Runaway Rock Star

by C. J. Anthony

  “Yes… indeed… of course. Um, might I ask when this family barbecue is? Not till Sunday afternoon? Wonderful! I promise to have him home safely before the big party. All right, you have a great day now. Yes, it was so nice to talk to you too, Mrs. Harris! Bye-bye now!”

  Lucas handed the phone back to Brandon and leaned down to whisper in his ear. “You’re all mine now.” Lucas’s breath on his ear rattled Brandon temporarily, sending a warm shiver over his skin. Lucas took off, turning around briefly so Brandon could see the wicked grin on his face.

  By the time Brandon caught up with him, Lucas was rubbing his hands together in delight. “All right, Harris. It’s on! What should we ride first?”

  “What kind of thrill do you like? Riding upside down? Death drops? Wooden coasters? Or speed?”

  “Well, considering I’ve never ridden any roller coaster before, I would say… all of them!”

  Brandon stopped walking. “Wait a minute, you’ve never…? How…?” After what Lucas had told him so far of his life, he guessed it shouldn’t be a surprise that Lucas had never ridden a roller coaster. And he didn’t want to make the guy feel bad about it. But it did give him an idea.

  “Okay,” Brandon said, striding ahead of Lucas. “I know exactly where to start.”

  A few minutes later they arrived at their destination, Brandon smiling broadly.

  Lucas glared at him. “The Woodstock Express? Are you fucking kidding me?”

  A mother with two children in tow gave Lucas a dirty look as she tried to cover her little girl’s ears. Too late for the little boy, though. “Mommy, he just said fuck-king!”

  Brandon leaned over to Lucas. “Watch your language… there are little children present!”

  “Of course there are, because you brought me to a kiddie ride!”

  Brandon held up his hands. “Now, now… adults are allowed to ride too.” He smirked. “As your copilot on this roller-coaster adventure, I need to make sure you’re going to be able to handle the big-league coasters. After all you did say you were a roller-coaster virgin.”

  Lucas scowled. “You are a devious arsehole, Harris. I am shocked!” Defiantly he stalked over to the line, towering a good two to three feet over his fellow riders.

  Brandon laughed out loud. He stood on the sidelines and took pictures and video of Lucas riding on the train ride, like a proud parent. He also watched as Lucas’s car-mate, a little dark-haired boy, conversed with Lucas and pulled him out of his indignant mood. Lucas was chatting and laughing with a look of pure joy on his face.

  When the ride was over, Lucas brought the little boy over to Brandon. “This is my new best bud, Martin.” Looking down at Martin, he motioned toward Brandon. “Marty, go ahead.”

  Martin looked up at Brandon with a seriously bored expression on his face. “Dude, he rocked the ride, didn’t scream or puke once. He’s good to go.”

  Martin and Lucas did some kind of hand-slap fist-bump, and then Martin ran off to find his family. Lucas looked smugly at Brandon.

  “See, I was just coaster-approved. Now, can we please ride a big-boy ride? Please, Daddy?”

  Brandon just rolled his eyes. “Okay, fine.”

  Lucas threw his fist in the air.

  MARTIN HAD advised Lucas of the best rides in the park. Naturally he’d picked the big four—the Mean Streak, the Magnum, the Millennium Force, and the park’s newest coaster, the Valravn. Brandon still wanted to start on one of the smaller coasters first, but Lucas wouldn’t hear of it, so instead he convinced Lucas to go on the Mean Streak first. The Mean Streak would actually be closing for good in a few weeks, replaced with something else for next year. Personally, it was his least favorite because it was a wooden coaster and all the rattles, creaks, and groans of the ride freaked him out just a little more than the steel coasters. He wanted Lucas to experience it first, just for pure evil pleasure—to see how Lucas would handle it.

  Lucas was all balls and bravado as they took their place in line. The closer they inched to the front, the twitchier he got. He stared up at the ride, constantly watching as it went around and around.

  Brandon maintained a calm demeanor. When they were the next group in line to go, he looked over at Lucas. “Everything good?”

  Lucas didn’t speak but flashed a thumbs-up sign.

  “’Cause it’s okay if you want to step out of line, go ride something else? Maybe ride the Woodstock Express again?”

