Catch My Breath (44 page)

“I don’t like this either!” Danny called from the kitchen. “He doesn’t deserve it.”

“Put Danny on the phone,” his mom said.

It was a common ploy for the two of them, to gang up on Elliot. They did it on everything from who did the dishes to big things where they felt like they knew best. Elliot didn’t hate it—they both cared and that was important to him—but he still rolled his eyes. And smiled a little at the same time.

“D, she wants to talk to you.”

Danny came over and took the phone from Elliot, running his hand along the small of Elliot’s back. They never wasted opportunities to touch each other anymore. Danny talked his mother down from the ledge of hiring a team of lawyers to sue their management and the record label. As much as Danny hated it, as much as Elliot would love to take down the gossip monsters, both of them knew she had zero chance of winning—or even proving anything. The best thing Elliot could do was ride it out.

When they’d both said goodbye to her, Elliot flopped down onto their couch. Danny sat in the corner and pulled him down to lie with his head in Danny’s lap while Danny stroked through Elliot’s curls. It felt good to have Danny’s touch, even if his mom had stirred up a bunch of shit he didn’t feel like thinking about.

“I wish you didn’t have to deal with this, love. I just don’t understand how all those people can’t see the real you. All they gotta do is
look
at you. It’s so obvious.”

“They believe what they read. I don’t blame them. Before all this, I’d have probably been exactly the same. They have no reason to think they’re being lied to.”

“But none of it is on your face,” Danny grumbled. “You’d think if someone was a womanizing party boy who did too many drugs, they’d at least start to look like that? You look like my Elliot, the same guy I met when we were kids.”

Elliot snorted. “When we were kids. It was last year, D.”

“Hey, it’ll be a year and a half at Christmas.”

“It’s barely November.” Although Danny had a point. It felt like a lifetime ago and not a year and a handful of months.

Danny smirked and attacked Elliot with tickles. Elliot grinned and giggled and fought back. He had one of those rare moments where he
felt
like the old Elliot. Only Danny could make him feel like that, and sometimes the other guys. Usually only Danny though. They calmed eventually, but stayed on the couch, Elliot’s head in Danny’s lap, Danny’s hand trailing absentmindedly underneath Elliot’s T-shirt.

“What’s up?” Elliot asked after Danny had been quiet for a few minutes.

“Nothing.”

“That’s not your ‘nothing’ voice.” Elliot covered Danny’s hand with his own and squeezed. “Good try. Tell me what’s wrong.”

“It’s just….” Danny sighed loudly. “I fucking hate it when they treat you like you’re some gross sleaze. Even if you were dating women, you’d do it with respect. You’d never parade them around like conquests.”

“If I was dating women and there wasn’t anything to prove, they’d probably leave me out of the damn tabloids. Doesn’t matter. I’m never
going
to date women, and this has to calm down eventually. People can’t stay interested in my fake escapades forever.”

“Management will keep it up as long as they feel like they need to. And sometimes I swear people are only interested in what they’re told to be interested in.” Danny sighed. “I don’t like how all of this has changed the way I look at people. I think I’d rather go back to not knowing.”

Elliot agreed, but he really didn’t feel like thinking about it. He turned and buried his face in Danny’s lap. “Can we not today? I just want to hang out here with you and watch a movie and chill. We have a long week in the studio coming up.”

“Sorry, babe. It just makes me mad. I want everyone to see what I see, what the guys see.”

“I know, and I love you for it. Let’s just watch a movie.”

T
HREE
weeks later, Static went onstage to perform for the Iris Foundation, raising money for children with leukemia. It was something they’d all wanted to do, a good way to use their notoriety rather than the countless bad ways they’d dealt with on a regular basis.

There was a huge difference between a concert hall filled with celebrities and socialites and their typical room of screaming fans. They came onstage to polite applause instead of shouts and whistles, and quite a few of them clearly didn’t know any of their songs. Danny didn’t care. It was like the beginning, back when they were touring the radio stations and most of the country had never heard of them. It was an opportunity for them to impress a new audience. Danny knew they had it in them.

It was also a chance for him to be onstage with Elliot again—the way it was supposed to be. Sure, they didn’t have their typical audience of girls who’d giggle every time one of them flirted with another member, but that didn’t stop any of the boys. Reece and Webb and even Tate, who’d loosened up quite a bit since the
Band Camp
days, joked around onstage and put their arms around each other. Danny and Elliot flirted when they sang up-tempo songs, and stared their way through the two ballads.

It was perfect.

“W
E
’
RE
here live on the red carpet with Static who generously took part in this concert to benefit The Iris Foundation. That was a great performance, guys!”

“Thanks,” Danny answered. The others nodded and smiled.

“Can any of you remind me what tonight’s proceeds will go toward?”

Webb took that one. “The Iris Foundation funds research to help end childhood leukemia and other cancers. Tonight, though, was about the families, about the children who are faced with the realities of cancer every day. The money raised will go toward home care, paying medical bills for families who can’t, food, even housing. The things these children and their families need immediately, not ten years down the line.”

The rest of the boys nodded. Their interviewer cleared his throat. Danny could almost see him thinking, “Okay, enough depressing shit. Move on.”

“How was it performing again?”

“It just felt really good to get back onstage,” Reece said with an enthusiastic smile. “Although the crowd was quite a bit different than our usual sort.”

Everyone chuckled at that. Danny didn’t really think it was funny, but he’d learned the art of the social laugh years before he was ever in Static.

“A lot of things have changed since you boys returned. Danny, you’re single now?”

Danny nodded. He didn’t want to nod. He wasn’t single. He didn’t want people to think that anymore. Something had happened to him while he and Elliot weren’t together. It probably had to do with that awful yawning black void he’d felt in him when he thought he’d lost Elliot for good. It had scared any last drop of hesitancy out of him. Elliot was his. He’d do anything to make sure that never changed.

