Fangs And Fame (19 page)

Trey

WE HAD A JAM-PACKED
day at the venue, with press coming in for interviews and Skype meetings with the director we’d chosen for the video for the new single. I’d asked Neon what the chances were of me getting away to get some fresh air (by which I actually meant blood), but he hadn’t given me much hope. Before soundcheck I realized I wasn’t going to make it through the show without feeding. It wasn’t hard to find a fan outside who was willing to let me sneak her into the building for a ‘backstage tour.’ I did my best to give a tour, but the minute I found an empty room, I pulled her inside and drank just enough of her blood to sustain me. I tried to make myself feel better by reminding myself that she probably wouldn’t develop an aversion to me or the band because of this, and that at least I’d managed a half-decent backstage tour for her, but really I was just telling myself what I needed to hear in order to sleep that night. With Aurora gone, I went into survival mode, and feeding wasn’t optional. I was just leading the girl back down the hall to return her to the spot outside where I’d found her when O’Shea caught up to me in the hallway.

“
We’re having a ping-pong match with Evan and the guys,” he said as he hollered at me from behind. I turned to face him, and he noticed the girl I was with for the first time. “Oh,” he said. “Who’s this?”

“
This is, uh....” The judgmental look on his face had wiped her name from my memory as effectively as any mind-melding power could.

“
Tara,” the girl said, offering her hand to him. “Good to meet you,” she added. “I’m a huge fan.”

“
I was just showing her around,” I managed.

Tara nodded enthusiastically.
“I’ve never been backstage before.”

O
’Shea gazed at me, and I had the strangest sensation that he was seeing right through me. Damn that brotherly intuition of his.

“
It was nice to meet you,” O’Shea finally said to her, managing a believable smile. “Enjoy the show tonight.” Then he eyed me. “You coming?”

I cleared my throat.
“Yeah. I’ll be right there.”

He gazed at me a few seconds longer than was necessary and then turned on his heel in the direction of the lounge.

“My best friend is madly in love with him,” Tara said as I walked her out. “She’s never going to believe this.”

“
Don’t believe it myself,” I muttered under my breath, wondering how I was going to face O’Shea and that accusing look in his eyes.

“
Thanks again,” Tara said, completely unawares and no worse off than I’d found her.

“
My pleasure,” I said, flashing her my half-smile. “I’ll see you from the stage soon.”

Tara waved, and I walked back in the building, closing the door behind me and leaning against it.

So far the guys had accepted my casual brush offs whenever they’d seen me alone with a fan, but apparently I hadn’t been as smooth about it all as I wanted to believe. O’Shea, at least, suspected that something was going on. I was going to have to deal with it, and soon.

I ran through the possible explanations I could give in my head as I walked toward the lounge, but felt no better prepared for it. I decided my best shot was to play stupid. I forced myself to open the door to the lounge and say,
“O’Shea. Can I talk to you for a sec?” O’Shea reluctantly joined me in the hallway and I shut the door to give us some privacy. “Do you have something you want to say to me?” I asked, feeling defensive waves coming off of him.

“
You’re the one that asked me to come out and talk,” he said, not hiding the annoyance in his voice.

I shoved my hands into my jeans pockets.
“What’s going on with you?”

“
Me?” He let out a humorless laugh. “I’m not the one who’s married and sneaking around backstage with random girls.”

“
Not random girls,” I said. “Fans.”

“
Like that makes it any better.”

“
They’re fans, O’Shea,” I repeated. “I’m showing them around. Whatever you think is happening, you’re way off.” At least that much was true. “I love Aurora more than life. You know I do. I’d never do that to her. I admit, I go a little crazy when she leaves, but not in the way you’re thinking. I just need to keep myself busy, and giving the occasional backstage tour to a fan who is hanging around outside, just hoping to catch a glimpse of one of us, seems like a good idea. They deserve it. They’re the reason we’re here.”

I could see it in his eyes that I
’d chosen the right direction to take this argument. He averted his gaze for a second, unwilling to look at me.

“
I’m sorry, man,” he finally said. “I didn’t want to believe that about you, anyway.”

“
Thank you,” I said, lowering my voice to meet his.

He looked at me then, and I saw an ocean of relief in his gaze.
“I know you love her,” he said. “She’s my sister now. I love her, too, but I ... I should have known better than to-”

“
Let’s just forget about it,” I said. “No harm, no foul.” I put my hand on his neck, squeezing. “If I remember right, I was just about to trash you at ping-pong.”

He grinned and threw the lounge door open.
“You’re on.”

