Daisy and the Front Man (Entangled Crush) (Backstage Pass)

by Purdy, Rebekah L.

  “No, I only save stuff like this for the really special ones. Aren’t you glad you caught my attention?” he said, almost shouting to be heard over the fans.

  “Um—no.” She snorted, staring at his lips that were once more turned up into a heart-stopping smile. A smile that was quickly making her forget about the toilet water drenching her clothes. Well, the revenge plot was definitely off to a great start…

  Lesson number one, never unmask a boy band hottie in front of a crowd, or you might get shit on. Literally.

  Chapter Four

  The bodyguard ushered Trevin and Daisy off the port-a-john and into an SUV. The driver inched forward, trying not to hit any fans.

  “No offense, but you guys reek.” DeMarcus wrinkled his nose. “We’ll need to take the truck and get it washed out as soon as we drop you off.”

  With Daisy beside him, Trevin found it a lot easier to ignore the stuff soaking through his clothing. Her leg brushed against his as she slid in next to him and he felt his heartrate skyrocket. He shifted his gaze out the window, trying to pretend he hadn’t noticed his reaction.

  When they pulled up to the hotel, Beau was there waiting in the lobby, a scowl on his face.

  “This is why you need to have a bodyguard with you. You put Daisy in danger.”

  Daisy snorted next to him. “Dad, there were a few screaming girls pounding on the outhouse. It’s not like they were carrying machine guns trying to kill us.”

  “No, you’re right, I should’ve listened,” Trevin said. “Trust me, I won’t let it happen again.” He couldn’t wait to get out of his clothes and in the shower. So far, the bet wasn’t going so well. He doubted Daisy would ever talk to him again after today. She did laugh, but that didn’t mean anything. If she was mad, she didn’t act like it right now. Although, this was kind of her fault. Had she taken his disguise off on purpose? He hadn’t seen the bee. If so, why would she have done it?

  Beau nodded, then headed toward the doors to make sure no fans busted in.

  “You know,” Daisy said, “you really need to get a backbone. I mean, aren’t you my dad’s boss?”

  Trevin chuckled. “I choose my battles. Besides, your dad means well.” He ushered her away from the front doors. “By the way, I had fun hanging out today. Well, before the toilet tipped over.”

  Her gaze softened as she glanced at him. “Me too. Just don’t plan anything as fun as this next time.”

  “So there’s going to be a next time?” He watched her. Okay, so maybe this hadn’t been as big of a disaster as he’d thought.

  “I never said that.”

  They headed toward the hallway when the guy at the front desk peered at them. “Excuse me, sir? Are you Trevin Jacobs?”

  “Yeah.” He stopped walking as the man came around the counter. Great, it’d gotten here quickly.

  “I have a package that was delivered here for you a few minutes ago.”

  “Thanks.” After a moment, he handed it to Daisy, excited for her to see what it was. “Well, are you going to open it?” Trevin watched her, hoping she liked it.

  “What is this?”

  “Well, there’s only one way to find out.” He grinned, wondering why his hands were sweaty all of a sudden.

  Daisy tore open the brown wrapping, then peeled back the flaps on the box. Her eyes widened as she held up the black dress from the vintage shop.

  Her jaw tightened and she glared at Trevin. “Do you think you can just buy me?”

  Trevin stiffened. This wasn’t the reaction he’d expected. Damn. This girl was so hot and cold. Why was there this sudden change? “No—that’s not why I did it.”

  “Really, because why else would you buy something for someone you don’t even know? You might be used to girls falling all over themselves to get your attention, but I’m not that girl.”

  “You really don’t like me, do you?” Trevin didn’t understand it. What the fuck had he done? He should just walk the hell away from her and leave it be. Because the girl he was dealing with now definitely wasn’t going to fall for him by the end of summer. And it’s not like there weren’t millions of other girls out there who’d love to get a gift from him. But then Ryder will win, and you won’t be able to collaborate with Pierce, which means no one will ever get to see what you’re truly capable of writing.

