Effortless (38 page)

The man yawned, bored. “Listen, sweetheart. The musicians and I
have a deal. I don’t bother them, and they let me have a groupie or
two. It works out great, and I’m not going to jeopardize that for
you.” He smiled again, in a creepy way that made my skin crawl.
“Now strip…or go home.”

Feeling tears sting my eyes, I glared at my sister. “I’m gonna
kill you for this, Anna.” Before she could answer, I twisted to the
man and snarled, “The bra stays on!”

He rolled his eyes and shrugged and I closed mine. Wishing I
could disappear, I fought against every sense in my body and lifted
my shirt to the repugnant man before me. I heard him chuckle as he
muttered, “Ah, white cotton with the cute little flower in the
middle. Aren’t you a sweet thing?”

Just as his fingers came out to touch, I smacked his hand away
and lowered my clothes, holding them tight around myself. Looking
satisfied that I’d done it, he motioned to the door where Anna was
standing. Glaring at him, I picked up my bag and stiffly walked
past him.

Grabbing my arm as I brushed against him, he leaned into me. “I
love the innocent ones…they’re the wildest in the sack.” He nodded
at the closed door. “I’ll be around, once you’re done with this
Kellan guy, if you want to experience a real man.” He ground his
still-aroused body into my leg and I forced myself to not slap
him.

Backing away, I straightened and muttered, “No, thank you.” Then
shoved Anna’s back so she’d open the door and get us out of that
damn alley. “You’re so dead, Anna,” I muttered again while the
sound of the bouncer chuckling was washed away by the sounds in the
theater as she finally opened the heavy, steel door.

Anna was highly entertained by the whole thing. As we walked
down the hall, she slung her arm over my shoulders and laughed out,
“Oh my God, I so thought you were going to deck that guy!” Biting
my lip, I glared at her. She only laughed harder and squeezed me
tight. Resting her head against mine, she merrily exclaimed, “Ah,
relax, Kiera, no harm done, and now you’re one step closer to
Kellan.”

She winked at me as I pushed her away. “I’ll turn you into a
vixen yet, sister,” she giggled. I rolled my eyes at her but did
smile a little. Well, Kellan
had
wanted me to have a good
story to tell him. I guess, now I did.

The music of the band currently on stage filtered around us as
we aimlessly walked through corridors and open areas. There were
tons of people about, some that seemed to work at the venue,
walking around with headsets and clipboards, some that looked more
like security, which we purposely avoided since we technically
weren’t supposed to be here. Some seemed to be from a local radio
station, and some were clearly band members. But the majority
seemed to be women, just like us. It helped us blend in, but I
wasn’t thrilled at the girl-to-guy ratio that I was seeing.

Not knowing where our boys were in the lineup, or where they
might be hanging out until it was their turn, we just kept
searching. Anna flipped out when she spotted Justin and his band—
Anna loved their music just as much as I did. She started heading
his way but I grabbed her arm. “Don’t, Anna!”

She glared back at me. “Don’t you know who that is?”

I rolled my eyes and nodded. “Yeah, we met when the boys
left.”

Anna slung her arm around me, dragging me forward. “Perfect,
then he’ll tell you where Kellan is.”

I felt heat in my cheeks that was nearly painful. Our
introduction hadn’t exactly been smooth…and…he’d been at the
restaurant for Kellan’s little, erotic performance. Oh God, I could
not look him in the eye after that!

“He won’t remember me, Anna.” Oh God, yeah, he probably would
remember me now…

Anna giggled in my ear as we got closer to Justin, his smile
wide as he talked with a couple of girls nearby. “Who could forget
you, Kiera?”

I rolled my eyes at her and wanted to protest further, but
Justin had turned his head and noticed us. His light blue eyes
widened as he pointed a finger at me; I could see the spark of
recognition in the pale depths. He did remember me, which meant, he
probably remembered overhearing the phone sex, too. Damn it. I
really hate you right now, Kellan Kyle.

Tilting his blond head, he grinned crookedly and let out a short
laugh. “Hey, aren’t you…Kellan’s girl?”

