by A. m Madden
“For the record, I used your razor last night.” I gawk at her through the mirror as she smacks my ass and adds, “Hurry up.”
Fuck, that’s hot.
Leila goes to call the next elevator while I grab our bags. From down the hall, I can see her pacing and gnawing on her bottom lip.
“What?”
“I just remembered the photographers out there.”
“Babe, they’re just men who have cameras with very long lenses.” We both enter an empty elevator when I rationalize, “They are overcompensating for their small dicks. Have some sympathy. It must be tough going through life with a tiny dick.” I stroke her bottom lip with my thumb.
She looks up at me and takes a healthy bite.
“Ow. Seriously, what are you so nervous about?”
“Oh, I don’t know, my face being plastered all over the Internet?”
“Just another thing you have to get used to. In a few years your gorgeous face is going to be on the cover of Rolling Stone. Mark my words.”
“Your face will be right next to mine.”
The elevator doors open just when I bend to kiss her. A family waits to get on as I attempt to lead her out into the lobby, but I stop when I feel resistance. “Are you ready?”
She nods, yet doesn’t take a step. I stand at the open door with our arms outstretched between us. I smile apologetically as they patiently wait. Leila takes a few deep breaths. After a few moments, she finally follows me out of the elevator. She mumbles, “Sorry,” as we pass them.
I can’t believe how nervous she is.
The lobby is clear. Her eyes shift around the room on alert for photographers.
I decide to distract her. I bend and kiss her passionately in the middle of the hotel lobby. Her breath catches, she instinctively stiffens, but my lips moving over hers causes the undeniable spark to catch between us. I move my hands to her lower back and hold her up against me. She relaxes in my arms and completely submits.
When I break the kiss, she slowly opens her eyes and pants heavily against my lips. “Let’s go, sweet lips.”
She blinks repeatedly, while looking dazed and confused. Snapping back to reality, she takes a step backwards and pushes me away hissing, “You are so evil.”
Raising my eyebrows at her, I smile and say, “What? You needed a distraction.”
Ignoring the stares from the hotel patrons, the front desk clerk and the doorman, I grab her hand and drag her towards the restaurant to meet up with our band.
“Hey, gang.” I focus on Jen and grin. She sits with crossed arms and a scowling face. Amanda and Patti look visibly uncomfortable and the guys are all smirking annoyingly.
“Relax, Jen. We’re only a few minutes late.” I say, as we both sit at the table.
“Twenty-six.”
“Wait, back out and come back in. I want to get this on video.” Hunter says, holding up his phone.
“Shut up, dickhead.”
Hunter laughs out loud, continuing to point his phone at me. “Ooh, that was good. Insult me again, but put some meaning behind it this time.”
Trying to hide my smile, I point at his phone. “If you don’t knock it off, I’ll shove it up your ass and you’ll get plenty of meaning behind you.”
“Grow up…both of you.” Jen says impatiently.
“Yes, mommy.” Hunter responds, and we all go into hysterics.
Jen continues to glare at us, waiting for us to act like adults.
“Ok, sorry. We’ll behave.” I placate our agent. “Can I order coffee before we have our band meeting?”
“Make it quick.”
The guys have already received their food. Leila and I quickly order breakfast. Jen starts to speak, and I cut her off. “Please don’t talk until I take a few sips of coffee. I can’t promise I’ll behave until I do.”
Sighing she levels me with her gaze. “Sometimes I feel like I represent a bunch of preschoolers.”
“Ouch.” Trey responds.
Coffee, pancakes, eggs, bacon and a few more insults from our agent later, we are finally having an adult conversation.
“So, you all did a great job yesterday. I spoke to Gregory, he said the response the station has received from your interview was phenomenal.”
Like the preschoolers we are, we all break into grins while fist-pumping each other.
“Don’t get too cocky. Keep focused and do not let this go to your heads.” She looks each and every one of us in the eyes. “I will not tolerate anyone screwing this up. Got it?”
