Beckett closed his eyes for a moment, soaking in the soothing voice of Etta Morelli. When he opened them, Nari’s gaze met his.
“I wasn’t,” he admitted. “I’ve been too busy to try to stay in touch.” What had he always told Avery and Nari? High school was only a tiny blip of their lives, and there was no use holding on to it.
Yet, they managed to still keep up with their old friends. They lived in Nashville but traveled home regularly. Beckett hadn’t been home before two days ago.
“Is he still with Kenny?” He thought back to Nicky’s words. Something happened to make Nicky think his boyfriend was an asshole.
“No.”
Becks released the breath he’d been holding. Then Nari continued, dousing Becks’ relief in cold hard reality.
“Kenny broke up with him last night to date some girl he does to school with—after two years with Nicky. I hate it. Nicky is hurting. I’ve never seen him quite like this. And Kenny… I wish he’d just go die a slow, painful death.”
A laugh burst free of Beckett. “What have you done with Nari Won Song?”
She smirked. “It’s Nicky, Becks. He’s the best of us all. I’ll do anything to protect him even if that means castrating that son of a bitch, Kenny.”
Becks almost choked on his next laugh. He liked to think Nashville hadn’t changed him, but Nari couldn’t say the same. Gone was the nerdy, shy girl who wouldn’t curse to save her life. In her place stood a woman who’d rip some poor guy’s balls off if he hurt someone she loved.
No, not some poor guy… Kenny. And he couldn’t say he hated the idea.
Etta played the last notes of her final song. As soon as the cheering crowd quieted, she spoke into the microphone. “Who wants to hear Beckett Anderson?”
“That’s your cue.” Sofie showed up out of nowhere, urging the band up the steps and onto the stage.
Becks gripped the neck of his guitar as the blinding lights struck him in the face. Once his eyes adjusted, he could make out faces among the crowd who’d come out in the early evening. The sun sat low in the sky, ready to make its descent. Before then, Beckett would finish playing and be able to head back to Nashville, to his home.
He didn’t notice what he said into the microphone or how he introduced himself. The crowd already knew him. Before long, he lost himself in a guitar solo, his fingers plucking the strings.
Nari’s voice entered the song first before Beckett joined her. They’d been playing together for so long they knew exactly what each other would do, which notes would make it into the atmosphere. Harrison and Quinn joined them less than two years ago after the label signed them and decided they needed a full band.
It worked. No one tried to outdo each other, and they all understood one thing. Beckett was the star.
Sweat dripped from his short hair, rolling down his cheeks. His sopping shirt clung to his chest as the summer heat soaked into his skin. When finally, he couldn’t take it anymore, he lifted his shirt over his head and threw it out at the crowd.
A roar wound through them. This was what they wanted. Beckett had to give them everything of himself, holding back only the darkest parts no one wanted to see. They wanted a country star? He’d write chart toppers. A sex symbol? He’d smile seductively while standing in front of them half naked. A role model? A musician? A good boy?
They were all masks he wore, and he didn’t regret them. He’d chosen this life, dreamed of it even. As long as they never asked him to give them Becks, the man he truly was with all the doubt and worry and love, he’d be okay.
Movement near the front of the crowd caught his eye. Beckett kept singing, but he stepped to the edge of the stage and peered toward them. He’d recognize Kenny anywhere. The big hockey player had a face that just screamed “punch me.” Beside him stood a petite girl with curly brown hair.
But that wasn’t who caught his attention. Nicky faced them, his hands in his pockets. He rocked back on his heels as Kenny’s mouth moved a mile a minute, his face growing redder with each word.
Beckett couldn’t remember ever seeing Nicky look so lost, so vulnerable.
“Maybe he’s the best I can do.”
Were Nicky’s words really Kenny’s? Was that douche the reason Nicky thought so little of himself?
Becks didn’t realize he’d missed his guitar entrance, but he didn’t skip a single word of the song. Soon, they dove into the next.
“I’ll do anything to protect him.”
