Claiming Addison (8 page)

A couple of times I catch myself peeking at Talon and he hasn’t taken his eyes off of me the entire time. Then the next thing I know, Kyle is standing with me. “Dance with me,” he whispers and I look to Talon whose expression hasn’t changed. I have this deep-seated, unknown, need to seek out his permission and I don’t understand why. Then he grins behind his microphone and I have all the answer I need. I take Kyle’s hand and he pulls me into his arms. I sneak a peek at Talon as Kyle spins me around again and his smile grows a little wider. The sultry look in his eyes is there, his voice changes to be more lust filled as Kyle and I begin to dance. The look Talon is giving the two of us reiterates to me that the look on the bus was real. Then a surge of something I can only describe as fear races through my veins. There is something going on between the two of them and I am stepping in the middle of it.

The song draws to a close with the same verse it opens with and I shiver in Kyle’s arms as pleasure and desire wreak havoc on me.

“Not many people pay much attention to this song,” Kyle says as the band makes some adjustments.

“I love this song. It’s one of my favorites of theirs.” I smile at Kyle.

“It’s not in their set, but it’s a great warm up song for them.”

“Well, it should be in their set. Especially if he’s capable of looking like that. He’ll make the girls go nuts.” I pull back from him, the fear a moment ago racing through me again. I don’t want to upset Talon, if there really is something going on between the two of them.

Kyle grins at me. “I’m pretty sure that look was just for you.”

“Really, because it got a little hotter when we started dancing.”

Kyle freezes. “It did?” he breathes.

“Is there something going on between the two of you that I should know about?” I try to tease, but it comes out more accusatory than I’d planned. I watch as Kyle just shakes his head. “Do you want there to be?”

“I… Oh hell, Addison, I barely know you and you want to discuss this with me?”

I smirk and shrug. “I couldn’t help but notice your exchange on the bus earlier, when he caught me.”

Kyle runs his hand through his shaggy blonde locks then rubs at his chin. “Honestly?”

I give him a shoulder shrug, going for nonchalance. “Always,” I say.

“That had more to do with you in his arms than anything. The spark between the two of you was pretty hot,” he says with a blush to his cheeks.

“Am I embarrassing you?” I ask him, surprised by my own candor.

Then watch as he shakes his head. “I’m just, uh, not usually so open and forward.”

“I have a tendency to bring that out in people. Sorry,” I tell him, but it’s more of a sorry, not sorry kinda thing. I like that he’s being honest with me, but yet I feel a stab of disappointment at the fact that it had more to do with me than Talon. Why is that so disappointing.
Because if they’re into each other, then they’re certainly not into you.
And just like that, all the years of insecurities come flooding back. “Excuse me for a minute.” I back away quickly and head back toward the door Rusty brought me through, desperately looking for a bathroom. I find one quickly and duck inside.

“You need to add that song to your set,” Kyle tells me as we’re wrapping up so that the opening band, Empty Chamber, can set up for tonight and run their checks and warm up.

“Why would we do that? It’s like the red-headed step child of songs,” I tell him with a glare. Is he kidding me right now? The set has been in place for weeks, now he wants to change it?

Kyle laughs at me and immediately I understand why. God, I just sang that damn song to her like it was written specifically for her. “It’s her favorite song,” he says back.

“Well, isn’t that fucked up.”

Kyle snorts. “Well, it’s a damn good song and if you perform it with the same heat and excitement in your eyes, you’ll have all the girlies eating out of the palm of your hand.”

No need to state the fact that the only girlie I want eating out of my hand is Addison, then again, I think Kyle knows that. The moment she stepped onto the bus, she posed a challenge to me, without actually throwing down the gauntlet. Women, to me, are best when they’re available for a couple hours, and gone by morning. It works better that way, no strings, no bullshit, and none of that sappy shit. Not my style.

But fuck, when they were dancing like that? A spark of lust runs up my spine just thinking about what I saw from the stage. There is something about watching the two of them together. I find myself drawn to both of them for some unknown reason, and again, my cock is throbbing thinking about it. I don’t know whether I should be running to it, or away from it.

Needing a change of subject I ask him, “Where’d she go anyway?”

He shakes his head and shrugs, “No clue, one minute she was there, we were talking and the next she was running off.”

“What the hell did you say to her?” My voice is angry and I’m surprised by it.

“Nothing, Jesus, T, chill. I didn’t say anything to her. We were talking about honesty and my being so forthcoming with her, then she kinda locked up and ran.”

Kyle and I keep talking as we clear off the last of our stuff to make room for EC to set up. But I notice we both keep looking for her, waiting for her to come back.

Finally Rusty comes out. “Dude, where is she?” I snap at him.

“Chill, dude. She’s back on the bus, said she wanted to be alone. I left Leroy outside in case she decides to come back in.”

Kyle and I both look at each other. “Should we talk to her?” Kyle asks the same question running through my mind. Then he answers his own question. “I think that she’s a little overwhelmed, let her be.”

