We had a very respectful joint shower,
dressed
, then spent the
rest of the flight cuddled up together on the leather sofa. I
couldn’t quite meet the flight attendant’s gaze when we
disembarked. A limo was waiting to take us to our hotel. Lucas had
booked us into a separate hotel from the boys, Angel and Jenny; one
that was far more luxurious. It was sheer decadence and elegance.
Thanks to the time difference, we were able to eat a delectable
dinner before retiring to our room where we had the most tender,
almost vanilla sex before falling soundly asleep.
Lucas didn
’t sleep for long. He began to toss and turn. Then
he got up and paced up and down the room. I wrestled with the
temptation to demand that he told me right there and then exactly
what was on his mind. The voice of reason told me that if he wanted
me to know, he’d have told me. And that there may be a good reason
why he wasn’t bothering me. That perhaps sharing it with me
wouldn’t make him feel any better . . . that it might make him more
anxious. I resolved to do the only thing I could think of to help
him—I’d take his mind off it, if I possibly could.
I slid my feet out of bed and padded
acr
oss to the window
where Lucas stood blankly staring out. His naked form was
illuminated by the dim moonlight but it still took my breath away.
I slipped my arms around his waist from behind and pressed myself
against him, my cheek flush against his muscular back. I felt his
tense form relax against me as he gave a long sigh. I could feel
the stress slowly leaving his body so I hugged him even tighter in
the hope that it would speed up the process. We didn’t say a word
but eventually Lucas turned and lifted me up, carried me back to
bed and quickly fell asleep with me curled up in his
arms.
He must
’ve slept soundly for the rest of the night because every
time I awoke, he was sleeping. We didn’t move a muscle all night.
The next morning he looked much more refreshed and his mood had
improved. After a leisurely morning union where I found myself
pressed up against the glass shower enclosure with my hands pinned
above my head, we breakfasted and took a cab to meet Angel, Jenny
and the guys.
We met them at the festival ground. Chad
and Angel were all smiles, Ethan gave me a sly wink as he nodded to
Lucas, but Travis was totally absorbed in Jenny. It was so sweet to
watch them together—her all shy and introverted, and Travis
behaving like a true gent in love. Despite the constant stream of
semi-naked women, he only had eyes for her.
Scott hung back from the group and
basically ignored us.
My
heart sank and I hoped that my reunion with Lucas wouldn’t trigger
another episode of weird, extreme behavior. I mentally kicked
myself for not finding the time to share with him the reason for my
change of heart about Lucas, but there was nothing I could do about
it at that moment. I tried to catch his eye and smile but he didn’t
look in my direction at all.
Chad and Lucas went off to
finali
ze arrangements
for the band’s performance that afternoon so I took the chance to
drag Scott off for a coffee. Unfortunately, Ethan decided to tag
along so I couldn’t divulge anything. I couldn’t help but notice
that Scott was back to himself again in Lucas’ absence. I wondered
whether it would actually make any difference if he knew of Lucas’
true history, or whether he really was jealous of Lucas being with
me. He’d not made any moves on me when I’d stayed there—even when
we’d visited Odyssey. I wasn’t sure what his problem was, but there
definitely was one.
I was distracted by the arrival of Angel
and Chad calling for me to go with them right away.
I discovered that Travis was
sitting in a tattooist’s chair, waiting to get a tattoo of Jenny’s
name on his bicep, with Lucas demanding that he wait until after
they’d performed. We could hear the shouting as we neared. Travis
was adamant that he wanted it done right away and that Lucas
couldn’t stop him. Chad and Lucas were explaining how it could
affect his performance. Even the tattooist had told Travis that he
should rest the arm afterward.
They were drawing quite a crowd, who were
determined to see what the noise was all about.