“Loud and clear.” Hunter responds for us, as the rest of us nod wordlessly.
“Good. There are a few photographers outside. We will all go out together. There are also a few fans. We’ll sign autographs, we’ll smile, and we’ll take pictures, and you two…” She points to Leila and me, “…will ignore questions regarding your relationship. Smile and say nothing. Got it?”
Now it’s our turn to nod wordlessly. “Good. Let’s go.”
As we shuffle out of the restaurant, Leila’s nerves take control of her facial muscles. Her puckered forehead and her teeth gnawing on her bottom lip are complete giveaways.
“Smile, baby, or I’ll distract you again.” She plasters a big toothy grin on her face, making me laugh. “Perfect. But you have parsley in your teeth.” She sucks in a breath, stopping her in her tracks. “I’m kidding.”
“I hate you.”
Winking, I respond, “No you don’t.”
The minute we hit the parking lot, the reality of our success hits me. Yesterday, when we boarded our buses, there wasn’t a single soul in sight. Today, there are a handful of photographers all taking pictures while a couple dozen fans start screaming for our attention.
Not bad…
“Hey, you see the one in front with the two foot lens? He’s probably packing three inches.”
She throws me a look and rolls her eyes.
We all do just as Jen asked, smiling, schmoozing and ignoring the relationship questions.
As we move towards our bus, one of the photographers calls out, “How long have you been together?”
Trey deadpans, “Hunter and Scott would like their privacy during this stressful time.” With that, he boards the bus, leaving the cameras flashing and Hunter and Scott open mouthed, red faced, and ready to kill him.
“Hey, Liz. How are you?”
“Is this my famous brother who is too good to call his baby sister?”
“Ha…ha. I’ve been busy. Sorry.”
“I’m teasing. I know fame is very time consuming.”
“You’re a riot today. So how are you?”
“I’m good. Busy. Where are you guys now?”
“We’re in Des Moines. How are Mom and Dad?”
“They’re great. They are so proud of you guys. Dad started a scrap book.”
“You mean Mom.”
“Nope. I mean Dad. He keeps it on the coffee table. It’s so cute to watch him pull it out to add anything he can find to it. He has a page dedicated to each of you. Even Leila.”
“He’s finally gone off the deep end.”
Lizzy giggles. “I agree. Hey, so they want to fly out to see your show in Miami. They’ll combine it with a trip to see Grams and Pops. Don’t tell them I told you. They’ll kill me.”
“I won’t. Thanks for the warning. What about you? When are you coming out?”
“Well, funny you should ask, Evan and I are coming together.”
“Great…” I mumble.
“What’s wrong, big brother?”
“Evan, as Leila’s best friend and brother, I’m excited to see. Evan, as the guy screwing my sister, not so much.”
“How do you think Evan feels about you?”
“I hadn’t thought of it.”
“Exactly, because it’s all about Jack.”
“That’s not true. I’ve changed. You’d be proud of me.”
“Let me poll some of your band mates before I announce how p
roud.”
“No confidence in me. So when are you coming?”
“Vegas. Are you ok with that?”
“Absolutely. We’ll have a blast. We have three nights off. It’ll be a big party.”
“I know. I spoke to Jen to make sure there weren’t any schedule changes. I know you added a show. We’ll be coming for five days.”
“I can’t wait to tell Lei.”
“No! Evan wants to surprise her. So keep your big mouth shut.”
“Can I tell Hunt and Scott? They’ll be pissed if they know we are planning a reunion and they didn’t get to ask Mandy or Patti.”
“Wow, look at you thinking of others. I am proud.”
“Ok, smartass. I’m hanging up now.”
Giggling, she adds, “Say hi to my future sister-in-law.”
“It’s all done?”
“Yes, Jack. All done. When?”
“I’m not sure yet. I’ll keep you posted…and please keep it to yourself.”
“Now I’m hanging up. You think I’m stupid?”
“No, just a dork. Love you Liz.”
“Me too. Be good.”