After soundcheck, Neon let us know that there was quite a crowd that had gathered outside the back of the venue. The guys and I decided to head out there and do a little unofficial meet and greet to sign autographs and take some pictures. I hoped it might make O’Shea feel better to hang out with the fans right alongside me after our misunderstanding earlier. Turns out I was right. Any awkwardness between us had all but melted away in the last few hours, but signing my name next to his on copies of the record dissolved any remaining traces of weirdness.

“
This is just the first of three shows my friends and I are seeing this tour” one fan said as I sighed her T-shirt. “Do you know when Aurora is going to do another sketching contest?”

“
I’m not sure,” I admitted. “She’s been back home for a couple of days catching up on work at her studio, but she’s flying back in tonight. In fact, her plane will have landed by now. Maybe she’ll do one for tomorrow’s show. Keep an eye out for a tweet for our band account, and you won’t miss it.”

“
I will,” she answered resolutely. Then a fan asked me to sign my name in permanent marker behind her shoulder.

“
Okay,” I said, pretending it wasn’t an odd request.

“
She’s getting our signatures tattooed on after the show,” Chase explained as he passed the marker to me.

“
Are you serious?” I asked, staring open-mouthed at her.

“
Completely,” she said, grinning and turning around so I could start signing. I signed next to Chase and Jonas’s names and then passed the marker to O’Shea, still disbelieving.

“
Are you sure you won’t regret this?” I said, grinning despite myself. “Your future husband might.”

“
If he’s not a Catalyst fan, we won’t make it that far,” she insisted, making me laugh.

“
Tweet us a pic when you get it done,” O’Shea added. “I’ve got to see it.”

“
Consider it done,” she promised as O’Shea signed his name.

I shook my head, and Chase just shrugged at me.
“That’s what you call dedication,” he added.

“
Breaking hearts like always,” said a voice to my left. I recognized that voice. My head snapped up in surprise as chills cascaded down my spine, and I don’t mean the good kind. Even as I met her gaze, I didn’t want to admit to myself that she was really standing here in front of me. I couldn’t imagine what she wanted from me. My face must have told her as much.

“
What’s the matter?” Nikki said, arching an eyebrow at me. I could see the look of shock on the faces of some of the fans who had also recognized her, and were apparently just as surprised to see her as I was. “You’re not excited to see me?”

Man, she had some nerve.
“What are you doing here?” I asked, dropping any pretense of friendliness.

“
I came to see you.” She pouted, feigning insult.

“
Great,” I said without emotion. “Enjoy the show.” I turned to walk away, but she called out to me again.

“
I didn’t come for the show. Aren’t you going to invite me back so we can catch up?”

“
Catch up?” I said, turning on my heel again to face her. “I don’t think so. I don’t have anything to say to you,” I countered, plastering a smile on my face so no one would see how I was really feeling.

“
So don’t.” She took a step toward me, touching my jacket collar. “I’ll do all the talking.”

I removed her hand from my jacket and took a step backward.
“Look,” I said, lowering my voice. “I don’t know what you’re playing at, but I’m not buying it.”

“
That’s too bad,” she said as I turned again to go. “I have news for you. I’m pretty sure even your wife will want to hear this.”

I paused and turned around slowly. She had my attention now, and she knew it. Nikki smiled, and I wondered how I could have ever wanted to be the reason behind that smile. I had been a stupid kid back then. I
’d come out on the other side of the heartbreak a man, but only because of Aurora.

Aurora

TYTUS WAS WAITING FOR Kacie and I at the airport. Unfortunately, so were the paparazzi. I was glad I had my sunglasses on as I made my way toward Tytus. I couldn’t help but notice how leery the photogs were of Tytus. I couldn’t blame them. Trey had known exactly what he was doing when he’d sent Tytus to escort us to the venue. I introduced him to Kacie, who was so excited about seeing O’Shea again that she didn’t even question why a giant was picking us up.

“
Hey,” I said to Tytus as he took our luggage for us. “Your Fan Club?” I asked as I gestured with a nod in the direction of the cameras.

“
Who else’s?” he said without missing a beat.

“
You want to sign an autograph and get it over with?” I teased. He chuckled, and gestured for me to lead the way down the corridor that led to the parking lot. The paparazzi were feeling braver now that we were moving because they edged up right beside us and called out to me.

“
Hey Aurora,” one man said. “I’m with TMZ. Can you tell us what it’s like being a newlywed on the road with Trey and the band?” He held his microphone out, but didn’t get right in my face, which I appreciated.

“
It’s great,” I said, hoping that an answer or two might satisfy him. “The tour has been amazing so far.”

Kacie looked at me with mild amusement while we walked, and I could see her biting back a smile.

“You guys are on fire right now,” the man added. “How are you handling the fame?”

“
Trey’s the famous one,” I countered.

“
Do you miss Florida?” he asked.

