Hard Rock Tease: A Rock Star Romance (Darkest Days Book 1)

by Athena Wright

  “I’m twenty-one.” They had no right to judge me for my youth. I knew for a fact the members of Feral Silence were barely a handful of years older than me.

  “She’s been doing this stuff online for years. She has over a hundred thousand followers for her online music reviews. More than your personal accounts, I might add.” Deena gave Jayce and Kell pointed looks.

  Jayce’s eyes flashed with amusement, full lips tilting into a smirk. “Fine. I surrender. Turns out the internet girl is pretty badass. But be careful,” he said, an almost wolfish expression on his face. “Guys like us love to eat up pretty little girls like you for breakfast.”

  I gaped, mouth dropping open, too shocked he’d said that in front of the others to be embarrassed.

  “No corrupting the intern,” Deena said.

  “Not unless they like it.” Jayce’s eyes glinted with wicked humor.

  “It’s time to get going,” Deena said, glancing at the time on her phone. “There’s a journalist from a local music mag here to interview you before the show.”

  As the band members got up to leave, Kell reached out and ruffled my hair, messing up the strands. I ducked and scrunched up my face as he sauntered out with a laugh.

  Jayce held my gaze for long moments, until I could practically feel the simmering heat rising between us.

  “A music reviewer, hm? I suppose I should be happy you liked our new song.”

  “It was really good.”

  “Seductive, I think you said.”

  My whole body tingled with remnants of desire. An almost lascivious smirk crossed his face. He knew exactly what he was doing to me.

  “Yeah, seductive. Kell’s voice is pretty sexy, after all,” I said, aiming for a nonchalant tone.

  Jayce appeared startled for a brief moment, then laughed. “Somehow I don’t think it’s our lead singer who’s got you so worked up.” His eyes flashed with a dark, wicked heat, striking me to my very core. He gave me one last smirk before strolling out with an easy stride, leaving me alone.

  Swallowing heavily, I clasped my hands together, recoiling from the intensity of that look.

  Jayce didn’t want me following him around all summer, but the way he’d looked at me, those flashes of interest…

  I shivered, anticipation rising in my chest.

  Had we gotten off to a bad start or a good one?

  Chapter Three

  BUZZ.

  I fumbled on the nightstand for my phone. It was the night before I officially started my job, and I wanted to get a good night’s sleep. I should have set my phone to silent mode, but I was always worried I’d miss an important message.

  My friends and family called it a smartphone addiction; I simply called it being perpetually connected.

  Even though it was late, I needed to know what the notification was. I pressed at the screen and squinted through the bright light.

  A message from Neil.

  I tapped my phone against my lips as I thought about it. Neil was interested in me, and I in him, but I just couldn’t stop thinking about those few moments with Jayce. There was clearly an attraction there, at least on my end. It wasn’t just a fangirl fascination, either. Jayce had ignited a desire in me that I’d rarely felt before.

  Wouldn’t it be unfair to continue talking to Neil when I was so attracted to someone else?

  No, I decided finally. Jayce had given me a few heated stares, but it didn’t mean anything. He did it to all the girls.

  Besides, Neil and I hadn’t even met in person yet. Our future date was months away. I hadn’t made him any promises, just an offer to buy me a drink.

  Neil was a good friend. We had been talking online for months. It wouldn’t be right to just ignore him. He was also a few years older than I was and already working in the film industry. He’d paid his dues in the lowly internship circuit. It would be nice to commiserate with someone who had been there and had intimate knowledge of the stress that came along with it.

  I read Neil’s message.

  Hey there, Ms. Fancy Intern. How goes the job?

  My first official day is tomorrow, but today went well. There were a few bumpy patches, but I haven’t bombed spectacularly yet.

  Oh yeah? Like what?

  Just wandering into places I shouldn’t have. Nothing major.

  Still can’t share any details, huh?

  Nope. Sorry. What about you? Doing anything cool this summer?

  Funny you should ask. I’m working on a film project that—guess what—forced me to sign an NDA too.

  What is with these paranoid people?

  They think we’re going to blab all their secrets. It’s not like my clients are so interesting I have nothing else to gossip about.

  You’re filming something boring?

  It’s not really my thing. I’m sure others would find it cool.

  Oooh, you can’t tell me that and not give me the details!

  Sorry, no can do.

  Well, can you at least tell me what you’re doing right now?

  Nothing much. Just lying in bed. I couldn’t sleep. I didn’t even think of the time. Did I wake you up?

  No. I couldn’t sleep either.

  So you’re lying in bed, too? Are you wearing sexy little pajamas? ;)

  Wouldn’t you like to know?

  I definitely would.

  Was Neil… flirting with me? My heartbeat quickened. I couldn’t deny that, for the last month or so, I’d hoped he had feelings for me the way I’d grown to have feelings for him. This was different from just planning a date, though. He’d never flirted this overtly before.

  Maybe someday soon you’ll get to see exactly what I wear to bed.

  I’ll count down the days.

  ***

  WHEN I SHOWED up at the Dark Sound Studios office the next morning, the security guard directed me to the parking lot out back. There were a couple large buses and a dozen staff members already there.

