Echoes of Us (22 page)

His soft voice assured me. We did deserve to be here. We’d worked damn hard to get this far.

“Let’s blow their panties off tonight,” Jade said.

“I’d rather get your panties off,” I whispered.

Jade groaned and pressed his lips against mine. I sighed and kissed him back, enjoying the few seconds of privacy.

That evening, the roar that greeted us when we stepped onstage almost made me wonder if the headline act had followed us. I could barely hear the beat of the drums. This was our first live show with a band behind us. It was an experience I wasn’t going to forget.

The set was going as planned. Jade sounded great. His banter with the audience was perfect, and he looked so hot I wanted to fly across the stage and hump his leg. We were in the middle of a costume change and the sight of sweat trickling down Jade’s bare back made my dick twitch. Ella K giggled.

“Darling, should I flash my boobs to get you under control?” Ella asked.

“What?”

“You’re practically drooling. Quit looking at Jade,” she said, smacking me on the ass.

Ms. Ella K used to freak the shit out of me, but now that I’d gotten to know the woman behind the name, I liked her. She was funny and could make me laugh when I wanted to scream or cry. She was a lot like Maggie, and I was thankful Andy had set it up so she was helping with our clothes and makeup during this tour. I secretly thought she was also hired to keep me from jumping on Jade when he was half-naked.

“Sorry,” I panted.

“It’s hard enough to get you into these pants without your junk in the way.”

“Oh my God, Ella,” I said. “Shut up.”

She laughed and shrugged, patting me on the butt again before I went back out to another huge roar from the audience.

After the set ended, I was so fired up I made the mistake of hugging Jade on stage. The hug must have lasted too long or something because Kelli and Maggie were at our next show and put on display for the media.

The rest of the month was a crazy blur of huge crowds and shows that rocked the house. With each new city, the fans were growing. It was hard to go anywhere without people following us around or asking for an autograph. It was getting to the point neither Jade nor I could go anywhere without security.

Most people were incredibly nice, but there were the rude ones we had to put up with on occasion. Maggie and Kelli took the brunt of the abuse. The moment the comments about Maggie and Kelli crossed the line, we left. There was a huge outcry, but when we posted online why we left early, most people understood. The comments in public slowed, but the online abuse never ended.

At the last concert we were contracted for, Andy and Trevor showed up, and hung out backstage. Both looked incredibly pleased. After the show, Andy took us all out for dinner and drinks at some fancy restaurant. Jade and I were exhausted, and I needed contact with him, but Kelli was sitting between us.

“Well, boys, I have news,” Andy said. “It seems our leading act doesn’t like playing with you anymore. Says you take too much away from them. So, we are going to do a few test shows in smaller venues where you will be the headliners.”

I rubbed my ears because there was no way I had heard him correctly. Jade leaped out of his chair and hugged the shit out of a very startled Andy Tremaine.

“Holy fuck!” Jade shouted. “Thank you, thank you, thank you.”

“Is this real? This isn’t some joke, is it?” I asked.

“It’s real, Rylan,” Andy said. “We have a few venues in mind. We should know in a few days, and then the real work begins. We are going to need to work up a full show.”

“Oh my God,” I said.

“Hold it together, Rylan,” Jade whispered. “I won’t leave your side.”

I frowned and looked at the distance between us. Kelli stood up, and we shuffled chairs around. For once, Andy was too happy to give a shit.

A
LOT
of things happened in the next month, and not all of them were good. The numbers for the album were fantastic. The concerts sold out so fast we had to add more shows. Andy started talking about doing a second album as soon as possible. We hadn’t even been writing anything. I don’t know how Andy expected us to put out a new album when we didn’t have any downtime.

We were working hard to get a long enough set list for a full live show. The hours were brutal, and everyone was on edge. We all started to think it was absolutely insane that we believed we could stage an entire show in a month.

Two weeks before the first show, Ms. Diaz had to be brought in to help me with my voice. My throat hurt from all the singing. She silenced me for two days. It was weird not being able to talk out loud. I communicated by text messaging or pantomiming when I didn’t have access to my phone. Jade did all the singing at rehearsal. It made me feel like a prop on stage, but at least I knew where I was supposed to stand and sit during the show.

