Reckless (42 page)

Grimacing, I swung the screen back around toward my sister. Her jade eyes glanced Kellan’s way and then she leaned forward, like she was spilling top secret information.
“They’re comparing still shots of Sienna’s original tape, looking for similarities. They’re pointing out a mark on Joey’s inner thigh that sort of matches a birthmark
on Sienna.” She rolled her eyes while I tried not to think about the angle needed to get a still shot of Joey’s thigh. “And even more absurd, they’re claiming that an alarm
clock in the room exactly matches one in a hotel nearby where the video for ‘Regretfully’ was filmed. They’re saying they ‘rehearsed’ for the music video.” She
lifted her eyebrow at me, amused. “What a stretch, huh?” She pointed at the screen I refused to look at again. “It’s so obvious that it’s Joey’s room
they’re in.”

My veins suddenly felt like I’d injected ice water into them. Oh. My. God. Kellan and Joey filmed this in
her
old bedroom at his house.
My
old bedroom. The bedroom I had
shared with Denny. The furniture I had shared with Denny. Kellan and Joey had sex on the same mattress Denny and I had sex on. The thought made my stomach roil.

I looked over at Kellan shaking his head at Evan as he tossed down his cards in defeat. Did he realize the six degrees of separation that had occurred on Joey’s mattress? Well, he knew
that we’d all had sex on that bed, sure, but I doubt he’d thought too much about it. I mean, he’d taken plenty of girls on his
own
bed, and being with him
there
didn’t bother me, so why would him being on my old bed matter? It didn’t, not really. I guess it was just the knowledge of Kellan and Denny both using the same mattress that disturbed
me some. Regardless of the horrible things I’d done, I’d never crossed the line and invited Kellan into the bed I’d shared with Denny. It was an arbitrary line, I know, but at
least I’d had one.

Blocking out the mental image of Kellan screwing someone on Denny’s and my bed, I shifted my attention back to my sister. “How can you tell it’s
my
old room from these
blurry photos?” Narrowing my eyes, I instantly came up with the obvious answer. “You watched Kellan’s sex tape?”

Anna waved her hand at me dismissively. “You told me to, remember?” Her manicured nail tapped the spot just above her heart. “And you were right, no tattoo.”

I wanted to be irritated at that, but I
had
told all of my friends to watch the tape so they would know without a doubt that it wasn’t Kellan. I guess I couldn’t really
complain. I’d just never really thought my friends would watch it. I thought they’d be swayed by my unwavering declaration of Kellan’s fidelity and take my word for it without
actually viewing the triple-X footage. I should have known better. At least when it came to Anna. She’d probably hunkered down with a huge bowl of popcorn and eagerly watched Kellan in
action. The frown on my face was irremovable.

Anna pursed her lips. “Oh, come on. If you weren’t dating Sex on a Stick, you would want to watch the tape too. It’s freaking hot.”

“Anna!” I reached over and smacked her arm. “I don’t want to hear stuff like that!”

She cringed, looking apologetic. “Sorry, but, well, look at him.”

She swished her hand in Sex on a Stick’s direction, and we both twisted to stare at Kellan. Our synchronized movement caught his attention and he looked over our way. He paused mid-laugh
as his eyes darted between us. Looking for all the world like he’d just gotten caught with his fingers in the cookie jar, he mouthed, “What?”

Still eyeing Kellan, Anna muttered, “Anything he filmed would be freaking hot.” Not answering Kellan, I glanced back at my sister. Her grin was lascivious as she told me,
“
Your
tape with him would melt this computer.”

My annoyance evaporated after her comment and a tension-relieving giggle escaped from me. When Anna and I looked back at Kellan, he was still watching us with a bewildered expression. Anna and I
both broke into laughter. Was I really amused that my sex tape with him would be more explosive than Joey’s? When did my life get so surreal?

Our amusement died down by the time we pulled into the venue. Shutting my laptop, Anna finally gave me back my computer. As I listened to the busses’ brakes squeal and groan, Anna spoke in
an oddly serious tone of voice. “Have you talked to Mom recently?”

The genuine concern in her question made my heart rate quicken. Was Mom okay? Had something happened? She’d been cancer-free for years, but maybe something had cropped back up? But surely
Dad would call me if that were the case. And she hadn’t sounded upset when I’d last spoken with her, a few days ago. “A little while ago, why?”

