Page 52 of I Need You Tonight
Chapter 18
Mason
In the studio, I took the empty seat between Nolan and Kirk and put on the headphones. The wall behind the two DJs contained autographed eight-by-ten photos of rock bands, past and present. Some of my all-time favorites were there, with the drummers who had inspired my love for the instrument.
“All right, guys,” Stacey, one of the DJs said. “I need each of you to speak into your mikes, one at a time, so we can do a sound check.”
“What do you want us to say?” Nolan asked, then sat back, his part of the test now over.
“Anything you want,” replied Dennis, the other DJ, even though it had been a rhetorical question.
“I’m in the mood for pizza,” I said.
Kirk snorted a laugh. “You’re always in the mood for pizza.” True enough.
“And beer,” Jared added, stating the obvious. He fiddled with the base of his microphone.
“I could go for pizza and beer before the show.” That was from Aaron.
“That’s good, guys,” Stacey said. “And we’re ready to go live in three…two…” She held up her index finger, then spoke into her mike. “We’re back now with the guys from Pushing Limits. And I’ll add that they’re looking mighty fine…Guys, how about you introduce yourselves?”
We did exactly that. Then, like with all our interviews, she asked about the album, the latest single, the tour—the standard stuff we could answer in our sleep, we’d been asked it so many times. I glanced out the studio window, to the hallway where Nicole was standing. She gave me a thumbs-up and smiled.
I nodded at her, wishing this interview was over and she and I were back in the elevator, alone. It was less than twenty-four hours since I’d last had her in my arms—if you didn’t count what had happened on the way up in the elevator—and I missed the closeness and having her to myself. I had lusted over women before, but it had never felt like this. Maybe this was advanced-level lust, saved for special occasions.
“Let’s get a question from one of our listeners,” Dennis said. “Melody, you’re on.”
“Hi,” a young female voice squeaked in my headphones. “I was wondering which of the guys has a girlfriend.”
“Okay, guys,” Stacey said, “the females of America want to know which of you are still available.”
“I have a girlfriend,” Nolan replied, which everyone was aware of after what had happened earlier this year. He’d been romantically linked to the actress Alyssa Graham, but that had been a sham the record label had arranged. It was later revealed that he was in love with Hailey.
“From the reports I’ve heard,” Stacey said, “you two are pretty serious. Is that true?”
“More likeveryserious,” he replied. “There’s no other woman for me.” For a second I wondered if he was going to say more, maybe blurt out a clumsy proposal on the air, but he leaned back in his chair and waited for the next person to answer the question.
“I’m married,” Jared jumped in.
“Recently too,” Stacey said. “Congratulations.”
“Thanks!”
“Wow, popular with the female fans and already settling down,” Dennis piped up. “How do you do it, Jared? I mean, if I were in your shoes, I wouldn’t bother with settling down. I’d continue to enjoy dating.”
While he didn’t say it, we all knew what he meant. He wasn’t referring to actual dating. He was referring to what I’d been doing while touring—enjoying backstage sex with anyone interested in going there. But now that Nicole was touring with us, I wasn’t interested in being with anyone else that way—even if, for professional reasons, she and I weren’t allowed to have sex.
“It’s easy,” Jared said. “I love my wife and can’t imagine being with anyone else.”
Dennis didn’t look so convinced. Fortunately, Stacey stepped in before he could say anything else. “What about the rest of you guys?” While she might have been asking the question of all of us, she looked specifically at me.
I had to fight the urge to glance at Nicole standing in the hallway. The moment I did that, one of the DJs might very well jump on it and force me to say something I didn’t want to say—either a lie that would hurt Nicole or the truth. What was going on between us wasn’t up for discussion.
“I’m currently single,” I replied after a heartbeat.
“You have quite the reputation of being a ladies’ man, Mason,” Dennis said. “Are you happy to be back on the road?”
I wasn’t sure what he was implying, since there was plenty of ass back in L.A. that I could’ve hooked up with. My lays weren’t strictly confined to touring. But it was a lot easier dealing with them then, because after the show finished, the band moved on and the girls were left behind.
