Front & Center (Book 2 of the Back-Up Series) (13 page)

“Ugh…Hunter, I get your point now.” Dean grumps.

Hunter shrugs. “Told you so.”

The DJ’s get down to the real interview. The guys all visibly relax as they speak about their true passion. Their knowledge and love of music comes through with every word they utter. Their eyes glazed and their faces serene as if they were discussing a really beautiful vacation spot they all shared. They reply easily to all the questions thrown their way. Laughing comfortably, responding honestly. It’s a treat to watch, and it reminds me how lucky I am to have found this awesome bunch of men. Occasionally Dean or Diane will direct one question to me, as I try to answer with as much finesse as the guys. To my own ears though, I sound like a nervous wreck.

Things become a bit tense
when the phone lines are opened. The fans shamelessly ask all sorts of questions, from the exact moment we fell in love, to when will we be getting married, to whether the guys prefer boxers or briefs.

Jack
can’t resist letting them know Hunter goes commando, Scott prefers boxers with cartoon characters on them, (as he snickers) and he prefers briefs. Trey is still a mystery. When another caller asks what I prefer, I place my hand over Jack’s mouth just before he could embarrass me.

A
few calls are cut short the minute the DJ’s realize the callers do not have honorable intentions with their line of questioning. But all in all, it is a good interview. We end with a live rendition of
Committed
and considering the guys are working with borrowed instruments, we still sound really awesome.

During a commercial break
, Dean stands and says, “We’ll play
High Life
and
Nothing to Gain
when we return from commercial. Your agent also gave us a bunch of CD’s to gift to the listeners.”

“
You guys were awesome. We’d love you to come back again.” Diane moves around the counter to give us all hugs.

Dean nods behind her and says,
“By then it may be The Dean and Luke show though.”

“You’re such an ass.”

We say our good-byes before being ushered out of the studio. “Congrats guys! That was a great interview.” Jen says, as we all congregate in the lobby. “You can all go and relax. I’d like to meet up for breakfast tomorrow before you take off. Let’s meet in the hotel restaurant at check out. Band meeting, if you will.”

“Are we in trouble?” Hunter asks
, like he’s a four year old.

“No…why would
you think you are in trouble?” she smirks and leaves with Krista in tow.  “Enjoy your day off people.”

“We fully intend to!” Hunter yells back.

Jack pushes the elevator button. Minutes tick by and no elevators appear. One by one we all look at each other and all dart towards the stairwell, laughing uncontrollably the entire time. We all have one thing on our minds. Sleep.

Yesterday, after doing our radio show, I realized two things.

One…t
he evidence definitely proves our fame is exploding by the minute.

Two…I’m really happy
.

Leila sleepily opens
her eyes as I stroke her nipple with my fingertip. “Hey.”

“Hey.” I smile back, clearly showing her my euphoria.

“How can you be so happy in the morning?” She grumps adorably.

“Because the girl I love is naked in my bed.”

I pull her closer, trying to transfer my want for her through a kiss. My cell phone buzzes and it effectively interrupts our moment.

“Damn it.” I pull
away to retrieve the stupid device. “What!?” She laughs as I aggressively answer the call.

“Dude, where the fuck are you? You’re late.” Hunter says through the phone.

“I was just about to make love to my girlfriend.” I respond while she wraps her body around mine. I squeeze her tight, kissing the top of her head. She’s finally comfortable with our relationship in front of the guys.

“Congrats,
but you need to zip it in your pants, and get your girlfriend and your hard-on out here. You’re lucky it’s me calling you. Jennifer is about to barge into your room. There are some photographers outside, and Jen wants us to all leave together to maximize their efforts. Free publicity. So move your ass…now!" Hunter hangs up, and I look at the time on my phone. We’re not that late.

“Damn he’s bossy.”
Looking down at her, she looks totally freaked out. “What?”

“Photographers?”

“Yeah…so?”

“J
ack, it’s happening.”

“The fact we are gaining fame?
I know, it’s awesome.”

“Yea
h, there’s that and also all those people that heard our interview now know we are together and that we are having sex, thank you for that. The interview made it all so real, and it’s one thing to post words, but it’s another to say them out loud on a radio station that broadcasts to hundreds of thousands of people if not millions and millions, and it all just hit me and I really feel like I can throw up.”

As she stops to take a
much-needed breath, I tilt her chin up so she can stare into my eyes. “Baby?”

