His Distraction (Assured Distraction Book 2) (11 page)

The AD team he was looking for was actively enjoying Steel’s set from the darkened wings of the stage. He pulled Peri aside. “I need to talk to you.” It was too loud where they were so she nodded her head and led him down the steps to go back to the dressing rooms.

When they opened the door to the meet-and-greet room that Steel used earlier, they were greeted by some of their groupies and roadies enjoying the room a little too much for the conversation Ryan had in mind. “Dude, really?”

“Shut the fuck up,” Gary said. “We get to have a little fun, too, and there’s more than enough to go around.” Gary was a great technician, and he obviously enjoyed the perks of touring with the band. Ryan knew these women would do anything, or anyone, for the chance to get close to the members of Steel.

Shaking his head in acknowledgment, he turned to Peri. “Aw, Fuck!”

“Yeah, last time I checked, that’s exactly what that was!” The smile Peri gave him was more of a smirk.

“This is not what I had in mind right now.” He pulled her out the door and down to Ryder’s vacant dressing room. The roadies knew better than to violate Ryder’s private space.

“What’s going on, Ryan?” Peri sat in the make-up chair.

“I need your help.” He looked her right in the eyes trying to decide everything he needed to tell her. He was hurt, angry, and frustrated. Where did he start?

“You know I’m here for you, Ryan. What do we need to do?” She said as she watched him struggling with the words. Now that he seemed to have some of his emotions in check, Peri stood and put her hand on his arm.

He looked at her with a hard stare then wrapped his arms around her, pulling her in for a tight hug. Peri was startled from the sudden movement at first. After a few beats, she put her arms around his wide shoulders returning the hug without a word though she didn’t understand what this need was about. Her senses were in overload being held by this guy. His strong arms encircling her body gave her a feeling of security even if they could crush the life out of her with a flex. She might not understand what was happening, but she knew he needed a friend right now, maybe more than even he realized. She wanted to be there for him, and she wanted him to know he could count on her.

After what seemed like forever, he finally let go and stepped back. The hurt pouring off him was obvious as he took several deep breaths and seemed to be working to gather his thoughts, so she waited for him to spill the information in his own time.

“Sorry, I just needed that. Krissy and I are through, and I need your help with some shit going on at home.” She watched as he started pacing back and forth, so she took her seat again. He ran his hands through his hair and pulled it back from his face and reiterated the conversation with Hayden, sparing none of the vulgar details of just how over Krissy he was. When he finished, he halted his restless pacing, and she was able to look him in the eyes again.

“What the fuck am I going to do? She’s in my home, she’s practically molesting my barely-legal cousin who’s way too young for her, and I want her gone!” It didn’t surprise her that the more he spoke, the louder he got.

“First of all, calm down. We will get this worked out. I’ll call the lawyers and have them draft a letter expressing your wishes. We don’t want to get her fired, and I’m afraid if we call her in, it might get sticky.”

“No, I don’t want to get her fired, or she’ll be too broke to move out. I just want to get her motivated to find another place to live right now.”

“Her name’s not on the lease, so technically we can say she’s trespassing. Let’s give her one week to move. That seems more than fair considering she’s been living there rent free since we left. Are you good with that?”

“Yeah, I know it’s the best thing to do, but damn it! I want her gone now. Hayden shouldn’t have to put up with this fucked-up mess.”

“You’re right, he shouldn’t, but he’s a big boy, and I’m sure he can manage for another week. Right now, I’m concerned about you. I know this is hard for you, handling a break-up when you are so far away from home. But maybe it’s for the best that you have some distance right now.”

“Yeah, I think you’re probably right about that. I just want it over with now. She kept this fucked up since I first hit the road and I’m through with it. I’m ready to have a life again.”

“Well, let me get this ball rolling, and I’ll let you know what’s happening every step of the way. From now on, you should try to have some fun and enjoy the rest of the tour the way you should be.” They moved toward the door, and she patted him on the back, wanting the contact with him to be comforting, reassuring.

When he felt her light touch on his back, he stopped in the doorway, turning to her. His abrupt turn caused her to stumble into him, but he caught her with both hands. “Sorry, Peri. I didn’t mean to...” She stared at him when an electric jolt arced between them knowing from the look he gave her that he felt it, also. He immediately let her go so she stepped back never taking her eyes off his. She waited for him to say something but it never came. Maybe he was as speechless as her.

Peri couldn’t take her eyes off him. She knew this was wrong. He was in a vulnerable place and had a head full of emotions he needed to deal with, but she didn’t want to think about that when right in front of her stood a hot mess of a man. His strong shoulders filled the doorway, the edges of his colored tats visible under the sleeves of his tight t-shirt. The way his shoulder-length hair hung around his face looked perfect for tugging on during a long, slow kiss
.
His lips were just right for running her tongue over and biting on before sucking them into her mouth.