Nari’s earlier words might as well have come from Beckett. Even after being away from Nicky for two years, he had the same desire to make him smile he’d had before. And right now… Nicky looked more like he wanted to cry.
Becks stumbled over a word in the song, forgetting the lyrics, as he watched Kenny step closer to Nicky. Nicky shrank in on himself.
“Becks, where are you going?”
He only faintly heard Sofie calling to him from the side of his stage. There was no time to think. Nari and the guys continued to play with Nari singing Beckett’s parts as Becks jumped off the front of the stage, landing in the grass. He pulled his guitar off over his head and put it on the stage before edging his way past the barriers separating the crowd from the low platform.
Fans screamed as he neared, scrambling to touch him, hoping they could get a piece of him. He shouldered his way through, making it to Kenny and Nicky. They didn’t notice him at first.
“I don’t want you, Nicky.” Kenny’s words would haunt Becks for a long time, but not as long as the crestfallen look on Nicky’s face would. Something inside Nicky shattered right before Beckett’s eyes, and it gutted him.
Nicky lifted his tearstained face, probably noticing how the concert had changed. He glanced around at the people squeezing in on them, holding their phones up to capture the drama about to unfold. Finally, he saw Becks, but not before Kenny.
“Dude, Avery already threatened me. I don’t need Nicky’s other brother getting into our business.”
Beckett’s chest heaved as the words he could never take back rolled off his tongue. “I’m not Nicky’s brother.”
Without another thought, he yanked Nicky to him. Nicky let out a surprised grunt, his eyes wide with fear.
“Don’t be afraid of me, Nick-Nick. Never me.” He wrapped a hand around the back of Nicky’s neck, pulling his face closer.
Awareness struck Beckett as he kissed Nicky, the kid he’d protected in high school, the one he’d always been drawn to. There was nothing kid-like about him now. For a moment, Nicky stood frozen, and Becks wrapped an arm around his back.
“It’s just me, Nicky,” he whispered against his lips.
Nicky’s answering sigh traveled through Beckett, lighting every nerve ending on fire, and he finally kissed him back, taking everything Becks gave.
Beckett didn’t understand it—why he’d abandoned his concert to save Nicky from the humiliation of seeing his ex with a new person. Maybe it was just protectiveness, maybe it was something else entirely.
But as he kissed Nicky, it didn’t feel nearly as strange as he’d expected.
When the crowd’s cheers broke through, Beckett pulled back, taking in Nicky’s bewildered stare.
Nicky shook his head as if to clear it. “Kenny’s gone.”
Those two words were like a bucket of ice crashing over Beckett’s heated skin as he remembered why they were there. Beckett wasn’t gay. Nicky wasn’t in Nashville. The kiss was only meant as a stab at another man.
Beckett brushed a hand through his sweaty brown hair. Nicky glanced down at Beckett’s bare chest, and red crept along his skin from his neck to his ears.
Taking a step back, Becks finally mustered up the courage to look at the damage he’d done. No music played as his three band mates stared at him from the stage. Off to the side of the stage, Avery stood rubbing the back of his neck and watching them carefully. How could Beckett face Avery after kissing his brother?
And the crowd? Those wonderful people who allowed Becks to
keep making music? They surrounded him, their phones out as they snapped photos and took video.
“Becks.” Nicky’s voice was hoarse. “Umm…you should…”
“Yeah.” Beckett gave Nicky one final glance as a man from security appeared to help him back to the stage.
Becks stepped up to the microphone as if nothing had happened. “So, how bout them Reds?”
Laughter rang out with a few catcalls and yelled derogatory terms. Becks could never unhear what some of his onetime fans now called him. But Nicky had lived with this for years—even from his own father at one time.
What right did Beckett have to be bothered and hurt?
As he started in on the last song of the evening, he watched Nicky’s retreating back, taking in his hunched shoulders.
Becks only ever wanted to help Nicky, to be there for him. But what if he’d only made the world a lot more confusing for him than it already was?
