Distracted No More (Assured Distraction Book 4)

by Thia Finn

  I turned the handle to open the stairwell door before one yelled.

  “Stop. Stop right there.” I kept trying the door but before I could get it open, they stood on each side of me.

  “Going somewhere, sweetheart?” The blond asked placing his big hand on the wall beside me cutting me off from the doorway.

  “Yeah, I’m checking out. Just need to give the key back to the front desk.” The answer seemed harmless enough.

  “Is that so? Care to tell us why you are leaving with a huge bag from one of our rooms?” It was all I could do not to fall into a trance looking into this guy’s eyes. They were a bright shade of blue-green.

  “Actually, it was my room last night.”

  “Oh yeah? Who brought you onto this floor?” Blond hunk asked.

  I dug in my back pocket and produced the key. “This key brought me on this floor.” Did they think I would roll over and play dead to their accusations? I had every right to be here.

  “That’s great but who gave you the key, honey?” The bald guy inquired.

  Okay, I had to get this over with before that other suite emptied out, and I ended up face to face with the one band member I did not want to meet today. “Peri O’Connor gave Hayden Devillier and me a key to stay in that suite. My name is Victory.”

  They began backtracking on their rude alpha-male attitudes as soon as I said my name. I should have started the interrogation with it. I would be on the bus already.

  “I’m so sorry. We haven’t met you and thought, well we thought…” Blond god stammered.

  “I know exactly what you thought, and no, I’m not a groupie sneaking out of a warm bed.” I tried not to sound pissed, but I knew it came out that way.

  “Right. Uh, we’re sorry. I’m Gunner Wallace, drummer for Assured Distraction.” A massive paw came out to shake my full hands. “Here, let me get that for you.” He tried to take my bag off of my shoulder.

  “That’s okay. What is it about you guys needing to carry my stuff?” I put the key in my back pocket and shook his hand.

  “And I’m Keeton MacDonald, the lead singer and guitar player, but everyone calls me KeeMac.” He grabbed my hand from Gunner’s and shook it, too.

  “That’s great. Now that we know I didn’t rob the place, I’ll be on my way, guys. Wonderful meeting you both, and I’m sure we’ll be seeing y’all soon.” I tried to go through the door again, but Zeus and the Titan wouldn’t allow me to pass.

  “Let us take this down for you. Hey, why are you leaving, though? Didn’t the girls invite you to brunch?” KeeMac asked.

  “Yes, they did but I’m not hungry so I’m going to the bus now to get some sleep. Not much sleep going on in our room last night.” I didn’t want to repeat this story again.

  “Yeah?” KeeMac raised an eyebrow.

  “I’m not the one to blame. Talk to the others. They’ll give you the story. So, I’m going. Y’all join the party in your suite.” I grabbed my bag from the floor. “And yes, I can get it myself but thanks.” I didn’t give them time to stop me as I ducked under their arms and took off down the stairs letting the door shut on its retracting hinge.

  After catching the elevator two floors down, I leaned against the back wall and closed my eyes. Damn, I thought I might never wash my hand again after having the pleasure of touching those two. They obviously didn’t recognize me, but I sure recognized them. The guys they were in high school didn’t resemble the men they had become. Stalking their pictures online and in magazines didn’t do justice to how these two looked in person. When the elevator came to a halt on the ground floor, I picked up my bag and took off for the bus. Forget returning the key, I needed to get on that bus before I ran into anyone else.

  I stepped on our bus and went straight to my bunk. I made it without being seen by anyone important. No one knew me so it was safe to say I wouldn’t attract attention like the group that would come down with AD. I began to question if I was cut out for this life.

  Chapter Nine

  I looked around as I walked into the living room of the suite where everyone ate brunch and made too much noise for my head. “Do y’all really have to make this much fu… loud noise to eat?” I realized the boys played on the floor before I made the mistake of dropping the f-bomb. The two momma bears’ growls would hit me prior to their extended claws.