Jenny had distanced herself from the row
and was lingering on the edge of the crowd, looking very
uncomfortable. I could see that they were deadlocked so I
discreetly took Jenny to one side and explained that Travis would
be risking his health and the band’s performance unless he waited
until afterwards and she was the only person who could make him see
sense. Her eyes widened as she listened and her affection for
Travis was clear. She timidly moved forward, slid next to him and
whispered in his ear. Travis looked thoughtful for just a second
before he pulled her onto his lap. She was mortified but before she
could protest, his lips were on hers and the crowd began to applaud
and whistle. After a thorough snogging, he lifted her off his lap
and stood. She immediately shrank into his side. He grinned, took a
bow and ambled off as if nothing had happened.
Lucas caught my eye and we both let out
audible sighs of relief.
As I returned to his side, he bent down and whispered, “Who
would have thought that the hardest thing about managing a rock
band is babysitting them?”
I giggled and put my arms around his neck,
then I reached up and kissed him on the lips. As I released him and
turned, my eyes met Scott’s and his expression was one of contempt.
I smiled meekly but he stalked away into the crowd.
Yeah, babysitting
is a good analogy and Scott’s acting like a moody
teenager.
The rest of the morning passed by without
incident and the festival performances began.
We wandered around listening to the
various up-and-coming bands on each stage before having lunch.
Lucas had asked everyone to meet backstage at least half an hour
before their slot so they could get changed and focused. We made
our way backstage and found Travis and Jenny already
waiting.
I couldn
’t help but think how good she was for him with
her calming and responsible influence. But then I couldn’t help but
wonder whether Travis’ almost model behavior was an act and whether
he could keep it up. Then the thought struck that perhaps his
loudmouth, uncouth rock star behavior was the act. If it was, he’d
started early . . . he’d been like that for as long as I’d known
him.
As we stood chatting
, Angel and Chad joined us, closely
followed by Ethan. The guys went off with Lucas to get changed and
have a pep talk. There was no sign of Scott. I smiled when I
noticed that Angel was taking the opportunity to find out all about
Jenny. I was more concerned with Scott’s whereabouts. I took out my
cell and called him. It rang and rang but he didn’t pick up. I
assumed that he wouldn’t hear it if he was close to any of the
stages. I decided to go and see if I could find him.
I wandered back outside, shocked to see
how many people were now milling around. I was soon caught up in
the crowd and pulled along.
It was almost impossible to see anyone except those
immediately in front of me. I decided to abandon the idea and had
to fight my way back through the throng towards the backstage area.
I looked at my watch and noted that there was only a few minutes
before the band’s slot was due to begin. Just as I approached, I
saw Scott talking to someone. Relief began to wash over me that he
was in time but my heart seemed to beat out of rhythm when I saw
who he was talking to.
Joel!
My feet seemed suddenly heavy and
everything seemed to blur.
What’s Joel doing here? What’s he doing talking to
Scott?
It didn’t make
any sense. Someone cannoned into me and almost knocked me flying. I
put my hands out to steady myself, glaring at the back of the idiot
who didn’t even apologize. When I looked back, Joel and Scott had
both gone. I looked around but couldn’t see either of them. I
entered the backstage area, flashing my pass at
security.
I found Angel and Jenny and asked them if
they
’d seen Scott. They
said he’d just raced through to get changed. I asked whether he’d
been alone and they said he was. Angel was giving me a funny look
so I quickly began to talk about how busy it was and how that was
great news for the band. She took the bait and began to enthuse
about who might be watching. My mind was whirring with the
revelation that Joel was there. I needed to tell Lucas.
A couple of minutes later he emerged and
called us to hurry over to the stage where they were to
perfo
rm, saying they
were about to start. He looked very harassed as I reached him and
took his outstretched hand. Before I could say anything, he was
tugging me out of the door and into the crowd. He pulled me into
his side and charged through the crowd. The guys had already
started as we battled our way to the front. I could see Angel
pulling a very nervous-looking Jenny to the front too.
We managed it and Lucas pulled me in front
of him, wrapping his arms around me and resting his chin on my
shoulder, swaying to the rhythm.
