Merch Girl

by Rebecca Lewis

  “No, it’s not that she doesn’t like you,” I explained. “I think she was just very focused on doing her job and making sure everything went right…”

  “Okay.”

  “It takes her a while to warm up to people.”

  Devin nodded. I hoped she understood. We left the bus and ran into the large crowd of girls outside the club. I wondered how late they would stay out there; the party wouldn’t be over for a few hours.

  “A bunch of these girls have yellow wrist bands on,” Devin noted.

  The radio station’s van pulled up outside the club and some of the DJs that I saw earlier in the morning got out. A few other employees with clip boards in their hands pulled out the girls with wristbands to stand in a line to the side.

  “Maybe they won some sort of contest to come to the after party,” I said. “This should be interesting.”

  Devin and I entered the club and I found Lansdowne talking to the radio DJs and Robyn. Logan waved us over.

  “Stay calm,” I whispered to Devin.

  She nodded and held in her screams. We walked over to the group, and Logan put his arm around my shoulders. He looked over at me and smiled, and my heart beat faster. Was I ever going to get used to being around such a beautiful being? Would I ever be able to gaze into his sparkling eyes without blushing, or look at the shiny strands of hair that fell over his eyes and not want to run my fingers through them?

  “You okay?” he whispered. I got the chills from his lips grazing my ear.

  “Uh huh,” I replied. “Sorry, you just look really hot right now.”

  He laughed quietly. “You look pretty sexy yourself.”

  “Uh huh, sure,” I replied, sarcastically.

  He shook his head and laughed again.

  The DJs were explaining the contest they held and some other information, but I could hardly concentrate on their words. All I wanted to do was steal Logan away and find someplace where we could be alone.

  Devin nudged me. I knew what she wanted.

  “Griffin, Ryan, this is Devin. She’s going to be helping sell merch while Trina’s gone…” I said, staring into Griffin’s eyes. I wanted to punch him, for Trina’s sake, but I’d have to settle for shooting him an evil glare.

  They stuck out their hands. “Nice to meet you.”

  “I’ve met you guys before, but that’s okay, nice to meet you again,” she said.

  “Sorry, we meet a lot of people,” Ryan said. “I’ll remember next time.”

  She smiled and stared up at him like a goofball. I probably looked the same way when I first met Logan.

  “Come on, we’re supposed to greet the fans as they come in,” Griffin said.

  Ryan and Griffin ran off to the lobby.

  “Go with them,” I told Devin.

  She trailed behind them, nervously.

  Logan stayed behind. I looked around and saw only a few club employees wandering around. Before I could turn to face him, his arms were around my body and he pulled me in close for a kiss. It sent goose bumps all over my body. I ran my fingers through his silky hair and grabbed the ends tightly.

  He pulled away after a few seconds. “Can we just skip the party? I’ll tell them I’m sick.”

  “I wish,” I told him. “I really, really wish.”

  He kissed me again quickly and we went to the lobby to meet up with the rest of the band.

  “You’re the worst liar,” Devin said.

  “What? I never lied to you.”

  She glared at me. “Something’s obviously going on between you and Logan.”

  “I’ve never confirmed or denied anything on that.”

  “Lacey, come on, I won’t blab on my blog, I promise.”

  I mulled it over. Could I really trust this girl that I only sort of knew? Would it really be that bad if she knew? Maybe if I just told her a little…

  “Fine, I like Logan,” I admitted.

  “Duh! Anyone can see that!” she exclaimed. “That’s not what I’m asking you.”

  “Is it really that obvious?”

  “Yes,” she said. “Extremely obvious. All the fans know you like him.”

  “Really? Is that a bad thing?”

  “No, who could blame you? Even as a fan of Ryan, I can admit that Logan is a total hottie.”

  I smiled.

  “So…what’s really going on?” she asked, pressing me for more information.

  “I can’t tell you.”

  “Why? I promise I won’t tell anyone, seriously. You’ve been so nice to me today; I wouldn’t want to screw this up.”

