His Distraction (Assured Distraction Book 2) (16 page)

She drew her fingertips down his pecs, which were every bit as smooth and firm as she imagined his taut muscles to be every time she viewed him shirtless on stage. Now was her first opportunity to experience it for herself, and his warm skin did not disappoint as she gripped his flesh with greedy fingertips.

Ryan couldn’t stand keeping his hands off her any longer and remedied it by pulling open the buttons on her tight red sweater. The illumination from the private bathroom on the other side of the dressing room provided enough light to see lingerie that could only be meant to drive a man wild. The lacy, red demi bra was something to behold with her ivory skin spilling out of the top. He breast tops were fair, and he knew they had never seen the light of day. What caught his attention was the tattooed vine of beautiful pink flowers draped across the area; they only enhanced what was already a thing of beauty. He was in heaven.

Her lover kissed across the top of each one; his tongue dipped down inside the lace, where a nipple, just barely covered by red material, was waiting to pop free to his eager mouth. When his tongue hit something metal, he couldn’t get his hands around her quickly enough to pop the hooks holding the silky, soft flesh back from him. The bra slid down and immediately he was mesmerized by what he saw: pink nipples, almost the same dusty pink color as her flowers on the vines, pebbled and stood at attention for him, with a tiny silver loop dangling from each.

“Son-of-a-bitch. That is so fucking hot, Peri. I never dreamed you would look so amazing. And believe me, I have dreamed about you over that last few days.” He took the first nipple in his mouth, flicking the ring with his tongue, setting off a moan from her, long and low from deep in her throat. Realizing how he was affecting her, he moved to her other breast and took the pert nub in his warm mouth, his tongue like a magnet, drawn to the metal in her skin.

Bang, Bang, Bang.

“What the hell?” Ryan barely registered the loud noise coming from the other side of the door.

“Who’s in my dressing room? I need in there now, please.” Chandler yelled through the locked door.

“Holy fuck. Why now?” Ryan grumbled. “Be quiet; maybe she’ll go away.”

“If you don’t open this door, I will kick in the fucker,” added KeeMac.

“Damn it all to hell. I guess I better answer them.” He lowered Peri to her feet so she could immediately start straightening her clothes.

“Hold on a minute,” Ryan yelled back while putting on his shirt, but he couldn’t tuck it in if he planned to keep his strained erection, now digging into his zipper, hidden from the two outside.

Ryan pulled the door open with a little more force than necessary to find KeeMac leaned against the frame with a smirk on his lips. “So Ryan, whatcha’ doin’ in there all alone? Couldn’t round-up any qualified groupie pussy to help you out? You know, if you wanted to do a little cross-dressing in Chandler’s things, all you had to do is ask, right? She’s very sweet about sharing, and hey, whatever floats your boat, man, but please tell me you are not sporting her pink thong under those jeans?”

“Fuck off, KeeMac. What do you want?” He looked back to see Peri still hidden behind the half-opened door listening to the two and trying to correctly button her sweater.

“Well, this is Chandler’s dressing room, we’re ready to go to the fucking party so we need to grab our stuff left in here.” He tried pushing on the door, but Ryan held it firmly, to make sure Peri completed dressing before finally letting it open.

Peri standing behind the door didn’t seem to surprise either unwanted guest. Chandler was the first to break the silence that hung in the air. “Oh, hey, Peri. Thought you might be here when we saw it was Ryan. Please, don’t be embarrassed or anything. It’s just us. It’s all good.”

Ryan watched the rosy color spreading across Peri’s cheekbones. Chandler stepped through the door and hugged Peri, wanting to do anything to lessen the embarrassment for her friend.

Chandler continued, “This is better anyway. No one will even know the two of you were here alone when we all leave here together. Some of the press were asking for pictures of all of us but couldn’t find you two.”

“Yeah, the buzzards are out there right now just waiting to catch anything that might be newsworthy,” KeeMac added with a grin on his face as he looked over the two almost-lovers.

Catching the panic in Peri’s eyes, Ryan said, “then it’s a damn good thing y’all decided to come in here, I guess. I suppose we need to leave with them. Peri. You ready to head to the party?”