  Lucas leveled a stony look at him. “After all the time we’ve been standing here? No fucking way, Harris. If you’re too scared of the big bad roller coaster, feel free to sit down. I’ll meet you when I’m done.”

  Brandon just smiled.

  Once they were strapped in, Lucas had to take off his sunglasses and hat. He looked around nervously, but no one seemed to notice who he was. And then the ride started to slowly take off. Lucas held on tight, flipping between trying to seem relaxed and jumping with every jolt. His eyes got bigger as they went higher and higher on the first climb. Then Brandon couldn’t watch Lucas anymore as he got caught up in the ride himself. He heard lots of screams and “wahooo” shouts, and quite a bit of “oh fuck, fuck fuck…” from Lucas as they traveled through the twists and turns and ups and downs.

  When the ride finally slowed and came to a stop, Brandon looked over to see Lucas with a goofy smile on his face. His hair was a complete windblown mess, and his eyes were bright and shiny. He looked over at Brandon and threw his head back, letting out a loud whoop. Then he clapped his hand on Brandon’s shoulder and shook him almost as hard as the ride had.

  “That was ah-maaz-ing!” Lucas drew the syllables out, sounding spacy as if he were high or drunk.

  Brandon’s hope of Lucas being scared off roller coasters had naturally backfired and instead he had created a monster. But Brandon couldn’t be too disappointed—Lucas was like a little kid in his joy and excitement. And Brandon knew Lucas hadn’t had too many of those moments in his life.

  So, after stopping at a gift shop to buy an elastic strap for Lucas’s sunglasses to secure them to his head during the ride and at least keep that part of his disguise intact, Brandon let himself be dragged all over the park.

  Three hours later they had made it on all three of the other rides—all bigger and faster and better than the last. While on the Millennium, the skies clouded over, and just as they got off the ride, raindrops started falling.

  “What the hell?” Lucas yelled out as they ran for cover. Once they were under the overhang of a nearby building, he turned toward Brandon. “The sun was shining not ten minutes ago!” He shivered. “And that rain is cold!”

  Brandon shrugged, unfazed. “Welcome to Ohio. It can be hot and sunny one minute and rainy and cold the next. Wait another month or so and snow is even possible, despite it being warm just a day before.”

  Lucas shook his head. “That’s crazy.”

  “Don’t you have crazy weather in England?”

  “No! We have rain. And in between the rain we have a few months of sun and a few months of snow.”

  Brandon just smiled. As they stood there staring out at the rain, he looked up to see where they were. The Red Garter Saloon. He tapped Lucas on the shoulder.

  “Since it’s raining, why don’t we eat lunch?”

  Lucas’s face brightened immediately at the mention of food. “Ooh yes, I’m starved!”

  “What else is new,” Brandon muttered as he followed him into the restaurant.

  BRANDON OPTED for a pulled pork sandwich and a fruit cup, while Lucas ordered two chili dogs and an order of “Macho Nachos.”

  As they were finishing their food, country music performers began playing on the stage. It was still raining outside so they sat and listened for a while, enjoying the entertainment—and allowing for one more order of nachos for Lucas.

  When the bills came, Brandon reached for his and started to pull out his wallet, but Lucas snatched both bills up.

  “No bother, mate, it’s on me.” Lucas pulled a c
redit card out of his wallet.

  “It’s okay. You paid for the park tickets and the hotel—”

  “And I’ll pay for the rest of the trip too, Harris, no worries. It’s only fair since I pulled you along on this excursion.” He grinned. “And I do make just a bit more money than you.”

  “But you don’t have to pay for everything—”

  “Stop,” Lucas said with finality, so Brandon didn’t say any more.

  Watching Lucas sign the charge slip, he noticed that while barely legible, the name Lucas signed looked like it started with an F.

  “Did you just sign your credit card slip as Franklin Thomas?”

  Lucas looked up blankly. “Yes.”

  “But how do you get away with signing the wrong name? And won’t your dad and your tour manager be able to track you by your charges and find out where you are?”

  Lucas held the credit card out in front of Brandon’s face. Brandon was surprised to see the name Franklin Thomas on the card, not Lucas Black.

  “Holy crap, how did you get a card with that name?”