“And Tate, you’ve recently moved in with your girlfriend?”

“Yeah, but I’d prefer not to talk about it.” Tate smiled like the sweet guy he was to take any edge off his words.

“Reece, Webb—you two are single too?” Reece and Webb nodded. Nausea roared in Danny’s belly. He knew what was coming next.

The interviewer chuckled and elbowed Elliot. “We know you’re single. You’ve managed to prowl your way through half the female population of Los Angeles and maybe a few other cities when you’re out on tour. Any tips for the less fortunate gentlemen out there?” He leered at Elliot.

Danny watched Elliot flounder uncomfortably. It hurt so bad, having to stand there while his poor boyfriend refused to defend himself. “It’s not really like that,” Elliot mumbled. He added a shy smile, but it was obvious his smile wasn’t comfortable.

“Then give us the scoop, El.” Danny wanted to strangle the jackass. El? He didn’t get to call him that. Anger, acid-hot and huge bubbled around in him. Danny didn’t think he’d ever
been
so angry.

Keep talking, douche wad….

“How many of those conquests really happened and how much of it was pure rumor?” Elliot seriously looked like he was about to pass out. His tactic of staying quiet and not complaining only worked so far.

“Ummm….” Elliot’s face had gone bright red.

“C’mon. Man-to-man. You can tell me,” the reporter prodded. “How ’bout Georgia Dixon. She’s a hottie, isn’t she? I heard you spent a few weekends at her place.” He elbowed Elliot again.
Wink, wink, nudge, nudge.

Danny was done.

Fuck it. Fuck it all.

“None of them have been true,” Danny mumbled.

“What?” The reporter flipped back to Danny, mic in hand.

“I said none of the rumors are true,” Danny repeated slowly and clearly. And just because he was tired of all the shit they’d been through, all the rumors, all the hurt, he went for it. “Elliot’s with me.”

Danny smiled at the camera, and then he leaned over, across Reece, and cupped his hand around Elliot’s neck. He drew Elliot in for a slow, tender kiss—nothing too deep, just intimate and soft and clearly not a first kiss. Elliot’s lips froze in shock for a moment, but then he returned the kiss, bringing his hand up to tangle in Danny’s hair.

The flashes of the press cameras went wild, like an angry swarm of carnivorous fireflies out to take little chunks of them piece by piece until there wasn’t anything left to take. Danny was done letting them eat him alive. He was done letting them gnaw on Elliot one bloody bite at a time. Danny kept his eyes closed, but he could still feel the lights burning against the side of his face. He may have just incited yet another feeding frenzy. At least it was
their
feeding frenzy for once.

When he pulled back from the kiss that would most likely turn his entire life inside out, Danny slowly started to register just how much he’d dragged his bandmates into so very publicly. He started to apologize before he saw three huge smiles. Reece clapped a hand on his shoulder then traded places with him so he could stand by Elliot for once. Webb gave him a huge thumbs-up, Tate just grinned silently. Elliot looked shell-shocked but stared at him with a slow-growing, lovey smile.

Holy shit.

“Well, fellas, that was quite a show. What was that all about?” The interviewer asked. Danny was sure the guy had a name, but it didn’t matter. All that mattered was he’d done it. They’d done it. With so many cameras on live television, their management couldn’t make this disappear. They were out.

“I think we’re done making comments. Thanks for coming out tonight to support The Iris Foundation,” Danny said with a brilliant smile. He slid his hand into Elliot’s, weaved their fingers together, and waved with his free hand to the crowd. They walked side by side behind Reece the rest of the way to their car.

Chapter 23

“I
DON
’
T
think I have to tell you two what this meeting is about.” Sasha strode into his office where Danny and Elliot had been waiting in the chairs they’d sat in so many times before—when they first got chosen, when they’d gotten their contracts, when the whole mess with hiding who they were first started. “In fact, I don’t think I have much to say at all. Bottom line. You’ve caused too much trouble to the label. It’s cost a lot of time and money to build the right image for this band, and you undermine us constantly. The team has come to the conclusion that it’s best to replace you in Static. Both of you. It shouldn’t be hard. Pretty boys with nice voices would line up ten deep to take either of your places.”

“Bu—”

“Nobody wants a big media circus—at least not a bigger one than you’ve already started. If you go quietly, Blue Horizon won’t sue.”

Sasha went on to describe the process of replacing them and the release Blue Horizon would make to the press as soon as they’d found suitable replacements. Danny and Elliot were to keep their mouths shut. At the moment, that wasn’t difficult. They sat in shock for a long time Danny suddenly stood and slammed his palms down on Sasha’s desk.

“Bull
shit
you’re getting rid of us. This is California. I’m pretty sure you can’t fire someone for being gay.”

“Well,
I’m
pretty sure breach of contract will hold up in any court of law,” Sasha countered. Danny blanched and Elliot reached out to put a hand on the small of his back. He wanted to stand up for them, but he had no idea what to even say. “Like I said, I don’t want a media circus, and it would only affect the three remaining members of Static negatively. I’ll have our legal team contact you about the terms of your contract’s severance.”

“You can’t be serious,” Elliot whispered. He knew Sasha was serious. It was over. “Can’t you at least let Danny stay? I’m the one who was pushing—”

“We’re done here.” Sasha gestured toward the door. “Please show yourselves out.”

Danny and Elliot stood and walked silently to the door of Sasha’s office, through the halls of the building, and out into the bright early winter sun. “Did that really happen?” Elliot asked. He was waiting for tears, for acceptance. All he felt was numbing shock. “It went so quickly, there wasn’t even a fight.”