Front & Center (Book 2 of the Back-Up Series) (14 page)

“Great…”
I mumble.

“What’s wrong
, big brother?”

“Evan
, as Leila’s best friend and brother, I’m excited to see. Evan, as the guy screwing my sister, not so much.”

“How do you think Evan feels about you?”

“I hadn’t thought of it.”

“Exactly, b
ecause it’s all about Jack.”

“That’s not t
rue. I’ve changed. You’d be proud of me.”

“Let me poll some of your
band mates before I announce how proud.”

“
No confidence in me. So when are you coming?”

“Vegas. Are you ok with that?”

“Absolutely. We’ll have a blast. We have three nights off. It’ll be a big party.”

“I know. I spoke to Jen to make sure there weren’t any schedule changes.
I know you added a show. We’ll be coming for five days.”

“
I can’t wait to tell Lei.”

“
No! Evan wants to surprise her. So keep your big mouth shut.”

“Can I tell Hunt and Scott? They’ll be pissed if
they know we are planning a reunion and they didn’t get to ask Mandy or Patti.”

“Wow,
look at you thinking of others. I am proud.”

“Ok, smartass. I’m hanging up now.”

Giggling, she adds, “Say hi to my future sister-in-law.”

“It’s all done?”

“Yes, Jack. All done. When?”

“I’m not sure yet. I’ll keep you posted…and please keep it to yourself.”

“Now I’m hanging up. You think I’m stupid?”

“No,
just a dork. Love you Liz.”

“Me too. Be good.”

“Always.”

As I hang up with Lizzy, I can hear Leila giggling uncontrollably. Curious
, I walk out to the bus watching her with amusement. “What’s so funny?”

“Nothing.” Trey responds for her.

Sliding into the booth, I pull Leila towards me. “Tell me or I’ll tickle you.”

She looks over at Trey, shaking her head. I barely touch her when she falls into another fit of giggles and says, “Ok…ok, I’ll tell you.”

“Jeez, Leila. I hope I’m never with you while being tortured by the enemy.” Trey says, pretending to be annoyed.                                                                                                                                                                                                                     

“He won’t say anything. Promise me you won’t tell Hunter or Scott.”

Crossing my heart, I smile wide and say, “If you are fucking with Hunter and Scott, then I
absolutely
promise.”

“Trey is going to tell Hunter and Scott
the Internet is running rampant with rumors of their previous relationship.”

“They won’t believe you.”

“A chick I banged dummied up a fake website page and sent it to me. I’ll have it open on the laptop when they get back.” Trey turns the laptop around to show Jack.

Looking at the page, it looks absolutely legit.
“That’s fucking awesome! They are going to shit themselves.” The page shows pictures of Hunter and Scott. In one of them they are leaning in close to each other, and it looks like they just had an intimate moment. There is a write-up on their history and how they are tortured daily by their love for each other. “Priceless.”

“Trey, I can’t be here when you show them. I’ll never be able to keep a straight face.”

“Well, then you won’t be here. You too, Lair. I need you to play along.”

“Hell, I’m in. This i
s going to be too good to miss. Where are they anyway?”

“Getting food. They’ll be back any minute.”

Leila slides all the way around the booth and grabs her Kindle. “I’m out of here.”

Trey and I patiently wait for the lovers to return. We can hear them before we see them, bickering as they normally do. “You’re so full of shit
, Hunter. Where do you come up with this stuff?”

“It’s true. I read it somewhere.” Hunter comes on the bus first
, followed by Scott. Carrying two pizzas, he sets them down and grabs a slice immediately. He first looks at Trey and then at me. “What?”

“This isn’t good man.” Trey says.

“What did you do now, Jack?”

“Sorry
dude, this time it’s not me.”

Scott takes his slice and sits across from me in the booth. “What happened?”

Trey shakes his head. “I guess the photographers in Chicago thought I was serious.”

He turns the laptop, showing Hunter and Scott the webpage. Hunter throws his slice on the table. “Holy fuck.”

Scott turns bright red, his mouth dropping open comically. He looks up as if lost. “Where did you find this?”

“I was checking out some
of our blogs. It popped up on Google,” Trey shrugs, “Jen’s going to have to do some damage control.”

Hunter pulls out his phone. I exchange glances with Trey, but he doesn’t flinch.

“Jen. There is a website called Secret Rock Affairs that is claiming Scott and I were a couple.” Hunter starts pacing the bus, back and forth. “No, I’m looking at it right now. Secret. Rock. Affairs. Google…Yes, Google…What do you mean you can’t find it? It’s the front page. There is…check Yahoo. Keep looking.” Hunter waits while Jen searches. After a few long minutes he says, “What the fuck?” He glances over at me, while I’m pretending to analyze the slice I grabbed.

