Effortless (41 page)

Their set was shorter than when they’d played at Pete’s, since
they shared the night with so many other bands, but the crowd
seemed satisfied when it was over. It made me a little happy that
Kellan hadn’t played the melancholy song that he’d written for me
while we’d been apart. I don’t know, even though he played it at
Pete’s, I didn’t want people all over the nation singing along to
my song.

Instead, the group played all of their biggest hits, all the
ones that I loved and that the fans back home loved. Even though
the night hadn’t gone as planned, I was still glad that I’d
impulsively flown out with my sister to see this. I knew I’d
remember it forever.

Giving a final bow, Kellan shook his head, then leaned over and
kissed the crying girl on the cheek. I blinked, a little surprised
that he’d do that, but when the girl slumped back into her friends
like she was fainting, I had to smile. I shook my head at the
oddness of it all while Anna adorably snorted.

Hopping down the stage two steps at a time, Kellan scooped me
into his arms. Obviously running on pure adrenaline, he spun me in
a circle, laughing as I squealed. His arms were firmly around my
thighs as he held me up, and, leaning back, he looked at me. “What
did you think?”

Sighing, I threaded my fingers back through his hair and rested
my head against his. “I think it was perfect, Kellan.”

Setting me down, he smiled warmly at me. The last band to
perform swept past us and Kellan twisted to watch them bound to
their microphones. Looking back at me, he smiled and raised an
eyebrow. “Do you want to stay and watch your favorite band?”

Flushing, I glanced at Justin onstage for a microsecond before
looking back at Kellan. “Second favorite,” I said, shaking my head.
Kellan laughed and I laced my arms around his neck and laid my head
on his shoulder. “I just want to be with you…wherever that is…,” I
whispered in his ear.

Nestling into my hair, he nodded and held me tight. “Okay,” he
murmured, before the sound was drowned out by the band onstage.

As the rest of the D-Bags dispersed, Evan and Matt excitedly
talking about the deal they’d just inked, Griffin with his hands
all over Anna’s body, Kellan and I stayed just where we were,
holding each other, slightly swaying to the music around us. It was
peaceful and I felt that familiar contentment again. If I could, I
would have held him like this all night long. I would have held him
like that forever.

But forever wasn’t in the cards for us tonight and before I knew
it, the show was over and the roadies were moving in to tear down
the set. Kellan pulled me out of the way, back to the backstage
area where a group of fans were hanging around, waiting to hang out
with the guys.

Being the professional that he was, Kellan stayed and signed
autographs while I waited on a chair in a corner. None of them paid
any attention to me, and I was fine with letting Kellan have the
spotlight.

After a while, someone from the club finally stepped in and
cleared out the room. The man stepped up to me, an imposing look on
his face. “You too, missy…everybody out.”

He grabbed my elbow and I instinctively pulled back. He didn’t
like that. “You can’t stay, groupies gotta go.”

I narrowed my eyes. “I’m not a groupie.”

He rolled his eyes, like he heard that every night. Just as I
was wondering how to convince yet another bouncer that I wasn’t
some trollop following the guys around, Kellan intervened. “Sorry,
she’s with me.”

The bouncer shrugged and let me go. Kellan laced our hands
together and led us back out to the secret exit. As we walked, he
got a devilish smile on his face. “That little incident reminds
me…what exactly did you do to get backstage?”

I sighed, running my hand over my face. “You don’t want to
know.”

He giggled, twisting to walk backwards down the hall. “Now I
definitely want to know.” He raised an eyebrow at me
expectantly.

Not able to resist the sultry look on his face, I murmured, “I
flashed the guy at the door.”

Kellan stopped in his tracks and I ran into him. “You what?” he
said flatly.

Bunching my brows, I shook my head and took a step back. “He
wouldn’t let us through until Anna and I showed him our chests. I
kept my bra on, though…Anna didn’t.”

Kellan clenched his jaw, his expression hardening. His face
reminded me of the night he’d stopped that perve from fondling me,
the night he’d gotten the scar along his ribs. “What did he look
like?” His eyes scanned the hall behind me, like he was searching
for the guy.