  “Pipe down, Harris.” Lucas glanced casually around them to make sure no one at the surrounding tables heard. “I had a bodyguard last tour from New York, Louie. He had ‘connections’ if you know what I mean. Although he was out of the life. He said he was turning over a new leaf, and that’s why he was working the bodyguard gig. Anyway, he taught me how to get an account and a debit card, even got me fake credentials.” Lucas pulled an American ID out of his wallet and held it out to Brandon. It was Lucas, wearing the fake glasses, and the name underneath sure enough read “Franklin Thomas.”

  “No one knows about the secret account except me and him—well, and now you. So if you tell anybody, I’ll have to kill you. I’m sure Louie could help with that.” Lucas winked at Brandon. “Anyway, so my dad nor any of my businesspeople know about the account. I manage to funnel money into the account periodically and that way, whenever I need to be ‘Franklin’ for a while, I’m all set.”

  Brandon couldn’t believe the levels of duplicity Lucas had to go through just to exist in the “normal” world.

  They sat in silence while Lucas slurped up the rest of his Coke.

  “Hey, look!” He pointed. “Rain stopped, let’s go!”

  They spent the rest of the afternoon riding as many coasters as they could. And eating—well, Lucas ate. Pizza and ice cream. Lucas seemed to have boundless energy, and Brandon had a feeling he would have continued on until the park closed at ten, but as the sun was heading toward the horizon, Brandon had to put a stop to their day.

  “Aw come on, mate! Just one more!” Lucas pleaded.

  “I’m exhausted, Lucas, and I’m the one who has to do the driving tomorrow. We’ve been outside in the sun all day—well, most of the day—and I just want a shower and dinner and bed.”

  Brandon could have gone back to the hotel and let Lucas ride on to his heart’s content, but Brandon wasn’t comfortable letting Lucas out of his sight. Sure, Lucas was a grown man, but he was also a famous rock star who was technically “missing” to the rest of the world. Brandon felt obligated as the only person alive who really knew where he was to, well, know where he was—at all times.

  “Fine,” Lucas grumbled. “I had no idea you were such an old man.”

  Once they were back in the room, Brandon ducked out to get ice and when he got back, he found Lucas had snuck into the shower before him. Sighing, he collapsed on the bed. Lucas was out of the bathroom a few minutes later, and Brandon was able to get in.

  He stripped out of his hot and sweaty clothes and noticed he’d definitely got a touch of a tan. In the shower, he let the hot water pour down on him and wash off all the dirt and grime of the day.

  When he finally got out and dried off, he stepped out of the bathroom only to find Lucas was gone. And the guitar case was open and empty. “Shit!” he said out loud. “Shit, shit, shit!”

  Opening his bag, he reached in and grabbed whatever pieces of clothing he touched first. Struggling into a shirt, he froze suddenly when he heard something. Guitar music was wafting in from outside. He rushed over to the window. Lucas was sitting on the sand of the beach and playing his guitar.

  Brandon’s shoulders sagged in relief. This weekend—and Lucas Black—was going to give him a stress heart attack.

  BRANDON QUIETLY approached Lucas, who greeted him without even turning around to see who was behind him.

  “Hello, Harris,” he said, never stopping the movement of his fingers as they strummed out the notes.

  “I… was surprised you weren’t in the room.”

  “I spend too much of my life in hotel rooms. I couldn’t resist the beach and the fresh air, and the sunset. Have a seat, Harris. It’s beautiful out here.”

  Brandon sat down carefully on the sand next to him. The sun was settling into the western edge of Lake Erie, the orange and yellow colors reflecting in the water. Lucas was right; it was wrong to be cooped up in a room when they could be out here. They sat in silence for a bit as Lucas played, strumming randomly on his guitar. Brandon picked out the bits of chords and melodies Lucas was playing from various songs. Until he switched to something Brandon didn’t recognize.

  “That’s really nice,” Brandon said.

  Lucas nodded. “Thanks.” He sighed. “It’s something I’ve been noodling around with for a while… it just doesn’t know where it wants to go yet.” He stopped playing abruptly. “Well, are you ready to grab something to eat?”

  Brandon nodded. “Sure, that sounds good.”

  “Awesome. Just let me take this back upstairs first.”

