Hot Southern Mess (Hide Your Crazy) (8 page)

“HEY,” I shouter louder, finally catching the eyes of one of the guys. My stomach plummeted when his steel grey eyes pierced into mine. For a moment the room stood quiet, not a single sound registered in my ears.
This man held my attention with just a glance,
holy mother of pearls
. My mind went blank, and my mouth dropped open. I already had to fight my urges for Reid; what were the odds it would happen again? Apparently I was on a lucky streak, if one considered lusting after two different men lucky.

Chapter 8:
I need my own damn whistle.

The grey eyed man broke the stare and it instantly snapped me out of the daze he had created. Right back into the yelling and screaming.

“SHUT THE HELL UP!” I had enough of their bickering. I had no clue
who any of these guys were, other than they all belonged to the band Political Downfall, and if I didn’t get them to stop they would no longer be the opening act for Black Laden. “Seriously, what in the world are you guys fighting like little girls about?”

“Who in the hell are you?” A tall, scrawny emo looking guy glared at me.

“Does it matter?” I said, squaring off my shoulders as I stood my ground. These men need to figure it out, and I have no intention to play referee for them.

“Well then you can walk your happy little ass right out the door there
, Sweetie; buh-bye now,” the man seethed, narrowing his eyes and motioning with his hands for me to leave.

“First, I’m not leaving. Second
, I work for Stephanie. And third, you guys are going on in a couple hours, what in the hell is going on?” I slowly took a couple steps further into the room, noticing the thick tension still evident in the air.

“Sorry, the guys are just having an argument over the set list,” the grey eyed man said, offering up a lopsided smile.

Pretty sure my panties would have been wet, had I worn any today.

“Alright, well what can I do to help?”

“You can do nothing, and neither can Chance. We stick to the same line up since day one,” a tall blonde on the other side of emo kid spoke, not taking his eyes off the shaved head of the man across from him.

From what I gathered in the few seconds I had been in the room, they were all pansy ass little babies that needed a hard spanking. Now, I wouldn’t mind dishing one out to the grey eyed one, but the others could suck it.

“Did you guys ask Stephanie, I’m sure this could
all be solved real quick with a phone call……………..” I muttered, reaching for my cell out of my back pocket.

“That’s the problem
; she said we need to figure it out,” emo kid barked, rolling his eyes at me.

I was starting to get annoyed with these guys, I mean come on. How hard could this
fricken’ be?

“Well
, how about we start with introductions. Hi, I’m Molly,” I mention, offering a smile to the tense crowd.

“Chance,” the buzzed head man said, while shoving his hands into his jeans.

“I’m Eric, and that’s Jeremy,” the tall blonde spoke, nodding his head at emo kid.

“And I’m Brantley;
nice to meet you, Molly,” grey eyes chimed in, reaching his hand out for me to shake.

I shot my left hand out and quickly realized that wouldn’t work,
stupid girl
. Extending my right hand out, I muttered “sorry” and let our skin make the connection. His hands were warm to the touch; soft palms, yet I knew he played guitar. The skin on his fingertips was thick and calloused over, an obvious indication on what instrument he used.

His grip tightens around my small hand, and for a second I hoped he would pull me in and make use of my lips. But once again, this is a job.
My ‘dream job’; remember that Molly.

“Alright, well now that we have that behind us let’s figure this shit out.” Regretfully, I pulled my hand back from his and headed over for an unoccupied stool. I could feel the heat creeping up my cheeks, making my lust very apparent for everyone in the room.

“So, what can we do to make this work? Correct me if I’m wrong, but Chance wants to change the lineup and the rest of you don’t want to?” I questioned, desperately trying not to look at Brantley.

“
It’s just the same thing over and over. I don’t see why we can’t just rearrange some of the songs; you know, liven it up,” Chance interjects, taking a seat next to the hottie with the grey eyes.

My insides squirms when I catch his eyes;
calm down there hussy
.