Whoa, whoa, whoa, where did these thoughts come from? I can’t think these things! I am the manager; I have to manage this band and him; I need to stay in control…

She took two steps back into the room. “Uh, yeah, so I’ll get started on all of this immediately. You should go to the wings and watch Steel for a while with Chan and KeeMac. I believe Carter is there, too. Their show is awesome, and I don’t think you’ve seen them perform in a while.” For some reason, Peri couldn’t stop the word vomit whenever she was uneasy and had to force her jaw to shut to keep it from snowballing.

Ryan smirked at her as he turned away. She was flustered by the contact and she wondered if he realized it. Peri didn’t even know how she felt about it. He finally glanced at her once again, nodded and walked away.

He returned to the wings and joined the others having drinks backstage. This band could bring down the house, and they were working on doing just that again tonight, with the members of AD watching. Their music could be harsh and gritty, but then they could turn it around and play something that would make their guitars sing. The audience loved all of it.

Beautiful women jammed against the stage front caught Carter’s attention, and he decided then he would have at least one of them, if not more. Before Steel finished their set, he had one arm wrapped around a supermodel type with long legs and long blonde hair, another girl that was her mirror image, on his other side. “Ladies, let’s go back to the bus and I’ll give you a private tour. Then maybe y’all can give me a private tour.” The two women laughed at his comments while Chandler rolled her eyes.

“Guess we’ll be buying new sheets before I climb back in that bed,” she said to KeeMac. He watched Carter walk away with the women already rubbing their hands under his t-shirt across his toned back.

“Yeah, I’m not fond of the idea of sleeping there anytime soon either but I think we can have some real fucking togetherness in your bunk. As a matter of fact, I can think of all kinds of positions…”

She cut him off with a kiss that was supposed to shut him up because others were standing within earshot but he took over the kiss, turning it into something she would be thinking about all the way back to their bunk. He pulled back, staring down into aqua eyes with now-dilated pupils, her breathing harsh like she’d run a 200-meter dash. Not a single word more was said between the two lovers. He pulled her down the steps and toward the doorway leading outside, moving faster with each step. Chandler couldn’t keep up with him, so he turned and scooped her up over his shoulder.

“I want you right now, babe.” She slid her hands into his tight leather pants and grabbed his firm butt cheeks, silently consenting to what he was implying.

“Then you better run faster.” She laughed when he groaned, knowing what her intimate touches of the defined muscles of his fine ass were doing to his self-control.

Steel came off the stage a few songs later, and Ryder noticed Ryan standing there watching the women still clinging to the front of the stage screaming their names before their encore.

“See something you like out there, Ryan?” Ryder’s smile made his eyes dance. Sure he was older than the guys in AD, but he wasn’t dead. Seeing beautiful women throw themselves at him night-after-night had grown old years ago, and he had learned to be far more discriminating in his choosing. But he hadn’t forgotten what it was like to be a young, single guy on the road.

“Yeah, too many somethings.”

“All you have to do is point one out to security. They will pull her out of the crowd and taken to the meet-and-greet room before you can get there.” Ryder heard all about the problems that Ryan had going on from Peri earlier in the day. “You know what they say, boy. The best way to get over one is to get another one under ya’.”

“Is that right? Well, then, I guess I can’t make a liar out of the ‘theys’ then, can I?” The two men laughed until Ryan turned around and found a beautiful woman with long brown curls floating around a gorgeous face and chocolate brown eyes. He pointed her out to the security guys, and they pulled her willingly out of the crowd.

He knew if he was going to do this, he might as well get it over with, even if that was the wrong way to look at it, but he didn’t know any other way to move on. He would lose himself inside of a stranger tonight and maybe every night if it went well. It wasn’t his usual way, but his usual way had fucked him over, so maybe a different approach was necessary.

Peri followed everyone into the meet-and-greet when the band and their entourage starting pouring into the room. The roadies had work to do so they had to say goodbye to their guests and leave. The first thing she saw was Ryan wrapped around a rail thin, dark-haired girl. She guessed that would be the flavor-of-the-night for him. She hadn’t known him with anyone other than Krissy, who was always on a diet to keep her body trim. Peri figured out quickly that Ryan had a look that he seemed to desire.

Peri was anything but rail thin, and she was fine with that. She loved the curvaceous pin-up style from the ‘40s and ‘50s and would never change that for anyone. When she took the job, she added some more professional pieces to her wardrobe, but her jet black hair, red lips, and curves were her signature look that exemplified who she was, no matter what society said was the definition of beauty. Her small, cinched waist accentuated by slim-fitting clothes, hugged her hips and more than ample breasts was her style, and to hell with what others thought. She liked her tattoos that covered several areas of her body even if others didn’t. She rocked the look and wore it proudly. Maybe someday she would find someone who appreciated them appropriately, but at that moment, she couldn’t help but feel a small twinge of loneliness as she watched everyone else pairing off.

She should be glad to see Ryan moving on and trying to have a good time. She wasn’t the one for him. She had a job to do with Assured Distraction, and she was determined to do it to the best of her abilities. She didn’t simply want to keep this job; she wanted to blow their expectations out of the water. She knew there was an attraction between her and Ryan on some level, but she needed to tuck that attraction away and forget about it. She would do that, and she would concentrate on her job while he concentrated on learning to be single again.