Page 2 of Finding Emotion

She’d changed out of her skimpy performing outfit and had on a large, worn T-shirt instead, so big it bared one shoulder. A see-through black robe clung midway down her arms but didn’t cover much, and Damon realized he could see exactly where her nipples were through the sheer, white shirt, which didn’t dissuade his erection.

Skylar’s lips lifted in a sexy smile as she signed autographs for her fans. She ignored Damon, but her eyes kept flitting toward the goth girl, who had frozen with a stunned look on her face and failed to approach the punk rock star at all.

Half the fans had turned back to Damon, and he tried to focus on them, but his eyes kept drifting to Skylar. Her presence really was something. Despite the edge of rage her music and performance had, she seemed completely comfortable in her own skin and maintained a smile any time she was onstage.

She waved over the girl that had still failed to approach her when the backstage handlers led the other special pass holders away. Damon threw his own smiles and winks after the fans even as he watched her study the girl.

“Your outfit rocks. You got a favorite song of mine?” Skylar asked the fan.

“‘Tell Me When It Hurts,’” the goth girl blurted out.

“Shit, and I didn’t even sing that one tonight.” Skylar tilted her head. “Tell you what. Here you go.”

The other fans down the hall froze as Skylar began to sing.

“You don’t have to do it

Dying alone inside

Tell me when it hurts

I’ll be your death bride.”

The lyrics in a cappella held an emotion that Damon had missed when he studied her performances.

To his shock, the goth girl began to cry. “I love you,” she managed to say to Skylar despite being so choked up.

Skylar moved in close, kissing the girl on the cheek. “That’s sweet. It’s fans like you I sing for.” She stepped back again, searching behind her and waving her manager forward. “Mandy, take care of this one for me.”

The woman that stepped forward was all business, the complete opposite of Skylar, with her hair in a tight bun and glasses perched on the bridge of her nose. “Of course. Come with me. Skylar has something special for her true fans.”

The goth girl’s eyes darted from Skylar to her friend and then back. She swallowed and then gave the gentlest smile that Damon had ever seen. “Thank you,” the fan said.

Skylar nodded before turning away and disappearing back toward her dressing room.

Jimmy moved to Damon’s side, and they both watched the fan until she was out of sight. “And I thought your fans were intense,” Jimmy said. “See now why Skylar rocks?”

“I didn’t expect that,” Damon admitted.

Jimmy clapped him on the back before they began walking to Damon’s dressing room. “Don’t even try your puppy-dog eyes on that one. I saw you talking to her earlier too. Remember, I’ve got dibs.”

Damon laughed, though he didn’t remember talking to her like his manager said. It must have been a quick encounter. Before seeing Skylar with her fan, he really hadn’t liked her as a fellow performer despite Jimmy having raved about her all tour. The rage she spewed, or so he had thought, wasn’t his thing.

He didn’t bother to respond to his manager’s jest in calling dibs. Jimmy had been with him since the beginning and knew all there was to know about his rock star sex life, or the lack thereof. Well, he knew almost everything. Not even his manager realized how inexperienced Damon was. Quick encounters had never been his thing, though he indulged in them occasionally. Damon enjoyed learning a woman’s body and was very giving when he did hook up. Oral sex was the farthest he would go, though. The press would have had a field day if they ever realized he wasn’t much better than a virgin. There’d only been two girlfriends in his past. The first was before he joined his initial band on tour and left her behind. They’d lost their virginity together. She’d been about to break up with him anyway, on her way to college, so he hadn’t felt guilty about it.

He'd gotten a big break in his music career early on, and the quick jump to rock star fame had added a pressure to excel, especially at sex, that he hadn’t been able to break free of. He’d managed only one more relationship after joining the band. His second ever girlfriend had done everything she could to tear down his confidence. It hadn’t taken much. He’d always felt like an imposter. Just remembering her sneer made him want to flinch. It had been quite a few years since they’d been together, he realized with a frown. Well before he’d struck out on his own.

Damon was more than ready to take a long overdue break to visit his now married sister, Erin. He hadn’t yet met her new husband. He was looking forward to being with his friends and family in person for the first time in nearly a year. A lot had changed in that time.

Jimmy hesitated as they paused outside Damon’s dressing room. “How about I go in and get rid of it this time?”

His manager offered every time, but Damon shook his head like he always did. “I’ve got it.”

Jimmy glanced down the hall in both directions, lowering his voice. “The press caught whiff of the investigators we have on it. You freaking out again won’t help things die down.”

Damon’s lips pressed together. “I didn’t freak out.”

“Right, right,” Jimmy muttered, not meeting his gaze. “I just don’t think you need more of this shit at the moment. I can go in first.”

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