“
I’ll call you back.”

He stops in front of Trey. “Give me the laptop
, asshole.”

Trey hands him the laptop. After a few clicks, Hunter realizes it’s
fake. “Fuck you.”

Tr
ey and I crack up. “Scott turned a new shade of red. That was fucking priceless.”

“Just for that, you don’t get pizza.” Hunter takes the two pies
and the slice out of my hand and leaves the bus. “Come on, Scott.”

“Your boyfriend wants you
, Scott.” Trey says. Scott flings a pizza crust at Trey’s head and follows Hunter off the bus.

“That was awesome! Best one yet.”

Trey shrugs. “I know.”

“Damn, Baby, it’s freezing out here.”

“We’re in Denver, not
Alaska. It’s chilly at best.” Dragging him down the street toward the

Aquarium
, I offer, “It’s right down the block.”

We have
a few hours before rehearsals. We’re staying in a hotel after the show tonight before we hit the road tomorrow for back-to-back shows in Salt Lake City, Boise, Spokane, and Seattle. Back-to-back shows mean nothing but arenas and the bus. I’m going stir-crazy just thinking about it and needed to get out. I convinced Jack to go to the Downtown Aquarium in Denver. It’s only a three-block walk from the arena, and he’s been complaining the entire time. “You live in New York, not the tropics. Suck it up.”

“This feels colder.”

Rolling my eyes, I pull him harder. “Once we are inside, I’ll warm you up.” Suddenly my boyfriend, who I’ve been dragging by his heels, picks up the pace.

We
walk into the aquarium and he stops in his tracks. “Why are we here again?” he looks around apprehensively.

“I love aquariums.”

“It reminds me of school, and I hated school.”

“
Come on, I’ll buy you a stuffed shark.”

The aquarium turns out to be a really fun day. Who knew there were so
many dark corners to get lost in? The place was practically empty, so there weren’t many young innocent grade-schoolers there to spy on us. We lost track of time, because Jack was mesmerized watching two penguins going at it and showed up over an hour late to rehearsals.

Out of breath, we both bolt onto the stage feeling like teenag
ers who missed their curfews.
“Well, look who’s here? Our lead singer, his girlfriend and his hard-on.”

Jack looks at Hunter sheepishly. “Sorry, my phone died and we lost track of time.”

“Uh huh…right.”

I walk over to my keyboards with my head hung in embarrassment. “Miss Marino
, I expect this behavior from him, but you?”

“I’m sorry
, Mr. Amatto.”

“Where were you? Marriot for a quickie?”
Trey asks.

“No. W
e were at the aquarium.”

“H
ooo-kay, sure you were.” Hunter says.

“I have a stuffed shark to prove it.”

Hunter looks at me, “For real?”

Nodding
, I say, “Scouts honor.”

“Well, I stand corrected. If anything
that I may have said gets back to the two of you, I plead the fifth.”

“Ok,
jackass, start drumming.”

“We’ve already rehearsed. You missed it.”

“Fine. Are there any issues you need to discuss? Sound problems? Lighting?”

“Nope. We each inserted a solo, though. Payback.”

“You’re serious?” Hunter nods. “Ok, I’m fine with that.”

Will
struts onto the stage. “You finally showed?”

“Jeez, my phone died and we lost track of time.”

Will looks at Hunter. “Ok, I owe you twenty.” Hunter concedes.

“You guys bet on us?” I glance from dickhead to dickhead.

Scott shrugs and admits, “I already paid Trey.”

“Unbelievable.”



“Last night’s show was awesome. I think we get better and better each night.”

“We did sound great, a
nd we didn’t even rehearse,” Jack responds, as he distractedly plays with my hair.

“M
mm. That feels good. Right here, you playing with my hair, on these kick ass pillows, is pure heaven.”

We have a little
more time before we need to check out. Personally, I wish we could stay here for days. “I slept so good last night. I’m trying to enjoy every minute we are in this bed, the next four days are going to be exhausting.”

“We can handle it. If you want
, I’ll steal one of these pillows for you.”

“You’d do that for me?”

“If I could take the whole bed, I would.”

“
We must be doing really well, our hotel rooms are getting nicer and nicer. This bed is heaven. I’m not sure I can leave it.”

“Yea
h, I may have had something to do with that. I complained and refused to stay in any more fleabag hotels. They said they would do their best to improve.”