I chewed on my lip, not liking the look on Anna’s face. “You need to call her immediately.” I was preparing my body to sprint to the back of the bus to get my phone when she
added, “Since your wedding is a little over a month away, and you put her in charge of everything, which makes me think you’re crazy . . . she picked out a dress for you. She sent me a
picture.” Anna wrinkled her face in disgust.

I completely relaxed as I fell back into the plush seat. Good, wedding drama I could deal with. As I laughed at my sister, the bus groaned to a stop. “I’m sure it’s fine,
Anna.”

Anna leaned forward again, face intent. “No, you haven’t seen this thing. It’s got puffy sleeves, Kiera. Puffy. Sleeves. You need to do something about this ASAP!”

I sighed. There wasn’t much I could do about it on the road. And I really didn’t feel like flying home just to demean my mom’s fashion choice. Sure, puffy sleeves didn’t
exactly sound fabulous to me, but since this ceremony was mainly for her anyway, did I really care what I wore? Not really. All I cared about was Kellan. Everything else seemed . . .
insignificant.

Playing with my sister’s head, I smirked and told her, “I can’t wait to see what she picked up for
your
dress, Maid of Honor.”

Anna flashed a wide grin, happy that I’d given her the top spot in my bridal party. Then her face fell. “Holy shit! She wouldn’t . . .” I kept my gaze level and my smile
even. Yeah, she would. Holding her belly, Anna sprang from the table and shuffled her way toward the back of the bus, surely to go inform our mother that there was no way in hell she was wearing
anything with taffeta.

With practiced ease, the crew traveling with the bands sets up the stage. Unlike Justin’s tour, the “talent” didn’t help with the equipment. They
didn’t really need to; there were more than enough people around to take care of it. After a brief sound check, Sienna, Holeshot, and the D-Bags spent an hour or so with the fans doing a very
formal type of meet-and-greet. While the majority of the fans won the right to meet Sienna and the boys, some of the uberSienna fans had actually purchased the VIP treatment. As always, Tory and
Sienna’s bodyguards were on hand to help corral the crowd of nearly hyperventilating devotees. Our necks adorned with our All Access passes, my sister and I waited in the room buzzing with
expectant energy.

Tory was laying down the ground rules for the fans—no one was allowed to hug the band members, and everyone only had ten to fifteen seconds per person before they would be forcefully moved
on down the line. It was all so mechanical, like a rock-star assembly line. Kellan’s attentiveness to his fans had bothered me at one point, but it was preferable to the standoffishness being
presented here—
Look but don’t touch
was practically being shouted from the rafters.

But it didn’t really matter what Kellan’s wishes were. This was Sienna’s show, and Sienna’s rules, and she preferred a little space between her and her admirers. Made me
wonder if she’d had some bad run-ins in the past. Probably. Idly, I wondered if Kellan would attract a few crazies. Thinking of Candy and Joey, I considered the fact that maybe he already
had.

There was an electric buzz in the large, rectangular room as the fans waited for their moment in the sun with the rock stars. Sitting on chairs in the corner of the room, Anna and I scanned the
bizarre festivities with amused smiles. Knowing the people that were being adulated was surreal. As always, there were a lot of D-Bags fans in the bunch; I could tell by their shirts.
Unfortunately, there were also several people wearing Kell-Sex shirts. The Kellan/Sienna supporters had started springing up everywhere recently. There were huge banners at every show now, and even
fan-made montages of them online. While artistically beautiful, I hated those damn videos.

Blinking in disbelief, I stared at a Kell-Sex fan in front of me who was holding a pair of underwear. Was she really going to ask Kellan to sign her skivvies? Then I noticed what was
on
the underwear and my mouth fell to my chest. “Oh my God, Anna”—I indicated the young girl showing the panties to her friend—“check those out.”

Anna looked over and started laughing. Some forward thinking woman had embroidered a pair of lacey briefs with the letters
KK
on the front, and the words
Rock God
on the back.
Laughing into my hand, I imagined wearing those for Kellan. He would flip out . . . in a good way.

