Echoes of Us (15 page)

“I told you I saw a sign. There it is,” Jade shouted, jumping up and down so he could see over Dave. “It says
I heart Rylan and Jade
.”

More screams greeted us when we entered the club. There were hundreds of people crammed into the dark, small place. Dave shoved his way down a small hallway, clearing out some kids who were now screaming at us. A door opened and some guy pulled us into a tiny dressing room with one lightbulb hanging on a string and two mirrors. There were metal folding chairs stacked against the wall.

Maggie grabbed a folding chair and sat down. “Wow,” she said. “That was unexpected.”

“You guys should get ready. I think they want you onstage as soon as possible. At least before the cops show up,” Dave said. “I’ll help you get out of here after your set is complete.”

“Thanks, man,” Jade said.

Dave took Maggie, Shannon, and Kelli outside, leaving Jade and me alone in the room. The screams and shrieks could be heard through the thin walls.

“Last chance to get off this ride,” Jade said.

He pushed me up against the wall and leaned into me, dragging his lips across my mouth.

“I think I’ll hang around,” I gasped.

He nibbled at my bottom lip. “Then let’s go out there and blow the panties off this crowd. And remember, the last song we sing is ‘From the Beginning
.
’”

He kissed me again, licking into my mouth.

“Stop,” I said, gently pushing him away from me. I had no desire to walk on stage with a boner. This was going to be stressful enough.

Dave poked his head in the door. “You guys ready?”

Jade nodded and bounced around the room. Dave handed him his guitar and gave us both a knuckle bump. I liked this guy and silently thanked the stars for sending him to us.

The lights blinded me, and the crowd was so loud my ears were ringing. We stood in the wings while some girl in a really short skirt introduced us. She leered at Jade and rubbed her boobs against him as she passed. I wanted to shout at her to get her grubby body parts away from my boyfriend.

The word stopped my heart for a brief second. We’d never discussed the boyfriend thing, never said the word out loud. He called me babe, but we’d never defined our relationship. I touched the infinity bracelet, and my stomach unknotted slightly. You didn’t give someone jewelry if you weren’t serious.

Before I knew it, Jade was escorting me out on the stage and shouting into the microphone. We’d worked up a few lines to say to the audience, but Jade was so far off script I was totally lost. He was talking to the audience like they were all his best friends. Another wave of jealousy flared through me. He was mine and I didn’t want to share him with all these drooling girls.

“Hi, I’m Jade and this is Rylan,” he screamed. “Thanks for coming to hear us tonight.”

I don’t think the crowd heard one word he said. Jade strummed his guitar and my mind focused back on him. It was time to sing. The audience settled down so I could at least hear myself think. When I stepped to the microphone and looked out at the blob of people clapping and shouting, a huge shot of confidence filled me. The screams got louder when I opened my mouth and started to sing.

Screaming our names and trying to touch us, girls draped themselves over the railing set up in front of the stage. Some tossed bits of paper on the stage. I opened one and saw a name and phone number scrawled on the paper. I smiled and handed it to Dave. He rolled his eyes and stuffed it in his pocket.

The most amazing thing I saw was some people in the crowd were actually singing along with the two songs we’d put up on YouTube. It was mind-blowing to think they had taken the time to learn the lyrics.

The short set we’d put together was over before I knew what happened. Jade pulled his stool next to mine and sat down, strumming his guitar. Maggie shoved her way closer to us and took out her camera. I spotted Shannon on the other side of the stage with her camera. She winked at me and gave me a thumbs-up sign. I had no idea where they stationed Kelli.

Jade nodded at me, telling me to speak.

“This is the debut of our brand-new song called ‘From the Beginning.’ We really hope you like it.”

The crowd went crazy, screaming so loud I couldn’t even hear the guitar. Jade smiled at the audience, picking the notes of the song until the crowd stilled. Our voices filled the room, melding together perfectly. He scooted closer to me and hooked his ankle with mine. I couldn’t believe he was doing it front of everyone. But maybe no one was paying attention to our feet because the music was good. It was better than good, and the room exploded when Jade sang the last few lines.

From the beginning I knew you’d be my always

As long as you’re here, we can reach the stars

From the beginning I knew you’d be my always

I swooned along with the crowd because he was staring at me when he strummed the final note.

We bowed, and the crowd surged forward just as Dave and his friends hauled us off the stage. Maggie, Kelli, and Shannon met us behind the curtain and hugged the stuffing out of both of us. The overexcited bar owner dragged us to the backroom, begging us to come back and do more shows. Maggie donned her business hat and took over the negotiations.

Jade was whispering to Dave, who rolled his eyes and finally nodded, scowling at Jade.

“Come on,” Jade said. “We’re going back out there. Dave said he and the guys could handle the crowds. We’re going to see what happens.”

I didn’t have a chance to say no before they swept me back to the stage. Most of the crowd was still in the bar, dancing to our music.

“They’re playing our songs,” I said.

“Yeah, Maggie gave the bar owner a CD,” Jade said.

“Cool,” I said.

Some girls spotted us and screamed, almost knocking Dave off his feet to get close to us. They were all red-faced and very excited. We posed for pictures and signed some autographs, which was totally weird because I didn’t know how to sign. Jade whispered to me, telling me to just sign my first name. That’s how they knew us. I still couldn’t get past the fact that someone actually wanted me to sign my name on a scrap of paper.

My hand started to cramp, and I was exhausted and starving. Dave finally held up his hands and told the girls we had to leave. The bar owner came back out and told a very excited crowd we would be back next weekend for three shows. Tickets would be available on Monday at 10:00 a.m.