Biting my lip, I walked up to him. My knees were shaking, but I
made myself say, “Yeah, my sister and I came out to see him…to
surprise him.” Not able to look Justin in the eye, I stared at the
ink scrawled across his chest; I couldn’t read it, but the lines
were a nice distraction for my embarrassment.

Anna took over at my ineptitude. Thrusting her hand out and
sliding as close to him as etiquette allowed, she purred, “Anna
Allen, huge fan. ‘Kick Me When I’m Down’ has got to be my favorite
song in the world.”

I looked up at her and scowled. Of course she would remember a
song title. Justin seemed pleased that she had, and that she wasn’t
wearing a bra. His eyes only quickly flashed over her breasts, not
blatantly staring like the bouncer had, but he still checked her
out as he shook her hand. “Nice to meet you, Anna.”

His eyes burned a little as he watched her and I thought my
sister might actually have a shot with him. Not surprising really,
my sister could have just about anybody. She usually got whatever
boy she set her sights on. Except Kellan. She never had gotten to
have him.

But Anna didn’t seem too interested in Justin. Instead, she
waved her hand around the mammoth backstage area. “We’re looking
for the D-Bags. Have you seen Kellan and Griffin?”

Justin twisted his lips. He seemed disappointed that Anna didn’t
want to hang out with him. “Griffin?” By the way his lip twisted
even more, I thought maybe Justin had met The Hulk too. Pointing
over his thumb, he shrugged. “Last I saw, they were drinking with
some girls back there.”

A knot in my stomach formed at hearing his words. Drinking with
girls? I tried to put a lid on the knot growing, though. Drinking
with girls didn’t mean sleeping with girls. At least, not in
Kellan’s case.

Anna brightened and thanked him. We both said goodbye and Justin
seemed a little sad as Anna left his sight. I looked back before we
turned a corner to another corridor and accidentally locked eyes
with Justin. He suddenly looked amused. He chuckled and leaned over
to a friend of his, pointing at me again. The friend stared at me
too, chuckling in the same way. Knowing that they were talking
about Kellan faking jacking-off at their table, I clenched my fists
and hurried after Anna as she pushed herself through a group of
people. That was not the way I wanted a celebrity to remember me.
In fact, I’d rather he didn’t.

As we got to a large room filled with people, I felt like we’d
stepped back into Pete’s bar. It was smaller than the bar, but the
alcohol was flowing, girls were giggling, and the music from the
stage was being piped through some speakers, filling the room with
noise. I suddenly felt like I should have a tray and a bag full of
lollipops.

I looked around the clusters of people, but didn’t see my D-Bag
anywhere. Chairs and couches were tossed around the space,
seemingly at random, with small tables holding stacks of empty
cups. I wasn’t sure how long ago the show had started, but this
party seemed to already be in full effect.

Girls clamored over boys I didn’t know; I figured they were some
of the other band’s members. As I watched a girl lean up and tug on
a boy’s earlobe, I wondered if any of these guys had girls waiting
back home. It sort of made me nauseous to think about it. Anna
grabbed my hand, leading us through the throngs, and my stomach
tightened with every step.

Maybe coming here was a bad idea. If I caught Kellan in the act
with another girl…I think my heart would explode right then and
there. I don’t think I could take it. While I’d always felt bad
about Denny having seen our moment, I had a newfound appreciation
for his pain. No wonder he’d flown off the handle. I wanted to
already as I watched boys openly flirting with loose girls, and I
hadn’t even found Kellan yet.

I found him a few moments later. He was standing with his back
to me, luckily with no girls hanging off him, chuckling over
something in front of him. Women next to me mimicked pinching his
ass and giggled. Other women around looked about ready to sling
their drunk arms around him and kiss him. Ignoring them, I
concentrated on the messy head of sandy-brown hair that I’d missed
so much. As he leaned over to laughingly whisper something to the
man beside him, who I finally realized was Griffin, my eyes were
transfixed to the strong jaw line, the full lips speaking words
through his smile.

He was so impossibly attractive, it was nearly unfair. But that
wasn’t all he was, and my heart swelled with the love I felt for
him, love that was only growing since we’d been forced apart.

