Kellan flinched and snapped his mouth shut. Just signing his name to the album, Kellan handed the CD back to the uber fan. She held it to her chest, cradling it like a baby. Even though the moment was over, she didn't move away. I thought she might hang out with us for the remainder of the concert, but she spotted Griffin emerging from the bathrooms and dashed off yelling, "Griffin! I love you!"
I could only shake my head in disbelief. Justin, Kellan, and . . . Griffin? Really?
Turning to face me, Kellan asked, "What was that?"
I blinked, not following. "What was what?"
He rubbed his back. "The Smurf bite. I was only going to tell her you were my girl, not Sienna."
Cringing, I massaged the spot I'd probably bruised. "Sorry. Yeah, I know you were. I just . . . I don't want to be paraded around your concerts and introduced to fifty thousand curious people. I don't want them all looking at me, talking about me. I don't want one of them mentioning something to all the press around here. I don't want them catching wind of me. And I really don't want to be front page news, and since everyone wants you with Sienna, that's exactly what would happen. I would be a breaking news story. And I just . . ." I shrugged. "Let's stay vague about us, okay? This craziness will die off soon."
Kellan set down his drink and looped his arms around my waist. "So, should I not be doing this then?"
I laced my arms around his neck. "This is fine. We don't need to stop living our lives, we just don't need to go into detail about it. We can be private. We're good at private."
Kellan smirked, then pulled me into him for a hug. "Well, people are watching me right now, so they're probably figuring it out that you're my girlfriend."
Laughing, I pushed him back. "No, trust me, they're most likely trying to figure out where the 'Get a Hug from Kellan' line forms." Kellan just laughed, but I knew I was right.
While we waited for the D-Bags' turn on stage, Kellan and the boys visited with fans and band members. I stayed close to Kellan's side, laughing with him and enjoying the mixed company. Several of the other band members had been on the last tour and knew the guys well. A couple of band members even recognized me from Kellan's scrapbook, and made a point of saying hello. Aside from a few jealous glances, the fans didn't comment much on my "flirty" relationship with Kellan as he put an arm around me or held my hand. Since a couple of other fans did successfully tackle him into a quick hug throughout the evening, maybe they just assumed that he was a friendly, give-the-fans-what-they-want kind of guy. And he was. To a point.
The D-Bags were slated to perform right before Justin's band. Before he headed off to the staging area, I leaned up and gave Kellan a soft peck. "Good luck."
The excitement in his eyes was evident as he grinned at me. He loved this. "Thank you. Back in a bit."
He hurried off to start his show, and I couldn't help but notice that a large majority of the crowd backstage had already disappeared-everyone wanted to see the D-Bags perform. Making my way to the side of the stage, I found a spot where I wouldn't be in the way, but I'd have a killer view. That's when I fully realized just how packed the house was. The floor before the stage was crammed with people. They were jammed in so tight, I almost wondered if the club was in violation of some city ordinance; surely they were over capacity. But no one in the audience seemed to care that they were squished like sardines, especially when Kellan strutted onto the stage.
Guitar slung over his back, Kellan raised a hand as he walked to the microphone stand. The room erupted into shrieks. While the other guys bounded into position, Kellan leaned into the mike and murmured, "Evenin'."
Hearing the reverse of his typical greeting made me chuckle. It made the crowd jump up and down. When the screaming diminished somewhat, a section of the crowd simultaneously yelled out, "We love you, Kellan!"
Kellan shielded his eyes from the bright lights beating down on him and scanned the audience. "I love you guys too." He laughed, and the girls in the front row looked they might hyperventilate-if they could breathe to begin with, that is.
Removing the guitar from his back, Kellan asked the crowd, "Is everybody having a good time?"
My ears rang a little after the shrieking response. Kellan cocked his head as he flipped the guitar around and slipped the strap over his shoulder. The body of the guitar was now resting right in front of his pelvis, and there was something insanely erotic about that. "Hmmm, I don't know. Doesn't really sound like you guys are having fun."
Jumping and screaming, the crowd tried to prove to him that they were indeed having a good time. The display made me laugh. Kellan shook his head. "Let's try that again. I said, is everybody having a good f**king time!" He shouted his question this time, and the crowd went nuts. They even started stomping their feet; it sounded like an earthquake was rolling through the building.
Satisfied, Kellan glanced back at Evan and nodded. Taking that at his cue, Evan started the intro to the first song. There were some things in this life that I would never get tired of. Watching Kellan perform was one of those things. He just had that spark that made it impossible to take your eyes off of him. And unlike a lot of singers I'd watched, Kellan didn't just stand behind his microphone and belt out his songs. No, he actively engaged the crowd, making them a part of the show. I was positive that everyone in that audience felt a connection with him at some point during his set. Kellan's ability to sound amazing, while still being fun and playful, was one of his greatest attributes. When it came to music, at least. I could think of several other highlights that had nothing to do with being on stage.
When the D-Bags were done, they each bowed and darted off the stage. Kellan scooped me into his arms right away, and I could tell he was flying high, energized from the performance. Nuzzling my neck, he murmured, "Let's go back to the bus."
My eyes fluttered closed as I considered it. Justin was up next, and a lot of the other band members were still mingling and celebrating backstage. We'd probably have a little bit of privacy if we left right now. After the final performance wrapped up, the boys would all filter back to the busses and we'd hit the road, so alone time would be out of the question.