“Jack, they weren’t fleabags.”

“So I embellished. It got us a bigger hotel budget. Are you complaining?”

“Not at all.”

“They can afford it.”

“They must think you are becoming a demanding Diva.”

He smacks my ass in response. “You know what I’m really looking forward to?”

“I can guess.” I tease.

“Your mind is always in the gutter. I was going to say, I’m looking forward to living together…”

“We are living together,
” I interrupt.

“Not on a bus. In an apartment
, in the city, doing normal things like watching TV or making dinner.”

His comment surprises me. “Really?
”

“Yea
h. I’ve never had that. I loved those few nights we stayed at your place, when we first started seeing each other. I can’t wait to do that again.”

Turning towards him, I stroke his face. “God
, I love you.”

“Me too.” He bends to give me a kiss.

“Wait, in the city? We aren’t going to live in Hoboken?”

“Uh…no.”

Feigning anger, I ask, “What’s wrong with Hoboken?”

“It’s not the city. I
’ll pick the location, you can pick the apartment.”

“You’re
breaking up with Hunter?”

“Uh, yea
h…” Kissing me chastely, he adds, “The minute we pull into New York, we are apartment hunting.”

“My dad will not be happy if I
move to New York or if I live with you in sin.”

Jack pins me on my back with
my wrists in his hands. “Well, then I’ll have to make an honest woman of you before then.” He kisses me deeply. “After I defile you.”

“Defile away.”

“Hmmm…what should I do to you today?” He skims his nose down mine, and then pulls my bottom lip in between his teeth. It’s almost like his mouth is a jumper cable and I’m the battery. Instantly, I’m charged and ready to go. Rolling my hips against his in hopes he takes it fast this time, he looks into my eyes and shakes his head.

Nodding I respond with a “
Yes.”

“What has ha
ppened to you? Where did my shy girlfriend go?”

“
I killed her. It was a very violent death, poor thing. She didn’t have a chance.”

“I would have sent flowers.”
He laces our fingers together, keeping our hands over my head.

I impatiently shift so he is right
where I need him to be. Smiling he says, “Ok, your wish is my command.” He bends to kiss me, deeply. It’s my favorite slow, dry, deliberate kiss that I adore. My fingers grip his tightly, as he nearly gets me there with just his kiss.

I pull away and
he looks down at me confused. “Did I ever tell you that I practically had an orgasm at your birthday party when you kissed me that night? It was just like it was now. Drives me crazy. So please, hurry.”

“No, you never told me that.” Looking into my eyes, without warning, he slips inside of me. “Fast enough?”

Nodding, I bite my lip from the fullness I feel, my muscles instantly contracting around him. “Yes. Now move, please.”

“So bossy.” He resumes his kissing, right where he left off.
I bring my knees up in an attempt to get him deeper. The craving I have to consume him whole is unbearable. Jack pulls out almost completely, then slides back in torturously slow. His fingers are tightly gripping mine. He removes one of his hands, skimming it along the side of my body, resting it on the back of my thigh. He hitches my leg over his shoulder, simultaneously increasing his rhythm by moving in and out in the most delicious way. My free hand finds his hair, giving me something to latch on to as I shudder beneath him.

He drops his forehead to mine,
staring into my eyes with such intensity that I know he’s close. A few seconds later, he slows his pace, his moan and his eyes shutting, both indicators he is there.

Smiling at him, I’m in awe of this man. How did I get him? How does he feel the same about me?

As he opens his eyes, he smirks adorably. “Am I amusing you?”

“No.
I can watch you have an orgasm all day. In fact, can I record it on my phone so I can watch it when we are apart?”

“If I
can record you.” He grins. “Let’s make a sex tape.”

“
Sure. Tomorrow.”

“Really?”

“No.”

“Buzz kill.”
He pulls out, moving to lie on his side next to me. “I adore you, Leila Marino. I can’t wait to make you my wife. I can’t wait until we belong to each other completely.”

“I can’t wait for that too.”

“Leila Lair.”

My heart flips at the sound of that, but I tease, “It sounds like a porn star.”

“Leila Lair does Jack.” He purses his lips and says, “It kinda does.”

“We’ll be Mr. & Mrs. Marino.”

“Uh, no.”

“You wouldn’t take my name?”

He shakes his head. “Nope.”

“Old fashioned, are you?”

“Not at all. But you taking my name would make me extremely happy. The Lair’s. Leila and Jack Lair. It works.”

“Hmm. We’ll see.”

“On what?”

“How big the ring is.”