Then I noticed what had his and Griffin’s rapt attention.

As Anna sidestepped us around some girls that she couldn’t plow
through, I got a full shot of what Kellan and Griffin were watching
and laughing about. Draped over the makeshift bar that someone had
set up back here, a blonde, buxom bimbo was spread out. Wearing
impractically tiny shorts and only a bra for a top, she was having
shots of liquor poured over her while other, equally skanky women,
sucked the liquid off. One girl even poured some in the blonde’s
mouth, then immediately dived in to retrieve it.

I watched them for a second, disgusted by the obvious ploy to
get the rock star’s attentions, then I twisted my head over to
stare at Kellan. He was still watching them, chewing on his bottom
lip as he twisted a bottle of beer in his hands. Narrowing my eyes,
I stared at his jeans. I knew it was wrong, a guy couldn’t help
being aroused by beautiful girls acting overtly sexual, but I had
to know if he was getting turned on by this. I didn’t see any
telltale signs…yet.

I was still staring at his jeans when Anna finally pulled us
close enough that Kellan and Griffin noticed. When the view of his
hips went from a side angle to a front angle, my heart started
beating ten times faster and I looked up to his face. Embarrassed
that he’d caught me staring at his privates, I blushed.

He didn’t look embarrassed, though, not that he would ever be
embarrassed about me staring at his body. No, instead, he looked
completely floored. Mouth wide open, he stared at me like he’d just
wished me into existence. Griffin beside him looked equally shocked
as he stared at Anna.

Griffin surprisingly snapped out of it first. “Hell yeah!” he
exclaimed, pushing past Kellan to scoop up a giggling Anna. His
tongue was deep down her throat in seconds. A moment after that,
her legs were around his waist and he was walking out of the room
with her, bullying aside anyone who wasn’t quick enough to
move.

I blinked at how quickly they got down to business, then twisted
back to Kellan. Recovering slowly, he shook his head, a smile
replacing his shocked expression. “You’re here?” he said, stepping
towards me.

I nodded, a smile on my own lips. I accidently flicked a glance
at the making-out coeds and Kellan followed my eye sight. Bunching
his brows, he looked back at me and shrugged. Looking a little
sheepish, he grabbed my hand and pulled me into him. “Sorry about
that.” Running his other hand back through my hair, his eyes
lovingly washed over my face. “Some girls will do anything to get
noticed,” he whispered.

Feeling the heat in my belly fading as those indigo eyes
absorbed me, I nodded. I didn’t point out that they’d succeed in
getting his attention. He’d definitely been invested until I’d
walked up. But men were men…you couldn’t expect them to not look at
something like that. Even Denny would have watched.

Smiling warmly at me, he cupped my cheek, the heat of it
traveled all the way down my body. “I can’t believe you’re here.”
He glanced around at where he was. “How did you get back here?”

I sighed morosely. “You would not believe what I had to do.” I
raised an eyebrow. “Make sure you say bye to Anna…because I’m
killing her when we get home.”

He chuckled at me, his smile glorious. “Ah, I can’t wait to hear
this story.”

Biting my lip, I stepped closer to his body. “Could it maybe
wait just a little bit?” I whispered, my eyes locking onto his
mouth.

Understanding what I needed, his lips were instantly on mine. I
wanted to groan and clutch him to me. It was the first part of
March. It had been over two months since our last kiss, back in
December…and I had missed this so much. His arms wrapped around me,
his hand cupping my cheek moving back to cradle my neck. My arms
slipped up his chest, one continuing on to tangle in his hair. His
tongue slid against mine, tasting me, teasing me. The chaos of the
world slipped away as we melded together, and for a few long
seconds, it was just the two of us in this packed room.

But then Kellan’s shoulder was tapped on and he grudgingly
pulled away from me. Hiding a scowl, I looked over at who couldn’t
wait a few moments to have his attention. Thinking that maybe the
buxom blonde on the counter was going to try something a little
more aggressive, I fully expected to see her there. But when Halle
2’s eyes met mine, I wished to God that it had been the blonde.