  “We could just get—” Brandon tried to suggest room service, but Lucas was already too far away to hear him. Brandon leaned back in the sand on his elbows and closed his eyes, breathing in the fresh air. For the first time the whole trip, he didn’t feel anxious or unsure. He had been so caught up in trying to get home to his parents’ and then with Lucas and his shenanigans and the extra detour…. But finally, for the moment, he didn’t care and he didn’t feel stress. They would make it to their destination eventually. The world wasn’t ending because they had not made it there today.

  Before long he felt a shadow and some sand kicked onto his arm.

  “Harris, wake up. You’re not flaking on me this early, are you?”

  Brandon sat, then stood up and brushed sand off his jeans. “I wasn’t sleeping,” he grumbled.

  “Come on, I asked at the front desk and they said there’s a really great seafood place at the marina.”

  They walked the short distance to Bay Harbor, a much more upscale restaurant compared to their previous food forays at Perkins and the Saloon earlier. No chili dogs here.

  As they were seated and given menus, Lucas appeared totally at ease and comfortable. Not that Brandon had never been to a nice restaurant—he had, many times—but for Lucas, he could tell this was a regular occurrence.

  Perusing the menu, Brandon thought some of the prices were quite high. As if he were reading his mind, Lucas spoke without looking up from the menu.

  “And please order anything you want. Remember, Franklin is paying.” He glanced up at Brandon and smirked.

  Brandon still felt guilty and tried to order fish tacos, but “Franklin” wouldn’t let him, so in the end he ordered the Lake Erie perch and Lucas ordered the lobster tail dinner with an added piece of Lake Erie perch.

  After the waitress left, he leaned over the table to speak to Brandon. “So this Lake Erie perch… is fish actually caught out there? In the lake?”

  Brandon tried not to laugh. “Um, yes, I assume so. I mean, Lake Erie is big—it may not be caught right out here—but the name would imply it was caught somewhere in Lake Erie.”

  “Amazing!”

  Brandon laughed. When their food came, the first thing Lucas tried was the perch.

  “Oh my God, that is delicious! And deep-fried goodness!”

  “What is going to happen when you get to Cinci
nnati and you’re twenty pounds heavier?”

  Lucas waved his hand dismissively. “Please. We walked around so much today, we probably sweated off five pounds easy. We need our sustenance,” he said around another huge bite of the fish.

  Brandon enjoyed dinner with Lucas. Conversation was easy between them now after twenty-four hours together, although his two beers and Lucas’s three glasses of wine also played a part. Lucas regaled him with crazy tales from five years of touring and life in the music biz.

  When they finally walked out of the restaurant, Lucas started to fade, thanks to the wine. He trudged a few steps clumsily. “Oopsie. I’m so tired… I don’t think I can make it.”

  “It’s not far.”

  He threw both arms around Brandon’s neck, nuzzling his stubbled cheek next to Brandon’s. “Can you carry me?” he mumbled.

  Brandon’s whole body heated from Lucas being pressed up against him. He swallowed hard and willed his body to behave itself. Lucas was drunk and didn’t know what he was doing.

  At that moment a shuttle going back to their hotel stopped in front of the restaurant, so Brandon guided Lucas to the vehicle.

  Lucas sprawled out on a seat, let out a hiccup-belch, and then rode the rest of the way back to the hotel with his head on Brandon’s shoulder.

  Brandon took advantage of the moment to stare at Lucas, eyes closed but not asleep, he didn’t think. The man was beautiful, but at that relaxed moment he looked every bit of his young twenty-two years, not at all like the jaded rock star he was.

  Once back at the hotel, Brandon got Lucas awake enough to make it back up to their room, though he leaned on Brandon most of the way. After getting the door open, he guided Lucas the last few feet to his bed, where he dropped like a stone.

  Now was the awkward part. Did Brandon leave him as he was, or did he try to undress him? Sighing, he started with the shoes. Once those were off, he hesitated and finally reached for the button and zipper on Lucas’s pants. His heart pounded as he concentrated on the task and not on the gorgeous body underneath the pants. Lucas was wearing bright blue boxer briefs and appeared to have quite a respectable package hiding snugly in the briefs. As Brandon’s groin warmed and also took notice, he had to will himself to look away and think of dead puppies and kittens. “Not now,” he kept muttering under his breath.