Knowing which scenes I was referring to, Kellan put his finger over my lips. "Don't. I understand. I knew going into this that a story about us was also going to be a story about the two of you. And it should be. He was a big part of your life, and I'm okay with your history. It made you who you are. And I happen to be in love with who you are." I gaped at him, amazed at the depth of his empathy. He laughed a little. "I couldn't read about it, though. I, uh, skimmed a few parts. I hope you don't mind."
Shaking my head, I threw my arms around him. No, of course I didn't mind. Clutching his shirt in my hands, I buried my head in his neck. God, he was amazing. Holding him tight, I released a few final tears of guilt and remorse. Once the feeling was gone, I kissed his neck. "I love you, you know?"
Holding me tight to him, rubbing my back, Kellan murmured, "I know you love my hair." I pulled back to look at his amused face; he could barely contain his smile. "I mean you really love my hair . . . almost obsessively so. I had no idea." His grin turned bright and boyish. "And my abs." He cocked an eyebrow at me. "Would you like to try etching them with a marker? I'll let you. Although, edible paint is a lot more fun."
Pushing his chest away from me, I stood up. Jackass. Laughing, Kellan grabbed my h*ps and pulled me onto his lap. I giggled as I crashed into his arms. Tangling my fingers into his remarkable hair, I husked out, "I'll etch you if you etch me."
Kellan twisted me around so I was straddling him. His eyes were bright with excitement as he brought his lips toward mine. "Deal," he mumbled before our mouths touched. Then his fingers darted under my shirt, like he was going to start the art project right now.
His fingers danced along my skin, tickling me as much as caressing me. I was laughing in between our playful kisses and wishing that we could somehow sneak off of this bus and escape into a private hotel room.
"Well, this is familiar," said a voice from behind me.
I broke apart from Kellan's lips to glance at the now-open bus curtain. Being walked in on didn't startle me as much as it used to, but it still wasn't something I enjoyed. When I saw who was here, shock washed through me. "Jenny?"
My blond best friend giggled as she bounced on her toes. "Surprise!"
I squealed in Kellan's ear and shot up off of his lap. I collided with Jenny and held her tight as new tears stung my eyes. It had only been a couple of months, but it felt like forever since I'd last seen her. After our exuberant greeting, I noticed who was behind her. "Kate? Rachel? Cheyenne?"
Seeing all of my favorite people from Seattle here in D.C. was beyond odd. They seemed stranger to me than all the hoopla surrounding Kellan and another woman. Jenny laughed at the look on my face as I twisted between my girlfriends and Kellan; a small, knowing smile was plastered on Kellan's face, so I figured he knew what was up. "What's going on?"
Griffin and Anna were back from their shopping excursion. Anna was standing behind Cheyenne, her expression joyful. Griffin was loaded down with shopping bags and dramatically collapsed into a chair; a sea of colorful bags fell around him, and a couple of blue onesies fell to the floor.
Looping her arm around Rachel, Anna handed me the only thing that she was carrying-a completely black plastic bag. A little nervous, I gingerly removed it from her hand and peeked inside. There were a plethora of things in the bag, but a giant penis staring me in the face was the thing that really got my attention. Cinching the bag closed, my eyes snapped to Kellan's. "Okay, seriously, what the hell is going on?"
Kellan laughed as he stood and put an arm around me. "We're officially getting married next month, and Anna and Griffin just tied the knot, so we"-he pointed at Anna and himself-"decided a little celebration was in order."
Anna held her belly while she bounced on her toes. "Dual bachelorette party, Kiera!"
I looked over all of my friends, shocked. They had all flown across the country with hardly any notice to help Anna and I celebrate our weddings? And, I suppose, in Jenny and Rachel's case, to visit with their boyfriends.
After hugging each friend in turn, I looked back at Kellan. "You arranged all of this?"
He smiled and shrugged. "Our lives are crazy. When moments to remember happen, you have to pause a second to appreciate them. Otherwise none of this"-he indicted the bus-"is worth it. And getting married to you is definitely a moment to remember."
I heard a dreamy sigh escape Kate's lips as my eyes misted. Griffin intruded on my romantic moment by doing what he did best. He opened his mouth. "And while you guys are drooling over dudes, we'll be swimming in a sea of half-naked babes."
Anna elbowed him in the stomach, but she laughed. I looked back at Kellan. He shook his head. "We're just going to a bar after the show tonight."
Griffin pouted. "I said I wanted a strip club."
Kellan gave him a flat look. "And I said I wanted a bar. If you want to do separate bachelor parties, then by all means, go to a strip club tonight. But I don't feel like celebrating my marriage with overpriced alcohol and glitter."
Griffin rolled his eyes and made a sound like a whip being cracked. Kellan only smiled at him. I faced my sister. "And what exactly are we doing tonight?"
Anna gave me a wide smile. "Oh, don't you worry about the details. I've got everything under control."
Hours later, I was staring at myself in the mirror contemplating whether I should kiss my sister or deck her. Her master plan to celebrate our nuptials was to dress all of us girls in matching outfits that were half Robert Palmer video chick and half Muppet. We were all wearing skintight, short, long-sleeved dresses. Jenny and Anna had done everyone's makeup-bright red lipstick and smoky eyes-and Cheyenne and Kate had pulled everyone's hair back into long, sleek ponytails. I thought we were going to leave the dressing up at resembling "Addicted to Love" fill-ins, but I should have known that wasn't flashy enough for my sister. Once we were all uniformly dressed, she'd pulled out the coup de grace-an assortment of neon colored wigs.
As I fingered the bright pink hair in my reflection, Anna joined me. Giggling at her own mass of electric blue hair, she exclaimed, "We look f**king hot!"
