FanGirl Squeal (RockStars of Romance Book 1) (4 page)

“I don’t think we’re going to break up,” Cash replied,
turning his thoughts back to the situation at hand.

Except his answer didn’t have the ring of confidence that he
wanted it to have. He had a sinking feeling that his three-year relationship
had come to an end twenty-four hours ago and he just wasn’t ready to admit it. Instead
of dwelling on what could have been, Cash jumped up and opened the balcony
door.

“I have a party to get ready for.”

Ignoring calls from Tracy and his mother to discuss the
itinerary for the evening, he headed to the solace of his black and white
bedroom. The décor in the four-bedroom, five and half bath Century City condo
had been overseen by Brittany and his mother. Most of the rooms were swathed in
neutral colors and felt warm and homey. Victoria was overseeing the décor for
their new Tribeca condo. Was…the key word now.

But here, his bedroom was just how he wanted it. Plain and
simple like a man’s room should be. All the essentials plus comfy enough for
Victoria not to have hated it, although she wished for a “splash of color.”

He stared into the closet at his massive wardrobe, wondering
how upset his team would be if he showed up at the KISS FM party in a t-shirt
and jeans. Probably not that upset at all. Even if they were, it wasn’t as if he’d
just ripped open a pack of Hanes white tees and threw one on. His jeans and
t-shirts cost more than the average American’s rent.

A quick shower, shave, then a spray of his signature
cologne, aptly called Cash, and then he slipped on his clothes. People were
always surprised that it only took the “sensitive singer/songwriter” thirty
minutes to get ready for any event.

With his publicist and MOMager sitting in the backseat of
his Mercedes G-Class, Cash maneuvered the SUV swiftly through the streets of
downtown L.A. He was stealthily checking his phone for possible messages from
Victoria and half listening to his mom and Tracy discuss the events of the next
three days as his six-month US tour came to a bittersweet end.

He hated that his tour was ending and didn’t want to talk
about it. He craved the energy and love he felt when he was playing for twenty
thousand people. His music was his therapy, the only time he truly felt calm
and peaceful. The rest of the time, he was anxious, unsure, and worried that he’d
never actually live a normal life.

Cash wasn’t one of those people who always knew he’d be
famous one day. He liked the idea of being able to play his music for people
and knew that it was something that he enjoyed immensely and it kept his mind
occupied. After he released his first album, he felt quite unprepared for how
quickly he became the name on everybody’s lips.

Real life as a musician was suffocating at times. Still,
with every album, every award, and every show, he got to see how proud his
mother was of him. Providing a glamorous lifestyle for his mother and Brittany,
something they only read about or saw on TV, made it worth it. He just wanted
more.

Like a call or text from his fiancée.

Cash pulled in front of the Club Reign. Security and a valet
rushed the car to escort him past the screaming fans and into the club.

“Cash! Cash! I love you!”

“I love you too, sweetheart!” he called back, unable to see
who was calling his name.

He flashed a brief smile and waved to the crowd. It was
always impossible to give his fans what they wanted. He was constantly being
rushed past them as if they weren’t the reason he was famous.

His management-approved plan was only to stay at the party
for an hour or so. He had a show the next night and a plane ride to Vegas right
after. He was staying just long enough to have a drink with his Boston buddy,
Justin, and win him some cool points with the station manager and his new
co-workers. MOMagement always stressed the importance of making appearances,
especially during a tour.

Jennifer’s goal was to fill every seat in any venue he was
playing. If a venue held 25,000 people, 24,999 tickets sold wasn’t good enough.
She made sure that Cash was seen in public the night before a show to remind
the last minute ticket buyers that he was in their city. Her strategy must have
been working. Every show on the tour sold out so far.

Actually, it was a good party with a solid mix of station
execs, DJs, radio personalities, media, and fans. KISS FM listener parties were
always one of the hottest tickets in town. Cash joined Justin and a few of his
co-workers in a roped off VIP area.

Occasionally, Cash would text Brittany to make sure she was okay.
He trusted that she wouldn’t do anything reckless with her friends now that
they were back home for a few days. Brittany wasn’t that social anyway. She
usually kept to herself.