  “Sounds like you didn’t bother to keep your noises to yourself last night in the other suite. Apparently, you kept Victory awake half the night,” Peri’s mother voice informed me.

  “Yeah, where is she? I hoped to meet her since the kid couldn’t give me anything more than vital stats.” An open bottle of pain reliever called to me from the kitchen counter. “I don’t remember drinking that much last night, but my head sure as hell feels like it.”

  “I think we killed a bottle of tequila between the three of us before our guest left.” Hayden’s dumbass looking grin said all I needed to forget about the night before.

  “Oh, yeah. That almost slipped from my mind.”

  “Must have been a memorable lay if you’ve forgotten her already,” Gunner smirked at me over the top of his phone.

  “Daddy, how did Uncle C disremember where he laid down last night? He just now got up.” Crew looked to his dad for an answer.

  Well, shit. I’m glad the kids rode in their own RV instead of being on the bus with us.

  “He’s got a headache this morning, Crew, and it’s hard to remember when you first wake up with a headache. Isn’t that right Carter and Gunner?” Hayden shot us both looks to remind us that little ears listen to everything we say.

  “Back to my question. Where is Victory this morning?” I asked again.

  “I met her Uncle C. You’ll like her ‘cause she’s real pretty, and you like pretty girls.” Crew looked at Tucker, and they both wrinkled up their noses.

  “What’s wrong with pretty girls?” I asked the dynamic duo.

  “Me and Crew don’t like girls. Remember ‘girls mean trouble’? They cause problems and ain’t nothing but trouble.” Every male in the room laughed. Chandler and Peri didn’t which made us laugh harder.

  “That’s right, little dudes.” I stuck my fist out to meet theirs in a bump while I noticed the red faces on the girls.

  KeeMac swallowed a piece of bacon whole before he said, “Crew’s right. She is real pretty. Gunner and I met her in the hallway. There’s something about her that seemed familiar, but I don’t know what. But, we kinda made fools of ourselves with her.”

  Peri rounded on KeeMac. “Please tell me you didn’t embarrass the poor girl. We don’t even know her yet, and she’s going to think we’re awful.”

  Gunner spoke up. Guess he figured he might save KeeMac from Chandler’s wrath. “We mistook her for someone else coming out of the suite next door.”

  “And?” Peri wouldn’t let it go.

  “And we thought she was one of the groupies walking out with a bag full of stuff from the room. In our defense, she was carrying a big duffel bag and acted like she was sneaking out.” Gunner dug the hole deeper with every sentence. Some dumbasses never learned.

  “You let her go when she told you who she was, right?” Chandler joined the inquisition.

  “Yes, and cupcake, we offered to carry the bag down for her, but she wouldn’t have it. She threw that thing over her shoulder and took off down the stairs in a run,” Gunner finished.

  “Down the stairs? Why would she do that?” Peri asked.

  “Who knows, you women and your stuff. For all they knew, that bag could have been full of shoes.” Ryan finally decided to step in and help the guys out of the mess with his wife.

  “Hey, back to me, please. Am I the only one who hasn’t met her?” I asked the gang.

  “No,” Ryan answered. “I haven’t met her either. I was just trying to help these two asshats out.”

  “I think I’m going back to bed and let y’all duke it out, but can you be quiet please?” I headed for the bedroom as I spoke.


  “No, you may not. We are leaving shortly. If you’re going to sleep, go get in your bunk on the bus,” Peri informed me.

  “Shit, already?” Peri shot me the mom look again for my language. How could she expect us to not use words we said every day? I needed to work on that.

  “Yes, already. Go get your things together and go sleep off your headache on the bus.” I hated tour manager, Peri, sometimes. She could bust our balls with the best of them.

  Hayden and I carried our bags and Crew down to the buses.

  “I want to go with you, Daddy.”

  “I know, little dude, but you can’t this time. You have to stay with Tucker and the nanny until we join y’all in a couple of weeks.”