I was grabbing the belt buckle loops of his jeans and pulling his h*ps into mine when I heard a warbled chant coming from the crowd. I opened my eyes and strained to understand what I was hearing. Kellan lifted his head and turned his face to the stage. He was sweaty from performing, and his hair was damp around the edges. It was a distracting sight, so I turned to face the stage as well. "What are they chanting? I can't make it out."
Kellan bunched his brows as he listened. It wasn't the band's name, it was too long. After another couple of seconds, the crowd's chants lined up and the word they were saying finally made sense. Twisting back to me, Kellan said, "They're saying 'Regretfully.' They want to hear the single."
I nodded, since that's what I was hearing too. Kellan frowned as his gaze returned to the stage. "We don't have her vocal track. We can't perform that song without Sienna . . . unless . . ." When he looked back at me, there was such a devilish gleam in his eye that I knew exactly what he was thinking. I shoved him away and tried to scramble out of his arms. Laughing, Kellan held me tight. "Sorry, babe. You know I don't like disappointing the fans, and you're the only one here that can fill in for Sienna."
I had twisted in his arms and my back was to him; he had a viselike grip around my waist and I couldn't break free. "No way in hell, Kyle! I am not going up there!"
Still laughing, Kellan started backing me up onto the stage. "I'm sorry, but you're gonna have to sing with me tonight."
I started screaming and kicking like he was mugging me until he finally let me go. Tears of laughter in his eyes, he asked, "Don't you want to live out your girl band fantasy? I'll help you through it, and if you get sick, there's usually a bucket in the corner."
Killing him with my eyes, I very firmly informed him, "You're sleeping in your own cubby tonight."
His expression changed so fast I had to turn away to hide my smile. "I was joking, Kiera." Pretending like I didn't hear him, I stormed away. "Kiera? You know I was kidding, right?"
Not able to maintain my fake anger anymore, I tossed a smile over my shoulder. His corresponding grin was so delicious that I knew my bold statement wouldn't end up happening. No matter where Kellan went, my body, my heart, my soul, would automatically follow him. Except onto that stage.
A week into the tour, all of the bands had fallen into a comfortable routine: travel, setup, play, takedown, travel. Sometimes band members shuffled from one bus to another, but generally the D-Bags shared a bus with the five members of Avoiding Redemption; the rest of the bands shared the other bus. Immediately after the first concert, Kellan had claimed the only bed on the bus. He'd stretched a couple lines of yellow Do Not Enter tape across the doorframe and taped a huge sign in the middle of the crisscrossing X that read: Reserved for Mr. and Mrs. Kyle. Stay Out. That means you, Griffin. I was so grateful that Kellan nabbed the bedroom before Griffin had a chance to sully it. He may be practicing monogamy right now, but I still didn't want to share bedding with him.
Griffin pouted, but the rest of the band members thought it was funny and let us have the bed, since we were the only couple on the bus.
Aside from the fans asking Kellan about Sienna each night, and chanting for their single at the end of the show, the hype around the two was starting to taper off. I'm sure Nick just hated that. Sienna too for that matter. But she was off doing her thing, and Kellan was off doing his. With no more leaked photos and risque videos, there just wasn't anything interesting to keep the pseudo-couple at the top of the gossip news.
That didn't stop the questions, though.
"So, Kellan, what's really going on with you and Sienna Sexton?" A radio personality was leaning over her microphone, beady eyes intent on Kellan's answer. I don't know why she looked like she had just asked him a life or death question.
Kellan smiled, but I could see the sigh behind his eyes. He was really getting sick and tired of answering the same thing city after city. I thought he might go back to saying "No comment," just because explaining his life was driving him crazy. "We're colleagues. We worked together on a project, but that's it."
Kellan paused and waited for the question that always came next.
"So, you're single?" By the look on the DJ's face and the tone of her voice, it was obvious that she totally thought Kellan was blowing smoke up her ass.
An easy smile still on his lips, Kellan shook his head. "No. I don't want to go into detail about it, but I'm in a relationship." I was standing behind the DJ while Kellan was in front of her. His eyes shifted to just over the DJ's shoulder, and locked onto mine. "And I love her very much." He shifted his gaze back to the DJ before she noticed that he'd directed that statement to me.
God, I really did have the best husband on earth. I schooled my features as best I could, but I just couldn't remove the small smile on my lips. The DJ pursed hers. "Okay, well, how about you boys play us a song?"
Kellan seemed confused about why the DJ looked so apathetic over his answer. She'd asked him a direct question, he'd given her one. It may not have been what she wanted to hear, but, well, too bad.
Matt and Griffin strummed their guitars while Evan beat out a rhythm on a lone snare drum. Kellan's voice filled the studio, pitch-perfect, and the mood instantly lightened. No one could deny that the D-Bags were good. No, not just good . . . amazing.
Afterwards, the group of us slipped into a couple of waiting cabs and headed back to the tour bus. The driver of the cab Kellan and I were in was listening to the radio station we'd just left; I recognized the DJ's high-pitched voice. Evan was riding in the cab with us. Leaning forward, he said, "Think they'll talk about us now that we're gone?"
Kellan and I shrugged, then started paying closer attention to what she was saying. I instantly wished I hadn't. "Kellan's a liar, that's all there is to it. Just colleagues. Right. I'm supposed to believe that that freaking hot music video was fake? Sorry, sweetheart, Sienna's not that good of an actress. Those two are swapping a lot more than lyrics! In a relationship? Yeah, tell us something we don't know, Kellan . . ."