“Always.”
As I hang up with Lizzy, I can hear Leila giggling uncontrollably. Curious, I walk out to the bus watching her with amusement. “What’s so funny?”
“Nothing.” Trey responds for her.
Sliding into the booth, I pull Leila towards me. “Tell me or I’ll tickle you.”
She looks over at Trey, shaking her head. I barely touch her when she falls into another fit of giggles and says, “Ok…ok, I’ll tell you.”
“Jeez, Leila. I hope I’m never with you while being tortured by the enemy.” Trey says, pretending to be annoyed.
“He won’t say anything. Promise me you won’t tell Hunter or Scott.”
Crossing my heart, I smile wide and say, “If you are fucking with Hunter and Scott, then I absolutely promise.”
“Trey is going to tell Hunter and Scott the Internet is running rampant with rumors of their previous relationship.”
“They won’t believe you.”
“A chick I banged dummied up a fake website page and sent it to me. I’ll have it open on the laptop when they get back.” Trey turns the laptop around to show Jack.
Looking at the page, it looks absolutely legit. “That’s fucking awesome! They are going to shit themselves.” The page shows pictures of Hunter and Scott. In one of them they are leaning in close to each other, and it looks like they just had an intimate moment. There is a write-up on their history and how they are tortured daily by their love for each other. “Priceless.”
“Trey, I can’t be here when you show them. I’ll never be able to keep a straight face.”
“Well, then you won’t be here. You too, Lair. I need you to play along.”
“Hell, I’m in. This is going to be too good to miss. Where are they anyway?”
“Getting food. They’ll be back any minute.”
Leila slides all the way around the booth and grabs her Kindle. “I’m out of here.”
Trey and I patiently wait for the lovers to return. We can hear them before we see them, bickering as they normally do. “You’re so full of shit, Hunter. Where do you come up with this stuff?”
“It’s true. I read it somewhere.” Hunter comes on the bus first, followed by Scott. Carrying two pizzas, he sets them down and grabs a slice immediately. He first looks at Trey and then at me. “What?”
“This isn’t good man.” Trey says.
“What did you do now, Jack?”
“Sorry dude, this time it’s not me.”
Scott takes his slice and sits across from me in the booth. “What happened?”
Trey shakes his head. “I guess the photographers in Chicago thought I was serious.”
He turns the laptop, showing Hunter and Scott the webpage. Hunter throws his slice on the table. “Holy fuck.”
Scott turns bright red, his mouth dropping open comically. He looks up as if lost. “Where did you find this?”
“I was checking out some of our blogs. It popped up on Google,” Trey shrugs, “Jen’s going to have to do some damage control.”
Hunter pulls out his phone. I exchange glances with Trey, but he doesn’t flinch.
“Jen. There is a website called Secret Rock Affairs that is claiming Scott and I were a couple.” Hunter starts pacing the bus, back and forth. “No, I’m looking at it right now. Secret. Rock. Affairs. Google…Yes, Google…What do you mean you can’t find it? It’s the front page. There is…check Yahoo. Keep looking.” Hunter waits while Jen searches. After a few long minutes he says, “What the fuck?” He glances over at me, while I’m pretending to analyze the slice I grabbed.
“I’ll call you back.”
He stops in front of Trey. “Give me the laptop, asshole.”
Trey hands him the laptop. After a few clicks, Hunter realizes it’s fake. “Fuck you.”
Trey and I crack up. “Scott turned a new shade of red. That was fucking priceless.”
“Just for that, you don’t get pizza.” Hunter takes the two pies and the slice out of my hand and leaves the bus. “Come on, Scott.”
“Your boyfriend wants you, Scott.” Trey says. Scott flings a pizza crust at Trey’s head and follows Hunter off the bus.
“That was awesome! Best one yet.”
Trey shrugs. “I know.”
Chapter 8 - Leila
“Damn, Baby, it’s freezing out here.”