  “How many weeks are a couple?”

  I hated seeing Crew separated from his dad but not nearly as much as Hayden. The look both of their faces said it all.

  “It’s only two weeks, and I promise we’ll talk on your tablet every day. It’ll be like I’m right there with you.”

  Crew’s bottom lip looked like it was going to drag the ground. Man, I didn’t think I could ever have kids and be in a band. As much as the two boys had a great life, keeping them away from their parents seemed too hard to deal with.

  I stepped up to Crew and squatted down beside him. “Hey, dude. Let’s go look at the new video games you have. Maybe I can ride in the RV with y’all for a while, and we can play.”

  “But, RiRi said you supposed to go to bed and sleep.”

  I had to smile at his language. “Well, RiRi doesn’t know everything, but don’t tell her I told you that. It’ll be guy info only.” I knew better than to usurp her authority. She’d have my head for it. Our secret made Crew smile.

  Hayden spoke up. “Yeah, I’ll go sit in the RV until it’s time to go, and you and I can play a few games before the buses leave. Besides, Victory’s asleep on my bus, and we don’t want to wake her either.

  Looked like I still wouldn’t get to meet her. “I get the first game.” I grabbed Crew up and ran to the RV. My head be damned.

  Two weeks flew by just like Hayden told Crew they would. AD played six venues in that time, and we killed it. We mixed the new music with our old stuff to keep the crowds happy. The radio stations along the way helped by playing the new tunes and introducing them to audiences everywhere. The album opened in the top five its first week out with so much hype 13 Records put out there prior to the release.

  Peri scheduled several radio interviews along the way. We loved it because our fans would show up outside. By fans, I meant groupies, and by groupies, I meant hot, willing women. There were always willing chicks around, but living on a bus could serve as a major cockblocker. Sometimes I wished for my own car and driver if they weren’t into the idea of everyone on the bus being privileged to hearing loud sex.

  My love life backstage seemed to be taking it on the chin, too. Being the only single one on tour before Hayden could join up, cut into the real after parties. Not that I couldn’t handle having two or more beautiful women to myself, but fewer women wanted to hang around with only one of us to party with them. Some couldn’t understand the basic concept of sharing.

  Hayden and Victory were due in before our show tonight. They ended back in Austin, and the two singers flew out with Cash to join us in Tulsa, Oklahoma at the BOK Center. I believe Crew and I were equally excited to see Hayden. Peri relayed to us that Hayden and Victory killed their tour. They had outstanding numbers on ticket sales, and Cash wanted them writing music along the remainder of the tour so they could start working on their first album together the minute we arrived back in Austin.

  AD arrived at the Center about an hour before our set started like we usually do. We liked to chill before sweating for an hour and a half. KeeMac walked onstage and basically incited the fans into a frenzy at every show, and our adrenaline needed to be flowing with his first words into the mic. The Oklahoma fans showed the same enthusiasm to rock as every venue we played.

  The dark stage held only enough light bleeding over from the audience for Gunner and me to find our way to our marks. My tech handed over my bass and stepped off. Those guys had cat eyes considering the way they could slip around the stage in the dark without making a sound.

  Ryan and Chandler quickly followed us to their marks with KeeMac on their heels. He basically ran onstage which served to get him pumped up for his opening line, “Hello fucking Tulsa, Oklahoma. How y’all Okies doing tonight?” Couldn’t take the southern speak out of us, no matter how much we traveled or how often people made fun of our drawls.

  Assured Distraction’s music kept the crowd on their feet for over an hour straight. Then, KeeMac and Ryan would do a song together or KeeMac and Chandler would sing. Tonight the lovers sang while the rest of us cooled down offstage guzzling bottles of water. The music stopped sooner than we thought and for some reason, the spots stayed on and the house lights came up, too. Great, some tech in lighting didn’t get the memo on what happened next. Those of us backstage made our way back out waiting on those dickwads to get their heads out of their asses and take care of the problem.