It wasn’t a combination that one would expect from a
competition cheerleader. Cash knew that she missed her squad. Although she
wouldn’t tell him outright, he saw it on her Facebook page. She never
complained about being dragged on tour with him every other fall and summer. He
didn’t want to leave her at home for six months by herself, but he knew that
touring took its toll on her social life. He didn’t know how she felt about the
situation. It suddenly dawned on him that he never asked.

“There are some hotties in here tonight!” Justin shouted over
the eardrum-busting decibel of Katy Perry’s
Roar
. “Leave it you to
attract every hot chick in L.A.!”

“That’s why you wanted me here!” Cash shouted. “Wherever I
go, the hot girls follow!”

He caught the eye of a tall busty brunette in tight shorts,
a shimmering top, and stripper heels. She was gorgeous, like swimsuit model
gorgeous and definitely throwing
sex me
vibes his way. That was the
problem with making appearances without Victoria on his arm. Girls were bold
when she wasn’t around to lay claim to her man.

Cash stood up and walked over to the girl. She adjusted her
shirt to show off a little more of her best feature, a nice pair of surgically enhanced…hmmm,
36Ds, Cash guessed. His eyes roamed over her statuesque body. Cash slid behind
her and lightly gripped her hips.

“You’re kinda cute,” Cash said in her ear. “What’s your
name?”

“Shana. And you’re Cash Myers.”

“The one and only.”

“Too bad for that,” Shana smiled. “The world could use more
Cash.”

“I don’t think so, my dear. The world can’t handle more than
one of me.”

Their flirty banter continued as Cash led Shana to the dance
floor. Two beers and two shots of Patron had lowered his inhibitions but they
hadn’t made him stupid. Shana was good for a few hip-to-hip dances and he’d
probably leave with her number, however, that’s as far as it would go. Until
Victoria said otherwise, he was unavailable. She wasn’t getting the chance to
turn this situation around on him and make him the bad guy.

After two dances, Tracy tapped Cash on his shoulder. Much to
Shana’s disappointment, he removed his hands from her hips and turned to face
his publicist.

“What?” he shouted.

Tracy pointed to a small group, two guys and a girl,
standing by the bar sipping on Club Reign’s signature drink, the Mongolian
Motherfucker. Vodka, rum, gin, sloe gin, 151, Southern Comfort, triple sec, orange
juice, cranberry juice, and grenadine…he’d had a quite a few in his day, but
never the night before a show.

“That’s Savannah Ford and her friends,” Tracy explained. “She
wants to do a feature on you for her website. Go over, say hi, and answer a few
questions then we can get out of here.”

Cash had no idea who Savannah Ford was, but he stared across
the club at the brown-skinned, curly haired girl who trying her hardest not to
make it so incredibly obvious that she was staring at him too. She was gorgeous,
in a sexy bohemian girl next-door kind of way. Her eyes sparkled with a twinkle
that one Mongolian Motherfucker usually caused. She didn’t have the aggressive
and cold look of someone angling for a story. In fact, she appeared to be
having a great time with her two friends and he being there wasn’t going to
change that.

The flashing strobe lights made her belly ring sparkle. Cash
could make out that she had a rather large tattoo on her side. Her halter top
only partially revealed the pattern. He couldn’t make out what it was. It didn’t
matter. Girls with tattoos were hot as hell!

“What’s the name of her blog?” Cash asked Tracy, assuming
the girl was just another gossip blogger.

“It’s not a blog. It’s more like an online magazine. It’s called
FanGirl Squeal
. It’s cute,” Tracy replied.

Cash rolled his eyes. “Are you serious? What is she…twelve?
How’d she get in here?”

“I went to UCLA with her, Cash, so she’s not that young,”
Tracy scolded. “I know how you feel about bloggers, but I’ve checked out her site.
She’s never written anything negative about you, Cash. I didn’t even see one
paparazzi picture of you so she’s not paying anyone for her content. She’s a
professional.”