I could feel him relaxing as we moved, his arms
loosening their grip and his hips moving more fluidly. I figured
that I might as well wait until the end of the boys’ set to tell
him about Joel. I told myself it was hardly the right place to have
a conversation and reasoned that we were both enjoying watching
them perform.
I soon became lost in the
performance.
I may be
biased but I truly felt they were as good as any professional rock
band now. They played flawlessly and sounded incredible. They
worked the crowd like experts, Ethan again throwing free branded
goodies into the crowd. The response was awesome. I was on such a
high just to be a part of it. I couldn’t imagine what it must be
like to be on stage. The guys made it look easy. No, more than
that—they all belonged there—talk about born to be rock stars!
Ethan was practically making love to a group of ladies next to us
as he sang; they loved it! Even Scott was caught up in the music
and the atmosphere; his expression was euphoric.
As soon as they finished their set, Lucas
said he had to dash off backstage again.
I tried to tell him that I needed to speak to him
but he silenced me with a kiss and disappeared into the crowd. I
grabbed Angel and Jenny and asked them to come and grab a drink
with me. I had no clear idea why, but with Joel around, I didn’t
want them out of my sight. The sooner I could tell Lucas, the
better. I knew he’d sort it out.
We were just finishing our drinks when my
cell rang.
Lucas.
I
answered and he informed me that he’d been summoned the by
assistant of some music mogul who was apparently a major player in
the rock scene. A meeting had been arranged for midweek and the
guys were pumped. I told him where we were and he said they’d join
us for a celebratory drink.
A few minutes later, Travis dashed in and
lifted Jenny up, giving her a huge smacker of a kiss on the
lips.
She blushed
furiously and tried to disentangle herself from him, smiling even
as she berated him for his public show of affection. We all grinned
at them and each other. Lucas and Chad went to the bar and got a
round of drinks and bought them to the table. Lucas then filled us
in.
“
I know nothing is decided yet, but
apparently Trey is very keen to meet next week and has even
postponed a meeting with another up-and-coming band to see me
before Denial heads off on tour. That seems mighty promising. I’ll
just leak out word of the meeting to a carefully selected ear and
the whole industry will know. By the time Trey meets with me,
there’ll be a whole host of interest in the band, and he’ll be
aware of it.” He grinned.
“Genius!” exclaimed Chad, gazing at Lucas
with open adoration.
I caught Angel
’s eye and we smirked. Lucas had obviously
regained his hero status in Chad’s eyes.
We all raised our glasses then excited
chatter followed.
I
caught Lucas’ eye and jerked my head. He raised a questioning
eyebrow but followed me when I moved to another table. I leaned in
close and whispered, “Joel’s here, Lucas.”
He frowned and shook his head.
“Joel? Here? I doubt it. A rock
festival is one of the last places on Earth he’d be
found.”
Indignation flared inside me and I glared
at him. “Well, that may well be the case, Lucas, but he’s here, I
saw him very clearly from a relatively short distance. I’ll never
forget his face. It was definitely him.”
His frown deepened.
“Are you sure?”
I blew out a frustrated breath.
“Isn’t that what I just said? I
was looking for Scott because I was worried he was going to be late
and when I was returning to the backstage area, there he was
talking to Joel.”
“
What? Scott was talking to Joel?” he
exclaimed.
“
Shhhh, keep your voice down,” I cautioned,
looking over at Scott to make sure he hadn’t heard. “Yes, he
was.”
“
But why the hell would Scott be talking to
my brother?” He looked so agitated.
“Only one way to find out.”
He made to stand but I grabbed his arm.
“Don’t you ask him! Haven’t you noticed that he’s acting like a
sulky teenager again? I doubt he’d want to speak with you. Let me
ask him. I think he’s more likely to talk to me.” I could just
imagine Scott either ignoring Lucas or perhaps even enjoying having
some power over him and winding him up. I knew that careful
handling was best with Scott.