3
Nicky
Nicky pulled into his regular parking space behind the Main, turning the ignition off on the crappy car he used to share with Avery. Nari bought his brother a new car for his last birthday, and Nicky enjoyed teasing him about his sugar mama.
A loud thud against the driver’s side window made him jump a mile in his seat.
“What are you even doing here right now?” Wylder gave him a look that said he had lost his mind.
“Jeez, Wylds, you scared the crap out of me.” Nicky opened his door. “I’m going to work like a normal person.” A normal person who wasn’t still reeling from the fake kiss that was better than any real kiss he’d had in his life. Images of a shirtless Becks had haunted his dreams. What amounted to a PR stunt for Becks had come out of nowhere and ripped Nicky apart.
“Why haven’t you answered your phone? We’ve been trying to call you all morning.”
“I turned my phone off after Avery and Nari called me a million times last night.” Nicky tried to get out of his car, but Wylder shoved him back in.
“Then you haven’t seen it?” Wylder pulled her dreadlocks over her shoulder. “You are not working today. Get in the passenger seat, I’m driving us out of here.”
“What? Why?” Nicky tried to protest as Wylder shoved him to the other side of the car.
“Trust me, damn it. We need to get out of here, now.”
“Fine.” Nicky scooted over to the passenger seat and handed her the keys. “Where are we going?”
“Anywhere but here.” Wylder gunned the engine and raced out of the parking lot. Nicky got a glimpse of the front of the Main when she turned to head toward Riverpass, the next town over.
“What’s going on?” Nicky stared at the street full of news vans. “Did something happen to the Callahans?”
“No, you idiot. Something happened to you.” She shoved her phone at him. “Watch that.”
Nicky’s hands shook when he saw the paused video on her screen. His tear-stained face stared back at him. “I don’t want to see this.”
“Well, the rest of the country music world has seen it, and they’ve lost their damn minds over it. The hashtag SexyBecksy is even trending because of it. It’s a big deal.”
Nicky pressed play and watched the whole thing play out again. The part where Kenny smashed what was left of his heart right before Becks jumped off the stage and took Nicky in his arms. It was like watching it happen to someone else. The fire in Beckett’s eyes caught him by surprise. Even watching it now, Nicky brushed his fingertips over his lips. He’d never been kissed like that. He watched his own stiff reaction followed by the moment he’d lost his mind and kissed Becks back. It was probably the hottest moment of his entire life, and it was staged. SexyBecksy… He couldn’t argue with that.
Watching the video, he also saw the heartbroken look on Kenny’s face and felt a momentary stab of satisfaction before he remembered he was watching this on YouTube. It had over fifty thousand hits in less than twenty-four hours. He scrolled through the comments, wincing at some of the negative vitriol fired at Becks. Even some for Kenny, the Ohio senator’s son. But most of the fans were screaming for more. They loved the romantic and spontaneous moment and were dying to know who Nicky was.
Nicky thrust a nervous hand through his hair. “So, all of that back there was about me?” His voice rasped like sandpaper in his throat.
“You are the it boy of the hour, my friend. My idiot brother’s fans are dying to know everything about you.”
“Why?”
“They think there’s some kind of desperate love story there.” She turned to glance at him. “Is there?” She raised a brow at him in question.
“With Becks? No.” That wasn’t entirely true. Nicky had a mad crush on him in high school, but that was ages ago, and it was only ever one-sided. “We’ve always been friends. I have no idea why he did this. It has to be some kind of PR stunt. You know he isn’t even gay.”
“Becks wouldn’t do that to you just for the attention.” Wylder shook her head. “And you know as well as I that gay is just a label. So, stop throwing it around like you know what Becks is feeling.”
He ignored the latter part of her statement. “He pulled you on stage and hammed it up for the audience for attention.”
“That wasn’t about the PR—not entirely. He wanted to remind me how much I love music. After everything that went down with the Powerplay girls last year, I haven’t played much. He wanted to show me I’ve still got it. That music will always be part of me.”
“But it still made him look like the adorable big brother in front of the audience.”
