The Rocker Who Wants Me (The Rocker... Series) (20 page)

While I was all for that because I was a selfish dick who missed my best friend, I knew that having a very pregnant Emmie would not be necessarily enjoyable. Not to mention how pissed off the Demons were gonna be if that happened, especially Nik. It took a lot to get my buddy to the point of pissed, but once that happened he was worse than Jesse Thornton in a rage. I so didn’t want that kind of anger brought to the tour.

“Bring it,” Zander snapped at Wroth, which got him a hard look from the ex-marine. “Just because Marissa only plays Wii with you-”

Whatever Zander was going to say was cut off by Liam throwing his bottle of water at Zander’s head. The lid was off the bottle and water went flying across Zander’s bare chest. “Motherfucker, what was that for?”

“You can talk trash about me or Devlin or anybody else, I don’t really give a shit, but you start saying something about my sister, and I will cut your fucking throat.”

“I wasn’t gonna talk trash about Rissa,” Zander exclaimed, as if shocked Liam would even think that. But it was what we all had thought. Zander was quick to fly off at the mouth any more, and it didn’t seem to matter who he was talking about. Not even Marissa was safe from his nastiness.

Just the day before, Zander had made some raunchy comment about me and Dallas and before I could even fully comprehend what he had said, Dallas had kneed him in the balls. “I don’t know what your deal is, but my name doesn’t
ever
leave your mouth like that again. Comprehend, asshat?” Dallas had snarled as she backed away from a downed Zander. Since it had brought Z to his knees I hadn’t felt like more punishment was due, but that didn’t mean I was forgiving. He knew he was on my shit list.

“Just shut the hell up, Z. You’re only digging yourself deeper,” Wroth told him in his growly voice that was scary on a good day, but was completely full of menace right then. It made me very thankful I wasn’t on the receiving end of Wroth’s wrath.

Cursing under his breath, Zander jumped up from his seat and stormed toward the back of the bus. No one said another word as we forced our attention back on the game we were playing.

Fun times.

Axton

I wasn’t a fan of April Fool’s day. This year was no different.

Forcing a smile for the chick in front of me, bouncing up and down in a mixture of excitement and seduction as it made her boobs practically pop out of her tight top, I asked her name and signed the poster she had set down on the table for me to autograph. “Thanks, darlin’,” I hugged her with one arm and smiled for the pictures her friend took before stepping back, ready to greet the next fan in line. Bouncy Boobs continued down the line to meet the other members of the band and perhaps entice one of them with her assets.

I glanced toward the corner of the room where Dallas was sitting with Marissa drinking fruit juice and snacking on a fruit tray that had been provided for our after concert signing. OtherWorld didn’t do too many fan meet and greets like this these days for which I was thankful. As much as I loved and appreciated our fan base, the ones that came to our meet and greets were mostly chicks looking to hook up with one of us for the night. I was over that shit.

As if sensing my eyes on her, Dallas turned her head and caught my gaze. When she noticed the expression on my face—a mixture of dread, depression, and desperation—she raised a brow and I just shrugged. I wanted this to be over so that we could get back to our hotel and maybe take a bath together before ordering something from room service and falling asleep. That was
all
I fucking wanted, so why wasn’t this line moving along faster?

Another fan stepped in front of me, forcing me to turn back to the job at hand. With a tight smile I greeted the little girl in front of me. Little described her well. She couldn’t have been more than sixteen and she was nothing but bones. With long strawberry-blonde hair and bright blue eyes she was cute and in those eyes I saw pure excitement. For the first time that night my smile became genuine. Oddly this little girl reminded me of a young Emmie when she had first come to live with the Demons. Nothing could have opened my heart to her more. “Hey, darlin’. I’m Axton. What’s your name?”

“I’m Kenzie,” she got out in a breathless voice, pink filling her cheeks. “I’ve been listening to you guys since I was five years old.”

“Your parents let you listen to us that young? That rocks, sweetheart.” I glanced behind her but didn’t see any parental figures. “You all alone tonight, darlin’?” It was after midnight and most of the people that still remained were in varying degrees of drunkenness. I didn’t feel right about her being alone.