I brought my hand up, focusing his gaze on me. “Hey, it’s okay.”
I grimaced and added, “It was mortifying and humiliating, but he
didn’t hurt me or anything. He didn’t even touch me.” I didn’t
mention that he’d rubbed Anna a little. I also didn’t mention that
he’d also offered to “do” me. The first of two unwanted invitations
I’d had that night…wasn’t I popular all of a sudden?

Kellan exhaled, shaking his head. “Why would you do that? You
could have called me…I would’ve let you in?”

I sighed, stroking his cheek. “I wanted to surprise you.”

He narrowed his eyes. “You thought I was sleeping with Lana. Did
you want to surprise me…or catch me?”

I bit my lip and shook my head. “I don’t know,” I whispered.

Shaking his head, Kellan turned around and forcefully pushed
open the door to the exit. Sighing again, I slowly followed
him.

There was a flurry of activity in the parking lot when I got out
there. Guys were loading the vans and busses, band members were
hanging around, talking about the show. Even some stray fans were
hanging around. I didn’t see my sister and Griffin anywhere, but
Evan had stopped Kellan halfway to the bus, and was handing him his
guitar as they talked for a moment.

By the time I caught up to Kellan, he didn’t seem peeved
anymore. He smiled over at me and grabbed my hand. Evan clapped his
shoulder and darted onto the bus after Matt.

As all the other guys started loading onto the busses, I looked
up at Kellan. “Are you leaving?”

He looked down at me and shrugged. “Yeah.” He pointed over to a
bright-eyed bus driver drinking a very large cup of coffee. “They
rotate the drivers so someone is always ready to go. Since we can
sleep in the busses, we don’t stay in one place unless we’ve got
another show nearby.” He tilted his head at me. “Our next one’s in
Reno.” Pausing, Kellan raised an eyebrow at me. “You could come
with? Catch a flight home from there?”

Slinging his guitar over his shoulder, he laced his arms around
my waist. I wrapped my arms around his, smiling at the thought of a
very long bus ride with him. Then I frowned, considering the
logistics of it all, plus the roundtrip ticket burning a hole
through my duffel bag. “I already have a ticket home, and it’s from
here…”

I shrugged, hating that I couldn’t be as impulsive as my sister.
She wouldn’t think twice about hopping on a bus to destinations
unknown. Kellan pursed his lips, thinking. “Well, what if I get you
a ticket from Reno to here?” He leaned into me, grinning
mischievously. “Then you could still use your ticket.”

I leaned up and kissed his chin, glad that he wasn’t too angry
over my admission that I hadn’t really trusted him. “I don’t want
you to spend your money on me, Kellan.”

He leaned back and shrugged. “Who else am I going to spend it
on?” Shaking his head, he added, “Besides, this would be for me.”
Pulling me close, he rested his head against mine. “I want some
more time with you.”

Sighing contently, I conceded. “Alright, but only if Anna goes
too. I don’t want to leave her alone here.”

Kellan grinned and started leading me toward the bus. “I’m sure
she’s attached to Griffin as we speak.” I cringed, knowing that was
probably correct…in every sense.

And sure enough, when we hopped back on the bus, the sounds of
someone having a good time drifted back to us. I flushed instantly;
Kellan only grinned and shook his head. As the sound of something
vibrating mixed in with clear sounds of approval, I closed my eyes,
horrified, remembering all of the…toys…Anna had packed.

Leading me to an empty seat where he’d tossed my bag earlier,
Kellan set his guitar down and nodded towards the curtained area.
“I could go get my Discman, if you don’t want to listen to
them?”

I grabbed his arm, embarrassed for Anna, even though she
probably wouldn’t have cared if he walked in on them. “No!”

Chuckling, Kellan sat on the same side of the table as me and
grabbed my hand. “It’s okay, they’re probably in the back
bedroom.”

I looked over at him and frowned. “There’s a back bedroom?” He
hadn’t seemed to be leading me that way earlier?

Kellan twisted his lips as he tilted his head. “Yeah…Griffin’s
kind of taken it over though, so I figured you wouldn’t want
to…hang out in there.”

I twisted my lips at just the thought of doing anything remotely
intimate near places Griffin…laid in. “Yeah, no thanks.”

The driver hopped on the bus, taking a count of his rock stars.
Frowning as he clearly heard what we all heard, the paunchy man
sighed and said, “Alright, which one’s back there? I don’t want to
have to go look…again.”

