Assure Her (Assured Distraction Book 1) (25 page)

Keeton walked in and he stopped dead in his tracks for a split second. When he was finally able to speak, the first words out of his mouth were, “No, NO, NOOO! You cannot go out there looking like that.”

“I can and I will. I look hot and I like it.” Peri and Camille agreed with her.

“Chan, really?” His protest sounded almost like a whine, but he couldn’t seem to pull his heated gaze from her. She slid up his side and turned and rubbed her bare back up and down the length of him causing him to growl and reiterate his protest of her attire. “Dammit, Chan. We’ll be fighting the crowd off after the show enough as it is and twice as much now ‘cause all those douches in the audience will be aiming to get to you. And do you have to wear those “fuck me” heels with it? Fuuuuuck. I better call Cash and tell him we’re gonna absolutely need extra security after the show.” He rubbed his hand down his face.

On the way out he pulled her to the side and whispered in her ear, “I want you to keep that lipstick. Do you know how fucking hot that would look on your lips with them wrapped around me?” He winked at her when understanding flitted across her face, causing her to turn a shade of red almost as bright as her red lips. The other two girls could guess what he said to her and started laughing until they had tears in their eyes at her embarrassment.

When they departed for the second time that day from the hotel’s secluded back entrance, the fans and cameras were camped there and awaiting their exit and instantly swarmed the band. Chandler couldn’t bend over to get into the limo without causing a Brittney-like wardrobe malfunction and flashing her goods to the crowd, so KeeMac stood directly behind her to protect her virtue from the prying eyes of the cameras. He could only guess what would not by covered by the new panties they had purchased. “That’s going to make a great view tonight, Chan, when your beautiful ass is bent over right in front of my hard dick,” he whispered behind her and laughed despite not being at all happy at other men catching even a glimpse of the girl he claimed as his.

The festival crowd was bigger than AD anticipated, but Cash was not surprised. Realization of what he had been telling them for the past several weeks had yet to sink in with the band. Being on a this stage, the crowd was able to get up close so the first night’s show had a more personal feeling like when they were playing some of the bars in Austin.

KeeMac loved that up-close-and-personal feeling with the audience and played to the crowd more than usual, and it drove the crowd mad. The noise level was outrageous. Ripping open the snap-front shirt mid-song, revealing well-muscled abs and a torso with the full-colored tattoos decorating his skin, now glistening with sweat, the girls in the audience went wild. He kneeled down at the edge of the stage and got close to some who were reaching up to have any contact with any part of him, causing a frenzy at the stage making security work hard to keep them from climbing up and over the barricade and storming the stage. Shouts of love and adoration to him and AD were almost as loud as the music. When Carter and Ryan joined him at the edge and reached out to within an arms’ reach of the fans and the screaming reached fever pitch.

Carter sat down at the edge of the stage dangling his legs over the side, girls grabbing and his legs and crying out, as he played a riff beginning the next song in the set and played the first half sitting on the edge of the stage. Occasionally he gazed out at the crowd and smirked before turning his eyes back to his instrument. Security truly hated when the guys played to the crowd this way but the fans loved every minute of it. Carter felt lucky to stand back up with all of his clothing intact and still wearing both of his boots. He turned and gave his bandmates a big smile and laughed, though, because they knew those things fed the energy of the crowd and Carter was counting on benefitting from that backstage after the show.

Standing at her stationary position behind her keyboard, Chandler felt shielded from the insanity the guys were creating. She was able to survey the crowd better and enjoyed it. Between songs when the guys would talk, she had a few opportunities to record a few short videos with her phone, and she would step out from behind her gear to move around the stage and record whatever the guys were doing or get a better shot of the crowd.

By the time the intro to the last song started, she had about ten short video clips she could string together for a fun memory of this moment in time and one that was sure to cause a huge surge in the trending on the band’s Twitter account. KeeMac hated her stepping out from behind the keyboard and being vulnerable to the guys in the audience. As much as he tried not to let their lustful stares at her bother him, their whistles and lewd, suggestive comments always caught his attention.