Although Cash trusted the opinion of his publicist, he
disliked gossip bloggers. No matter what they said, entertainment blogs or
whatever they chose to call themselves, at the end of the day, they were all
always in his business and invading his personal life. He didn’t like it. For
once, he’d just like to do an interview and talk about his latest album, not where
he and Victoria were getting married or when they were going to have kids.

Cash was about to reluctantly agree to a quick interview
when his phone began to vibrate. He plucked it from his back pocket and
breathed a heavy sigh of relief when he saw Victoria’s face staring back at
him.

“Tracy, it’s Vic. I gotta take this.”

Cash rushed through the crowd until he was outside and able
to hear his fiancée clearly.

“Vic? Where are you?”

“I’m at my parents’ place.”

Instantly, the bubble of hope Cash had when he heard her
voice deflated. If she was in New York, there was something left to salvage.
Victoria only went back to West Virginia when she was too upset to deal. He
dreaded when Victoria went home. Morgantown, West Virginia was the kind of city
they made
Snapped
episodes about.

“Why are you in Morgantown?” Cash reluctantly asked.

“I think you know.”

“What the hell, Vic? That’s all? After three years, that’s
all I get?”

“What do you want me to say, Cash? You put me out of your
hotel room before I could even explain!” Her voice cracked when she said his
name. Cash knew she was crying again. He didn’t care this time either.

“Explain what?” Cash shouted. “You’re sleepin’ with your
co-star. What is there to explain? Do you think I don’t know how that works?
Are you itching to give me the details? What is that you want to explain,
Victoria?”

“Don’t you want to know why?”

“Hell no! Why doesn’t matter, Vic. Do you need me to explain
why, when someone gives you an engagement ring, you shouldn’t cheat on them and
let Pop fucking Sugar find out about it?”

“Would you be more open to listening to me if you hadn’t
found out on a gossip site?” Victoria managed to choke out through her tears.

“You don’t get it, Vic. I’m done with this conversation.”

“So, it’s safe to assume that you’re done with me too?” she
asked softly.

Cash shut his eyes and took a deep breath. Up until that
moment, he was on the fence about whether or not there was a relationship to
salvage, but Victoria was acting so…dense that he couldn’t do it. He just
couldn’t be with her.

“Yes. It’s safe to assume that, Vic. I’m done.”

Cash held his phone away from his ear as Victoria began to
cry harder and apologize. He let her wail for exactly thirty seconds before
putting the phone back to his ear.

“Never apologize for something that makes you happy.”

That was the only thing that he felt the need to say. Cash
ended the call as abruptly as Victoria had ended their relationship. He sent a
quick text to Tracy and his mom.

It was time to go.

“I cannot believe this is happening! O-M-G! I’m actually
here! I can’t believe I’m seeing you again!”

I finished loading Amy’s bags into the trunk of the Range
Rover The Capri had provided for me for the weekend and smiled at my new
friend.

New isn’t completely accurate. Amy and I “met” on Facebook
in a Cash Myers fan group a little over two years ago. She’s twenty-seven like
me, works at an interior design firm in D.C., and is married. Two years is a
long time to build a friendship over Facetime, Skype, and daily phone calls,
but we did it. Our schedules just never allowed us to meet in person until this
year.

When I was asked by The Capri to host their Cash Myers
Tailgate Party, I immediately agreed. I was going to the end of tour show
anyway and now I managed to get one of Vegas’ hottest casinos to score two
second row, center stage tickets and Meet & Greet passes. Doesn’t get much
better than that. It didn’t take too much begging for Amy to change her
vacation plans and join me in Vegas.

Brandon, Troy, and I flew in yesterday, not that the happy
couple plan on attending the show with us. They just weren’t turning down the
opportunity to party in Vegas on someone else’s dime. I don’t need them though.
I have twenty other Cash Myers fans converging on the city today. It’s become
tradition. Plus my best girlfriend is here. The excitement that I’m trying not
to let overwhelm me almost made me forget about my missed opportunity to talk
to Cash the other night. Amy has been a part of Team Cash longer than I have
and she’s never met Cash either. He is our Holy Grail and we’re always on a
Grail quest. We should be knighted.

“Seriously, Savannah, you can’t be upset about that,” Amy
said after I finished telling her what happened…or at least what I think
happened.