Hotbox (46 page)

“So Ty,”
Nick
said to me with a smile. “Do you think you’d let this girl tour with me?” He put his arm around her shoulder and squeezed
her close to him
. “She keeps turning me down. Maybe you could convince her?”

Had I not known how completely talented she was, I would have thought he was just trying to flirt with her.

“Hey, where’s Mason?” he
suddenly
asked, glancing around.

“Probably lining up a week’s worth of dates,” Jayden replied, looking around as well. She finally spotted him and called him over. “I didn’t tell him you were coming, just in case,” she added.
“And don’t mention that Rod is here,” she warned with her finger, and
Nick
agreed.

Shawn made his way over, his face questioning why she’d pull
ed
him away from the two girls he was with. Then he saw
Nick
and laughed. “Oh, no way! What are you doing here?” he asked as he slapped his hand
and gave him a hug
.

“I was invited,” he replied, smiling at Jayden. “At least someone keeps in contact,” he scowled at Shawn. “Why won’t you send me your stuff?”

Shawn paused for a second, and then looked at Jayden suspiciously. I was worried that he was going to make a scene, but instead, he just shrugged it off. “Maybe when I’m completely done. Or…compl
etely happy with it.”

“We’re here until tomorrow
night
if you want to jam,”
Nick
told him. “Apparently someone else is busy tomorrow,” he accused Jayden with a smile.

“Hey, priorities,” she shrugged,
sliding
her arm around me.

It helped build my confidence a bit.

Shawn and
Nick
talked for a few more minutes until one of Shawn’s techies came to him with a problem.
He
agreed to a time that
Nick
could meet up with him the next day, and then made his way toward the stage.

Nick
turned to Jayden and shook his head. “
‘
Crazy Train
’
? That was
…crazy
,” he laughed.
“I am
blown away! That was insane!”

“I simplify some of it,” she smiled with a shrug.

Nick
made a noise of disbelief. “Yeah, right. I couldn’t even tell.
Why can’t you take that
talent
on the road?”

“I don’t want to,” she said, like she’d said it a million times.

“I know, I know. But
I wish you’d reconsider. Uh,
Rod was
just as
impressed with you
as
he was Shawn,” he told her
, lowering his voice
. “You would be so successful, Jay, I swear…”

With a smile she said, “If it didn’t consist of touring and being
on stage…
”

“Then just record the album,” he replied, but he was smiling, like he
already knew
one couldn’t come without the other
. “Well, we’re about to start working on our next album in October. Pl
ease tell me you’ll lay some tracks for me
?” He gave her an expectant face.

She laughed but shook her head. “I don’t know. I’ll let you know when the time comes, I guess.”

“Fair enough,” he nodde
d. “Oh
by the way,
the
wife says hi.”

He was marrie
d? It didn’t really occur to me
but…yeah, I guess he had a ring on his finger. My body seemed to relax a little. I didn’t know why I felt so insecure.

“Tell her hi from me, as well,” Jayden replied. “How’s she feeling?”

“A lot better this time,” he nodded.

“They’re about to have their second baby in a few months,” Jayden informed me.

“Oh, congratulations,” I offered. “What do you have already? A boy? Girl?”

“A boy. He’s
one-and-a-half
.”

“His name is
Sam
,” Jayden
told me.
“And you believe you’re having a girl next, right?” she asked him.

“That’s what I’m told
.”

Shawn rejoined us an
d told Jayden it was time to go, so
Nick
said that they’d be watching the show nearby and that he’d catch up with them afterward.

When it was time for them to go back on stage, Jayden’s nerves returned.

“How come?” I asked her. “You were just up there for over an hour and you were amazing.”

“I don’t know,” she moaned, almost sounding embarrassed.

“Hey, it’s okay.”

“Isn’t there something I can take to get rid of my nerves?”
             
“Yeah,” I chuckled, “but I don’t think we need you to be stoned on stage.”

She laughed and lightly shoved me.

When the last show began, I realized it was a much different crowd than before. Shawn came to life even more, interacting with the
audience
and joking with his band. He dealt with whistles and comments that were directed toward Jayden like it was nothing new. I was actually a little shocked by how bold some people were. When I’d heard her perform with Shawn for the first time at
Zero
,
I guess it was a little similar
. But I think I
was so mesmerized by her talent,
it didn’t really register at the time. Right
then
Shawn was talking to some guy about the proper way to tell a girl she was “hot.” The crowd was really entertained by his conversation with this guy.

“And how old are you?” Shawn was asking him. He listened for a second and then repeated into the
mic
, “Nineteen. Well, we shouldn’t even be having this conversation,
bro
. You’re too young for Jayden.” It was quiet for a second. “How old is she?” Shawn repeated. With a laugh he turned to Jayden and asked, “Are you telling people your age this week, or not?
” She only smiled at him. “Well
buddy, I’ll help you out.
I’m
twenty-
three
and Jay
’s
just
younger than I am.”
He
waited
again. “That’s okay with you?” Shawn laughed, turning back to Jayden. “He’s fine with the age difference,” he informed her.