“You fucking dicks out there need to be nice to our sweetheart!” he yelled into the microphone whenever he did notice. His reaction always incited the male fans in the crowd to ramp up their lecherous comments, so he tried to keep his own comments to a minimum. She knew it bothered him but she would always smile and blow him a kiss then teasingly slap her own ass in a fun gesture to the male audience members. Chandler did it in jest but it still got under KeeMac’s skin more than he was willing to admit.

The band left the stage amidst a wild mayhem of screaming fans. “That was insane out there!” Gunner yelled after he threw his drumsticks into the crowd and followed everyone else off stage.

“I caught some of the madness on video,” she told them backstage. “We’ll watch it later and maybe post some of it online.”

“Dammit Chan, watching those motherfuckers drooling over you once was bad enough. Now you want to play it over and over? Fuck that shit. I don’t want to see it.” KeeMac seemed genuinely pissed.

“Let me get this straight. It’s OK for some painted-up wannabe porn star look-alikes to throw their skanky thongs and double-D bras at you the entire show, and it’s cool, just part of the show? And you’re even up there, egging it on, flinging sweat on those crazed women who are grabbing for your junk and making all kinds of propositions to you and the guys, and it’s just ‘the more the merrier’? But if a guy makes a suggestive comment or even notices me onstage, you get pissed off? Double standard much?”

Keeton stopped walking and just looked at Chandler like she was speaking a foreign language. The other three guys took one look at his face and fell over themselves laughing at his reaction. “Dude, she’s got you by the balls there! Hahahaha!”

Ryan regained his composure and chimed in, trying to smooth things over, “As long as they’re only looking and not fucking touching, man, it’s all good. You know this sure as shit reeks of jealousy. I never took you for a jealous-type, Mac.” He clapped his friend on the shoulder and gave him a wry smile and quirked an eyebrow at him, hoping to drive his point home.

KeeMac took a deep breath and calmed down, and was even laughing at himself by the time they returned to the hotel. Gunner asked, “Hey, Chan. Even if BigMac over there can’t take the heat, I still wanna see what you got from the show today. Can you put it up on the big screen somehow?”

Chandler took advantage of the technology available in Cash’s suite, and accessed the wireless network and was able to cast her phone’s videos to the flat screen TV in the suite’s living room.

Immediately, the outrageous level of noise from the crowd during the show was blaring, but with the video playing through the surround sound, it was even louder in the room. The band’s enjoyment added to the volume as they got to see the show from a different perspective while their fans went wild. An occasional scantily-clad woman would flash her tits, and the frequency in which it occurred during the show and the view of breasts of all shapes and sizes popping into view on the screen, had gone mostly unnoticed while the band was playing. But now, on the video, it was like prairie dogs popping up out of the crowd, and it was almost comical, though in some cases they definitely saw more than they bargained.

“Now you see what I’m talking about, Keeton? That’s all I see from where I’m standing. Every. Single. Show.” Chandler crossed her arms over her chest as she looked at him, hoping she had made her point and, more importantly, that it would be the end of his streak of jealous tantrums.

A disappointed Gunner jumped up and yelled, “We are going to have to put my kit on a rolling platform. I’m missing out on all the tits and panty action in the back!”

“Dude, next show, I’ll throw them over your drums to you,” KeeMac told him and laughed.

“The hell you will! We are trying to make new fans, dumbass!” Carter told them causing the rest of them to laugh. “Hey, did you hear the one about the drummer walking with the hot chick on his arm? That’s a damn good new tat.”

When the laughter finally died down and Gunner’s fists finally loosened up, Chandler caught her breath and said, “No way, Keeton. I don’t want you touching those nasty things.”

“Aww, Chandler. Does all that silk and lace make you jealous?” It was his turn to rub some salt in the wound. She tried to be mad but ended up having a good laugh with everyone in the room.

After watching all ten of Chandler’s short videos several times, Peri stood up and walked closer to the screen. “Who’s this guy here, off to the side? He’s in every video you made, and he doesn’t seem to be really paying much attention to the music.”

