicity is good publicity as far as I’m concerned. Yes, we’re a rock band, but we don’t have to be complete and utter assholes. I also think that women should be treated with respect, and Seb doesn’t have the greatest history of that,” Gabriel shrugged.

  “You know I have my own issues with Sebastian, so I’ll refrain from commenting. All I’ll say is that after that first meeting, he has behaved impeccably towards me, and I don’t have a complaint about him.”

  “You’re right, I’m just tired,” he kissed the top of her head.

  The rest of the entourage had made their way over to the cars by now and were loading up. Gabriel had been right, Sebastian had both girls in tow, and he snorted in disgust when he saw them all get in the other car. Once everyone was in the vans, they all headed back to the hotel.

  The Sixth Song

  They’d been on tour for roughly a month when they hit New York City. Ariana was excited, she’d never even left Illinois before, and here she was in The Big Apple. The tour buses had arrived at the Four Seasons, and everyone piled out amidst the flashes of cameras to enter the lobby of the opulent hotel. Gabriel and the rest of the band were booked into suites, while everyone else was checked into a regular room—not that it was any hardship to be in a regular room.

  They entered the elevator together, Gabriel with his arm around Ariana’s waist. The elevator stopped at level three, Ariana gave Gabriel a quick kiss on the lips and made her way to room three-hundred and sixteen. Even though she spent most of her time and definitely all of her nights in Gabriel’s room, she would always go to hers first to keep up appearances.

  She swiped her card to get into the room and deposited her luggage in the hallway. The room was absolutely beautiful and incredibly luxurious. She flopped down on the king-size bed and sank into the cream duvet.

  Ariana looked around to find the remote control for the television. She spotted it on the desk in the corner of the room and walked over the grab it. She opened the drawers and found a hotel guide.

  Taking it with her back to the bed, she turned the television on and started flicking through the channels and the room guide alternately. She jumped when the phone on the bedside table next to her rang. Picking it up, she heard Gabriel’s voice on the other end of the line.

  “Hey, sweetheart, how’s your room?”

  “Very nice, how’s yours?” she asked him.

  “Gorgeous. Do you want to come up and see it?” he asked her.

  “Sure. I’ll be there in a couple of minutes. What room are you?”

  “One-thousand and twenty-seven. You won’t be able to get up here, though. You need my room key, wait at the elevator bank, and I’ll come to get you.”

  “Okay, see you soon.”

  She hung up the phone, turned off the television, grabbed her room key, and headed back down the hall. She sat down on a plush, cream leather sofa in front of the elevators.

  The smooth leather felt like butter, and the seat was incredibly comfortable. The bell dinged, and the doors slid open to reveal Gabriel. He’d changed in his room into a pair of casual pants and a polo shirt.

  He looked so normal, so not like the rock star that she normally saw him as. His face lit up when he saw her, and she had to refrain from running into his arms. She’d last seen him only half an hour ago, and yet he had this pull on her. It was as though they were magnets, and it was so much easier to be with him than it was to be apart.

  “Hi,” Gabriel said to her as Ariana got into the elevator.

  He swiped his room card and pressed the button for the tenth floor. As soon as the doors closed, he put his arms around her and kissed her.

  “Wait until you see my room, it’s amazing.”

  “I’ll bet it is. I already thought mine was amazing, and I’m sure yours is even better.”

  The doors opened again, and Gabriel held her hand as they walked to his suite. When they got there, he swiped his card and opened the door before handing the room key to her.

  “Keep this so you can get back in later,” he told her with a wink, “I’ve got a second key, and it’ll mean I don’t have to come down to the third floor to get you any time you want to come up here.”

  Ariana gasped as she walked into the room. Gabriel had been right—amazing wasn’t even enough to describe it. She’d walked into what was essentially a full apartment. They were in a massive sitting room with two full sofas and a sixty-five-inch flatscreen television, with a small kitchen off to the side.

  “Let me give you the guided tour,” Gabriel said, “I’ve never had a room this fantastic before in my life.”

  He took her over to the right side of the room, where there were two doors. Opening the first, Ariana saw a bedroom, much like her own hotel room. The second door open
ed onto a bathroom which had an adjoining door into the bedroom they’d just looked at. In the middle of the room were some sliding glass doors that opened onto a balcony with an outdoor dining setting. Once they were outside, Ariana gasped again when she saw the view and leaned against the balcony, looking at the wonder before her.

  “Wow.”

  New York City was spread out in front of her like a wonderland. The sounds and sights of the big city were overwhelming.

  “It’s pretty cool, huh.”

  Gabriel walked up behind her and placed his arms around her. Ariana felt incredibly secure, so safe in his arms. He kissed the top of her head, and they stood there, absorbing the atmosphere of the city for a while.

  “Let’s move on,” he said in a husky voice.

  “Sure.”

  They went back inside, and Gabriel closed the door behind them. He showed her the kitchen with its refrigerator, stovetop, and microwave. Then he took her to the other side of the room. Ariana got tiny butterflies as she realized they were about to walk into his bedroom.

  Gabriel pushed open the door to reveal a massive room with a king-size bed, a sitting area, and another sixty-five-inch flatscreen television. She could see his luggage sitting on a rack near the door, along with his dirty clothes in a hamper nearby for the maid service to launder.

  “Very nice,” she told him.

  “You haven’t seen the best part.”

  “I’m pretty sure I have,” she said cheekily as she pinched his butt.

  “Naughty girl!” he scolded her. “Don’t make me bend you over this bed and spank you.”

  “Oooh, is that a promise?” she asked.

  “It definitely is, but first, I want you to see this.”

  He strode confidently over to a door at the side of the room and opened it to reveal an opulent bathroom. All of the fittings were modern, there was a double sink vanity, and a double shower, but the pièce de résistance was a six-seater spa bath on a raised dais in the center of the room.