When Ms. Diaz let me off silent mode, she had me do vocal exercises, insisting I warm up properly before I sang. I was discouraged and upset because I still believed she didn’t think I could sing.

One particularly bad day, she signaled to me and had me sit down away from everyone else. She knelt in front of me. The feather from her purple hat tickled my nose.

“Rylan, my darling, you need to relax when you sing. You have a beautiful pure voice, and I want to hear you.”

“What?” I asked. She looked at me and pinched my cheeks. “You like how I sing?”

“Of course, honey, you have a lovely voice,” she said. “You just don’t always use the tools you were given.”

“I thought you hated my voice,” I whispered.

“Darling,” she said, standing up and pulling me with her. She squished me in a tight hug. I could hear Jens and Ethan snickering. “You are my star.”

After she let me go, I threw my shoe at Ethan. It only made him laugh louder.

“That woman could suffocate a person with her boobs,” Ethan said.

“Don’t I know it,” I said, but after her compliment, I felt more confident about my voice, and it showed in the rehearsals.

T
HE
SHOWS
were fabulous. More and more people were talking about us. Calls came in from magazines for photo shoots, TV talk shows wanted us as guests. We were the “it” boys and Andy took full advantage of our popularity by accepting as many invitations as we could handle. Cities started to blur together. But with all the good things, the downside reared its ugly head all too often. The rumors on the Internet were going crazy, and reporters started asking us uncomfortable questions about the closeness of our friendship.

Jade laughed and said things like who wouldn’t want to kiss this boy. I’d be lucky if he let me, but I don’t think my girlfriend would approve. He always pushed the limits with everything. I kept my mouth shut.

During concerts he teased me mercilessly, by sneaking up behind me and whispering dirty things into my ear. He didn’t do it every show, but the bastard could recite a fucking grocery list and my dick automatically jumped to attention. The people in the first few rows got a nice little show. There were so many pictures of my crotch online that I might as well be a porn star. The band teased me continuously about having a second career to fall back on if pop star tanked.

On the night of our last solo sold-out concert, Ella and I argued about the pants she had me wearing.

“I’m tired of seeing pictures of my dick all over the Internet,” I whined. “Can’t I wear something a little looser?”

“I like the pants,” Jade said. He snuck a quick kiss.

“Not helping.” I scowled at him and shifted my dick into a better position. Ella snickered.

“One day, Jade,” I threatened.

He laughed and finished getting dressed. I frowned when Ella tossed me a long sleeved shirt. “It’s hotter than hell tonight.” I could tell by her frown I wasn’t going to win an argument with her. I discarded my T-shirt and slipped into the new shirt, leaving several buttons open. Ella raised an eyebrow but I ignored her and took my place on stage.

The drums pounded in my chest and the audience screamed when the spotlights hit us. Jade stared at me and almost missed his cue to sing. Ethan kicked him in the shin to get him to open his mouth.

I wasn’t sure why Jade was so worked up tonight. Maybe it was because it was our last show in the smaller venues or maybe because the audience seemed to be especially overheated tonight.

“Jesus, Rylan,” Ethan whispered in my ear.

“What?”

Ethan raised his eyebrows. “Your shirt is see-through.”

I chanced a glance at Jade. His face was flushed and his pupils blown. He stalked toward me like he was going to claim me in front of four thousand screaming fans. The rip of the guitar pierced the air and Jade started to sing. I covered my mouth with my hand and smiled, because I could see the unmistakable outline of his dick pushing against the zipper of his pants. It was his turn to have his cock plastered all over every social media site.

“Holy shit,” Ethan whispered in my ear. “You’re a dead man.”

“Yeah,” I said with a shaky voice. I kept my eyes on the audience during the last two songs.

We took our bows, blowing kisses and waving, before we raced off the stage. I started to head to the dressing room, but Jade grabbed my arm, stopping me. He dragged me over to Dave and whispered something to him. Dave started to shake his head, but when he looked at Jade, he swore and took his phone out.

