Abby and the Cute One (Backstage Pass) (11 page)

Chapter Seventeen

Abby

A
bby sat cross-legged on the same big black box she’d watched the show from last night. Nathan waved to the hot dog guy and his two girls in the third row when he popped out from underneath the stage.

The girls screamed and hugged each other. They’d painted “I’m a Strong girl” on their arms. Abby held back tears as she laughed.

Nathan was living her fantasy and he was so good at it. If she could just get over her stupid stage fright, her path would be so much easier.

The concert flew by. The guys were so in tune, so alive. They played to the crowd. They weren’t up there just singing heads, they talked to the audience, they waved to the fans nearby, even had actual conversations with them when they weren’t singing. They were there
for
the fans, not because of them.

Especially Nathan, who was always so genuine. When fans screamed, “We love you Nathan!” he made a heart with his hands and mouthed, “I heart you, too.” It was one thing seeing YouTube videos of this, but seeing it in person was a completely different story. He was so magnetic. So perfect.

And so off-limits.

As Will got the crowd going between songs, Miles spoke with the rest of the group near the drum set. After they broke their huddle, Nathan walked toward her on the stage and motioned for her to come closer.

She froze, her chest tightened, and dread fell on her like a bucket of ice water. He motioned for her again and Beau took her elbow. “Come on, kid. You’re wanted.”

Holy bejeezus what was going on? Why were they bringing her on stage?

After the crowd roared the last of Will’s repeat after me routine, Miles told the audience they were bringing out their new opening act. Nathan held his hand out to Abby and she took it, stepping on one large black box after another until her foot hit the stage.

Her body rumbled with adrenaline.

Nathan leaned toward her. “We’re singing ‘The One’ together. All of us. Just like we did in rehearsal yesterday. Okay?”

Abby nodded as Justin ran out with a mike and got her all wired up with an earpiece. Her heart thumped in her throat, in her head, her ears, everywhere. Somewhere far away, someone shouted her name over and over as Miles egged the crowd on. He pumped his fist in the air while the crowd screamed. Her stomach did a somersault.

Talk about dreams coming true.

Abby didn’t even have to fake the smile on her face. She clapped her hands with the rest of the guys and then Miles shouted, “Let’s do this!”

The band intro’d the song and slowed it down the way Abby liked. Nathan winked at her, and Will led her front and center of the stage.

She looked down and found Jimmy again with his two girls. They’d said this was their favorite song. Screwing it up was not an option.

On cue, Abby sang. She drifted over the stage, reached out to touch hands, and played off the other guys. But most of all, she had fun. It was amazing. And to think she’d get to do this for the rest of the tour. As the band played the last notes, she bowed and gave Miles and Trevin high fives as she jogged toward the side of the stage, out of view.

Justin waited there to de-mike her. “That sounded awesome. Great job, Abby.”

She smiled and watched the rest of the show. It was different the second time around. She glanced up just before the rain poured from the ceiling and saw the mechanics of it all. The crowd went absolutely nuts, and this time, their energy made her feel alive.

The guys waved, bowed, and shouted good night. Justin pulled her out of the way just as they all ran toward her. The guys all smiled but kept running. “They have to hurry to beat the craziness,” Justin said in her ear.

Abby nodded and followed after them. At the end of the hall, LJ spoke excitedly with his arm around Nathan. When Nathan saw her, he nodded and looked away. LJ glanced at Abby, too, frowned, and pulled Nathan into a more private area. After a few moments, LJ said, “That’s my boy.”

When Nathan returned to the hallway, his face was pink. She waited until S2J’s manager walked away then went up to Nathan. “Great show,” she said.

A roadie pushed past her and she fell against him. He stiffened and she quickly pulled away. “Sorry.”

He shrugged and glanced down the hall. “You did great, too. The crowd was really into it.”

She blushed. “It was amazing. I’ve never felt anything like it.”

His eyes softened as he gazed at her. “I know the feeling.”

For a few moments, Abby felt the promise they made to each other slip away. She inched closer. He stared into her eyes. She wanted nothing more than to pull him in some dark corner until Nathan shook his head, completely breaking the spell they put on each other.

“I’ve got to get going. They’ll be waiting for me.”

He turned and she walked behind him as they made their way to the busses.

“Aren’t you cold?” she asked as the cool night air settled over her.

He didn’t turn around. “Yeah, there’ll be someone here…yep, there they are.”

Mrs. Carlisle held some clothes out to Nathan and he went behind a door. Marsha smiled at Abby. “I’m glad you’re here. You’ll be sleeping on our bus tonight for the trip to New York. Just temporary.”

Reeta had already called before the concert began to tell her the same thing. It was nice to know there were others watching after her too though.

“Your manager had your stuff sent over so it’s already waiting for you on the bus.” Mrs. Carlisle knocked on the door behind her. “Come on, Nathan. They’ll be wanting to go. You were already running late.”

Nathan strode out with a fresh new white shirt and a pair of hip-hugger jeans, his wet ones in his hand. Mrs. Carlisle tsked as she took the clothes from him. “It’s like I have five children.”