A cluster of boys shifted their attention from the back of the
bus to glance up at the driver. Laughing, one of them replied with,
“It’s just Griffin back there.”

The bus driver rolled his eyes and shook his head. “Why am I not
surprised?” Sighing, he headed to the driver’s chair; it was plush,
more fitted for steering a sleek spacecraft than a bus. As he
started it, the rumble of the engine helped to block out my
sister’s cries for more, but not nearly enough.

Hating all of the boys listening to her, their eyes staring
through the heavy fabric like they’d all developed the ability to
see through it, I twisted to Kellan. He wasn’t looking, but his
head was down and he was smiling to himself. Hoping he wasn’t
envisioning what every other horny guy on the bus was probably
envisioning, I muttered, “Are you mad at me?”

Looking over at me, his small smile faded and he shook his head.
His finger came up to tuck a lock of hair behind my ear as he
quietly said, “No, I’m not.” Sighing, he searched my eyes. “I get
it, Kiera. I get why you’d have doubts, I get why you’d question…”
Closing his eyes for a second, he looked down at our hands resting
between us. “I wish…”

Not finishing that, he looked back up at me. “It’s okay, I get
it, and I’m not mad.”

I exhaled slowly and nodded. Then he put his arm around me and I
cuddled into his side. He kissed my head and we stared out the
window, watching the streetlights blur past as we made our way
through the city.

Just as I was starting to be lulled to sleep by the gentle
rocking of the vehicle, a chorus of cheers erupted in the bus.
Startled awake, I lifted my head off Kellan’s shoulder just in time
to see Griffin bowing. He’d finished with Anna, apparently, and
they’d finally come out of hiding. As he walked out of the back, he
high-fived some guy in the closest seat.

Grossly enough, it was the same douche that had walked in on
Kellan and me. The man sneered behind Griffin’s back but
immediately stopped when Anna walked out. Then his jaw nearly hit
the floor. That made me smile for some reason…probably because I
knew the jerk would never get a chance with my sister. I may not
understand her infatuation with Griffin, but she did have
standards.

And Anna was someone every guy wanted, the female equivalent to
Kellan. Nearly every jaw dropped as the beauty walked past them.
She looked like a movie star, fresh from filming a love scene, with
her hair perfectly messy in a way that only made her more
appealing, and yet her makeup still looked completely flawless. I
had no idea how she pulled off looking so great after a romp like
that. If it had been me, I’d look…less than great.

Anna smiled seductively at the crowd watching her, even reaching
out to tousle one of the boy’s hair; his smile was a little idiotic
as she sashayed past. And they all leaned in to check out her ass.
It made me roll my eyes, but I was used to that sort of thing. Anna
too…it didn’t even faze her.

She followed where Griffin was heading, and that, unfortunately,
was to us. With a content sigh, he sat in the bench opposite us,
unceremoniously tossing my bag out of the seat and onto the table.
Anna sat next to him, her smile equally satisfied. At the very
least, they pleased each other. Hopefully this was enough to
satisfy Anna for a while.

Griffin smiled over at me, then Kellan. “Bedroom’s free, if you
want it?”

I was already shaking my head when Kellan said, “We’re good,
thanks.” No way was I giving this audience a performance like my
sister just had…not stone cold sober anyway.

Kellan watched some of the guys retreating to their “rooms,” and
looked back at me. “You want to get some sleep? You look
tired.”

Griffin chuckled, clearly hearing dirty words in Kellan’s
innocent question. Then he reached over to Anna and cupped her
braless breast. When he murmured to her, “I just can’t get enough
of these,” and leaned down to kiss one through her shirt, I cringed
and looked up at Kellan.

“Yes…please.”

Threading her fingers through Griffin’s hair, Anna laid her head
back and closed her eyes, enjoying his attention. As Kellan and I
stood up, she huskily said, “See you in the morning, sis.” Peeking
one eye open, she added, “Have fun.”

I smirked at her, resisting the urge to smack Griffin off her
chest. Pausing in my escape from them, I told her, “We’re catching
an early flight tomorrow to Boise, then back home.”

She closed her eyes, nodding, not caring in the least how or if
we got back home. I sighed as I walked away, wishing I could be
that cavalier.