I nod in agreement then get pulled away by Adrian, our sound guy and a couple of the roadies with some questions. By the time things are finally straightened out, we’re less than an hour from show time and the doors are about to open.

“I’m going back to the bus,” I holler at the guys milling around the stage bullshitting with the guys from Empty Chamber. They can go to the bus or the greenroom, where they stay is up to them, I need my personal space. Despite years of doing this gig, the last hour before a show is always my worst. I’m not the puking type, but sometimes I feel like I end up rocking in the fetal position sucking my thumb. Figuratively speaking, of course. They know the drill once the doors open and by the sounds of things as I step back off the stage, I got off the floor just in time, the other guys scramble quickly off the stage and the lights go out.

When I reach the bus, alone, Rusty is stationed out front. “She still in there?”

“Yup, hasn’t come out, said anything or really moved around much from what I can tell, but Leroy said she was in there so I just let it go.”

“Shit,” we hear from the bus. Both Rusty and I turn toward the bus, and I take off, hitting just one of the three steps into the bus.

When I clear the wall separating the stairs and the kitchen, she’s sitting at the table, her laptop in front of her, untouched. “You alright?” I ask her, waving Rusty back off the bus, he’d damn near slammed into me when I stopped so fast.

She looks at me, Jesus, she’s fucking gorgeous. Who knew that the prissy girl in a pencil skirt had such beautiful ink hiding underneath her blouse? When I saw her in that damn outfit, I couldn’t move. I was floored and then I was a little pissed because I had no right to be turned on by it for one, and for two, if I had it my way, there’s no way she would have been wearing that.

“Yeah, just burnt my hand.” She waves her hand back and forth. “It’s not bad, just that initial contact burn.” She looks at me and scowls, “Why aren’t you inside with everyone else?”

I chuckle. “I came back here to check on you.”

“Oh, um, I’m fine. Security detail and all, just hungry. You want some?”

“No, I don’t eat before shows. It’s a waste. I’ll just puke it up. Then feel like shit because I ralphed.” What the ef? Where the hell did that come from?

“Ah, gotcha. I’ll remember that for next time. Feed you sooner. Got it.” She has this puzzled, ‘what did I just say’ look then she turns back to the stove.

“What are you making anyway?”

She laughs. “Um, mac n’ cheese.”

I laugh with her. “That’s my favorite.”

Okay, mac n’ cheese added to his list of favorite foods, check. Wait a damn minute, why am I making a mental list of his favorite foods? I roll my eyes at myself. He doesn’t stick around while I eat. I feel awful that he can’t eat before a show and wish there was some way I could help take the edge off. I noticed as the time passed, sitting here with me while I waited for my food to cook, and the show got closer, he got really fidgety. When I tried to talk to him about it, he just brushed it off.

69 Bottles has played some of the bigger music festivals before going on this tour so I don’t know if the size of the audience has anything to do with it. I shrug it off. Something to ask him about later. Here I go again, assuming him and I will ever have that kind of conversation.

I can’t believe I got all personal and shit with Kyle earlier and more than that, for the first time in years I was struck down by my insecurities and damn it, I hate that. I haven’t felt that insecure about myself since before the boob job. But there is definitely something brewing between Kyle and Talon, I’d just like to know what. It’s not like they’re new to each other. Kyle’s been with them since the beginning. He met Talon in college or some shit like…

SON OF A BITCH!!!

I run to the front of the bus and down the steps, straight into the arena and Rusty is hot on my tail. “Dang, girl. What’s on fire?” he shouts from behind me.

I clear the back door and the person I need to talk to is dead ahead of me, being overly flirtatious with a chick wearing less clothes than I am. Time to cockblock.

I stride up to Kyle and place my arm around his waist. “Hey baby,” I say in the sexiest voice I can manage.

He looks at me, shocked, then back to the girlfriend. “Hi,” he says hesitantly.

“I was waiting for you on the bus and you never came.”

The blonde bimbo huffs and stomps off. I can’t stop the snort.

“Now what in the hell was that all about? So not fair, you cockblocked me.”

I laugh. “I need to talk to you. Outside, please?”

“Now? The shows gonna start.”

“Oh my god, are you actually whining?” I cross my arms over my chest.

He pouts. “Maybe a little. You cockblocked me.”

“She probably has rabies. You’ll get over it.” I take his hand and lead him back toward the back door, we pass by Rusty. “He’s with me, I’m covered and I need to talk to him, alone.”

He nods in acknowledgment as I crash through the back door, scaring the shit out of the door guy. “Sorry,” Kyle says.

As soon as we’re some distance away from the door I let go of his hand and turn on him. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

He looks shocked. “Tell you what, Addison?”

“Who you are?”

“Huh?” He has a genuine look of surprise on his face, but yet I’m still not buying it.

“Don’t give me that shit, Kyle Black! You know damn well what I’m talking about.”