Echoes of Us (16 page)

The hits and comments kept coming on YouTube. None of us really knew what to think about all that shit. We did the three shows on the weekend. There were so many people wanting tickets, the bar owner pleaded with us to come back the next weekend.

After the show, Maggie had us meet a woman who wanted us to come on some weekend Chicago morning show. She said we were fast becoming the talk of the town.

It was exciting, and we stayed at the bar celebrating until the wee hours of the morning. It was totally irresponsible and stupid to think we could function on no sleep with a hangover.

Maggie opened the door and grunted something at us. I wasn’t sure I could move. When Jade rolled out of bed, my brain felt like it was going to ooze out of my ear, and the room turned upside down. I cracked an eye open and stared at the clock. The sun was barely starting to rise. The only time I got up this early was when I was coming home from a night on the town. Maybe it would have been smarter to stay awake all night.

“Maggie said we’ll feel better after we shower,” Jade grumbled. “I don’t believe her.”

“This is your fault. You agreed to do this interview.” I scowled and stomped down the hall to the bathroom. “And my scratchy throat is also your fault.”

Jade started laughing. “Yeah, sorry about that, babe.”

I didn’t think he was sorry about anything. I tried to stay crabby, but thinking about the look on his face when he came down my throat last night was enough to put a tiny smile on my face.

The smile stayed on my face through the shower.

“Quit smirking,” Maggie said as she tried to smear stuff on my face that would lessen the dark circles under my eyes.

“Can’t help it,” I rasped.

She rolled her eyes and shouted for Kelli to bring some more makeup and a cup of tea. They managed to make us halfway presentable, and I gulped down some tea. It made my throat feel a little better. The train ride almost did us all in. Maggie actually had a green tint to her skin when we got off the train.

The people at the television station were incredibly nice, and the makeup lady fixed us up even better than Maggie had. There wasn’t a trace of last night left on our faces. A very jittery guy brought me some more tea to help my throat and then messed with my hair. They fussed over us like we were big stars.

The interviewer asked us tons of questions. Some were weird and personal. I could tell Jade was nervous, so I scooted closer to him and hooked my ankle around his. The cameras were focused on our faces not our feet. Jade immediately relaxed and charmed the shit out of the interviewer.

“Have you been signed yet?”

“Signed?” I asked.

“Yes, by a record label,” the woman asked.

“Um, no,” I said. “We just started all this.”

She smiled and pointed at Maggie as she brought Jade’s guitar on stage. We did a shortened version of “From the Beginning
.
” By the end of the song, the entire crew was on their feet applauding. The next moment someone rolled out a giant cake blazing with lit candles.

“We were told it was your birthday today,” the interviewer said, looking at Maggie and Kelli, who were standing off to the side of the stage.

I stared at everyone, not sure how to react. I’d actually forgotten it was my birthday. Jade patted my knee and smiled at me. God, I wanted to kiss him, but it would have to wait until we were away from the cameras.

The crew sang a quick happy birthday before some guy pointed at us, telling us we were live again and to wrap things up. The last shot was of Jade, Maggie, and Kelli shoving cake into my face. Jade’s fingers ended up near my mouth. I used my tongue to lick the frosting off and hoped no one noticed since everyone’s hands were on my face.

Jade’s eyes fell shut and his breathing hitched. Maggie nudged Jade away from me and kissed my cheek. Kelli grinned and hugged Jade. It was a nice save. Although, I wasn’t sure I wanted saving. I didn’t care who knew about us.

They wrapped the show, and we thanked them for everything they had done for us. I was still in shock they had brought a cake on set.

“Were you surprised?” Maggie asked as we rode the train home.

“I forgot it was my birthday,” I said.

“You up for going out tonight?” Jade asked. “You can’t say no, because this is your twenty-first birthday. Everyone goes out. It’s mandatory.”

“Where are we going?” I asked.

“We thought we’d let you pick,” Jade said.

I glanced over at Maggie and eyed her. There was a bar I loved. I’d been there a couple of times with a fake ID, and it was always fun.

“I know what you’re thinking, Rylan, and I say let’s do it,” Maggie said. I grinned and my body buzzed with excitement.

We thought about going out for breakfast, but everyone was too tired. Kelli whipped up some birthday pancakes. They were the same kind my mom used to make me when I was a little boy. It made me feel weird.