  “Now you’re catching on.” She attempted to hand the package back to him, but he refused to take it.

  “I think it’s shitty that you’re not even giving me a chance to get to know you before deciding you hate me.”

  “But I already do know you—and today was nothing but a nice guy act.” She turned away from him.

  He reached out and caught her arm, forcing her to look at him. “It wasn’t an act.” Guilt washed over him—was she right? He’d done it in part for the bet, which was pretty much the same thing. But when he’d bought the dress, he’d done it because he saw how much she’d wanted it.

  She tugged away and hurried out of the hotel lobby.

  Damn it. Why was she being like this? Furious, he stormed up to the room he shared with Miles and slammed the door. As soon as he walked into the tiny living room area, he threw his wig and hat onto the floor.

  “Hey, you okay?” Miles glanced up from his phone. “And what the hell is that smell?”

  “You don’t want to know.”

  “You need to talk?”

  “Daisy’s going to drive me completely insane. And I’m covered in toilet water.”

  Miles grinned. “Ah, lady problems. I might know a thing or two to help you out.” He patted the couch next to him. “Come tell Dr. Sex God all your problems.” His nose wrinkled. “On second thought, go take a shower, then come see me.”

  “This isn’t funny.” Trevin tore off his shirt and dropped it into the laundry bag hanging in the entryway closet.

  Miles sighed and set his phone on the coffee table. “All right then, tell me what’s going on.”

  So Trevin told him about his day with Daisy and how she’d let him see this other side of her at the record store and everything that happened after.

  “Maybe she’s playing hard to get.”

  “No. It’s something else—she’s got this grudge against me because apparently I did something to her.” Trevin ran a hand through his hair and glanced at his friend. “Tell me, have I done anything awful to anyone lately?”

  “Not that I remember.” Miles leaned back against the couch, propping his feet up on the side of it. “You know, if you want, I could put in a good word for you. Maybe invite her to go out for some fish and chips with us. Just don’t tell Ryder I’m helping you.”

  “Funny.” Why did her opinion of him matter so much? Well, if she doesn’t fall for you, then you’re screwed. No matter what, he wasn’t going to give up that easily.

  Trevin went into his room, where he took a quick shower, then grabbed his guitar. It’d been a while since he’d written anything, and right now he needed to focus on something other than Daisy Morris.

  He sat on the edge of his bed, took out a pick, and began to strum the strings. Trevin worked on some new chord progressions, letting himself get lost in his music. It was like putting together a puzzle, trying to piece the right lyrics with the right notes until it painted a perfect picture. He closed his eyes, letting the melody pour from him. This is what being in S2J was all about for him. Making music.

  And when he belted out the chorus about a girl with brown eyes, all he pictured was Daisy. The very girl he was trying his damnedest not to think about right now.

  …

  Daisy rushed back to her room. When the door shut behind her, she slid down to the floor, holding the dress. Why did he do this? Why the hell had he bought it for her? Sure, she’d wanted it, but did he think that’d earn him a free pass into her bed or something?

  She wanted to believe that deep down he was a nice guy, but she knew better. Damn it. He didn’t even remember standing her up. Like she wasn’t important enough to matter.
Then for him to spend all day pretending to care about what she was interested in.

  Tears welled in Daisy’s eyes. Ugh. She’d sworn not to shed any more for him. She had to get her crap together before she made a huge mistake. She hopped in the shower and got cleaned up. Once she finished, she tugged her phone out and dialed Lena’s number.

  When she picked up, Daisy said, “I so need your help.”

  “What’s wrong?”

  She went on to explain about her day and the gift.

  “I can’t believe him—although buying you a cute dress is a nice gesture, but a conceited one at the same time. I mean, it’s like he’s rubbing in your face the fact you didn’t have enough money. You definitely need to put him in his place. And I don’t mean another bath in the port-a-john.”

  “I know.”

  “For more than nine months you’ve talked about getting revenge. Now it’s time to bring out the big guns.”

  “So what should I do?”

  “Welllll…he does seem kind of interested in you. Maybe you should try to snag him, then publicly dump him or stand him up, just like he did to you.”