“He is my adorable big brother, Nicky. I don’t know what he was thinking, but that kiss was spontaneous. I think he shocked himself as much as everyone else.”
“I need this job, Mrs. Callahan,” Nicky said in a rush. “Vanderbilt is expensive, and I’m counting on working all summer to save up for school expenses.” His boss had called him into the Main for a meeting, and he was afraid she was going to let him go. “I’m so sorry about all the media attention. I promise, if it happens again, I’ll take care of it.”
“Oh, honey, I’m not firing you,” Mrs. Callahan said. “I just wanted to make sure you’re okay.” She pulled him into a warm hug. “You have a job here for as long as you need it. Brian has worked with the local authorities to keep the press out of the diner so you can work in peace.”
“Thank you, Mrs. C, I’m a little overwhelmed from all the online attention, but I think it’s slowing down. They’ll forget about me soon.”
“Well, they can’t get to you in here, so get to work, young man.”
“Yes ma’am, thank you.” Nicky left the kitchen to stock the dessert case and make fresh coffee before the early dinner rush. After the Callahans’ daughter Peyton left for college, he’d taken over her shifts and was grateful for the work. Once upon a time, the St. Germaines had more money than they knew what to do with, but Nicky’s alcoholic father, an NFL Hall of Famer, had lost most of the family’s money to gambling debts. But after a stint in rehab, Greyson St. Germaine was much better now, and they’d learned to live within their means. Like his brother, Nicky received a scholarship to Vanderbilt University, but his was only a partial academic scholarship. Nicky still needed to cover his basic expenses. To save money, Nicky was moving into the apartment Avery shared with Nari, and neither of them would let him pay rent.
But Nicky was having second thoughts about moving in with them. Becks lived right across the hall. How was he supposed to handle living so close to him? He could get over the kiss, but it would be a lot easier if Becks wasn’t a big part of his life like he used to be. Nicky didn’t ever want to go down that road again, loving someone who wasn’t available. Kenny was bi but so far in the closet he couldn’t see the light under the door, and Becks was whatever he was. What Nicky needed was some time to be single and a new start at Vanderbilt where he might eventually meet a guy who wouldn’t leave him for someone else.
“Penny for your thoughts?” A fami
liar voice brought Nicky out of his reverie.
“Funny guy.” Nicky slid into the booth across from Julian Callahan.
“I thought it was fairly clever.” Julian didn’t even pretend to hide his smirk. “They just sound like the perfect asshole couple don’t they? Penny and Kenny. You can do better, little man.”
“I’m taller and bigger than you and everyone else who still calls me ‘little man.’” Nicky felt the tension ease from his shoulders as he laughed with Julian.
“You had the most ridiculous growth spurt I’ve ever seen, but you’ll always be ‘little man’ to us.”
“How’s Addison?” Nicky leaned back against the booth. Once upon a time, Julian’s girlfriend had been one of Nicky’s least favorite people, but she’d changed for the better when she’d started dating Julian. Nicky still missed her and the rest of their group of friends, including Nicky’s brother.
“Crazy busy. She’s taking summer courses at Defiance University again this year. She wants to finish her undergrad in three years so she can get started on her MFA.”
“Before you know it, she’ll be your official editor.”
“I think she’s trying to race me.” Julian rolled his eyes. “My money’s on her finishing both degrees before I finish this book.”
“But your first two books were so good this one will be just as brilliant.”
“I think all of them suck, so maybe it’s just me.” Julian slammed his computer shut. “Seriously, how are you doing?” He leaned forward. “The attention has to be killing you.”
“I never knew I was so interesting.” Nicky tried to laugh. “But they’re everywhere I go. It’ll blow over eventually.” He shrugged. “Better get back to work.” He started to slip out of the booth.
“Not so fast, you little liar. You’re a private person, Nicky. Having your personal drama splashed across the internet is no small thing.”
“No. It sucks, actually. I’m embarrassed and confused enough as it is. I don’t need the added drama on top of what turned out to be a very public breakup with Kenny. That’s the last thing he needs too.”
Dating Him: The Series Page 3