I tried to wiggle away from Jade, but he had a viselike grip on my wrist. Dave was doing his best to shield us from all the people backstage. He finally got Brent’s attention and waved him over to us. Dave whispered something to him, and Brent paled slightly.

“Are you fucking serious?” Brent asked.

“Dead serious,” Dave said. He reached into his pocket and slipped something into Jade’s hand.

Brent headed down the hall and checked a few doors before he nodded. Dave poked his head in the room and then looked over his shoulder several times.

“I can buy you fifteen minutes,” Dave said to Jade.

Jade had me pressed up against the wall before the door shut.

“Um,” I stammered.

“No talking,” Jade said and bit my throat. If I thought he was hard when we were on stage, I was wrong. His dick felt like a steel rod pulsing against my thigh.

“Jade,” I moaned. “We are going to get in so much fucking trouble.”

“I don’t fucking care. I can’t believe you wore that in front of everyone. I could barely remember the fucking lyrics, you little shit.”

“I didn’t know the shirt was see-through.” I gulped.

“You’re fucking lucky I didn’t jump you and fuck you right on that stage,” he said, and then his eyes narrowed. “Or maybe that’s what you wanted me to do.”

I gasped as the thought of him kissing me in front of all those people flew through my brain. The RheartJ shippers would die a thousand deaths.

He was rutting against me, searching for friction, but I needed more. I needed him naked and inside me. I needed to feel his burning hot skin against mine. I did want him to claim me in front of everyone. I was getting tired of playing all these games. It was getting to the point where I didn’t talk in interviews anymore because I was scared I would say the wrong thing.

“Off,” he whined, tugging at my pants.

We were all hands, trying to rip at each other’s clothing. When he finally pressed his naked chest against mine, I moaned. Jade put his hand over my mouth. “We don’t have much time.”

He turned me around, and I put my hands on the wall, bracing for impact. I was ready to take my punishment. Instead, he ran his hands up my back and turned my head so he could kiss me.

“The clock is ticking, Jade,” I whined. “I need you.”

He gave me a wicked smile and traced my spine with his fingers, then paused for a few seconds to drizzle some lube down my crack. I didn’t ask where he got it. His fingers were in me, pumping and twisting before I could properly moan.

“Jade, please,” I begged, moving in time with his fingers. “Now, c’mon.”

He fumbled with the condom, but finally, with one hard push, he was in me.

“I love you, Rylan,” he whispered into my neck.

“Fuck me,” I murmured.

Soft grunts and the quiet slapping of skin was the only sound in the room. I felt my orgasm shoot through me as he finished me off with a quick hand job.

“You do realize everyone saw your heart tattoo.”

My mouth dropped open, and my hand automatically fell to my hipbone. We were dead. Andy didn’t know about the matching heart tattoos.

Dave knocked on the door just as we finished getting dressed.

It wasn’t until we were walking down the hall that I noticed Jade was wearing my shirt. It made my dick twitch and I had to count the light fixtures to keep from getting another full-blown erection. Maggie gave me a strange look before her mouth fell open.

“Shhhh,” I hissed. “Maybe no one will notice.”

“That’s like saying no one would notice if you shaved these pretty blond locks of yours,” Maggie said.

“Oh God,” I muttered. She was right. The fans knew if I wore one of Jade’s T-shirts on a date with Maggie or if Jade was wearing my coat when he was out buying a coffee. I could have worn the fucking thing one time, but they sure as hell could spot it.

Jade glanced back at me, and I rolled my eyes, fingering the cuff of my shirt. The shithead burst out laughing, clinging to my sister as we headed outside to be photographed by the stupid paps. I was hoping the fucking paps would get bored and go home, since we were fifteen minutes late.

“Smile pretty for the cameras,” Maggie whispered and kissed me on the cheek. The paps blinded us with flashes.

When we got back to the hotel, Andy had left six different messages. Dave told us to bite the bullet and call him back. We ended up on Skype with Andy. He shouted at us for forty-five minutes and made sure to tell us we were to report to his office the moment we landed in Los Angeles.