“Yeah, that’s a good idea.” Peri looked at Chandler and mouthed a thank you as they stepped through the door and into the snaps and flashes of intrusive cameras and flurry of questions that were a persistent presence now. AD had experienced some levels of unwanted press attention before but nothing like now that they were with Steel.

Not wanting to draw any attention to themselves while in public, Ryan and Peri sat with the rest of the band at the after-party. The press could sniff indiscretions in a room like sharks could find blood in an ocean, so they took turns dancing with other people in their crowd. Ryan even danced with a few fans to hopefully divert any spotlight away from them, but each time her eyes found him in the crowd Peri felt his smoldering gaze from across the room.

Ryan leaned his back against the bar after his last dance, when KeeMac crowded in next to him. “So, Ryan, want to talk about what’s going on in
that
department?” He nodded back to where Peri and Chandler were now sitting at the round booth.

“Not really.” Ryan never wanted to take his eyes off of her in a place like this.

“Dude, she a beauty. I can totally see you with her.” Leaning in he ordered shots for them.

“Hey, thanks for that. I damn sure want her, and she seems like she’s into me but with all this Krissy shit, I can see where Peri might want to back the fuck off until we see what the hell’s going on back home.”

“Have you heard any more from Hayden?”

“No, I figure if something’s up he’ll give me a call again.”

“Shit man, you need to stay on top of that situation with Krissy. She can run fucking circles around the kid, and he wouldn’t know what hit him.”

The two clicked the shots together and tipped them back before Ryan turned and ordered two more. “I know, but honestly, I don’t want to deal with her bullshit any more than I have to.”

“I can see that, but you damn sure better stay in contact with him. Never know what that crazy ex is likely to do next.” KeeMac picked up his second shot as Ryan did and clinked glasses in a toast. “To the women who love us and the men who want to be us.” They both laughed and tossed back their shot. It was a toast they had been saying for several years.

Sometimes, it applied better than others.

“Awww, fuck. Back on this damn bus, here we go again.” Ryan grumbled to the group behind him as he climbed the steps.

Walking to the bus and bursting out in song in his slightly off-key way, Carter did his best Whitesnake imitation:

“
Here I go again on my own; I’ve been down on the road I’ve ever known…”

“Dude, it is way too early for your off-key singing. Shut the fuck up, please!” KeeMac took a huge gulp of coffee from the hotel to-go cup. “It’s too damn early to be awake, period.”

“Especially when we’ve yet to go to sleep.” Carter turned and smirked at Gunner. The two had returned to the hotel just in time to catch the bus.

“Speak for yourself, asshat. I can sleep and fuck at the same time.” Gunner turned to fist bump Carter. When the Carter/Gunner entourage had stepped out of the cab at the doors of the bus, the lucky women stepped out, too. Long legs and an abundance of tanned skin was apparently the flavor-of-the-day. Carter turned back and gave the brunette French beauty one last hard kiss and headed for the bus leaving her at the car door
.

“appelez-moi la prochaine fois que vous etes a Paris.”

“Sure babe, whatever you said,” he mumbled to himself.

Chandler chimed in. “She said to call her whenever you’re back in Paris.” Turning to KeeMac, “And they wonder why the French don’t like us.”

The girl holding Gunner’s hand as he pulled her toward the bus door was a beautiful petite twenty-something. The two stood next to the door with everyone waiting and watching, so he turned and pulled her down the side of the bus for some privacy.

“You know, I probably won’t be back this direction for a long time, right?” He pulled her between his legs getting her closer as he leaned back on the bus.

“Oui. I know.” Her French accent was thick, but she spoke English he could understand.

“It was a great night,
ma chêrie.
I wish we had a little more time together.” He pulled her forward, so her head rested on his chest with his chin on her head.

“Me, as well.” She looked up at him and sighed but gave him a smile that nearly broke his heart, a feeling he wasn’t used to when leaving women behind. “You have my cell number here. Call me when you have time to talk, please?”

He knew he had to let her go, but everything in him ached at the thought. “I promise, I will make time to speak to you.” He kissed her cute nose, and then on both cheeks and finally, on her pouty, kissable lips. She responded with a quiet moan into his mouth.

