Page 14 of Doesn't Count

He chuckles, “This was all our manager. I want nothing to do with this.”

Khaos finally puts space between us and gives me another intense stare down before shaking his head. I suddenly feel incredibly insecure in my pink summer dress and jeweled flip flops.

“Look, we can take it as far as you’re comfortable with. I won’t pressure you into doing anything you’re not ready to do.” I say softly.

I watch his amber eyes light up for the first time since we’ve met, surely a smirk hiding beneath his mask. “You say that to all the guys you meet?”

"Just you.” I smile, hoping to widen this small window of tolerance. His eyes look past me to the barn doors and when he doesn’t say anything I continue. “Is there somewhere else we can chat? There are just a few things we need to sort out.”

He walks away to one of the stalls and when he returns, he has a metal folding chair. He slams it down in the center of the barn and nods his head towards it.

“I was kind of hoping somewhere with air conditioning and maybe less of a murder vibe.” I mutter, staring at him then the chair.

When he doesn’t answer, I take a seat. He steps closer to me, as if he thinks distance will lessen his intimidating presence. He just folds his arms across his chest and waits for me to speak.

“Okay,” I say awkwardly. “First, we should discuss the itinerary. When do you want to do interviews and when do you want to film?”

The barn is filled with silence. He doesn’t open his mouth; those eyes just glare at me.

“Are you just going to stare at me?” I sass, annoyed.

More silence.

I don’t know how I'm ever going to get this guy to open up to me if he can’t even answer a simple question. “I’m going to assume you’re okay with filming any time then.”

“No filming, ever.” He answers.

“What? Why not? That’s literally in the contract you signed!” I squeal, panicking.

“I don’t trust you.”

“You don’t know me!” I yell, the frustration getting the better of me.

“Fine, I’ll tell you how it’s going to be.” He bends down so he’s level with my face, his hands leaning on my thighs. “You’ll sit quietly, making your presence unknown on the bus. You ask us questions only when we say you can ask questions and will film, when we say you can film. Got it?”

I can feel my breath quickening, an anger taking hold of me. My whole body starts to shake, and I just know this jerk is enjoying every moment.

I push his hands away from my thighs, jumping to my feet. I stomp towards the barn doors, turning around at the last second. “Or I can take my butt back to Chicago, let the whole world know that the lead singer of Night’s Deadly Deeds, your very own Khaos, is an egotistical, controlling jerkwad who deserves to crash and burn.”

I don’t let him get a word in before stomping away. I pull my cell phone out to call myself another Uber because there is no way in hell that I am going to deal with this for six months. As my luck would have it, no signal. I groan out loud with my face towards the sun, then stomp over to the bus.

This time another bandmate opens the door. He’s lean, tall,and has long blonde hair, which means this must be the drummer, Hypnos. He raises his eyebrows in question.

“No service. I need to call an Uber.” I explain, holding my cell in the air.

“Where are you going?” He asks me, his voice deep.

“Back to the airport. Doesn’t look like your boss wants me around.” I pinch my lips.

He holds a hand out as if to steady me. “Hang on, just... Wait.”

He slides past me and pushes straight into the barn. I can hear arguing between the two, but unable to make the actual words out. It’s a few minutes before the final member of the band, Thanatos, the bassist, comes outside and stands next to me. He has dark hair like Khaos, but it’s shorter and has eyes that match mine. He looks older than me, but they all do. It’s most likely the way they’re built.

It’s almost fitting that the band members are all named after Greek Gods. I’d worship every single one of them... except Khaos. He’s not so much a God, but the Devil.

“We do want you here. Khaos, he just has a hard time with the whole publicity thing. He’s the reason we wear the masks. He has major trust issues.” Thanatos offers. “You can call me Than, by the way.”

I shake the hand he holds in front of me, a smile touching my lips. “You can call me Ash.”

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