“Yea
h?”

“Shut the fuck up.”
I bend to kiss her passionately with the intent to just distract her, but my lower half instantly gets the memo and comes to the meeting. Taking her hand, I place it over my pulsing dick. “Now look what you did.”

“That’s from one kiss? I’m good.” She
squeezes and smirks.

“Well, you have to do something about it.”

“We can’t…we’re late.”

“
Your hand wrapped around it isn’t helping.”

She removes her hand. “Ok, problem solved.”

Regretfully, I pull away with my massive hard-on in tow. “Jeez, you’re such a buzz kill.”

“Our agent is the buzz kill.
Little Jack would hide if she came barging in here.”

He considers my words.  “First of all, not little. Second, i
t would take her at least four minutes to get up here.”

“Jack.”

“What?” She gives me a look. “Fine. You’re right. We need to get downstairs. We’ll boink as soon as we get on the bus.”

“Boink?
What are you eighty? Who says boink?”

“Come here, smartass.”
I attack her with groping, tickling and kissing. She giggles adorably, trying but failing to pry my arms and lips away from her body.

“Jack…
stop.” She gasps in between giggles. “Stop…we’re late.”

“Yea
h, yeah...I know.”

I reluctantly let
her go and she finds her clothes before disappearing into the bathroom. I should follow her in, but remembering what we did in there last night, following a naked Leila into that bathroom right now would be asking for trouble. I’m at full mast and there’s no time for a cold shower.

I throw on my rumpled clothes in record time
. Once I’m fully dressed and adjust myself, I then knock on the door.

“Let me in.”

“Are you going to be good?”

“Yes, I promise.”

We move around each other like we’ve been together for years and not merely weeks. As we stand side by side, doing mundane things like shaving or brushing our teeth, I want nothing more than to do this for the rest of our lives. It’s the normal, and the boring, that I most look forward to. I’m really not sure why. Maybe because I’ve never had someone to just
exist
with, to watch TV with, or make dinner with. I crave it now that I have her.

She watches me in the mirror.
“I think I love you smooth as much as much as I love your stubble.”

“Yeah? Which way do you prefer between your thighs?”
She stares at me and then rolls her eyes. “For the record, I know I love you smooth.”

“For the record, I used your razor
last night.” I gawk at her through the mirror as she smacks my ass and adds, “Hurry up.”

Fuck, that’s hot.

Leila goes to call the next elevator while I grab our bags. From down the hall, I can see her pacing and gnawing on her bottom lip.

“What?”

“I just remembered the photographers out there.”

“Babe, they’re just men who have cameras with very long lenses.” We both enter an empty elevator when I rationalize, “They are overcompensating for their small dicks. Have some sympathy. It must be tough going through life with a tiny dick.” I stroke her bottom lip with my thumb.

She looks up at me
and takes a healthy bite.

“Ow
. Seriously, what are you so nervous about?”

“
Oh, I don’t know, my face being plastered all over the Internet?”

“Just another thing you have to get used to.
In a few years your gorgeous face is going to be on the cover of Rolling Stone. Mark my words.”

“
Your face will be right next to mine.”

The elevator doors open just
when I bend to kiss her. A family waits to get on as I attempt to lead her out into the lobby, but I stop when I feel resistance. “Are you ready?”

She nods,
yet doesn’t take a step. I stand at the open door with our arms outstretched between us. I smile apologetically as they patiently wait. Leila takes a few deep breaths. After a few moments, she finally follows me out of the elevator. She mumbles, “Sorry,” as we pass them.

I can’t believe how nervous she is.

The lobby is clear. Her eyes shift around the room on alert for photographers.

I decide to
distract her. I bend and kiss her passionately in the middle of the hotel lobby. Her breath catches, she instinctively stiffens, but my lips moving over hers causes the undeniable spark to catch between us. I move my hands to her lower back and hold her up against me. She relaxes in my arms and completely submits.

When I break the kiss,
she slowly opens her eyes and pants heavily against my lips. “Let’s go, sweet lips.”

She blinks repeatedly
, while looking dazed and confused. Snapping back to reality, she takes a step backwards and pushes me away hissing, “You are so evil.”

Raising my eyebrows at her, I smile and say, “What?
You needed a distraction.”

Ignoring the stares from the hotel patrons, the front desk clerk and the
doorman, I grab her hand and drag her towards the restaurant to meet up with our band.