  I took a deep breath and thought it over again. “Okay, yes, he likes me too.”

  “I knew it!”

  “Shhhhh!”

  Devin giggled. “Oh my gosh, I so knew it. How did he tell you?”

  My face flushed red just thinking about that day in the hotel in New York. It wasn’t even that long ago, but it felt like it’d been months.

  “He kissed me in New York,” I confessed.

  “Ahhh!!” she screamed, as quietly as possible.

  Now I was giggling. This girl talk was actually pretty fun.

  “I know! I know! I still can’t believe it.”

  “So, are you guys, like, together?”

  I nodded and smiled wide.

  “Shut up!” she yelled, slapping her hand down on my arm.

  “Don’t tell anyone, please, or I’ll be dead. Logan will hate me, and I’ll be kicked off tour, please, please, please!” I begged.

  “Your secret is safe with me,” she said. “Although, it’s becoming more and more apparent that he likes you. I’ve noticed him looking at you pretty frequently.”

  “We’re horrible at keeping this a secret, huh?”

  “Yeah, I give it another week before it’s out there and the fans start talking about it.”

  “Will they hate me? Will they hate Logan?” I asked, worried.

  “Some will, but the real fans will support you guys,” she said, reassuringly.

  It felt good to tell someone else about everything that was going on.

  The fans were all inside the club now, along with the people from the radio station. It was a small club, and it didn’t take much for the room to feel crowded. The DJ was spinning some good music, interspersing it with Lansdowne tunes. The guys were mingling around as best they could. It seemed like most of the girls were just standing in packs around them. I stayed in the back near the bar with Devin and watched.

  “Look at those girls,” Devin said, pointing to a group wearing low-cut tops, short skirts, high-heels and tons of make-up. They reminded me of the New York bitches Trina and I fought with.

  “Gross,” I said.

  Ryan and Griffin didn’t seem too grossed out though. They were very friendly with the three girls. Ryan had his arms around the two blondes, and Griffin was flirting with the brunette. Ryan was excused since Jenna basically broke the poor guy’s heart, but Griffin, he had just slept with Trina not even 24 hours ago and he was already onto another girl, it sickened me. Ryan waved over to Logan, and he came over to join them.

  “I think Ryan’s still mad at me about the whole Jenna thing,” I told Devin. “He wants me out of the picture.”

  “But it wasn’t your fault, you were just the messenger.”

  “Yeah…guess he doesn’t see it like that.”

  I strained my eyes to see Logan’s interaction with the girls in the dark club. He was laughing and talking with them. I knew he wouldn’t do anything to hurt me, but I wished I had a dart gun to shoot down the blonde who kept placing her hands on Logan’s bicep.

  “Can’t you go grab him away?” Devin asked.

  “No,” I told her. “That wouldn’t fly with the record label. They want them to have a single guy image.”

  “Well, if I were you, I’d say screw the label, and claim my man. Especially if my man was Logan Shire.”

  “I hear you, but I can’t risk it.”

  Logan texted me. “They�
�re going back to the hotel, wanna come?”

  “Sure, I’ll drive if you want,” she offered.

  “Okay, haven’t been in a car in a while!”

  We left the club separately from the guys and went up to my room to chill before meeting up with them. Devin and I had a lot of fun talking about Lansdowne, and guys and relationships. She wasn’t annoying at all anymore. We were actually becoming friends.

  Logan called, asking us to meet them in their suite. When I opened the door, my jaw dropped. The same groupie whores from the club were there! Along with a few other girls that looked just as skanky. One chick even pulled out a joint from her purse, lit it, and passed it over to Griffin. He gladly accepted and took a long drag, passing it back to the overly-tanned, scantily-clad ho bag. So disgusting.

  “Please don’t put this on your blog,” I quickly told Devin.

  “My blog’s gonna suck now,” she joked.

  Logan pulled me further into the room. I raised my eyebrow and nodded over to the girls with Ryan and Griffin.

  “They’re guys, what do you expect?” he asked.