Kenzie shrugged. “I snuck out to come tonight. No way was I gonna miss getting to see OtherWorld live.”

My grin didn’t dim, but my concern escalated. “Aren’t you a little rebel.” I winked then looked over at Dallas and Marissa. Dallas was still watching me closely and I waved her over.

Still nibbling on a slice of pineapple, Dallas walked past the line of now glaring chicks with a sass that I couldn’t help but grin at. That walk alone told every one of the girls in line that she was mine and she knew it. “What’s up, babe?” Her gaze went to Kenzie and she smiled. “Hi, sweetness.”

“Oh my gosh! You’re Dallas Bradshaw. You were in the OtherWorld video a few years back. You are the most beautiful girl I have ever seen in my life.” Kenzie was gushing over Dallas more than she had been me and I fucking loved it. “Can I have your autograph, too?”

“Um, sure?” Dallas glanced back at me. “Ax?”

“This is Kenzie, the gorgeous rebel who snuck out to see us tonight. I thought you two could hang out until we were done here and maybe we would grab something to eat before giving her a ride home?”

Something I rarely saw flashed across Dallas’s face. It was there only a moment, but it gave me all kinds of hope for us and our future. “That sounds great,” Dallas said with a beaming smile. She leaned forward and pressed a hard kiss to my lips. “I was bored as hell and Kenzie seems awesome.”

“Hey, other people would like to meet the band too,” someone called from the back of the line. “Move it along, ho.”

Dallas’s eyes widened as she stepped back from me. “Dallas,” I said, trying to stop her, but she was already turning around.

“Shut it, cunt bags. We’ll move as fast as we please.” Turning back to me she gave me another kiss and urged Kenzie toward the next table where Wroth was still signing Bouncy Boob’s impressive chest. I breathed a sigh of relief. For a moment I was sure that Dallas had been going to call the chick out and start throwing punches. Which would have been seriously hot, but would have put a serious damper on my night if I had to spend it bailing her out of jail instead of cuddling in our bed back at the hotel.

The line slowly died down and by two o’clock we were finished. I stretched, trying to work some of the tension out of my muscles. Out of everything else that went on during a tour, to me the meet and greets like this were the most exhausting.

As the last fan was led out by security, I headed toward Dallas who was sitting with Kenzie and Marissa by the buffet. Kenzie had a pile of food on a plate which I had seen Natalie get for her an hour ago. Either she hadn’t eaten much or she was on her second plate. I lifted Dallas up, sat in her chair and secured her on my lap. “What have you lovely ladies been doing all night?”

Dallas buried her head in my neck, but instead of kissing me she whispered against my ear, “She’s sweet.”

“Kenzie has been telling us about herself,” Marissa said with a smile.

A blush filled Kenzie’s cheeks but she didn’t comment as she stuffed another carrot into her mouth. I reached for one off her plate and took a bite out of it. After chewing a few seconds I turned my head and spit it out. “Christ, that is not real food. I’m starving. Who wants to get some nice fat-filled grease-coated food?”

Dallas was the first to raise her hand. “Me. Me. Me. Please, babe. I’m starving.”

I stood and grabbed ahold of Dallas’s hand, needing to constantly touch her to feel centered. I took the plate from Kenzie and offered her my free hand. After only a small hesitation she accepted it and stood. My gaze went to Marissa. “You wanna come with? Wroth said he had to make sure his Fenders were stored safely. Knowing him and his love for his guitars, he might be a little while.”

She laughed as she got to her feet. “No thanks. I was going to head back to the hotel and order some room service. I have a craving for pancakes and sausage.”

“It was nice to meet you, Marissa,” Kenzie said, shaking her hand. Her manners surprised me. Seriously, I didn’t know kids still had manners like that anymore. Sure Mia and Lucy had them, but that was because Emmie and Layla beat them into their heads on a daily basis.

Marissa hugged her tight. “I hope we get to see each other again, Kenzie.”