  Daisy stood up. “Oh my gosh, you’re brilliant.” Okay, so it seemed a little petty, and maybe she was being too harsh—after all, he had been really nice today. But no—she couldn’t get off track. After the embarrassment she’d had to live down, it was nothing less than he deserved. An eye for an eye.

  Trevin Jacobs was going to get what was coming to him. Now all she had to do was pretend she’d had a change of heart.

  “Well, we do have some things in common. I can build off of that.”

  “Yay! See? This will totally work.” Lena giggled. “I think your first step should be to go apologize to him and thank him for the dress. Then you can slowly build toward the breakup. I mean, the whole taking off his disguise thing was brilliant. But think small to start with, that way your finale is like a Fourth of July fireworks display. You’re going to need time to convince him you’re serious about him. You can’t just throw yourself at his mercy.”

  “I hate that I have to do this,” Daisy said. “But you’re right. I can knock him down a couple pegs while I work at it.”

  “Now, you need to wipe away your tears and get back into his good graces.”

  “Fine. I’ll put on my happy face and march on over there.”

  “Good luck.”

  “I totally owe you.”

  “Hello, you don’t owe me, this is what best friends do. Encourage each other.”

  “Talk to you soon.” Daisy hung up, took a deep breath, and went out into the hallway. She made her way down to Trevin’s room. When she got there, she stood outside, palms sweaty. She could do this. All she had to do was play pretend for a while.

  At last she knocked. She heard footsteps on the other side, and then the door flew open to reveal Miles. He quirked an eyebrow at her and waved her in.

  “I-Is Trevin here?” Daisy glanced around.

  “Yeah, he’s in his room.” Miles pointed.

  Just then she heard music playing from the other side of the door. She swallowed hard and pushed into Trevin’s room without knocking. He sat on his bed, guitar in hand.

  She stood there for a second until he realized she was there. All at once, he leaped to his feet, a startled look on his face. Even in sweats and a T-shirt, he was cute. His dark hair was still damp from a shower, and his shirt slid up as he bent down to take care of his instrument, revealing the sleek, muscled skin beneath it. Her breath hitched.

  “Listen, I-I came to apologize for earlier. I really do like the dress, and I shouldn’t have blown up at you like that.”

  “Daisy, I promise you, I didn’t buy it for you to try and get you to sleep with me or anything like that. I could just tell you really wanted it, and I thought it’d be nice to maybe help someone out, you know.”

  Daisy nodded, her legs trembling beneath her. God, why did she have to react to him this way? “I appreciate it. The thing is, I’m not great with people. It’s just, I’ve been hurt before, and I tend to not trust guys.” Of course the guy who’d hurt her was him. Not that she could say that aloud.

  “Word of advice? Not all guys are douchebags.” He smiled. “So, what do you say, you wanna hang out for a while?”

  Before she could answer, she heard the door burst open, followed by her dad’s voice. “Is Daisy around?”

  “In here, Dad,” she called from Trevin’s room.

  When he came in, he frowned as he stared between Trevin and Daisy. “I thought I’d take you out to grab a bite to eat.”

  “Sure. I’ll see you later, Trevin.” Daisy followed her dad back to their suite, where she grabbed her purse. They then went downstairs to the hotel restaurant.

  When they first sat down, Daisy stared at the table, trying to think of things to talk about. It wasn’t like she had a lot of experience hanging out with her dad. So they chatted about the warm weather and lame stuff like that before the waitress saved her by bringing them menus.

  Once they ordered, she glanced at her dad. It was odd to think that they were flesh and blood, yet complete strangers. She felt completely awkward around him. Unsure of what to say or do.

  “You know, I don’t think you should be going into the boys’ rooms unchaperoned,” Dad said in between bites of steak.

  Daisy rolled her eyes. “Seriously? Trust me, it’s not like that. Besides, this trip was partially your idea. Remember all that talk about ‘a teen girl’s dream come true’? Don’t tell me you’ve changed your mind now… I mean, this is the first summer we’ve spent together in how many years?”