“We don’t have room for screw ups
, Man; we change the lineup and someone is bound is fuck up,” Jeremy growled, the tension in his voice obvious.

“So, I doubt this is going to be solved today. Considering you all have a different opi
nion, and everyone is on edge, how about you stick to the same song rotation tonight, and then we can go at it tomorrow with fresh minds?” I didn’t know if this was going to work, but something had to break between these stupid boys. 

“Hey guys, let’s just shelve it for right now,” Brantley spoke up, offering me that lop sided smile again.

“Whatever
, Man,” one of the others mumbled. I had no clue who said it, and really didn’t care. I was once again lost in the sheer hotness of Brantley.

“I guess we better head out for sound check.” Brantley ran a hand through his short black hair, letting me catch a peek at his toned stomach when his shirt rode up.

Suddenly the top of my toes got stuck at the bottom of the bar stool, sending me crashing to the floor swiftly. “Oomph,” I let out when my body smashed into the concrete.

The impact from the fall almost took my breath away, but the coolness from the concrete snapped me back from the immediate pain. There was going to be bruises after this accident, and most of it would appear on the right side of my face,
because apparently my hands refused to help brace the fall. Once again, I proved what an absolute klutz I am. I couldn’t even sit on a stool without somehow turning it into a disaster.

Smooth Molly, real smooth.

I’ve never been one to be really coordinated. Even all the etiquette classes, dance classes, and even pageants my mother forced me into when I was younger did nothing for me. It was like patting your head and rubbing your belly, something that took thought and skill,
and I lacked in it big time. If I could trip over it, get stuck in it, walk into it, or tear it, I totally would. Nothing like trying to be a lady growing up and falling face first off a stage on a consistent basis.

“Are you okay
, Molly?” Brantley gushed, offering his hand to my flattened position on the floor.

I laugh, trying to shake off the embarrassment.
“Yep, just one of my many charms.” One would think I would be used to it, considering I made an ass out of myself daily. However, the redness returned to my face as I took Brantley’s hand. I am ridiculous.

“Way to change the subject
, Molly,” Chance laughed while picking up the stool.

“Yep, call me Miss
Graceful.” Now was the time I needed to make a quick exit. The boys were no longer fighting, and I had already made a complete ass of myself falling off the stool. My body screamed ‘run out the door Molly’, but my mind reminded me that I would probably end up on my face again.

“I
, uh……..well, I’m sure Stephanie has something for me to do,” I muttered, pulling my hand out of Brantley’s. Keeping my eyes locked on the door, I refused to look back at the man. I might have done something stupid, like offer myself up for his enjoyment tonight. For some reason being in Seattle has made me extremely horny. Either that or it’s all these male rock stars. Stupid, stupid, stupid girl parts and their own stupid desires.

“See you later
, Molly,” one of the guys called out and I dashed through the door. I offered a wave without even glancing back. I couldn’t do that to my body; at least my mind had the right idea for a change.

I’m pretty sure I’m going to need therapy. There wasn’t a day that I didn’t do something absolutely
embarrassing, and doing it with a bunch of hot men in the room was just the icing on the cake. The therapist I saw when I was younger classified me as clinically depressed and prescribed these wicked pills that made me lay there like a bump on a log. Now, I’m no expert in medicine, but shouldn’t anti-depressants do the exact opposite. Anyhow, after about a week of doing nothing but listen to horrible music and sulking in my room, I flushed the prescription and refused to see a shrink again. One is ‘mental’ if they prefer black clothing and would rather spend time alone in my room with Simon, than socialize with crazy girls my age. Some might call me a loner; I called myself creative.

“So you got to meet the next up and coming band
, eh?” Tiny commented as I made my exit out of the room.

“You could say that. Hey, have you seen Stephanie?”

“Yeah, she is in the guys’ room. You might just want to wait, though; she was on a rampage when she stormed through there a little while ago. Pretty sure I heard glass breaking.” Tiny shrugged, going back to the magazine he was reading.

