Front & Center (Book 2 of the Back-Up Series) (25 page)

Once I’m done, Jack appears by my side. H
e coldly thanks me and gets right back into douchebag mode. He does his usual shtick of flirting, engaging the crowd, and ignoring me. The only acknowledgement comes when we both share the same microphone. He’ll glance at me every so often, without ever touching me. Of course, Jack always turns me on. It really doesn’t matter what he’s doing. But watching him perform just riles me up. Rock star Jack is fucking hot as hell. Another painful symptom of our separation is having to go back to an empty bedroom after our shows, while being a horny mess.

Since our “breakup”
, he has taken to singing my song directly to one of the girls in the front row. The first time he did, it stung, even knowing it was all an act. The way those girls stare at him and send him obvious signals makes me want to scratch their eyes out. The entire time I need to repeat over and over, “He’s mine. He’s mine.” Jealous Leila doesn’t appear often, but when she does, it’s pretty ugly.

I have a feeling my jealousy will be lingering well into the wee hours of the morning.
Mulling around in a room full of Lair-lover-wannabes is the last thing I want to do right now. More charades and more pretending. I’m exhausted with all this nonsense. I want to be able to show Jack my affection whenever I want. I want to be able to sleep with his arms wrapped around me each night. Having him all to myself last night was bordering on cruel. It reminded me just how much I miss him. I’m so sick of this.

I’ve been consumed by these tho
ughts most of this show, and it’s amazing I sang and played correctly. We only have a few minutes in the holding room before the masses arrive. The roadies are busy breaking down the stage, so the second we step into the room Jack is on me like a moth to a flame.

“Mmm, you’re nice and sweaty.” He says as he licks my neck.

“You’re gross. I need to…” He takes the opportunity to shut me up by slanting his mouth over mine.

“Can you two knock it off?” Hunter says as he helps himself to
his first beer. Jack’s response is to push me into the bathroom, shut the door behind us and snack on my neck.

“Jack. Jack, I need you to listen. Dylan has some news about Jessa, so make sure you talk to him as soon as he gets here. I don’t have time to tell you the details.”

He stops long enough to say, “Yep”
, and roughly pulls me closer, trying to consume me whole. He grips my ass with both hands and moves my body so it perfectly aligns against his bulging crotch.

“Jack, you’re driving me wild. Please, I can’t get all worked up right now and neither can you.” I tout in a threatening tone. “You’re not allowed to walk around
this party tonight with a hard-on.”

“Such a buzz kill.” He pulls away reluctantly. “But you’re right.” After a few cleansing breaths, he
adjusts himself and adds, “Ok. I’m ok.” He tucks a finger in between my breasts and strokes the ring that is nestled there. “I really wish you could have this on your finger where it belongs.”

“Oh, so do I. Especially with the hungry bimb
os that are going to be walking through the door any minute.”

“You have nothing to worry about, you know that.”

“Except for your shameless flirting?” He pouts until I kiss his lips. “I know I don’t. I still don’t like them all thinking they have a shot with you, especially since we are broken up.”

“I could say the same about the dudes that are going to be here.”

A loud rap at the door comes before Hunter barks, “Get the fuck out here!”

“Jeez, he’s back to being grumpy Hunter.”

“I can’t blame him. He misses Amanda.” I check my appearance and move towards the door. “Ready?”

“
Yep, I love you.”

I crack the door wide enough to see no one has arrived yet. Two steps out of the bathroom and Hunter scolds, “Knock it off. You’re going to screw everything up if you aren’t careful.”

“Relax. No one’s here yet.” Jack says, as Hunter paces around the room. “What’s wrong with you?”

“Nothing.”
He snips.

Jack and I exchange a glance. I walk over to take Hunter’s hand and
lead him towards a couch. “Something’s wrong.”

He nods, with a firm “
Yes.”

“Is it Mandi?”

“We had a huge fight. She won’t answer her phone.” He abruptly stands and starts pacing again.

“What about?”

“She had dinner with her ex.”

“So?”
Jack asks clueless.

“SO
.” He repeats with bulging eyes, like we are totally missing the obvious. “They ended things on good terms. She’s there, I’m here, and I’m not happy about it. I told her so and I told her I didn’t want her seeing him. Things pretty much went down the shitter from there.” He starts pacing again. “What the fuck? If there’s nothing going on, then she would have no problem doing as I asked, right?” he directs his question to me.

“Hunter, I’m sure nothing is going on. She’s probably upset because she thinks you don’t trust her
.” He stares at me as if I just said that last statement in a foreign language.

“That’s not it.”

“Did you tell her you do trust her?”

“No.”

“Then she probably thinks you don’t.”

Trey walks over and sits across from us. He points to his crotch and brags, “My balls are still
intact and attached.”

“Fuck off, Trey.”

“Just sayin’.”

“Hunter, you need to apologize and
tell her you trust her. You could be pushing her right back into his arms.”

I’ve never seen Hunter look so lost, confused, and sad before. He must really care about Amanda.
He also must have upset her, because she isn’t the type to be spiteful.

With that, the door flings open with the first of our fans to arrive.

“You’ll call her in the morning and work it out.” I add quietly.

He nods solemnly. “Thanks, Lei.”

No sooner do I turn from Hunter than I see a swarm of females around Jack. He looks over at me and smirks.

Fucking
Awesome
.

The first hour of a meet and greet is like a feeding frenzy.
Evan and Lizzy left shortly after they arrived, wanting to avoid becoming road kill. Every person in the room wants to be sure they get their pictures, their autographs, their free stuff, before they can actually settle in and enjoy themselves. Once that’s over, a different aura fills the room. As they feel more comfortable, they get downright ballsy.