This time she shrugged. “Sorry, but I’m not,” she smiled. “Besides, you’re forgetting one important detail,” she said to Shawn.

“What’s that?” he asked. Then it must have “dawned on him” because he replied, “A
h, that’s right. She’s taken.” There were boos in the crowd and Shawn leaned his ear to listen to someone again. “No, she’s not married,” he replied. It was quiet for a moment and Shawn chuckled, turning to Jayden. “Then you’re not taken,” he relayed. The crowd laughed.

I was worried that Jayden would be bothered with the comment, but she only smiled and replied, “Yes, I very much am. Anyways, let’s play some
more
.” She played a few notes on the guitar that gave away t
he next song, and the crowd redirected their interest back to the music
.

The rest of the show continued on somewhat the same way. Shawn had fun sharing a couple of stories in between songs. One was about his brother, and the other was about how he came up with the song they were about to play. The audience seemed to enjoy both. It was fun to
hear them play more songs that everyone
knew, ones that were more current and well known to the younger crowd
, but I also enjoyed the original music that the band had created
.

I didn’t think the show could get any better than the last one, and I’m not sure if it actually was, but it was a completely different feel than the first one. Once again the music was incredible, but the energy in the crowd was a lot different. I couldn’
t attribute it to any one thing;
only that different music plus a different generation equaled an entirely new show.

It was over after Shawn took another poll with
the crowd to play
one final
song, and i
t was almost ten-thirty when Jayden found us. There was a crew packing up the stage for them and she was really relieved.

“I’m
so
tired,” she said, leaning against me
as we sat
in the grass.

I offered to take her home but she
declined, stating that she was now very comfortable. After she spoke with her father one more time, we spent almost an hour with friends, just hanging out and talking.
Nick
—
and
Rhys,
his drummer
—j
oined us as well, but with his hood drawn and just a few lights that barely lit the park, no one even recognized him.
Dozens of people had come by to talk to Jayden and her band mates. Shawn loved the attention, but Jayden seemed more intent on just being with her friends
. She was very kind to everyone
,
but
I could tell she liked getting to know
people
, not talking about herself or her talent.

I
took her home around midnight. I s
tood with her on the porch for a minute, told her how much I loved her, and then kissed her goodnight. I was looking forward to what she had planned for the next day. Whatever it was, she seemed pretty excited about it.

Chapter Twenty-Seven

I got up around seven the next morning. Jayden told me to dress like I normally
would
,
so I put on some baggy shorts and a t-shirt and topped it off with my baseball hat. I was tying my
shoes
when she came through the front door with a bright, vibrant smile.

“Are you ready?” she almost sang.

“Yes,” I laughed. “Sounds like you are.”

“Definitely.”

“Are you sure you don’t
want to hang out with
Nick
today
?” I asked her for the third time.

She eyed me carefully. “No,” she replied slowly. “Why, do you?”

I shook my head. “No. But h
e came all this way to see you. Maybe you’d rather postpone our trip for today. I understand if you do.”

“He came because of Shawn,” she told me again.

“He came because
you
asked him to. I think he’s more interested in working with
you
.”

She set her purse on the table and walked toward me. “Clue me in if you’re being je
alous
because I’m not quite sure.” Her little smile told me she wasn’t upset with
me, but I could tell she was
concerned
.

“I
was
jealous,” I admitted, “until I learned he wa
s married.” She didn’t respond and waited
for me to go on. “He just seemed…pretty fond of you.”

“We’re friends,” she replied evenly.

I let that knowledge sink in for a moment. “Okay,” I shrugged. “I’m just a jealous fool. But I guess if there’s
been nothing between you…”

“I didn’t say that,” she smiled. At first I thought she was kidding, just trying to get
me going for being so worried about it. B
ut she sat down on the couch, instructing me to sit with her. “I had a working relationship with
Nick
three
years ago. We became good friends, and after the songs were done
…
I guess we went out a few
times. But
nothing came of it,” she shrugged. “
His life was in L.A. or on the road, and
I really l
iked him as a friend
instead, s
o we
just
kept in touch for a while. He got married and had
Sam
… And that’s that.”

“By ‘nothing came of it’ you mean…”

“I mean we gave up the whole ‘friends with benefits’ idea.” This time I knew she was joking because of her smile.

I rolled my eyes at her and she laughed.

“Okay, so there was no relationship
like that
between the two of you
because of…well, bec
ause of what I know about you, b
ut…did he kiss you?”

After a brief pause she answered, “Yes
, we’ve had that kind of
relationship
.”