  “I thought they had more respect for their fans.” I told him. “Plus, the whole thing with Griffin and Trina…”

  Logan led me into the bedroom to talk privately. “He’s probably just trying to get his mind off of her. He was more torn up about the whole situation than you know.”

  “What am I supposed to tell Trina?”

  “Don’t tell her anything.”

  “So I’m supposed to lie to my best friend?”

  “No, there’s nothing to lie about, they broke up.”

  “Yeah, after he slept with her,” I said. “He’s just a man-whore, asshole, jerk.”

  My heart raced from anger now.

  “Excuse me, but Griffin is one of my best friends,” Logan said. “I could call Trina plenty of names, but do I? No, I keep it to myself because I know how much you care about her.”

  “What?” My voice was trembling at a high pitch now. “Trina didn’t do anything wrong, what on earth could you call her?”

  “I’m not getting into this with you.”

  “Well, you know how I feel about your best friend; I think it’s only fair you tell me how you feel about mine.”

  Logan paced back and forth across the bedroom a few times.

  “Lacey, this is a stupid fight, just drop it.”

  “No.”

  “Stop.”

  “No!” I felt my face burning.

  “Fine, you really want to know what I think? She was a bitch to our fans, and possessive over Griffin, and he couldn’t take it anymore. No matter how much he thought he loved her. He needed his freedom, and now he’s got it and he’s going to have fun, and I don’t blame him.”

  I stood there, in shock. My eyes stung, but the tears wouldn’t come out. How dare he call Trina a bitch! Sure, she wasn’t exactly pleasant to everyone, but she wasn’t a bitch. And to agree with what Griffin did…I couldn’t believe it.

  “I told you, you should have dropped it.” He stopped pacing and stood across from me with his arms crossed.

  I couldn’t even look up at him, I couldn’t be near him. I ran out of the suite as fast as I could.

  “What’s wrong?” Devin asked, chasing after me down the hallway.

  I didn’t say a word. I knew if I opened my mouth I would completely break down. When we got to our room, I threw myself on the bed and tried to breathe. Devin stopped asking questions. After a few minutes we heard a knock on the door.

  She rose from the bed and looked through the peephole. “It’s Logan.”

  “Lacey, please, let’s talk about this,” he yelled through the door.

  Devin looked back at me and I nodded to let her know she could let him in.

  He rushed through the door and sat down next to me on the bed. I hid my face in my pillow, and tried to talk, but my sobs got in the way.

  Taking a few deep breaths, I turned my head to face him. “When you fall in love with me, are you going to sleep with me and then kick me to the curb?”

  My tears fell again as soon as the last word came out.

  “What? No, of course not, do you think I’m like that?”

  I shook my head. “No…”

  “Are you going to become a possessive bitch when you fall in love with me?” he asked, placing his hands on my shoulders.

  I shook my head again. At least, I hoped I wouldn’t…

  “She’s not a bitch,” I said, defending Trina.

  “And Griffin’s not an ass,” Logan said.

  “Fine.”

  “Okay…are we good now?” he asked, wiping the tears from my eyes.

  “Yeah, I think so,” I said. “We just had our first fight.”

  “Yep,” he replied, and kissed my forehead.

  Devin cleared her throat.

  “Sorry,” I said.

  “Don’t worry,” she replied. “By the way, I won’t tell anyone about your business.”

  “Thanks,” Logan said. “Wanna come back upstairs?”

  “Ummm…not really.”

  Logan laughed. “Yeah, I don’t blame you. Those girls were a little scary. Maybe I should just hide out here until they leave.”

  “I like that idea better,” I said.

  Devin and I hung out with Logan for the next few hours. We ordered in Chinese food and chatted about random stuff. It was one of the best nights I’d had with him, and Devin didn’t ruin it at all.

  “Well ladies, it’s almost 3AM, I better get back up to my room.”

  I didn’t want him to leave, but I knew he needed his rest. I walked him to the door and followed him outside into the hallway.