  He set his fork down and sighed. “Are you ever going to give me a chance?”

  Her stomach twisted, and she fisted her hand in her lap. “Yeah, when you start calling and coming around more. You always promise things and never keep your word. You were supposed to come at Christmas and didn’t show. I didn’t get a call on my birthday or the birthday before that. So I’ll give you a chance when you give me one.” Daisy toyed with the ice in her cup. Because of him, she couldn’t trust guys. She couldn’t open up to them for fear of being let down, like Dad had done to her so many times.

  But he didn’t see that. He didn’t know how much he’d hurt her over the years. Then to have Trevin do what he’d done—she’d never let anyone get close enough to cause her pain again.

  This vacation would be a huge test for her. Both on the Trevin front and with her dad.

  Chapter Five

  Six a.m. came quickly and the guys stood lined up, sleep still crusted in their eyes as Moses, their choreographer, stood in front of them.

  “At this part, I want Nathan, Will, and Miles to twist your arms outward then back in—then fall back on your left foot. Ryder and Trevin, let’s get a kick-ball-chain type movement going, but make it funkier. Like this.” He proceeded to demonstrate. “You guys need to make sure you’re starting on the offbeat.”

  “If he says kick-ball-chain one more time, I’m gonna show him a thing or two about kicks in the balls—it’s too early for this shit,” Ryder groaned.

  Trevin yawned. He’d been up way too late trying to finish writing a new song, which at the moment was entitled “When We Kiss.” “For once, I totally agree.”

  “Ryder, you need to deepen your stance when you slide. Show us some attitude,” Moses said. He adjusted his backward baseball cap and did another quick run through.

  “If he wants attitude, he’s about to get it,” Ryder said.

  Miles laughed. “Did someone not get enough beauty sleep?”

  “I don’t need beauty sleep. But in case you were wondering, I got my asshole sleep, which means you better shut your mouth.” He moved to stand in front of Miles.

  “C’mon, cut your shit out.” Trevin stopped dancing and stepped between them. “The longer it takes us to get the routine down, the longer we have to stay in here. And I’d like a few minutes to chill before our show tonight.”

  Nathan and Wil
l made their way over to them. “Look, if I can get this down, then you guys definitely can,” Will said. “I’m the clumsiest guy out here.”

  Nathan wiped his forehead on his T-shirt. “If you want, I can do that set of dance moves instead—you know, switch parts.”

  Ryder glanced around. “I don’t need you guys in my face—I got this, now back off.”

  “We’re just trying to help,” Trevin said. He patted Ryder’s shoulder. “You know we’re all in this together—we’re a band.”

  “Did you just steal that line from High School Musical?” Ryder snorted. “Really, Trev? I thought I taught you better than that.”

  Trevin chuckled. “Should I be concerned that you actually know the lyrics, too?”

  Ryder slugged him in the arm. “I’m full of secrets. Now c’mon, I’m ready to get back to it.”

  And just like that, Trevin helped avert another catastrophe. It sucked sometimes, having to be the diplomatic one—the guy who had to smooth things over if feathers got ruffled. Although, maybe he should be glad they all came to him when crap was going down or they needed help with something. Just because he made good choices most of the time and was mature for his age didn’t mean he wanted to referee every fight. But like LJ said, he had to keep the band together. Well, it wasn’t like they fought all the time. Most days they got along, well, kind of like brothers. But it was a lot of pressure for one person to handle sometimes.

  After several hours of practice, Beau arrived to escort them to lunch. They’d have a few hours before the show, which meant they’d have enough time to eat, maybe play a video game, get showers, and then head to hair and makeup. The band would be pulling out right after the concert tonight and driving to Florida for their next gig.

  As Trevin pushed through the doors, he saw Daisy curled up in a chair at the far end of the dining area with a book in hand. His breath hitched when the sun shone through the window, like it was spotlighting her. There was something almost vulnerable about her when she let her guard down. She glanced up and gave a noncommittal wave, which was all the encouragement he needed to go over to her.