I’m standing at the bar, waiting for my Diet Coke, and two guys come up beside me. “Hi
, Leila.”

T
hey flank me on both sides and I turn my head from one to the other. “Hi. You guys having fun?”

“Yeah, this is awesome. You guys really rocked it tonight. I’m Drew, this is Jason.”

“Nice to meet you, Drew and Jason.” I take my drink and start to walk away.

“Wait, can we get a picture?”

“Sure.”

Jason steps away, with his phone poised and ready. Drew stands close and wraps an arm around my shoulders. Jack is watching like a hawk from across the room. Once the picture is taken,
Drew asks, “I have a bet with my buddies. Would you mind a kiss?”

“Um. No
, I don’t think so. Sorry.”

“Oh come on. It would mean the world to me.
I have a hundred bucks riding on this. They know I have a huge crush on you. Please? Just a peck on the cheek, how’s that?”

“
Um, Ok.”

Drew stares into the camera and just as I move in to kiss his cheek, he turns and meets my lips with his.

“What the hell?” I shove him away, and he raises his hands apologetically.

“Sorry, it was a reflex. Honest.”

In one swift motion, Jack has his hands wrapped in the guy’s t-shirt and thrusts him up against the wall.

“Shit, man,
it was just a little kiss.”

“Get the fuck out.” He
sneers and then releases him.

Oscar
and Dylan appear immediately. “What happened?”

“This asshole was just leaving.”

Jack turns to Jason. “Give me the phone.” Jason wordlessly hands his phone over to Jack. A few seconds later, Jack hands it back.

Drew suddenly grows some balls and antagonizes Jack. “She’s not yours anymore
, dude. Maybe she liked it.”

Jack
grabs Drew’s shirt and pulls back with his fist.

“Jack, no.” I
latch onto his arm, as it’s in mid-air. He looks down and composes himself.

He releases Drew and snarls,
“Get out.”

Oscar
takes Drew’s arm and leads him out of the room. On the way out, Jason looks mortified while Drew looks smug.

“Bye
, Leila. I love you.”

Jack
faces Dylan. “Great, I’m sure that prick will be blabbing about this within the hour.”

“Don’t worry about it. You just gave him a fantastic story to tell his friends. It would have been a whole different story if you had punched him though.”

“Yeah, I lost my head for a second.” Jack runs his hand down his face in frustration. “When is this over? I want out.”

“We’ll wrap it up.” Dylan pats Jack on the back. “Go have a drink.”

He walks away, leaving me at the bar. The incident changed the mood of the crowd. They are all cognizant of his or her behavior, not wanting to be thrown out as well. Even so, some of the girls still had the audacity to try and solicit Jack. He wasn’t his usual flirty self. He was downright nasty towards them.

Soon after, Dylan and Will rounded everyone up. “Thanks for coming tonight. The band really appreciate
s your support.” They waste no time in ushering the crowd out of the room. Once every last person is gone, Dylan shuts the door leaving us alone.

Jack sits heavily
, releasing a burst of breath. “Fuck. I could have easily beaten that motherfucker to a bloody pulp.” He pinches the bridge of his nose, while squeezing his eyes shut.

I sit next to him
and take his hand in mine. “None of us would have let you. Babe, I’m

sorry.”

“What for?”

“I let that asshole convince me to kiss his cheek for a picture.”

He throws me a stern look and responds, “Yeah, um…don’t do that again.” He bends to kiss me gently and then adds, “Ever.”

The guys join us on the couches just as
Dylan comes back into the room, shutting and locking the door behind him.

“You ok?”

“Yep.”

He pulls up
a chair to complete our circle. “Did Leila have a chance to tell you what we found out?”

Jack remembers what I said earlier. “No, not yet.”

I move closer and wrap my arms around him as he kisses my cheek. I turn towards Dylan. “Tell him. He needs some good news.”

“The document Jessa sent you is fake.”

Jack looks from me to Dylan. “What?”

“She didn’t use the lab on the letterhead. She sent the samples out in the mail. She could have sent anyone’s samples, claiming it was yours.”

“So, it’s not mine?”

“Well, it still could be. But this definitely opens the possibility that it’s not.”

“That bitch.”

Someone knocks on the door and Dylan opens it to let Oscar in.

“You ok?” He
repeats Dylan’s words to Jack, as he walks towards us.

“I’m good.”

“I know you’re exhausted, but we should go over your meeting tomorrow.”

“Yeah, ok
.” He responds lethargically. I can see how tired he is. All this bullshit has taken its toll on him. When I glance at the rest of our band, I can see it has taken its toll on them as well. It makes me wonder if all rock bands go through crap like this. Is there always some lowlife waiting in the wings, trying to take you down? Is that the price of fame? I want no part of it, if it is.

Oscar says to t
he rest of us, “You guys can head out to the hotel. Chuck is a security guard here at the arena. He’ll be escorting you.”

Hunter stands and stretches. “What a fucking night, huh?”

I turn to face Jack. “Do you want me to stay?”

“No, babe. You’re exhausted. Go get some sleep.”

I kiss him and stand reluctantly. I want to be part of this conversation, but I’d rather not know the specifics. “Good luck. Don’t let her aggravate you. Don’t give her any ammunition. Please.”

He nods. “I’ll be good.
I promise.”

“I love you.”

“I love you, too.”

I walk towards Hunter, and he wraps an arm around my shoulder. He looks back at Jack as we walk out the door and
mocks, “I’m just hugging a friend. Don’t hit me.”