They walked ahead together and Abby said, “I’m riding on Mrs. Carlisle’s bus tonight.”

He was silent for a moment until he faintly whispered, “I wish I could, too.”

Abby’s heart skipped a beat.

Nathan led her to a bus a couple down from the one where the guys were all shirtless and hot on the side. “Here’s Not Tonight,” he said.

“Nathan,” someone yelled. “We’re waiting for you.”

Abby turned as Beau walked toward them, shaking his head. Nathan sighed.

Beau waved. “LJ called a band meeting. Video chat in five.”

Nathan’s shoulders sagged. “Fine.” He turned to Abby. “I really have to go now. Guess I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Abby tried not to sound as disappointed as she felt. It was harder than she expected to ignore what she felt for him. “Yeah. Sure.”

Nathan jogged away and Abby headed up Not Tonight’s stairs by herself. How fitting. Clearly, nothing
was
going to happen tonight.

She found her things lying on a bunk so she changed in the bathroom and jumped into bed. She tried to watch an episode of
The Vampire Diaries
on her phone, but she couldn’t get into it. Whenever Damon kissed Elena, she got far more pissed off than usual, so she just shut it off.

Her phone buzzed with a Twitter mention—from @NathanStrongS2J. Stomach happy dancing, she pulled up the tweet.

@TrevinJacobsS2J @WillFrayS2J @DaisyRecycles4<3 Remember when we did this? @Abby_Curtis

Below his tweet was a link to a video. Abby pushed play and Nathan filled her phone’s tiny screen. He was singing “The One” into a cell phone.

It was a video of Nathan giving away the tickets to Jimmy and his kids. Someone had uploaded it to YouTube. All over again, the same rush of emotion swamped her as she watched him sing to those girls and tell them about the tickets. If she hadn’t already known she’d fallen for him, the proof was how that video made her feel.

She felt like one of his lovesick fans—and worse, she could never be anything more than one. Someone who could only admire him from afar.

Abby went back and forth on whether she should reply to him. She didn’t think it was smart, but on one hand, he’d mentioned her, wasn’t it only polite to respond? After all, it wasn’t as if they’d been very smart up to this point. Her, seeking him out after their “lunch” and tonight’s show. Him, kissing her on S2J’s tour bus and tagging her on Twitter for everyone to see.

When she finally decided she was going to, it took another ten minutes to figure out what to tweet. Twenty minutes later, after she’d read and re-read her tweet, she sent her reply:

@NathanStrongS2J That was all you and your kind generosity. So excited I get to tour with @SecondstoJuliet!

A few seconds after she’d sent the tweet, her phone lit up with another Twitter mention. It was Nathan again.

Hey everyone, check out @Abby_Curtis killing it on stage tonight with #SecondstoJuliet’s “The One.” Glad to have her on tour.

Holy cupcakes. How sweet was he? Within moments, she had fifty new followers on Twitter and like, twenty mentions. There were a few haters, but most of them complimented her voice. Abby thought she’d melt right there in the bunk.

She bit her lip and screamed into her pillow. This was all the public interaction she could ever hope for from Nathan, and as sweet as it was, she wanted more. She wasn’t just S2J’s opening act—she and Nathan had something special and she wanted to scream it to the world.

But she couldn’t. They couldn’t. Not if they didn’t want to risk major backlash that could mess up their careers.

The phone vibrated in her hand and Reeta’s face appeared on the screen. She swiped the phone to answer it. “Hi, Reeta.”

“I saw the video of you singing on stage with S2J. Looked great. The execs saw it, too, and LJ agrees. You’re going on tomorrow.”

Abby’s breath caught in her throat. Tomorrow would be the big day. But instead of nerves wreaking havoc on her stomach, she had excited jitters and goose bumps.

“Abby? You there?”

“Yeah. Sure. That’s great news.”

“I’ll email you the new schedule.”

Abby hung up and laid down, her hands and legs outstretched as far as they would go. This was it. Until now, things had been fun, as if she were just playing a part.

It was about to get real.

She only wished she could have Nathan by her side to help her through it.

Chapter Eighteen

Nathan

Nate,

You are freaking incredible. Just listening to your music makes me, ugh!, I don’t know…GET HOT. My sister and I fight over who’s the sexiest. I say you but she says Ryder. Personally, I’d let you be with me all day every day. I absolutely don’t care that you’re like, two years younger than me. Just think…I’m more experienced. ;)

Who’s this Marissa chick you’re hanging out with? She’s disgusting. She seems like such a fake…you know what. I don’t care if she’s a famous actress or whatever. I think you need to get with a real girl. Like me. Haha.

If you’re ever around Grand Rapids, I think you know who to call.

Bye sexy boy,

Maddie

A flying UFO hit Nathan in the shoulder as he lay in his bunk on the bus. The interruption was welcome. He’d been staring at the “fan” letter for far longer than necessary. Some girls…he shouldn’t say that, some
people,
were only out for themselves. The letter was less about being a fan and more about throwing herself at him.