  He grabbed my hands. “Lacey, I…”

  I cut him off with a kiss, and pressed my body against his. My hands found their way under his soft t-shirt and I ran my fingers up his chest. He leaned his head back and I felt his lips turn up into a smile.

  “I’m already falling for you,” he whispered into my ear.

  I looked up at him and grinned.

  “Goodnight,” he said, and kissed my lips quickly.

  I watched him walk down the hall until he disappeared. I knocked on the door quickly, before my knees gave way and I passed out in the hall. Devin opened it up and started giggling.

  “You look like you’re high!” she said.

  I fell back onto my bed and looked up at the ceiling. “I think I’m in love.”

  “You’re so lucky,” Devin said, taking a seat at the edge of her bed.

  “I can’t believe this is happening, to me, in my life.”

  “And I can’t believe I was just hanging out with Logan Shire!”

  I laughed and stood up on my bed. Jumping up and down felt completely appropriate right now and Devin jumped with me until we were out of breath.

  “We’re insane,” I told her.

  “Just a little.”

  Chapter 13 – Fort Lauderdale

  It was about a nine hour drive to Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and I slept almost the whole way there. I’d only been to Florida once, when I went to Disney World with my family as a kid, so I was pretty excited to visit again.

  I woke up to see the glimmering blue ocean and swaying palm trees out my window. Trina would have loved this. Our hotel was right on the beach and it felt like paradise. I ran to Logan’s bus as soon as we parked. He came down the steps and picked me up, throwing me over his shoulder. I screamed as he ran across the street and onto the sand.

  “I hope you can swim!” he yelled as he threw me into the cool ocean water with him.

  “I’m wearing clothes!” I screamed, wiping the salt water out of my eyes.

  “Who cares!” he said, laughing. He picked me up and tossed me into the waves again.

  “Jerk!” I yelled and tried to dunk him under. After a few unsuccessful attempts, I just splashed the water at him as best as I could.

  “Okay, okay, I surrender!” Logan yelled. He picked me up again and brought me
over to lie in the sand.

  “You’re gonna pay for this,” I threatened.

  “We’ll see about that.”

  Some employees from the hotel brought us beach chairs and towels.

  “Thanks.” I wrapped the towel around myself and faced the hot sun to dry off faster. Even though it was about five o’clock in the evening, it felt like it could be the middle of the day.

  “I feel gross, let’s come back later tonight,” I suggested.

  “Sure,” he said and helped me up. “You look cute though.”

  I stuck my tongue out at him. He looked amazing with his wet t-shirt stuck to his body in all the right places.

  We checked into the hotel and showered and changed for dinner. The band, Robyn and I went out to eat at a restaurant with a gorgeous view of the beach. It was such a peaceful, beautiful summer night. The sky was pink and orange from the gorgeous sunset. Logan held my hand under the table and I felt like I was living in a dream. I couldn’t wait to call Trina and tell her everything that was happening, but I didn’t want to rub it in her face that I was having an amazing time either.

  We walked back to the hotel and Logan crossed the street over to the beach. I was hesitant to follow.

  “I promise not to throw you in this time.”

  Our fingers intertwined as we walked along the ocean’s edge, the refreshing water flowing over our toes.

  “About what you said last night,” I whispered. “About falling for me…”

  “Yeah…”

  “Well, I’m falling for you too.”

  “Really? I couldn’t tell…” he said, sarcastically.

  “Shut up! This is supposed to be romantic!”

  He stopped mid-step and dipped me backwards as he kissed me. “Was that romantic?”

  “Yes, good enough,” I replied.

  “Good enough? That doesn’t sound convincing.”

  He led me up the beach to where the sand was dry and sat me down on top of him. Grabbing my face gently, he kissed my lips slowly. His hands gripped my bare shoulders, and he grazed my neck and collarbone lightly with his lips. I closed my eyes and listened to the sound of the waves crashing behind us. I felt like I was in a movie, or a dream. This couldn’t be real.

  “Was that romantic?” he whispered in my ear.