Anna must have been thinking the same thing. Working her way to her feet, she sniggered, “I have to have those.” She sauntered up to the girl and flashed her pass. Then she said
something and jerked her thumb back at me. The fan started hopping up and down on her feet, and immediately tossed Anna the underwear. She and her friend were squealing when Anna walked away.

“What did you promise them?” I asked, knowing full well it involved me somehow.

Handing me the underwear, Anna crooked a Kellan-worthy smile. “That you were Kellan’s personal assistant, and you would get them a private meeting if they handed over the
goods.”

I rolled my eyes at her. How was I supposed to do that? Tory was all over getting the fans into and out of the building as quickly as possible. She’d never let one stay behind for a
private get together. Grinning at the fabric in my hands, I decided I would find a way, even if I had to seriously piss off Tory. These panties were too freaking awesome to not give the girl
something in return.

As I stood up and stuffed the underwear in my pocket, the rock stars finally showed up. I plugged my ears until the screaming died down. Holeshot came in first, Deacon, David, and Ray waving as
they made their way to their assigned area along one long wall of the room. The fans clustered in the center of the room naturally shifted toward the band members. I had to smile at Deacon; he had
his long hair pulled back into a sleek ponytail. He always did this when he met with fans. He’d told me once that he’d lost a good chunk of hair to some over-eager admirers, so he was a
little more careful now with his locks. David and Ray didn’t have that issue. David shaved his head completely bald, and Ray’s blond hair was about a quarter inch long.

The D-Bags appeared not long after Holeshot. I cringed and plugged my ears again for longer this time. Anna joined in with the fans’ catcalls as our boys took their spot on the wall next
to Deacon and his band. Matt was blushing and looked horribly uncomfortable as he ran his hand through his spiky, blond hair in an obsessive-compulsive fashion. This part never was a favorite of
his. I sympathized. I didn’t like being put on display either.

Evan was laid-back and comfortable as his warm brown eyes scanned the room packed with people. The flames on his forearms lined up perfectly as he crossed his arms over his chest; his grin was
contagious. Griffin looked like he was the self-proclaimed ruler of this arena, and everyone in his presence was his faithful servant. He huffed into his hand, checking his breath, then rubbed his
palms together and flashed a predatory smile, like some poor girl was about to lose her virtue tonight. I didn’t buy the act, though. Anna had somehow tamed the beast, at least for now.

Last but not least, there was Kellan. My husband was dressed for comfort, like he always was, in a plain black shirt and loose jeans that hugged him where they needed to. The simplicity of his
outfit amplified the attractiveness of his face. Once a person recovered from the hint of an amazing physique hiding beneath his clothes, his eyes and smile commanded their attention—along
with his hair. Couldn’t forget the impossible sexiness of his shaggy head of bedroom hair. Kellan’s face wore a look of simmering seduction as he scanned the crowd. I knew he was
looking for me, but the fans between us seemed to think his intense blue eyes were scouring the throngs for a potential mate. And many of them looked more than willing to volunteer, even some of
the really young ones, which was a little disturbing.

I giggled as I watched him look for me. I couldn’t wait to show him the surprise in my pocket.

With a small entourage swarming around her like bees following a pollen-filled flower, Sienna breezed into the packed room. According to Tory’s earlier speech, Sienna was supposed to be
standing near the doors, the last stop of the fan locomotive. But Sienna didn’t seem to care about Tory’s carefully laid plans and purposely strode over to stand between Kellan and
Matt, making a flushed Matt now the end of the line. Kellan looked over at Sienna, his expression blank. She smiled and bumped her shoulder against his in a display of friendly camaraderie. Cameras
started snapping, eating up the playful antics of the beautiful couple that were madly and deeply in love with each other.
Yeah, right
.

I held my irritation in check as best I could. Sienna just couldn’t pass up a photo op with Kellan, and since he’d started rejecting formally posing with her, she’d started
satisfying herself with candid shots. Anything to keep the public’s interest in her up. Obviously, Kellan hated the game she was playing and kept a polite distance from Sienna as she stood
beside him.

Tory and the security team ushered the fans into a somewhat orderly long line, then started them moving in a wedding-style greeting with the band members, starting with Holeshot. Wanting to
speak with Kellan about Underwear Fan, I ducked into the massive line with Anna.