  When the three of us reached our marks, we looked up to see KeeMac holding Chandler’s hand keeping her center stage.

  “Okay, audience. Tonight we’re going to deviate from the normal schedule for a few minutes. I hope you don’t mind.” Of course, the fans loved seeing something unexpected so they went wild.

  “It’s never been a secret that our beautiful keyboard player, Chandler Chatam, and I are in love.” Screams from the audience deafened the stage, and he waited to continue speaking through the mic.

  “But tonight I have something new to add to our love story so I need you all to hold down the noise so everyone can hear what I want to say.” It only took a second for total silence to overtake the huge crowd.

  He took both of Chandler’s hands, and the priceless look she gave him had us all smiling. “Chandler, our entire lives together have been in front of an audience. You auditioned in front of a small audience for the band, and we all immediately decided you were what AD needed to make us complete. Our rehearsals and recordings always happen in front of an audience. The shows we do take place in front of great audiences like this one. So tonight, in front of this crowd, I want to ask you a question that you have to answer in front of our fans.”

  He got down on one knee right there in the middle of the stage under hot spotlights, held her hands in his and looked up to Chandler. “As hard as we fought it, I think we knew we loved each other from the moment you came to audition. One look at you took my breath away, and then you played and sang and showed us all the talent and beauty you possess. You captured my heart with a single song Chandler, and now I want to let everyone know that I need you to keep my heart in a safe place for the rest of our lives. Chandler Chatam, will you do me the honor of marrying me?”

  KeeMac pulled an aqua blue box from his pocket and popped it open. Tears spilled over her lower lashes and slipped down Chandler’s cheeks as she nodded. “I need words here, Chandler. You’re killing me.”

  He stuck the mic in her direction and through the tears and lump that must have been in her throat she gave a shakey, yes. Then she took the mic from him and yelled into it, “Yes, yes, yes!” With that, she jumped into his arms wrapping her legs and arms around his body.

  With the house lights up and all the stage spots shining brightly, I noticed Hayden standing in the wings watching the proposal take place. I saw a female standing behind him, but I couldn’t see her face from my location onstage. I moved enough to catch a quick glance of her before she turned and walked away at a fast pace. I caught a swish of long dark curls floating behind a female body and in a blink, she disappeared. Something about her walk made my brain go on search mode thinking I knew that walk, but I couldn’t connect it to the long hair. So many girls had come and gone over the time we’d been in the business, it could’ve been any one of the women I entertained.

  The audience went craz
y over the awesome scene playing out in front of them. I don’t remember us ever having a louder audience making the last thirty minutes we played seem unreal. Finally, after the third encore when we usually do two, we ended the concert. The party backstage celebrating the engagement was off the hook. All the well-wishers who wanted a piece of the couple meant the room packed with lots of extras who normally don’t bother showing up.

  I finally caught up with Hayden and after we shook hands, I looked around for Victory. “Dude, where the hell is she? I believe I’m the only person who hasn’t fucking met her.” Hayden looked around.

  “No idea. She walked in here with me before the encores finished. Did y’all really have to do three? Maybe she snuck out to the restroom.” So many people milled around that finding anyone other than Chan and KeeMac proved impossible. “I’ll introduce her when she gets back. How have things been going on the road?”

  “You know, same thing different fucking city.” I slapped him on the back. “I’ve missed my wingman, but that only made more pussy for me.”

  “Yeah, it’s been different only traveling with a woman, too. She’s great and all but not the same as having y’all around.”

  “So you saying having a female along for the fucking ride kept you from the other chicks?”

  “Nah, I’ve had my share.”

  “What about her? She bag a few strays for the road?”

  “Not once. Told her she damn sure could, and we would rock that party. She turned me down saying she didn’t need any complications fucking up her life right now. Said she preferred spending her time practicing and writing music. I learned she is a hell of a champ at playing video games. I had to work my ass off to actually beat her a few times.”