What else could really go wrong tonight, I mean maybe
a punch to my girly parts? Shit, I could deal with Stephanie barking out commands like a rabid dog.

“Thanks Tiny,” I called out, pushing open the
door .

“Please tell me you squashed that bullshit back there?” Stephanie questioned with her cell phone
up to her ear. I was starting to believe it was surgically attached to the side of her head, considering that it really hadn’t moved since I got the job. Well, that’s not true. She does pull it down to shoulder level and let her fingers fly over the keys for a text, but then it’s right back at the side of her face.

“Yeah, they got it sorted out
, Stephanie. Nothing to worry about,” I said with confidence. They were no longer fighting when I left the room, probably because they were all laughing at my face dive to the concrete.

“Ah
, look at your little pony tail thing. It reminds me of Ryder’s penis; short and stubby,” Brody taunted, chucking a pillow at Ryder on the couch.

“Real mature
, Brody,” I commented, rolling my eyes at the male with the emotional maturity of a twelve year old. I really was just a glorified babysitter for Stephanie. The only difference was that I wanted to sleep with one of them, fuck……..make that two of them now.

“Guys, I need you over in sound check in twenty minutes, got it?” Stephanie glared at the men scattered on the sofas. The guys slightly acknowledged Stephanie,
and then went back to being overgrown men children.

“Molly, I need you for a second,” Stephanie beckoned and headed to the door. Realizing she wanted me to follow her out the door, I snuck a quick glance over at Reid. There he was, sitting on the couch, all hot and stuff with his guitar. I’ve always prided myself on being an individual, always having something upstairs and not just a pretty face. However, looking at that man I got all girly, giddy, and just plain stupid. Might as well
dye my hair blonde and get me of set a boobs. I was a full on member of the Reid-Is-A-God fan club.

Scampering behind Stephanie out the door, I had to almost break into a jog to keep up with
that long legged woman.

“I need you to be responsible for getting both bands back on the bus tonight. They are going to want to party and that’s fine for a little while. But all of them need to be on their own buses no later than two. I am catching a flight back to Seattle tonight for a meeting tomorrow morning. Oh, and please don’t let them bring the groupies with them. If they want to get their rocks off
, make sure they do it before getting on the bus. I hate having to sit on that damn couch the next day thinking of what crap got on it the night before.” Stephanie shuddered.

I realized what happened when the guys brought the girls back on the bus. Obviously they weren’t p
laying monopoly, more like chutes and ladders if I was to pick a board game out. Not knowing how much seminal fluid was lurking on the couch almost made me want to dry heave. And, to think that I slept there last night made me want to take a bath in acid. Gross.

“Second, I need you to be in charge of making sure the riders are taken care of tomorrow night. I will barely have enough time to set up the meet an
d greets in the afternoon that I don’t want to be bothered by that. Oh, and that goes for PD’s room too.”

“Got it
, Stephanie, everything will be perfect,” I replied with confidence.

“I didn’t ask for per
fect, I asked for it to be done.” Stephanie halted her sprint around the arena and rolled her eyes. Standing ahead of us a mere twenty yards or so, Reid had one of the sluttastic bimbos pressed against the wall.

“Reid
, seriously? Take it in the room please,” Stephanie’s voice demanded.

My stomach started to turn and
my chest began to tighten. That was the life of a rock star; girls at every stop, willing to do just about anything for a couple minutes with their idol. There was no promise of commitment, or even a second go-around. Just a simple wham-bam-thank-you-ma’am, kind of deal. So why did I even think there would ever be more than this flirtatious nature between the two of us?

Reid turned and offered a smile that would drop panties in a heartbeat. Grabbing the whore of the moment’s hand, he drug her to the door and disappeared from the hallway. The door slammed shut, and I was left to stare at the empty spot where Reid once stood.