She walked back to the cab when he let her go and waved good-bye as Gunner stood watching her until the cab pulled away. Once she was gone, he moved to climb on the bus. He was last to board, and the rest of AD stared at him as he silently made his way back to his top bunk, climbed in, dropped his Chucks to the floor and slid the curtain closed. The rest of the group was still staring in his direction.

They each looked at one another and then broke into laughter. “What the fuck, dude? Don’t we get the usual play-by-play of the night?” shouted Carter after his partner-in-crime, a smirk on his face.

The group received the universal one-finger salute from under the bottom edge of the curtain, causing the group to laugh even harder.

The late night was still calling the tired musicians, so most of them slept the long six hours on the bus to Amsterdam. Peri stayed busy on her computer and phone, advancing the calls to confirm details for their arrival at the next two stops. As keyed up as she was, sleep was not an option. She knew everyone wanted to spend some time experiencing each stop, but they only had one night in Amsterdam and then on to Frankfurt for a show there the next night. This stretch of the tour there would be a show every night for the next seven nights, and it would be the longest run they would have. Then they would return to the U.S. She would be ready for some down time back in Texas. Even though the bad had this schedule, she doubted any of them had paid that much attention to the schedule, except maybe Chandler.

Finally, she closed her laptop and let her burning eyes follow suit, only to spend the next few hours tossing and turning. Once they entered the party, she and Ryan never had to chance to pick up where they left off in the dressing room. Again, he left her disappointed that nothing came of their alone time. This pattern of starting something, being interrupted and left hanging was torture, but she couldn’t decide if he was doing it on purpose to toy with her and feed his ego, or if it was just dumb luck. But when she thought about it, the club wasn’t exactly filled with secluded corners that would have afforded them any privacy to continue their interlude. On the bus with an entire band of curious onlookers constantly within earshot wasn’t the place for them to get any closer either.

She’d always been a planner and usually made mental lists that kept her sane, so she considered making a pros and cons list about getting closer to Ryan. She seemed to be having trouble thinking clearly about him. She did know there were sizzling sparks between them that she wanted - no needed - to pursue. He professed to want her, too. She felt the instantaneous desire when he wrapped her legs around him and pressed her against the wall, but once again, he didn’t follow through.
Why hadn’t he made a move? Was he a tease? Why was he holding back?
If this kind of thing keeps up, I’ll be forced to take matters into my own hands and buy a foreign BOB to make it through the trip.
After tossing and turning in frustration, sleep finally came, though it proved to be fitful.

At the Ziggo Dome in Amsterdam, AD left the bus thrilled to be there. The schedule called for sound check at one and the performance at nine, which meant they had time to look around and have dinner. The huge dome looked like all of the other venues’ parking lots, so the group wasn’t impressed with their current view of the city.

“Don’t judge the city by the parking lot guys. The beautiful city of Amsterdam is all around us. Take cabs to any points of interest you want to visit,” Peri informed them.

“Does that include the red light district?” Carter asked. He looked at Gunner and tipped his head. “I hear it’s the best in the world to tour.”

“I’m sure you and Gunner can verify that shit for the rest of us,” KeeMac added, watching Gunner when the drummer didn’t immediately jump on the subject. Gunner never mentioned the scene they had all witnessed outside the bus in Paris that morning. He kept mostly to himself through the day’s journey, so no one knew what happened between him and the French doll who came back with him.

“Uh, sure, Carter. Let’s catch a cab as soon when sound check is over in the stadium so we’ll be back in time for the fucking show.” Gunner’s response seemed off to anyone that knew him and was paying attention to the conversation. His agreement with the plan was a little hesitant, or somehow lacking the normal energy and enthusiasm he usually had for such excursions.

“Hell, yeah.” Carter fist bumped Gunner as they all walked through the back doors into the huge stadium. They acclimated quickly to playing in large venues with the bigger crowds.

As the Assured Distraction crew and bandmates made their way into the arena to look it over, they could hear Steel just wrapping up their rehearsal and sound check. The rock veterans had the luxury of flying in their label’s private jet to nearly every tour stop, so they had more leisure time between shows and stayed in luxury accommodations in some of the most beautiful and historic cities in all of Europe. It made the younger musicians green with envy to have that kind of time to see the sights, but knew they would get to experience that sort of lifestyle in the years to come.

