AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I want to believe Jada is being sincere, until she abruptly turns her attention to Reid and asks, “It’s been quite some time since you’ve been spotted with any ladies out and about. I know many out there are dying to know if the Reid Keely is finally off the market?”
I fight the urge to roll my eyes and tamp down the annoyance rising inside, especially when I see how Hayden and Nikolai have each seemed to deflate a bit, at ease that the attention is off of them and the topic has changed.
Reid shifts in his chair, too small for his large frame. Hell, all of these chairs are too small for us. What are we, fucking kindergarteners? Is this a tea party table for toddlers? I’m shocked as hell these plastic chair legs haven’t snapped under our weight.
“No comment,” Reid replies, grabbing his mug of tea set in front of him and taking a sip. Such a tease, that one. Not a denial, not a confirmation, just a no comment. Enough to keep people interested and curious to know more.
Jada’s eyes light up at his response, inching to the edge of her chair to lean closer, not even worried about being subtle anymore. But Reid’s eyes don’t once leave her face, as if challenging her to work harder, test the boundaries more, push the line as much as she can until it snaps. And when it does, she’s still not going to get what she wants.
Reid doesn’t have a girlfriend or even someone he’s talking to, but I know what he looks like when he’s interested in a woman and I know for a fact he’s not interested in this one blowing past her professional boundaries. Not that it would stop Reid, or has even stopped myself in the past, but this is a game to him, seeing how badly he can make a woman want him before snapping her out of it with a cutting comment and dust in his wake.
I cough, breaking the unrequited tension, and check my watch. Two minutes left in this interview before I know Arun will step in and pull the plug for us to go to sound check. And at the moment, I’m so very thankful that Arun is so big on punctuality. It normally annoys the shit out of me when he’s drilling time frames into our heads for even the simplest of tasks, but in cases like these, I relish him stepping in and cutting the interview off.
Sensing that she’s starting to lose the rest of the band, Jada directs what I hope will be her last question to me. “Walker, can you tell us what fans can expect from you all on this tour?”
Basic question but appropriate. Her first one this whole time.
I crack my neck side to side and sit forward, intertwining my hands on the table.
“Fans can definitely expect to hear staple songs from our entire discography, not just our fourth album that we previously were going to tour, although they will get a lot of songs from that one as well. Some fan favorites that we haven’t played a lot on other tours or for festivals for the ones who have been with us through many of our different eras. And they can expect a high caliber entertaining show. Performing is what we do best as a band and I know people are going to appreciate the time and work we’ve put into making this show our very best.” I mentally pat myself on the back for that answer, and judging by the smile on Arun’s face, he’s happy with my response as well.
He steps forward, and Jada must feel the end coming near, because she quickly wraps up the interview, thanking us all for our time and wishing us luck on the tour. A brief handshake and she’s off with her cameraman, leaving us to heave a sigh of relief that we made it through our first interview of the tour.
I stand and stretch, needing to warm up my muscles before the show, and walk to the table in the corner piled high with food and drinks. I pour myself a tequila on the rocks, relishing the warmth that spreads down my throat as I take my first sip. Reid sidles up next to me, pouring one for himself. I hold my cup out in cheers, which he returns and we each take another sip.
“Feeling exhausted after that eye-fucking you just got for the last fifteen minutes?” I tease, laughing into my cup.
Reid holds out his hand, a small piece of paper in it, while he takes another drink.
“Of fucking course.” I laugh, ripping the paper from his hand and opening it to see a number in neat handwriting with a little heart after the last digit.
“When she’d slip that to you?”
“Shaking hands before she left,” Reid says. “Actually a little impressed by how slick she was with it. Didn’t even realize what she did until she was already onto Nikolai thanking him for the time.”
The ladies love Reid, have since we were sixteen.
“Gonna give her a reason to stick around after the show?” I ask, knowing that even though we’ll be peeling out right after the show ends tonight, there’s still about two hours for Boone’s set that we have to wait for.
Reid shakes his head, tossing the paper in the small trash can at the end of the table, before topping off his drink and pouring a second one that he walks over to Nikolai.
Now, as annoying as the interviewer’s question was, it does have me thinking. I haven’t seen Reid with anyone in a while. He never has serious relationships, always going for flings or one-time things. But even those seem to have ceased lately as far as I can tell. There’s no way he’s in an actual relationship and none of us know about it.
But it does make me wonder why the parade of women that Reid usually boasts seems to have stopped.
10
WALKER
The second show goes by in a blur. Screaming fans, aching arms, a permanent smile I can’t wipe off my face. The buzzing adrenaline doesn’t fade as I walk offstage, arm slung around Hayden’s shoulder, both of us smiling ear to fucking ear, proud of the performance we just put on.
“Sticking around to watch Boone’s set tonight?” Hayden asks, tossing me a water bottle from the mini fridge in our greenroom. I catch it, chugging half in one go.
“Not tonight.” My once light green tee is fully plastered to my chest, the color now a few shades darker. The sweat is starting to become itchy as I begin to dry off. As I walk over to the table to pour myself a fresh drink, I cringe at the thought of peeling off my black jeans, so damp with sweat that feel like they’ve been swam in.
“I’ll see you on the bus then,” Hayden says, heading back out to watch Boone. I loved watching him the first night, but with this only being the second show, there are plenty more for me to catch over the upcoming months, and right now, the tiny little thing we call a shower on the bus is calling my name.
I walk down the winding hallways toward the back entrance where all of our buses are set up, nodding at the security that line the way. These guys are mostly venue staff, not the security traveling with us on the road full time. I tower over most of them, packing more muscle than at least half, but I still feel a peace of mind having them here, knowing the comfort that it brings Hayden and Nikolai to have these folks watching out for us and everyone coming to the shows.