“Some creep who’s there just to get off to Chandler. He’s probably got a chub watching her walk around in those ‘fuck me’ heels,” KeeMac smirked at Chandler. This got another round of laughs out of the group who had finished off several rounds of celebratory shots.

They all called it a night and went to their own rooms, leaving Chandler to watch the videos now with renewed interest. She noticed the build and the clothes the stranger was wearing and wondered, “Do you think maybe that’s Ryder, in disguise?”

“No, babe, I don’t. Why in the hell would he even be there? He doesn’t know a fucking thing about you.”

“I know, but he’s about the right height and weight. But with the ball cap pulled so low and the sunglasses I can’t see his face.” She wanted to believe so badly it was him. “We can’t even see his tattoos with those long sleeves. Who wears long sleeves to an outdoor summer concert?”

“Chandler, don’t read more into it than is there. You’re setting yourself up for some shit to deal with and real disappointment.”

“I know, but I just want to talk to him so much I can hardly stand it. This is just unfair to be so close and still be so far away from him.”

“Come on babe, let’s go to bed. I bet I can take your mind off of it,” he slid his tongue up the side of her neck and lightly nipped just below her ear where she had reapplied perfume after her shower. She loved the scent and the way he always responded to it.

“Well, how can I resist being licked to death?” Anticipation was already apparent in her voice when she spoke.

“I’m going to lick somewhere else ‘til you beg me to stop, if you keep looking at me like that.”

Chandler took off in a sprint toward the bedroom, stripping as she went.

****

T
he show the next night was an even bigger night for AD. It was their second performance and they were playing on a bigger stage and from the looks of the crowd, which had grown exponentially from the night before, the word was getting out quickly that Assured Distraction’s show was one not to miss. It was shaping up to be a phenomenal final night for them, and their energy was at an all-time high.

They weren’t looking forward to a long night on the bus since they would be heading out right after the show, ahead of the road crews even breaking down and loading their gear. Chandler’s melancholy hung around all day, and she wasn’t looking forward to doing the show. The only positive note was AD was opening for Steel so they might have at least a chance to cross Ryder’s path up-close again.

AD’s performance set the tone for Steel to play to a frantic audience and when they left the stage, Steel was standing in the wings offering congrats on their performance. Watching Chandler closely the entire time, Ryder made no attempt to speak directly with her. She couldn’t take her eyes off him, riveted to the spot as she turned to watch Steel’s members take the stage.

Cash barked orders at the band to stick with security until they were on the bus, which jolted Chandler out of her trance and she turned to leave. The madness of the festival crowd had set in with so many of their fans, and there was a huge crowd lingering in hopes of getting pictures or anything else they could get by with. Gunner was able to snag a few groupies that were more than willing to board the bus and get off somewhere down the road so an extra two girls moved in for the night. Cash made it clear they would be put in a car in the morning and sent back home. Carter was already jockeying for position hoping he would share.

Security waved down the bus to stop before they got out of the parking lot, and Paul Harper was standing at the gate waiting on them.

When he stepped on the bus, Paul glared at Chandler and then asked, “Cash, can I speak to you a moment before you go?” Cash prepared himself for another round of his bitching about their contact with Ryder when he walked off the bus, wondering what Chandler or the others may have tried when he wasn’t watching.

Chandler was ready to have a meltdown by the time Cash returned. “Chandler?” was all he said, tilting his head toward the door indicating that she should come outside with him. KeeMac stood up with her and took her hand, offering some encouragement before they stepped off the bus together behind Cash this time. When they reached street level, Paul wasted no time addressing her directly.

“It seems, Ms. Chatam, that you have caught Ryder Steel’s attention somehow. He wants to know if you would be willing to stay awhile longer and speak to him after the show. This, of course, in no way means he is agreeing to anything you have to say, or that he is acknowledging that there is even the remote possibility you are related to him. Do you understand that?”

His rudeness shocked her. All she had wanted was talk to him. “Yes, I understand. Surely you are aware, Mr. Harper, that I am not here to make any claims on Mr. Steel. I do not need his money, nor do I want his fame.” She held her head high, years of living with high-handed snobs had taught her how to handle herself. KeeMac and Cash both gave her a look of approval.