Just as KeeMac and crew made it backstage and began checking on their equipment, the guys from Steel started to file off stage with brief waves and shouts of greeting before they exited through a dark hallway. Ryder stayed behind, offering to take Chandler and KeeMac into the city, still eager to make up for lost time in Chandler’s life, and sight-seeing with the young couple offered that opportunity.

Later when AD walked off the stage and handed their guitars off to the roadies after their sound check, they discussed what they wanted to do. “Hey, Ryan, you want to join in on the fun?” Carter asked him.

“No, I think I’ll pass on that. I don’t need to pay for pussy.”

“Shit dude, it won’t be the same experience. These foreign women are sex professionals, and they might do a whole new level of kinky here in Amsterdam. Ain’t no women we meet backstage gonna do it like these women can. How could that not sound better than any other lame ass thing you could find to do for the next six hours?” Carter was doing everything he could to goad Ryan into admitting what the guitarist would rather be doing with his downtime. There were few real secrets between the band members for the duration of the tour living on top of each other as they did.

“Uh, yeah, I think I’ll sit this one out, bud. I’ll get to hear about the amazing time you two have for the next six months or longer. Y’all better be sure to double-wrap that shit up tight.” Carter and Gunner just laughed as they stepped into the cab headed for De Wallen.

“Why didn’t you just go with them, Ryan? It’s not like you’re missing anything here.” Peri gave him a tight smile. She was uncomfortable with the idea of him going, but knew she had no hold over him. She didn’t even know what they were doing at this point, except sharing some scorching moments in the dark.

Peri watched him as he finished up with his guitar, and she realized that everyone else seemed to be lingering, as though they were waiting to hear what he had to say.
Why are they all so desperate to know our business? They rarely ever paid any attention to him and Krissy and now the whole group seemed to be interested in our every exchange?

As he walked toward her, Peri took the time to study his every step. She could never seem to get long enough to study his perfect features. She wanted to memorize completely the way he carried himself and the way he worked with his guitar on stage. He moved with confident grace, and she marveled at how a man could be that good-looking. His blond hair was pulled back with a leather strip, and the deep blue sapphire pools of his eyes, a girl could get lost them. The man was the epitome of sex on legs, but despite his good looks and women throwing themselves at him night after night, he didn’t seem to buy into the whole groupie scene like the other guys did. Sometimes, when she thought about it, she wondered how Krissy could let him walk away.
What girl in her right mind would let this sexy, vital, passionate man get away?

“Lost in space there, Peri?” he murmured. He was standing close enough to touch her, but he didn’t close the small gap.

“What? Oh, yes. I was thinking about all I had to do. You know it’s always something with this group, and I hope I don’t have to bail those two out of jail later. We are not in America.”

“They’re big boys. Let them take care of themselves for a little while.”

“That’s what scares me. The idea of them taking care of themselves carries a lot of possibilities. And most of those scare me, especially as your manager.” She smiled at her subtle implication.

“There’s the look I needed to see. You’re even more beautiful when you’re smiling, you know? It seems like we don’t see that as much as we used to back at the studio.”

“Yeah? And you seem to know just the right things to say to a girl. I know a pick up line when I hear it, Ryan.”

“Hey, I’m being honest. You are beautiful, Peri. Never doubt that.” Today she was dressed in a halter dress with a short, flippy skirt, and he loved it. The bright yellow was a change from the red she wore most often. The glimpses of her alabaster skin looked creamy beside the bright yellow. Her dark hair was pulled back with a wide yellow headband and a big bow tied on the side of her head leaving short bangs to frame her face and showcase her eyes that were so dark brown they almost looked black.

“Peri, any man would tell you how gorgeous you look, with your dark hair against that bright color and your smooth white skin. You look like sunshine, and anyone that tells you differently must be some kind of dumb, blind fucker.”

“Now, there’s the Ryan I know and adore,” she replied, laughing at his choice of words.

“I’d really like, if you had some free time, for us to look around for a while? I know you’re busy with managing all our stuff, but can you take a break this afternoon? I want to spend time today with you.” He looked her directly in the eyes. “Just you.”