Echoes of Us (19 page)

Most of her clients were women. If Jade or I came out looking like girls, I was going to kill Andy Tremaine. The curtain rustled, and I held my breath. Jade stepped out wearing black jeans, motorcycle boots, a white button-up shirt, and a black suit jacket. As far as I was concerned, Ella was fabulous.

She motioned for me to come back behind the magic curtain. She dressed me in skinny white jeans that were so tight I could barely breathe. She frowned at the new tattoo, but didn’t say anything. Thank God the pants sat low on my hips, so the fabric didn’t rub against the heart.

On top, I got a black shirt and a tie. It wasn’t much different from how Maggie had dressed me. My shoes were white Converse tennis shoes. I would have preferred the motorcycle boots, but Ella said we couldn’t be too matchy-matchy.

She sounded like Maggie and Kelli when they were talking about clothes. She took tons of pictures and wrote down different designers and other pieces of clothing she thought would suit us. Jade burst out laughing when Ella dressed me in these weird checked pants and some odd floaty top. This time I did look like a girl. Even Ella giggled into her hand.

“No,” I said sternly and went back behind the curtain.

“Okay,” Ella said. “All done for now.”

I wanted to collapse in a chair. I’d never tried on so many clothes in my entire life.

“You better hurry,” Ella said. “Your next appointment is in thirty minutes.”

“What are we doing now?” I asked.

“You’re getting your hair and nails done,” she said. “Off you go.”

“What the hell are they going to do to my hair,” Jade said as we walked down to the car.

“I have no idea, but if they try to shave it off, I’ll kill them.”

“You too,” he said as he touched the lock of my hair that liked to curl into my collar.

Jade climbed into the car, and our driver scowled at us. “Try to keep your hands to yourself when you’re out in public,” he said to Jade.

“What the fuck are you talking about?” Jade snapped.

“I was told to report any funny business by you two,” the guy said.

“You know what,” Jade said. “I think we’ll find another ride. You’ve been nothing but a fucking jerk, and we don’t have to put up with your shit.”

“You think I’m bad?” the guy said, laughing. “Wait until it comes out that you two are fags.”

Jade flew at the guy. I managed to get my hands around his waist and pull him out of the car, saving the driver who promptly flipped us off.

“You better call Andy,” Jade said. “If I call, I’ll probably tell him to fuck off.”

I called Trevor, who immediately asked where we were. He told me he’d get us another driver. “Don’t worry, Rylan. I never liked that guy. He’s a jerk to everyone.”

“I swear I don’t even know what we did to set him off,” I said.

“It’s okay,” Trevor assured me. “I’ll call Ella and have her contact the salon. You’ll only be a few minutes late.”

Jade was leaning against the building with his head hanging down. “I’m sorry,” he said.

“For what? The guy was a total douche. I don’t even know what set him off,” I said.

“I touched your hair.”

“You can fucking touch my hair anytime,” I said.

We didn’t have to wait long before a car pulled up in front of us. A guy with short gray hair waved at us, so we climbed into the car.

“Before we go anywhere,” I said. “My name is Rylan Blake, and this is Jade Marin. I don’t know what Trevor told you, but if you have a problem with us, then get it out so we can call someone else.”

“I’m problem-free. My name’s Pete Savoy,” the guy said. “Nice to meet both of you.”

He winked at me, and I felt better. Jade still eyed him cautiously, but he visibly relaxed when Pete told us the windows were tinted so it was difficult to see into the car. Jade slid closer to me and grabbed my hand. Pete smirked.

“Thanks,” Jade said. “It’s been a long fucking day, and now we’re going to get our nails done or some shit.”

“You’ll love it,” Pete said. “I promise.”

The salon wasn’t bad. The lady massaged my hands and told me I had nice cuticles. Jade fell asleep in the chair with his head in the sink and foil in his hair. I took a picture and put it online. He was going to kill me, but the fans ate it up.

When we came out of the salon, my hair was a little lighter and Jade had more golden highlights. We also had less hair on our bodies. The eyebrow plucking was horrible. That shit fucking hurt. Jade threatened the stylist with bodily harm. She laughed at him. He resorted to begging, quickly switching to bribery when the begging didn’t work. I think he was up to buying her a car when the woman proclaimed his eyebrows perfect.