Turning around, I examined my sister's outfit. Even with a belly large enough to house two small children, she looked good. I had no doubts she would be hit on at some point. "I feel ridiculous, Anna."
Making a dismissive noise, Anna smoothed my short, pink bob. "Well, you look amazing."
"Do I really have to wear this?" I pointed down the bus, to where Kellan and the guys were waiting to see us before heading out for their show. "Kellan got a say in his night. Don't I get a say in mine?"
Smiling, Anna shook her head, a neon strand of blue hair stuck to her lip. "No." When I grimaced, Anna turned me back around to face the bathroom mirror. "Tonight, you are not Kiera." She leaned in so that our faces were side-by-side, and for the first time, I noticed something I really never had before-my sister and I looked a lot alike. "Tonight, you are Kiki, sex goddess!"
I groaned, but then immediately laughed. Sure, why not. I needed a short break from my life anyway. "Okay, Anna, you win."
She smacked my butt as she walked away. "Don't I always, Kiera?" She smirked at me over her shoulder. "I mean Kiki."
Feeling like we were about to film a live-action version of Fraggle Rock, the girls and I stepped into the main portion of the bus. Griffin let out an earsplitting catcall. Matt's face flushed with color, while Evan's broke into a wide grin. And Kellan, well, let's just say I was getting thoroughly examined, and he appeared to like what he saw.
A lime-green-haired Jenny collapsed into Evan's arms, marking his cheek with a bright red lipstick outline. Rachel, wearing a canary-yellow wig, put her hands over her face and giggled uncontrollably as Matt held her; at least one of the girls was as embarrassed as I was. Kate smoothed her deep purple wig with a bright smile on her face. And Cheyenne, her hair a flaming red color that reminded me of Meadow's, clapped me on the shoulder as Kellan stood to greet me.
Lip curved in a seductive half-smile, he growled, "I am not going to be able to concentrate on stage tonight with this image of you in my mind." His smile widening, he added, "You are unbelievably hot."
Resisting the urge to deny his compliment, I instead told him, "Thank you."
Kellan's face was full of pride at my growing level of confidence. As my girlfriends said their goodbyes and grabbed their stuff, Kellan leaned in close. In my ear, he murmured, "You're keeping the wig, right?"
His fingers slid through a pink lock as he sucked on his bottom lip. Heat, fire, and passion were burning in his eyes, and I suddenly didn't want to go anywhere but to a private hotel room with him. My lips against his ear, I told him, "It's the only thing I'll keep on when I get back."
Kellan made a strangled groaning noise, then slung his arms around my waist. Over his shoulder, he told the guys, "Change of plans, we're canceling the show tonight and staying in."
Matt glowered for a fraction of a second, then looked over at Rachel grabbing her purse and smiled. Evan shouted his agreement and pulled Jenny back into his lap. Griffin exclaimed, "Fuck yeah," and pinched Anna's ass.
I smiled back at Kellan. "Nice try, but you know you can't do that."
He gave me a forlorn sigh. "I know, but it was a nice thought."
I gave him a soft peck, then slid away from him and collected my girls. Anna started doling out the rest of our outfits, and I contained a groan. It was the penis-paraphernalia that I'd noticed earlier. She gave each girl an obscene necklace, straw, suckers, and feather boas that matched our wig colors. The boas had shiny, tinsel penises woven into them. We were all dressed like sex-starved maniacs. I think my cheeks matched Cheyenne's hair.
As we gathered around the front of the bus, I saw a modestly sized black limo arriving at the edge of the lot. Kellan and the boys brushed past us. "We're going to head in now," he said as he kissed my cheek. Seeing me staring at the fancy car, he added, "I rented you a limo for the evening, so you could relax. Have fun tonight. You deserve it."
He winked at me and I smiled at his thoughtfulness. "Thank you. You guys have fun too." As he walked away from me, I grabbed his arm. "Hey, if you really want to go to a strip club, I would be okay with it. I trust you." I swallowed, not thrilled about the idea, but comfortable enough to know that Kellan wouldn't do anything differently behind my back than he would do if I were right beside him.
Kellan smiled. "I'm glad to hear that. I don't need a club, though." He shrugged. "They never really did anything for me anyway." I gave him a sly grin. That was probably true. Kellan didn't need to pay for beautiful, nak*d women to hang all over him. If he wanted, he could have that in a heartbeat just by throwing a party at his house.
There was a burst of noise and camera flashes as Kellan left the bus; some of the fans were still waiting around, then. Well, tonight was their lucky night. Not only were they getting an up close view of rock stars, but they were about to get an eyeful of rather bizarrely dressed women. Damn my free-spirited sister.
The girls and I waited a few more minutes, then dashed to our car. I stayed in the middle of the group, head down and neon pink hair blocking my face. The driver held the door open for us as we approached. Anna exchanged a few words with him before joining Jenny, Rachel, Kate, Cheyenne and I in the spacious vehicle. Remembering the spectacle at the club, Poison, I kept my eyes open for anyone following us. I know I would be curious about a group of women dressed like colorful hookers exiting a rock star's tour bus and hopping into a limousine.
Anna elbowed me in the ribs. "Relax, Kiki, you're free."
Laughing at my paranoia, I shifted to the front. "Yes, I am. Let's go have some fun."
The girls laughed with me while the driver gave us amused, puzzled glances. Per my sister's instructions, he drove us to a restaurant. Even though I felt like an idiot as the group of us slid out of the car and walked into Red Robin-my sister was having a craving for seasoned fries-I was grateful that we were eating first. I was starving.