We stepped into a taxi out in front of the huge convention center. I let both the girls get in before I finally took my place by the window with Dallas tucked against me. After finding out what they wanted to eat, I told the driver to take us to the closest all night mom and pop. Ten minutes later we stepped into a small restaurant that reminded me a lot of Denny’s. A gruff-looking man with a grease-stained apron led us to a booth in the back and took our drink orders.

“How’s your sweat tea?” Dallas asked immediately, making me grin.

“Diabetic coma inducing,” the man said with a roll of his eyes.

Dallas clapped her hands together in glee. “I’ll take a glass and keep ‘em coming.”

There was another roll of his eyes before he turned to Kenzie. “What will it be, kid?”

“Chocolate milk, please.”

“Make that two,” I told him with a wink at Kenzie who rewarded me with a beaming smile. I hadn’t had chocolate milk in forever and the idea was suddenly very appealing.

With a sigh, as if we were inconveniencing him, the greasy man went to get our drinks. Dallas laughed as she turned in the booth so that she was leaning her back against my side before opening her menu. “I want a double cheeseburger with onion rings and lots of barbeque sauce. And lots of fries. What are you having, Kenzie?”

She was glancing through the menu and I could tell she was struggling with what to pick. Honestly it all sounded good to me. As hungry as I was right then I could have eaten one of everything and two of each dessert. “I don’t know,”

“I’m going to get the chili cheese fries, the foot-long slaw dog, and the all American burger.” I glanced at the appetizers. “And we might as well get some fried mozzarella sticks and potato skins to start.” Dallas raised a brow at me, amazed that I wanted all of that to eat. “What? I’m starving. I haven’t eaten since breakfast. That was nearly twenty-four hours ago, baby.”

“You two are really cute together,” Kenzie surprised me by commenting. “It’s nice to watch you like this.”

Dallas’s eyes widened but I couldn’t help but grin as I tightened my arms around her. “Thanks, sunshine. It comes easy when you have what we have.”

An older woman suddenly appeared with our drinks on a tray. She looked like someone’s grandmother, but she seemed to find the job amusing. Her grin was warm and welcoming as she stood over us with her order pad in hand. Dallas and I gave her our orders but Kenzie was still struggling with her decision.

I reached for her hand, her thin fingers trembling on the menu. “Whatever you want is fine, Kenzie. I promise. If you want two things or three things, hell if you want the whole damn menu, it is fine with me. Okay, sunshine?”

Her chin trembled for a moment before she bit her lip hard. Swallowing, she gave the waitress her order of grilled cheese, chili, and a chili cheese hot dog. As small as she was, I wasn’t sure if should could hold all of that, but she sure did look like she needed that much. Beside me I felt Dallas stiffening and she sat up, giving Kenzie a closer look.

“Kenzie, when was the last time you ate?”

Kenzie’s chin trembled again and Dallas moved from our side of the booth to take a place next to the girl. She grabbed Kenzie’s chin, her eyes examining her closely. “Sweetness, you’re seriously malnourished. What’s been going on?”

My stomach seemed to bottom out as Kenzie’s trembling chin was suddenly followed by two fat tears falling from her eyes. “I’m okay,” she whispered.

“No, baby cakes. You damn well aren’t okay. Talk to me,” Dallas urged as she brushed a few locks of Kenzie’s hair back from her face. “Tell me what’s been going on at home.”

“H-home?” Her voice seemed to shake more than her chin if that was possible. “I don’t h-h-have a h-home. My parents d-d-died when I was six. After that I was pushed from one f-f-family member to the next, because no one w-wanted me. S-s-o I ended up in foster care, and then when my a-aunt f-f-finally relinquished her custodial rights I was sent to the orphanage where I’ve been for the last four years.”

Everything inside me clenched at her confession. Earlier I had thought she reminded me of Emmie. I couldn’t have imagined that I was right in more ways than one. Only when Kenzie had become an orphan she hadn’t had four Demons willing and waiting to care for her. My hands balled into fists under the table and I clenched my jaw as I turned my gaze to the window.