  My staff badge let me wander around virtually unnoticed. Everyone was rushing around looking harried, trying to finalize the last details before we officially took off for the summer. It was just like being backstage. Everyone seemed to have a job to do, and they were all doing it at maximum speed.

  I didn’t want to stand around gawking while everyone else was working, so I pulled out the phone Deena gave me.

  For my internship application, I had to map out a general social media strategy. I’d worked on it so hard I could rattle it off by heart. I knew what sort of pictures I needed. This was the very beginning of the tour, the very first morning, and fans would like to see the kind of stuff involved in a big tour like this.

  I opened the camera app and snapped away, going from one area to another, trying not to get run over by the people rushing to and fro. None of them paid me any attention. It seemed that as long as I had a staff badge, I was virtually invisible.

  “Is there a reason you’re standing in the middle of my shot?”

  I turned to find a video camera in my face, the camera operator hidden behind it. He hadn’t been the one to speak. A man stood next to him, arms crossed, annoyance evident on his face. He didn’t have a headset on and he didn’t have a staff badge. I opened my mouth to apologize and was met with the most stunning pair of light blue eyes I’d ever seen. The rest of his face was just as stunning, perfectly sculpted like a Roman statue. With his crisp, light green collared shirt and tan slacks, I had to wonder. Was he a model? What was he doing in a music company parking lot?

  “Can I help you?” Maybe he was lost.

  The man turned from slightly annoyed to aggravated in an instant. He pinched the bridge of his nose between two fingers, looking pained, as if he had a migraine of epic proportions.

  “You can help me by getting out of my shot.”

  I glanced at the camera operator and it dawned on me.

  “Oh! You must be part of the film crew.”

  “I’m the assistant producer.” The man eyed me up and down and sneered. He
beckoned over the closest person with a headset. “Can somebody tell me why there’s a groupie hanging around?”

  “I’m not a groupie,” I told him through gritted teeth. “I’m—”

  “You’re in my way,” he interrupted.

  The person he’d grabbed stared at me with a blank expression and shrugged, continuing on his way. He’d had no idea who I was, but I had a staff badge, so I was safe.

  “Just find somewhere else to take your groupie pictures.” The producer pulled out his phone and starting tapping at it, ignoring me completely.

  I fumed inwardly but didn’t want to cause a scene, especially not on my first official day. “I’ll just go do my job somewhere else, then.” I turned on my heel and stalked off in the opposite direction.

  Life had been too good to me lately. Scoring an awesome internship working with my favorite band, getting to follow them around all summer and using my social media skills to promote them—there had to be a catch. Of course it was egotistical industry execs with big heads and holier-than-thou attitudes abusing the lowly intern.

  The man had been more handsome than I would have expected from some pompous music executive, though, and he didn’t have a staff badge. I glanced back at him, but he was speaking with the camera operator, who seemed to be listening. Not a model, then, and probably telling the truth about being on the film crew. It didn’t bode well for me if that guy was any indication of the people I’d be working with on this tour.

  I pulled out my phone and typed furiously to Neil. He would understand, being in the film business himself. I was sure he’d run into his fair share of self-important jerks.

  @AudioAiley: Turns out there are assholes in every industry.

  A few minutes later I got the reply:

  @PointShootNeil: Something happen?

  Just some pompous ass mistreating the lowly intern.

  Ignore those pricks. You’re amazing, Ailey. I don’t know what kind of job you’re doing, but I know you’ll be awesome at it. Don’t let those jerks get you down.

  Thanks, Neil. I’ll try.

  If you ever need a boost of self-esteem, just let me know, and I’ll sing your praises.

  I don’t think you need to go that far.

  But it’s true. I think you’re an amazing girl. They’re lucky to have you.

  My insides flooded with warmth at Neil’s words. He always knew what to say to cheer me up. He was such a great guy.

  Anyone would be lucky to have you.

  I flushed and didn’t know how to respond. I’d been wondering if Neil felt as strongly about me as I did about him.

  I guess I’d find out when summer was over.

  ***

  TRAVELING CROSS-COUNTRY by bus wasn’t an ideal way to spend the summer, but I had one small consolation—we wouldn’t have to sleep in one. Deena told me we’d be staying in hotel rooms, only sleeping in the bus if we were behind schedule or in a hurry to get somewhere. That was a relief. My mild car sickness would have made sleeping on a bus every night an unappealing prospect.

  “I thought all the band members and crew slept on their tour buses,” I asked Deena.

  “Kell refused. Said sleeping on a bus was trashy.” She threw her hands up. “That boy is going to be the death of me.”

  When Deena guided me to my assigned bus to drop off my suitcase, I was surprised to see an interior just like a normal living room, with wide leather sofas and squishy cushions, a table and chairs for dining, and a fridge, stove, and sink. I’d half expected to be assigned some sort of bus with bucket seats that maybe reclined back to lay down.

  It also had a full-sized bar, complete with two barstools that also had cushioned seats. There was one big screen TV, but also multiple little screens, so each person could watch their own movie. There was a ceiling fan, floor lamps, carpets, and drapery on the windows. It was, in essence, a full living room you could find in any home.