I laughed until my sides hurt. When the woman finished with Jade, she attacked my eyebrows. It was worse than getting the tattoo had been.

Maggie and Kelli were excited about our makeover and made us relive the day several times. By the fourth time of describing all the outfits we tried on and Ella K’s office space, Jade was asleep, drooling on my shoulder.

The days and nights began to merge together. We grabbed sleep whenever it was possible. If we weren’t in the studio, we were at photo shoots or interviews or out shopping or trying to write new music.

Andy started having us go out in public with the girls more and more. He called it laying the groundwork. It was okay, because so far, he let us go out as a group.

Kelli flew home a couple of times, but she never told me why she went back. She always looked exhausted when she returned. The only thing I could get out of her was that Mom drove her crazy.

Jade and I barely spent any quality time together. I started to think Andy was doing it on purpose. Even if we were alone, we were both too tired to do anything.

After one particularly long day, where nothing worked, Jade snapped and stalked out of the recording studio without a word to any of us. Trevor pulled me aside.

He hesitated at first, trying to piece together a sentence. “I’m just going to say it,” he said. “Have you two had any privacy lately?”

“Um, not really,” I whispered.

“Take tomorrow off,” Trevor said.

“But, what about Andy?”

“I’ll take care of Andy,” Trevor said. “We can afford to take one day off.”

Trevor wasn’t much of a guy for hugging, so I punched him in the shoulder and bolted out of the studio. Jade was waiting by the door.

“Well?”

“It worked. We have tomorrow off.”

“We owe Maggie big time,” Jade said.

I rolled my eyes. I owed Maggie so much I’d never be able to pay her back, even if we both lived for a thousand years.

When we got home, she told us she and Kelli were going out for the evening with Ella K and wouldn’t be back until tomorrow. I couldn’t stop the smile that spread across my face. “You really shouldn’t be so happy that your girlfriends are leaving for the evening,” Maggie said.

I fake sobbed on Jade’s shoulder.

“You boys behave,” Kelli said. The girls blew us kisses as they giggled and whispered on their way out the door. Pete waved from the car. Jade slammed the door before the girls were in the car.

“So,” Jade said, dragging his finger down my chest. “What should we do?”

“I don’t know? Watch TV? Take a nap? Fuck in the pool?”

“I like the third one,” he said. We raced through the house, shedding our clothing as we ran. We were naked before we dove into the pool. Jade swam over to me and pushed me up against the side of the pool, then kissed me hard.

“I need you so much, Rylan,” Jade murmured. His hard cock rubbed against my hip. I slipped out of his grasp and went underwater and took his dick into my mouth. A muffled shout came from above the water. He didn’t let me stay under long. He wrapped his fingers around my hair, and yanked me out of the water and claimed my mouth the moment I surfaced.

The kiss ended, and Jade stared at me for a few seconds before he turned and climbed out of the pool, dripping water everywhere as he ran into the house. I wasn’t sure what just happened.

My questions were answered when Jade came back outside, carrying towels and a bottle of lube and condoms. His muscles rippled and his cock bounced as he walked, making my mouth water. He unfolded a towel and covered one of the deck chairs.

“Rylan,” Jade said in a low voice that made my dick jump to attention.

I climbed out of the pool and went to him. He took another towel and wrapped it around me, dabbing at the droplets of water running down my skin. He dropped the towel and chased the drips around my skin with his tongue. He sucked my nipples until I was squirming with each lick.

“Bend over,” he whispered.

One day he was going to make me cum without touching me.

He ran his calloused fingertips down my back and up again, each time moving closer to my ass. When I finally felt lube drizzling down my crack, I was so hard if I touched myself, I would cum. Jade was taking huge gulps of air, so I figured he was just as excited.

He took his time, opening me up with his fingers. He had me reduced to begging for him to please fuck me.

“Can I ask you something?” Jade said.

“Now?” My voice rose several octaves.

“It’s important,” he muttered. “I, um, had the test and I’m clean, and I was wondering if you….”