A few guys that were still awake whistled at Kellan and me
retreating through the curtain, one even clapping his shoulder.
Shaking my head, I hoped they weren’t too disappointed that nothing
was going to happen. Well, no, after seeing their faces watching my
sister, I sort of hoped they were a little disappointed.

Some of the bunks were full, their occupants already snoring, as
Kellan helped me get into his in the bottom. I laughed a little as
I got in. It kind of reminded me of summer camp. A really tight
summer camp.

I laid on my side and backed as far into the wall as I could, to
give Kellan as much space as I could. He laid on his side too,
facing me, tangling his legs with mine. Pulling up a thin blanket
near our feet, we cuddled into each other as best we could. Lying
so close on the pillow that our noses touched, we smiled at each
other.

He gave me a soft kiss as he reached a hand back to thread it
through my hair. My heart increased a little as the intimacy of the
moment surged through me. I found his lips in the near-dark,
wanting to just kiss him for a while.

Light and languid, our lips moved together like we’d never been
apart.  Pulling back for a second, Kellan whispered, “I’ve
missed this…I’ve missed you.”

I leaned back, studying his face in the soft light. “I’ve missed
you too…so much.”

Just as my heart was swelling, staring at him as he stared at
me, a voice above us said, “Less talking…more screwing.”

A chuckle went around the room and I flushed, remembering that
we weren’t as alone as we seemed. Kellan thumped the ceiling of his
bed with his fist. “Shut it, Mark.”

I buried my head in Kellan’s chest and he chuckled, rubbing my
back. In my ear, he whispered, “I could finish what I started
earlier…if you want to—”

His hand slinked down to my hip, rubbing over the back pocket
and a part of me instantly did want him to finish. I knew I’d never
be quiet enough though, not with how close we all were packed
together, and I really didn’t need to be embarrassed around
every
band member on this tour.

Biting my lip, I sighed and reluctantly shook my head. Kellan
smiled, his hand coming back up to brush my face. “Another time
then?”

I nodded and pulled his head down to me, so we could at least
kiss a little bit.

I couldn’t remember where I was when I woke up. I wasn’t even
really sure if I was awake at all. As Kellan’s arms were wrapped
around me, my head resting on his chest, I felt like I was still
dreaming. It wasn’t an absurd thought—I often dreamt of Kellan.
Running my hand over his pecs, I wondered when I’d wake up.
Probably when I got to the good part, that’s when it always
happened.

Sighing, I kissed his chest, wishing that, for once, this dream
would let us finish. Exhaling contently, his arms squeezed me
tighter. “Mornin’,” he breathed into my hair.

It sent a shiver down my back and I smiled. Peeking up at him, I
whispered, “Am I dreaming, or am I really waking up with you?”

He smiled down on me, adjusting himself so he could see me
better. “You dream about waking up with me?”

I nodded, propping myself up to look over his body under the
thin blanket. I frowned slightly. “You’re usually naked in my
dreams, though, so I must be awake.”

Quietly laughing, he pulled me back to his chest. “You’re
usually naked in my dreams, too,” he murmured, kissing my neck.

A thrill went through me, but it was halted by the snoring,
coughing, and the occasional…unseemly noises going on around us.
Kellan frowned. “Sorry, smelly bus of boys…not exactly
romantic.”

I sighed and stroked his face. “It’s better than nothing.” His
hand clenched over mine as we settled onto his pillows, facing each
other. Remembering the many ups and downs yesterday, I rubbed my
thumb over his. “Hey, you mentioned that you wanted to tell me
something last night…what was it?” I whispered, not sure if I was
ready to hear it.

Kellan looked down, then back up. “I…” He looked past me, at
where his phone was tucked in his cubby. “I…” Frowning slightly, he
searched my face for a moment, then smiling, he shrugged. “I didn’t
tell you the bad part about getting signed.”

I blinked, not expecting the conversation to go that way, and
also having a horrid feeling that he’d just smoothly changed the
subject. “What?” I whispered, lead forming in my stomach.

Looking down, he shook his head. “As soon as the tour ends in
May, they want us in L.A., to record the album.” He looked back up
at me, his face apologetic. “In the meantime, the guys and I will
be spending every free moment we have going through our songs,
picking out the best ones…perfecting them.” He shrugged. “We have
to be ready when we get there…”