“Hey, gang.” I focus on Jen and grin. She
sits with crossed arms and a scowling face. Amanda and Patti look visibly uncomfortable and the guys are all smirking annoyingly.

“Relax
, Jen. We’re only a few minutes late.” I say, as we both sit at the table.

“Twenty-six.”

“Wait, back out and come back in. I want to get this on video.” Hunter says, holding up his phone.

“Shut up
, dickhead.”

Hunter laughs out loud, continuing to point his phone at me.
“Ooh, that was good. Insult me again, but put some meaning behind it this time.”

Trying to hid
e my smile, I point at his phone. “If you don’t knock it off, I’ll shove it up your ass and you’ll get plenty of meaning behind you.”

“Grow up…both of you.” Jen says impatiently.

“Yes, mommy.” Hunter responds, and we all go into hysterics.

Jen continues to
glare at us, waiting for us to act like adults.

“Ok, sorry. We’ll behave.” I placate our agent. “Can I order coffee before we have our band meeting?”

“Make it quick.”

The guys have already received their food. Leila and I quickly order breakfast. Jen starts to speak, and I cut her off. “Please don’t
talk until I take a few sips of coffee. I can’t promise I’ll behave until I do.”

Sighing she le
vels me with her gaze. “Sometimes I feel like I represent a bunch of preschoolers.”

“Ouch.” Trey responds.

Coffee, pancakes, eggs, bacon and a few more insults from our agent later, we are finally having an adult conversation.

“So, you all did a great job yesterday. I spoke to Gregory
, he said the response the station has received from your interview was phenomenal.”

Like
the preschoolers we are, we all break into grins while fist-pumping each other.

“Don’t get too cocky. Keep focused and do not let this go to
your heads.” She looks each and every one of us in the eyes. “I will not tolerate anyone screwing this up. Got it?”

“Loud and
clear.” Hunter responds for us, as the rest of us nod wordlessly.

“Good. T
here are a few photographers outside. We will all go out together. There are also a few fans. We’ll sign autographs, we’ll smile, and we’ll take pictures, and you two…” She points to Leila and me, “…will ignore questions regarding your relationship. Smile and say nothing. Got it?”

Now it’s our turn to nod wordlessly. “Good.
Let’s go.”

As we shuffle out of the restaurant, Leila’s nerves take control of her facial muscles. Her
puckered forehead and her teeth gnawing on her bottom lip are complete giveaways.

“Smile
, baby, or I’ll distract you again.” She plasters a big toothy grin on her face, making me laugh. “Perfect. But you have parsley in your teeth.” She sucks in a breath, stopping her in her tracks. “I’m kidding.”

“I hate you.”

Winking, I respond, “No you don’t.”

The minute we hit the parking lot, the reality of our success hits me. Yesterday,
when we boarded our buses, there wasn’t a single soul in sight. Today, there are a handful of photographers all taking pictures while a couple dozen fans start screaming for our attention.

Not bad
…

“Hey, you see the one in front with the two
foot lens? He’s probably packing three inches.”

She throws me a look and rolls her eyes.

We all do just as Jen asked, smiling, schmoozing and ignoring the relationship questions.
As we move towards our bus, one of the photographers calls out, “How long have you been together?”

Trey deadpans
, “Hunter and Scott would like their privacy during this stressful time.” With that, he boards the bus, leaving the cameras flashing and Hunter and Scott open mouthed, red faced, and ready to kill him.



“Hey, Liz. How are you?”

“Is this my famous brother who is too good to call his baby sister?”

“Ha…ha. I’ve been busy. Sorry.”

“I’m teasing. I know fame is
very
time consuming.”

“You’re a riot today.
So how are you?”

“I’m good. Busy. Where are you guys now?”

“We’re in Des Moines. How are Mom and Dad?”

“They’re great
. They are so proud of you guys. Dad started a scrap book.”

“You mean Mom.”

“Nope. I mean Dad. He keeps it on the coffee table. It’s so cute to watch him pull it out to add anything he can find to it. He has a page dedicated to each of you. Even Leila.”

“He’s finally gone off the deep end.”

Lizzy giggles. “I agree. Hey, so they want to fly out to see your show in Miami. They’ll combine it with a trip to see Grams and Pops. Don’t tell them I told you. They’ll kill me.”

“I won’t. Thanks for the warning. What about you? When are you coming out?”

“Well, funny you should ask, Evan and I are coming together.”