He paused and buried his face in my neck.

“Oh,” I said, finally getting what he was talking about. “I’m clean.”

“Really?” Jade said. “I would like to… with you… I mean… only if you want.”

“Are you saying you want to be exclusive?” I asked. My voice may have cracked.

“I don’t want anyone else, Rylan,” Jade said. “Ever.”

“Oh,” I gasped. It was extremely difficult to have this conversation with his dick pressed against my hole.

“Does that mean?”

“Yes,” I panted.

“I love you so much,” he said as he pushed his dick inside me. The deck chair groaned from our weight.

“Holy fuck,” Jade said. It felt like he didn’t move for five minutes.

He took his time, draping his body over my back and kissing my neck and shoulders with each thrust. His breathing got more labored, and he started to bite me.

“Rylan,” he gasped.

I pushed back against him, encouraging him to speed his thrusts until all I could feel were his fingernails digging into my skin, his cock slamming into me, and his wet kisses against my overheated skin.

I came fast and hard. Jade wrapped his arms around my waist, keeping me plastered to his body. He moved his hips a few more times before I felt him release into me.

“Oh fuck,” Jade groaned, but he didn’t move. He finally slipped out of me and stood up. I stayed bent at the waist until his cum dripped out of me onto the towel below.

“You are beautiful,” he said. He draped a clean towel over me when I shivered. “Are you cold?”

“A little,” I said.

“Let’s go inside,” he said. His brown eyes held my gaze until he blinked and a few tears slid down his cheeks.

I caught one with my finger. “Um, is something wrong?”

“No, everything is perfect. That’s what scares me,” Jade said. He grabbed me and pulled me hard against his body. “I can’t lose you,” he mumbled.

“You won’t,” I said.

Later, I told him he might lose me because if Maggie found out I sucked him off in the kitchen and let him cum on my neck and chest, she would probably kill me. We made sure there was no sign of cum anywhere.

T
HE
DAY
off did wonders for everyone, and two weeks later, we were staring at a completed album. Andy and Trevor were still arguing about the first single, but that was up to them. Jade and I were pleased with all the songs.

We spent three days shooting the cover of the album. The first day of the shoot the photographer complained about the light and refused to take any pictures. The next day Andy decided he didn’t like our outfits and argued with Ella K. He was a stupid man. We never did change our clothes.

On the third day, I wanted to take a picture with my phone and call it good. I worried we were going to be here for a fourth day, but as the sun was setting, everyone agreed on a shot.

At least I was getting used to having cameras in my face all the time. Trevor warned us it was going to get worse.

When they made the final decision for the single and the release date of the album, we did more interviews. We also made sure to tweet teasers from the photo shoot. The online fans ate it up. The next morning, Andy called us to come over to his office. It always made me paranoid when he summoned us.

“Sit down, gentlemen,” Andy said as we walked into his office. “I just wanted to thank you for all your hard work. I’m giving you a week off before the single releases. You can do whatever you like.”

“We all want to go back to Chicago,” I said.

We’d talked about it earlier in the week, hoping Andy would give us a few days off. I wanted to go home and relax. Kelli was going to go home to the farm for a few days and come back to spend the rest of the week with us in Chicago. Andy thought it was great that the girls were going with us.

“After the single drops, we’re going to start getting together a band. Trevor has a few guys in mind, so we’ll bring them in and see what you think,” Andy said.

“That sounds good,” Jade said.

“I don’t have to remind you to—”

Jade interrupted him. “We know. Behave and don’t go anywhere unsavory.”

The only place I wanted to go was to our house to hang out and relax. Of course, things didn’t always work out as planned.

T
HE
MOMENT
we landed in Chicago, we were mobbed. I had no idea how anyone knew we were coming to town.

Fans stalked us all the way back to the house. I was beginning to think we should have brought Dave and Brent with us. We tried to accommodate the fans by signing autographs and letting them take pictures, but it never stopped. Our street was constantly filled with cars driving past our house. Girls lined up in our front yard. Once, when they started getting too close to our house, Mrs. Morgan threatened to spray them with her hose. She would have turned them into popsicles.