Dave and his buddies got us back to our van before the screaming girls knew we were gone. Maggie talked to Dave for a few minutes while Jade and I got settled in the back seat. He shifted closer to me so I felt the heat from his body. He was sweaty, with messed-up hair and flushed cheeks, and I wanted to attack him.

I forgot I was tired and hungry and that there were three other people in the van. We slouched down in our seats and he ran his hand up my thigh. He slid lower and pulled me half on top of him.

“Are they always like this?” Shannon giggled.

“Um, guys,” Maggie said. “Can you wait until we get home?”

“Drive fast,” Jade panted.

When Maggie pulled into the driveway, Jade had me out of the van before it came to a full stop. We raced down the hall and into my bedroom. The door had barely closed before my shirt was on the ground and he was licking around my nipples.

“I need you,” he panted and tugged at my pants.

“I’m yours,” I groaned.

Jade had me facedown on the bed, and he spread out on top of me. His hard cock slid between my ass cheeks, and I wanted nothing more than to feel him push into me.

“Please, Jade, hurry,” I growled.

He suddenly stopped and I whined, raising my ass. His full body weight came down on top of me and he licked my ear.

“I want you to fuck me,” he breathed.

I always wondered if I could cum from someone just whispering in my ear. Jade came damn close to making that a reality.

“Jade,” I gasped.

He climbed off me and sat up. My gaze drifted to his leaking cock and I shoved him backward and spread his legs, settling down between his thighs. I bent forward and licked his slit, slurping up the precum. He shouted and wrapped his fingers around my hair and pulled hard. The pain helped lessen the ache in my groin.

“Are you sure?” I asked.

“Quit talking,” Jade said. He yanked on my hair again, trying to shove my face back into his crotch.

I licked him and he grunted, twisting his fingers tighter in my hair. I sucked him down and let my fingers drift to his balls. He let out a cute little squeak when I touched his hole.

“I need lube and a condom,” I gasped. Jade twisted and yanked open the drawer, and sent it spilling to the floor. We were going to have to find a different place to keep the lube and condoms. I was getting tired of picking up all the shit from that stupid drawer every time we had sex.

Jade hung off the bed and finally found the lube and condoms, then tossed them on the bed. I managed to get the lube open and spill it all over my hand and his hip.

“Sorry,” I said sheepishly.

“Rylan,” he begged. “Come on.”

I stroked my dick a couple of times, which almost proved fatal. I didn’t want to cum before I was inside him. I’d never been this nervous or this turned-on in my entire life.

“Rylan,” Jade said. “Make love to me.”

“Okay.” It sounded more like a squeak.

I ran my hands up his body and kissed him gently. My cock pulsed, reminding me of what was about to happen. I let my hand drift back to his balls again, rolling them until he was thrashing below me.

My fingers were still slippery with lube, so I went for it and pushed against his hole.

“Shit,” Jade breathed out when I breached him. It took a while to get him loosened up, but when I finally hit his prostate, his hips rose off the bed and he shouted my name.

“I’m ready,” he said.

I slipped the condom on and took a few seconds to gather my wits. It was now or never. I pushed hard, feeling the muscle give way and his body accept the intrusion.

“Holy mother fuck,” Jade grunted.

“I’m sorry, Jade,” I said.

He grabbed my thigh and squeezed. “Just give me a second.”

This wasn’t good. He had a pained expression on his face, and it was starting to freak me out.

“I’m okay,” he said. “I’m okay.”

“Are you sure? We can stop. I don’t want to hurt you. I love you.”

“Rylan,” he moaned.

“Okay, just please tell me to stop if it hurts too much.”

He pulled me down for a bruising kiss, and my hips automatically moved. I must have bumped against his prostate because he suddenly shouted yes really loud. Everyone in the house was going to know what we were doing.

Jade clawed at my back and begged me for more. I withdrew and pushed back in, agonizingly slow. This was probably going to kill me, but it would be worth it.

I found a nice rhythm, and much too soon, the burning wrapped around my spine. Jade already had his hand gripping his cock, pumping furiously. The sight brought my orgasm on full force. He came a few seconds after I did, shouting my name.

I was pretty sure I was dead. I shifted and slipped out of him. I took the condom off and tossed it in the trash.

“Well?” I whispered.

“It was interesting,” Jade said.

“Oh God, I sucked. I came too fast. I’m sorry. I couldn’t help it. I was already so close and you felt so good. Fuck,” I said and buried my face in my pillow.

“Rylan, it was good.”

“Are you sure?” I mumbled into the pillow.

“Yes. I mean, I definitely want to do it again, but….” He paused and bit his lip, looking at me with those ridiculous brown eyes. “I really like fucking you.”

“Yeah, I like when you do that too.” I felt my entire body go up in flames. “I just hope it was okay for you.”

“Babe, how can you be so unsure about it? There’s cum everywhere,” he said, dragging a finger through the cum painting his belly.

“I don’t top very often,” I admitted.

He wiped his stomach off with my T-shirt and tossed it in my face. “Well, you can top me whenever you like.”

I threw the shirt on the floor and let Jade cuddle me. I wasn’t ready to admit it out loud, but the snuggling after sex was definitely a bonus. Usually it was awkward and no one knew what to say or do. Sometimes the guy would try to hang around, but I’d push him away and tell him I had a class or work or anything to get him to leave. But with Jade, I didn’t want him to go away. Ever.

D
URING
THE
week, we worked on new songs and some more stuff for the live shows. We invested in a couple of better amps and a new guitar. We practiced more dialogue, but I told Jade it was pointless. He hadn’t stayed on script during the first show. I was sure he was going to change what he said every time we stepped onto the stage.

Maggie also made us venture into the world of social media. We tweeted and posted on our Facebook page about the upcoming shows. It was strange, but Maggie thought it was great. Jade rolled his eyes and posted a picture of me tweeting. People started following both of us.