“We’re in Denver, not Alaska. It’s chilly at best.” Dragging him down the street toward the
Aquarium, I offer, “It’s right down the block.”
We have a few hours before rehearsals. We’re staying in a hotel after the show tonight before we hit the road tomorrow for back-to-back shows in Salt Lake City, Boise, Spokane, and Seattle. Back-to-back shows mean nothing but arenas and the bus. I’m going stir-crazy just thinking about it and needed to get out. I convinced Jack to go to the Downtown Aquarium in Denver. It’s only a three-block walk from the arena, and he’s been complaining the entire time. “You live in New York, not the tropics. Suck it up.”
“This feels colder.”
Rolling my eyes, I pull him harder. “Once we are inside, I’ll warm you up.” Suddenly my boyfriend, who I’ve been dragging by his heels, picks up the pace.
We walk into the aquarium and he stops in his tracks. “Why are we here again?” he looks around apprehensively.
“I love aquariums.”
“It reminds me of school, and I hated school.”
“Come on, I’ll buy you a stuffed shark.”
The aquarium turns out to be a really fun day. Who knew there were so many dark corners to get lost in? The place was practically empty, so there weren’t many young innocent grade-schoolers there to spy on us. We lost track of time, because Jack was mesmerized watching two penguins going at it and showed up over an hour late to rehearsals.
Out of breath, we both bolt onto the stage feeling like teenagers who missed their curfews.
“Well, look who’s here? Our lead singer, his girlfriend and his hard-on.”
Jack looks at Hunter sheepishly. “Sorry, my phone died and we lost track of time.”
“Uh huh…right.”
I walk over to my keyboards with my head hung in embarrassment. “Miss Marino, I expect this behavior from him, but you?”
“I’m sorry, Mr. Amatto.”
“Where were you? Marriot for a quickie?” Trey asks.
“No. We were at the aquarium.”
“Hooo-kay, sure you were.” Hunter says.
“I have a stuffed shark to prove it.”
Hunter looks at me, “For real?”
Nodding, I say, “Scouts honor.”
“Well, I stand corrected. If anything that I may have said gets back to the two of you, I plead the fifth.”
“Ok, jackass, start drumming.”
“We’ve already rehearsed. You missed it.”
“Fine.
Are there any issues you need to discuss? Sound problems? Lighting?”
“Nope. We each inserted a solo, though. Payback.”
“You’re serious?” Hunter nods. “Ok, I’m fine with that.”
Will struts onto the stage. “You finally showed?”
“Jeez, my phone died and we lost track of time.”
Will looks at Hunter. “Ok, I owe you twenty.” Hunter concedes.
“You guys bet on us?” I glance from dickhead to dickhead.
Scott shrugs and admits, “I already paid Trey.”
“Unbelievable.”
“Last night’s show was awesome. I think we get better and better each night.”
“We did sound great, and we didn’t even rehearse,” Jack responds, as he distractedly plays with my hair.
“Mmm. That feels good. Right here, you playing with my hair, on these kick ass pillows, is pure heaven.”
We have a little more time before we need to check out. Personally, I wish we could stay here for days. “I slept so good last night. I’m trying to enjoy every minute we are in this bed, the next four days are going to be exhausting.”
“We can handle it. If you want, I’ll steal one of these pillows for you.”
“You’d do that for me?”
“If I could take the whole bed, I would.”
“We must be doing really well, our hotel rooms are getting nicer and nicer. This bed is heaven. I’m not sure I can leave it.”
“Yeah, I may have had something to do with that. I complained and refused to stay in any more fleabag hotels. They said they would do their best to improve.”
“Jack, they weren’t fleabags.”
“So I embellished. It got us a bigger hotel budget. Are you complaining?”
“Not at all.”
“They can afford it.”
“They must think you are becoming a demanding Diva.”
He smacks my ass in response. “You know what I’m really looking forward to?”
“I can guess.” I tease.
“Your mind is always in the gutter. I was going to say, I’m looking forward to living together…”
“We are living together,” I interrupt.