Before I crawled into bed, Kelli pulled me aside. “Mom, Dad, and Lucas wanted me to tell you happy birthday,” she said.

My throat tightened, and I looked away from her. “Thanks,” I mumbled. I didn’t know what else to say.

“Go get some sleep, Rylan, so we can rock the night away.”

T
HIS
WAS
the first time I’d ever gone with a guy to the bar with the intention of going home with the same guy. I’d been out with people before, but we always went our separate ways to hunt for prospective bed partners.

“Wow,” Jade whispered. I figured this was going to be an eye-opening experience for him. He’d never been surrounded by a mass of gay guys before. As we wound our way through the crowd toward the bar, several people took a long moment to stare at Jade and me. It made me feel extremely protective. I made sure to keep my hand on him at all times to show that he was with me.

“Drinks first, then we hit the dance floor,” Maggie shouted. “Excuse us, birthday boy coming through.”

For her comment, I got several slaps on the ass, two crotch gropes, and someone tried to kiss me. Jade wasn’t having any of that shit. Jealous Jade was fucking hot.

We finally made it to the bar, where Maggie once again announced it was my birthday. The shots started to show up. I lost count after the third one. Thank God, Jade dragged me out on the dance floor before I lost the ability to walk. The music was thumping in my chest, and Jade was grinding against my ass. I wanted to strip down and fuck right on the floor. Jade had other ideas.

“I have to piss,” Jade said.

“But I like this song,” I whined.

“Come on, Rylan,” he said. “I’m not leaving you by yourself. Someone will swoop down and take you away from me. These guys are like fucking vultures, and you’d be the main course.”

“Never,” I mumbled against his collarbone. “You own me. I have a bracelet to prove it.”

Jade chuckled and dragged me off the dance floor into the bathroom. He didn’t stop to piss; instead, he pulled me into a stall and kissed me.

“I thought you had to pee?”

He shook his head and reached for the button on my pants. “It’s your birthday,” Jade whispered.

“We’re in a bathroom,” I said, like Jade didn’t know where we were. “And there’s people in here.”

“So,” Jade said. “It’s your birthday. They’ll understand.” He licked his lips, leaving them glistening in the dim light of the bathroom. When he slid his hands over the growing bulge in my pants, my last bit of self-control slipped away.

He popped the button on my jeans and slid the zipper down, then reached into my underwear to lift my half-hard cock out. My thighs trembled as Jade squatted and swallowed me down. I squealed and let my head bang against the metal wall of the stall.

“Happy birthday,” Jade said, moaning around my cock. He bobbed and sucked and moaned some more.

This was going to be over before we really got going. “Jade,” I grunted, tugging on his hair. “Jade, fuck, I’m going to cum.”

He hummed, and that did it. I grabbed for something but came up with nothing. The force of my orgasm made my knees buckle and my dick fall out of Jade’s mouth. He choked and some of my cum got on his face.

Jade spluttered and burst out laughing, collapsing against me. His spent cock was hanging out of his pants. I hadn’t even noticed him jacking off.

“Fuck, that was hot,” Jade said. “Happy birthday, babe.”

We stumbled out of the stall, laughing and kissing. My shirt was half-buttoned and Jade had cum in his hair. Everyone in the bathroom was watching us. Some guy was pissing on his shoe.

“It’s my birthday,” I announced. Jade slapped my ass, and we staggered back to the dance floor.

The rest of the night passed in a haze of shots, some dancing that turned into heavy grinding, and openmouthed kisses. I think I remember Jade shoving his hands down my pants on the dance floor.

The next noise I heard woke me out of my drunken stupor. The bed dipped and someone touched my shoulder and gently shook me. I had to fight back the urge to puke.

“Rylan,” Maggie shouted. Actually, she whispered, but it sounded like she shouted, because there was an angry drum corps marching around my head, banging the shit out of their drums.

“Hmmm,” I grunted.

“Rylan, wake up. A morning radio show is on the phone.” Maggie said. “They want to interview you guys.”

“Huh,” I groaned, trying not to move too much. My head felt like it was going to fall off. Maybe if it did, I would feel better.

“It’s one of those radio shows,” Maggie repeated.

Jade sat up so quickly Maggie fell off the bed.