“
I just left Florida,” I said. “I miss Trey.” The truth in my answer resonated through me. I couldn’t wait to see him again. Tytus, Kacie and I reached the doorway just then, and I waved at the cameras.

“
Thanks for talking with us,” the man said. “Tell Trey hi.”

“
Will do,” I hollered.

“
You’re a natural,” Kacie said as Tytus carried our stuff over to the waiting car.

“
At being awkward?” I teased. “Thanks for that.”

She smiled, and we climbed into the backseat while Tytus loaded our bags into the trunk and got in front with the driver.

Thanks to traffic, it was a good forty minutes before we pulled into the venue. Kacie rambled on and on about how she couldn
’t wait to see O’Shea. I understood her completely, maybe for the first time ever. Even I had butterflies in my stomach just thinking about Trey, but even the butterflies were a welcome surprise. When we arrived, I tipped the driver, and Tytus pulled our things out of the back.

“
Head on in. I’m sure the boss is waiting for you. I’ll get your bags.” Tytus said.

I thanked him and Kacie followed me through the back entrance of the venue. We hadn
’t gone far when I ran into Evan.

“
Evan, this is Kacie.”

“
Hey,” he said, offering his hand. “Good to finally meet you.”

“
You, too.” Kacie shook his hand and smiled at him, but I saw her glancing over the top of his shoulder in search of O’Shea. She was too preoccupied to realize that Evan was implying that O’Shea had told him about her.

“
Kacie’s going to be with us for a few days,” I told him.

“
Great,” he said. “Welcome to the madness.”

“
Have you seen Trey and O’Shea?” I asked him.

“
I just came from the Catalyst lounge. O’Shea is in there, but I’m not sure where Trey is. Maybe your bus,” he offered.

“
Thanks,” I told him.

Before Kacie and I even reached the Catalyst lounge the door opened and O
’Shea walked out, completely unawares.

“
Speaking of the devil,” I said, which made him look down the hall in our direction. The shock of seeing Kacie at my side registered on his face briefly, but a smile as wide as the Atlantic took its place almost instantly.

“
What are you-” he started to ask as he jogged toward us, but Kacie met him halfway, throwing her arms around his neck and cutting him off with a kiss. I grinned, and knowing that Kacie was in good hands, I turned on my heels and headed back outside. As soon as I was out of the building I made a beeline for the bus. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d been away from Trey for this long. I missed him like crazy. I heard the other heartbeat inside before I opened the door and realized Jonas or Chase must be with Trey. I fully expected to find him relaxing on a leather bench with his guitar. Trey was there, almost like I’d pictured – minus the guitar – but it was the blonde woman sitting across from him that caught me by surprise.

I can usually read Trey like a book, but I had no words to describe the look on his face as I stepped inside. He got to his feet, and it was clear he was relieved to see me, but something else was tainting the feeling. Frustration? Regret? It was daylight, and only a kiss would have the power to fully explain that heartbreaking look in his eyes, and that wasn
’t going to happen. Not with the mystery blonde ogling our every move.

“
I’m glad you’re back,” he said softly as he wrapped his arms around my waist. Not exactly the reunion I had dreamed about on the plane, but I hugged him back, pulling him to me tightly. Anything to dispel the constricting weight in the air. The blonde rolled her eyes, knowing I could see her over Trey’s shoulder. I didn’t like her already, and I didn’t need a reason. When Trey and I pulled apart, he kept his arm on the small of my back. It was a gesture I appreciated as I waited patiently for an explanation. The level tone in Trey’s voice when he spoke was obviously forced. “Aurora, this is Nikki.”

It took me a moment to put it all together, and then I realized why he had that look on his face, why his heart was hammering like he
’d just come off the stage.

“
Wait ... not
that
Nikki?” I didn’t care how the words might sound as they left my mouth. This was the woman who had ripped Trey’s heart into shreds, and that was just to paraphrase from the lyrics in “Sweet Disguise.”

“
The one and only,” the blonde answered. “I see my reputation precedes me.” She flipped her hair in an attempt to hide the fact that her eyes were scanning me up and down.

I laughed, but quickly stifled it when I saw Trey
’s gaze fall to the ground. Something was seriously wrong.

“
Okay....” My voice trailed off as I stared at Nikki. Trey was obviously stalling. I just didn’t know why. He stuffed his hands into his jeans pockets, and I was sure I’d never seen him look so guarded. If our lives were a soap opera, this would be the part where the blonde intruder would profess that Trey was her baby daddy, or something equally crazy. The truth couldn’t be anything so dramatic, so I made a show of dropping my purse on the table and then leaned against the countertop casually. “What’s up?” I asked, my voice convincingly aloof.

“
Nikki has a message from Stan,” Trey said, choosing his words carefully. “And yes, I mean that Stan,” he added before I could ask.