Page 7 of Hard Rock Temptation
“What do you mean?” I asked quickly. “Why would she be stressing me out?”
A contemplative expression shifted across his face.
“We’re going on soon,” Chris said. “Better get out there.” He turned to give me a look as he walked past. “I know Kaylee’s like a little sister to all of us,” he started. “But what you’ve got to realize is, she’s also an adult.”
The jealous beast threatened to explode from my chest and grab Chris by the throat.
Then he clapped me on the shoulder with a meaty palm. “Maybe it’s time to get over yourself and make a move,” he said.
He left me frozen and speechless again in the hallway as he walked away.
THREE
KAYLEE
The roar that greeted us when our band name was announced was deafening. A hundred voices in a small room could cause more of a ruckus than ten thousand in a stadium, if those voices were fervent enough.
“Do you think they stacked the audience with our fans on purpose?” Anya whispered to me as we waited backstage.
“I’d rather assume we’re so big that the general public just loves us,” I said with a cheeky smile. “A nice boost to the ego, right?”
“None of us need that kind of boost.” Anya bit her lip to stifle a laugh. Or maybe she was biting her lip to keep it from trembling with nerves.
Micah had been right, most of us got over our nerves long ago. Not Anya, though. Despite how cool she seemed on stage, she still turned green while in the green room. Ha. Was it uncool to snicker at my own dumb joke?
“So about our first song…” I started.
“Mm-hm?” she hummed, dark brown eyes scanning the waiting audience.
“You know how I sorta-kinda-not-really wrote it about my mom in a‘I didn’t use your name so you can’t sue me for libel’kind of way?”
Anya flicked her eyes to me, now curious, and nodded for me to go on.
“I was wondering if this time you could do something different with it,” I said.
“Different?” she asked, cocking her head. “Like what?”
“I’ve got an idea,” I said. “It’s about the chorus.”
As I was outlining my idea, the rest of the guys in the band came barreling over, assistants and staff surrounding them in the front and the back, making an oddly protective-looking ring.
I nearly snorted. And here they were, with their entourage, making a scene wherever they went.
Micah broke away from the group first and began to make his way toward the curtain where Anya and I were standing. Our eyes met.
I don’t know what expression was on my face but he stumbled in his haste to turn on his heel. He instead moved to take a peek out of the curtain blocking us from the stage, as if that had been his intention all along. I continued staring at him, boring a hole into his back with my gaze alone.
“Oh,” Anya said knowingly. “Change the chorus, hm?”
I didn’t have time to give her any further instructions because the lights went down and we were ushered out from behindthe curtain and into our places on the stage. Anya took the microphone. Zain and Chris settled their guitar straps around their shoulders. Finn hefted his bass guitar in his hands. Micah took his place behind the keys. I settled myself firmly behind my drum set, making sure to have extra pairs of drumsticks sticking out of my knee-high boots.
I waited, anticipation growing in my chest, hands at the ready. Then the lights flared back on and it was go time.
The deep thrum of Finn’s bass guitar hit me straight in the gut and Anya’s singing went straight to my heart. She really had taken my idea and was running with it full speed. I’d been the one who’d written the lyrics so it made sense that I might feel overly-emotional. Her voice was full of such feeling that by the time she got to the chorus, I struggled to keep my eyes from stinging with the beginnings of tears.
I’ve been told since I was ten years old
that I shouldn’t be too bold