“Give me the phone,” Jade said. “I’ll talk to them.”

Maggie squealed and it felt like she punctured my brain with an ice pick.

“Oh my God, both of you shut the fuck up,” I said. “I don’t care if it’s the fucking Queen of England. Get out of here and let me die in peace.”

Jade scrambled out of bed and quickly grabbed a shirt to cover his junk. Maggie giggled as she handed him the phone.

I pulled the pillow over my head and went back to sleep. A few hours later, I only felt marginally better. I wandered around the house looking for everybody. I finally heard voices coming from the deck.

“I heard you on the radio,” Mrs. Morgan said. “Was that Rylan shouting in the background? The guy who beeps out naughty words was having a field day.”

“You listen to that station?” Jade asked.

“Sometimes,” she said. “It’s funny.”

“Uh,” I grunted. I grabbed a kitchen towel and put it on top of my head to shield the sunlight. Maggie breezed by me and handed me a pair of sunglasses. They were pink with rhinestones.

“Babe,” Jade said when I stepped into the blinding light of the sun.

“Uh,” I grunted again. Maggie handed me a glass of ice water. I sucked down the entire contents of the glass and collapsed onto a deck chair.

“Never again,” I said. “If any of you ever let me drink that much again, I will personally kill each and every one of you very slowly.”

“Noted,” Jade said. “We’re getting a ton of hits today on all the social media sites.”

“I’ve noticed the hits go up every time you guys do a show,” Maggie said. “Tomorrow night we put on a show in the largest place yet. I wonder how many hits we’re going to get?”

They argued and giggled while I drifted in and out of consciousness. Kelli took pity on me and brought me a greasy cheeseburger. It made me feel half-alive. It was enough to make Jade insist on rehearsing some of the new stuff. He was focused on playing something fresh for the fans tomorrow night.

Nothing I tried worked. Even after the greasy food and several glasses of water, my hangover wouldn’t let go. Frustration set in, but Jade pushed me to keep trying to find the right words to finish off the song. I wanted to throw my keyboard at his head.

He was lucky Maggie interrupted us.

“What’s up?” Jade asked.

“Sit down,” Maggie ordered. I sat, welcoming the opportunity, but Jade paced around the room. “Jade,” Maggie snapped. He stopped and glared at her but sat down on the floor with his guitar resting across his lap.

“I just got off the phone with Trevor Vance. He and Andy Tremaine will be at the show tomorrow night.”

Jade’s red lips fell open. “Are you serious? You better not be joking.”

“Does it look like I’m joking?”

I could hear it in the tone of her voice. She also had her hands on her hips and her brow furrowed. Maggie was not joking. She’d talked about Trevor before, telling me they had been conversing via e-mail. I never knew if you could trust this whole social media scene. For all Maggie knew she had been e-mailing some person posing as Trevor. I knew she’d never mentioned Andy Tremaine.

“Rylan,” Jade said. He poked me in the side when I didn’t respond. “Did you hear?”

“Yep. Is this a good thing?”

“This could be a fucking phenomenal thing.”

He leaped to his feet and tackled me to the floor, kissing my face, my lips, and my throat until I was moaning into his mouth.

“Hello,” Maggie said. “I’m right here.”

“Then go away,” Jade said.

“You’re in Mrs. Morgan’s basement,” she reminded us.

“Oh yeah,” Jade said, sitting up. “We probably shouldn’t fuck on her floor. Let’s go home.”

“Shouldn’t you be practicing?” Maggie asked.

“I’m tired,” I whined. “If you expect me to be any good at the show tomorrow night, I need a fucking break.”

She rolled her eyes, and Jade pulled me up the stairs, across the yard, and into my room.

“God, I love you,” he said before he latched onto my neck. I tried to squirm away because I didn’t think performing in front of a big-time producer with hickeys all over my neck was a good idea.

“I need to see that you’re mine,” Jade said. “Please.”

How could I fight something like that? I willingly tilted my neck, giving him more access.

He kept all parts of my body up for several hours. It was fucking worth it.

T
HE
NEXT
time I crawled out of bed, I was once again a fully functional person. It only took me twenty minutes to clean up the lyrics to the new song. Jade was pleased with me, but Maggie and Kelli were horrified with all the hickeys on my neck. They shouted at us for a full fifteen minutes.