Nathan peered down at a glossy magazine with his face on the pages. He’d never in a bajillion years get used to that. Will cleared his throat and in his best girl voice read the bold text next to Nathan’s face. “We just love to love Nathan with his smoky-highlighted features and eyelashes that make girls not only swoon but cry out with envy.”

Nathan shook with suppressed laughter. “Cry out with envy, huh?”

“It’s the latest issue of
Teen Vogue
,” Ryder said as he came up behind Will, a beef jerky in hand. They were making an unsanctioned pit stop not far outside of Jersey to grab some snacks for the rest of the ride. Their bus driver was pretty cool like that.

Ryder smacked his beef jerky against the glossy magazine. “There’s a whole section in there on how girls should dress so they can go with our signature looks. I’ve got the hottest girl. Leather everything. Be jealous.”

“Not when I have eyelashes that make them cry out with envy.”

Ryder smirked. “Whatever, little man.”

Nathan dodged his playful punch. “Be jealous.”

Ryder pulled up against the bunk opposite Nathan and propped his feet next to Nathan’s head. Will, Trevin, and Miles ducked under his legs with their stash of junk food and moved to the back of the bus.

Things between him and Ryder had continued on just as they had. Neither one of them had muttered a single word about the bus incident with Abby, and Nathan couldn’t be more grateful.

Ryder nodded toward the “fan” letter. “Who’s that one from?”

Nathan shoved it to the side of his bunk. “Maddie. She thinks I’m sexier than you.”

“Not possible. You can’t be categorized as sexy until you hit seventeen. That makes what? Five more years for you?”

Nathan threw the magazine at Ryder’s chest. “Shut up.”

After a couple moments, Ryder smacked the wood bunk next to Nathan. “Dude. Did you see Trevin almost bite it during ‘Rock You’? The look on his face was freaking priceless. I hope some fan got that shot.”

Nathan did see Trevin trip over himself and probably still had lip indents to prove it. He’d bitten down hard to stop from laughing into the live mike in front of the entire crowd.

“Shut up, man.”

Ryder gazed toward the back of the bus, at the origin of the outburst. All it did was make him laugh harder until a steady stream of water pelted him in the face. Laugh cut short, he dropped to his feet. “I thought we said no more damn water guns on the bus.”

Trevin smirked. “Like we said no making out on the bus, too? Nobody followed that rule.”

Nathan almost raised his hand because, for all the rest of the guys knew other than Ryder, he had followed it.

Ryder shot him a daring look. Nathan wasn’t dumb. He knew when to keep quiet. The less everyone knew, the better, and he didn’t want to egg Ryder into saying something.

Mr. Bad Boy himself pretended to suck his thumb in Nathan’s direction and then caught a little neon green squirt gun out of thin air and pointed it at Nathan’s chest.

Not again.

Nathan threw his hands up in surrender. There was no way he wanted to sleep in a wet bed from an epic water gun fight. Again.

The hissing of the bus door’s air release interrupted the showdown and all five pairs of eyes moved to the front of the bus. Still pointing the water gun at Nathan’s chest, Ryder said, “This is the band member only bus. Are you lost, Beau?”

“Gun.” Beau outstretched his meaty hand.

“Not happening.”

“I bet LJ would love to hear of your unauthorized pit stop.”

Ryder rolled his eyes, strolled toward Beau, and put the water gun in his palm. It looked even more like a cheap plastic toy in their security guard’s huge grip.

Ryder’s bunk creaked as he threw himself on top of it. “Why are you here anyway?”

Trevin frowned. “It’s not Daisy, is it? Is she okay? I just talked to her a little while ago.”

Beau eyed Trevin. Every time they interacted when Daisy wasn’t around, Nathan sensed a little tension. There was a good possibility he’d never forgive Trevin for Daisy pulling a disappearing act on the both of them a couple months or so ago. That, and Trevin had been acting weird around Beau ever since he got with Daisy.

Beau’s stare made even Nathan pick up another fan letter and pretend to read it. Their security guard shook his head and waved Trevin away.

Nathan still thought Trevin had balls of steel, though. Beau was scary when he wanted to be and the last thing Nathan would’ve thought of doing was going after his daughter.

“Nathan?”

Damn. He lowered the letter and stared straight into two fierce-looking eyes. “Yeah?”

“LJ’s been trying to FaceTime you. Answer the phone.”

After tweeting with Abby right after the concert, he’d needed to put his phone on the charger, so he hadn’t noticed LJ’s attempts at contacting him. The guys had already video chatted with him earlier, letting them know Abby was doing a whole set at the next venue, so this call was probably about Nathan’s so-called mission. Great.

Nathan brought out his phone. LJ had apparently given up on FaceTime and texted him instead.

STOP tweeting Abby and STOP having private conversations with her like the one I saw earlier. The press is already trying to pair you two together because of your age and because all the other guys are attached and apparently you can’t stay the hell away from her. DO NOT FEED THIS RUMOR. Cheating on Marissa right now would be a very good way to get you both unemployed, along with the rest of the guys.

Nathan’s heart stopped and ice shot through his veins. His hands shook as he read the text again. This was it. LJ meant business. If the press ever found out about him and Abby, it would be the end of his world as he knew it.