  The setup was pretty swanky for an intern.

  A sudden thought occurred to me. Butterflies took wing in my stomach.

  “Deena… I’m not sharing with the band, am I?”

  “Of course. How else will you be able to chronicle their every move?”

  I tried to keep the butterflies from spewing out of my mouth. Not only was I following the band around, I was going to be in the exact same bus as them. Alone, with Jayce, for weeks at a time.

  I wished to god I hadn’t packed my fuzzy pajamas printed with bunnies and baby ducks. Hopefully Deena was right and we’d rarely have to sleep on the bus overnight.

  To distract myself from my nervous stomach, I started snapping pictures of the interior. That was the kind of thing fans would like to see, eventually. I couldn’t post the pictures yet, but once the word was out that Feral Silence was on tour, everyone would want to know how the band was traveling. The more luxurious, the more successful our fans would think we were.

  We wouldn’t want them to think we were spending too much money, though. We needed our fans to believe we still needed their support, that we hadn’t yet made it to the big leagues. There were always fans who gave up on their favorite groups when they got too popular, and we didn’t want that to happen yet. We still had a long way to go.

  I snorted inwardly at myself. I was already thinking in terms of “our” and “we” as if I was part of the band. I couldn’t help it. If I was going to be the voice of the band, I had to think of myself as one of them. It would make their connection to their fans that much stronger.

  Since I was the first person on the band’s tour bus, I had all the time in the world to explore, but aside from taking photos to post online, I was too nervous. It was too much like ransacking a stranger’s house.

  Instead, I sat on a hard chair at the small dining table near the back, playing with both my phones, flipping them over and over in my hands, one in each. My crossed legs jiggled nervously, waiting for everyone else to arrive. Would they be annoyed at having to share their space with me? Four people on one bus had to be cramped enough. Add one more and it might make the place claustrophobic.

  I was in the middle of a silent contest between my right hand and left hand, seeing how fast I could flip my phones, when a notification popped up. I had set up two types of alerts. One was for general notifications, whenever anyone online happened to mention the band in passing. The other was for direct alerts, letting me know when someone was sending a message directly to the band. It was the same setup I had with my own personal accounts.

  I only had the alerts set up for a few hours before I realized I could ignore most of them. There was a lot of squealing fangirl praise that didn’t need a response.

  I had thought out a few good strategies based on what I did for my AudioAiley persona. Every so often I would pick one of Feral Silence’s fans at random and write back. They would no doubt freak out when that happened, unable to believe their idols were speaking with them directly. That would cause a flurry of posts from other fans hoping for the same thing. On my own accounts, I always waited a few days before reaching out again, waiting until the furor died down before igniting the flames again.

  I figured that same strategy would work with the band, only a thousand times more so. After all, Feral Silence was a rock band with hordes of fans. I was just another music reviewer, albeit one with a bit more of a following than most.

  I swiped the screen to open the message, but it was standard fangirl squealing. I could ignore it.

  There was a commotion near the front of the bus, and I sat up straight. Who would be the first one on?

  Jayce’s head popped up as he clambered up the stairs. He paused when he saw me, an almost pleased look lighting up his face. Then his gaze dropped to the phones in my hand. He pressed his lips together and flopped onto the closest sofa, as far away from me as he could get without leaving the bus.

  “Good morning!” I smiled brightly.

  “So this is what Deena meant when she said you’d be following us around.” Jayce tilted his head
back to look up at the ceiling, looking vaguely uncomfortable.

  For all that he was in the public eye, for all those heated stares he’d thrown my way, it sure did seem like Jayce dreaded working with me. I supposed I wouldn’t be too happy with a stranger following me around to share my every move with the world either. I wondered how he was going to handle having a film crew tailing him. Maybe I could convince him I wouldn’t be an imposition.

  “I didn’t know I’d be sharing the bus with you until this morning. Just tell me if I get in the way.”

  “Sure,” he murmured.

  Draping his arms over the back of the sofa, Jayce slouched down, spreading his legs. He glanced at me out of the corner of his eye. I couldn’t see them clearly from that distance, but I knew they were a warm brown. I’d seen them shine with every expression under the sun. Joy, passion, fury, sorrow. On stage, Jayce held nothing back. He gave everything he had to his audience and they worshipped him for it.

  I had seen flashes of something similar yesterday, but this morning he was more subdued than I’d expected. He acted different now that he knew we were colleagues than when he’d thought I was a fan.

  It shouldn’t have surprised me to learn he was different off stage. Every celebrity assumed some sort of public persona, some type of alter ego. No one acted the exact same way in private as they did in public.

  Was Jayce worried I would expose too much of his inner self to the world?

  I felt bad thinking about it. Jayce had to perform; he had to be “on” every minute of the day, acting the part of the cocky rock star, and here I was invading the precious few moments when he could just be himself.

  “Thanks.”

  I was brought back to myself with Jayce’s rough voice.

  “For what?” I asked, hesitant.

  “For what you said yesterday. How you won’t just post things without our permission.”

  Relief unfurled in my chest. He wasn’t upset with me.