Incidental Happenstance (17 page)

            “I’d drink to that, if I had a drink,” Tia said. “Doesn’t sound like a bad life at all.” Being with Dylan all the time actully sounded really good and she felt the sadness creep in again, knowing that her time with him was so short.

            “I can make that happen—be right back,” Jessa said. In less than a minute, she rolled over a cooler filled with beer. “I always have these on hand,” she said. “They’re the band’s favorites. She pulled out a couple frosty Newcastle Brown Ales. “Let’s indeed drink to that,” she said as she uncapped the icy bottles. She handed one to Tia, and they clinked bottles before drawing on the cold drafts. “To Incidental Happenstance,” she said, and Tia joined her toast.

            Forty-five minutes later, with the sound check complete, Tia felt as though she’d made a new friend. Jessa was open, kind, and she confirmed what Tia already knew in her heart; that Dylan was as good as he seemed. She learned a few things from Jessa about Dylan; that he had a weakness for peanut M & M’s, was a nature lover, and that he was an adventure seeker. He’d been skydiving, bungee jumping, and scuba diving, and always looked for opportunities to have unique experiences while he traveled. He called his mother in Australia twice a week, and really enjoyed his charity work. Although Tia had gotten a strong impression that Dylan had integrity, he was a professional actor after all, so she was glad to know that someone else who knew the real him had the same thoughts about the kind of person he truly was.

            They had dinner in the common room with the guys from Outcast, the opening band. Tia enjoyed listening to the men tease and harass each other good-naturedly, and warmed every time Dylan caught her attention and rolled his eyes as if to excuse their rudeness, but then joined right back in with them. Throughout the meal, he rested his hand lightly on her leg or encircled the back of her chair with his arm, absent-mindedly running his fingers across her shoulder or down the side of her arm. She felt completely at ease with them all, but was happy when dinner ended and Dylan excused them to go to his dressing room and prepare for the evening. Before leaving, Dylan passed around a proposed set list, and Tia saw the guys’ eyes widen slightly as they scanned the paper. There were no objections, however, and Tia and Dylan slipped down the hall into a room labeled with Bo’s name.

            “Isn’t this the wrong room?” Tia asked. “I know you have identity issues,” she teased, “but you do know your own name, right?”

            “Precautionary measure,” he answered, opening the door and motioning her inside. “Being the front man has some perks, but some disadvantages, too. Usually if someone—a fan, a reporter, a worker from the venue, a celebrity—manages to get backstage, they make a beeline for my dressing room. So I always have a different name on mine. Bo loves the attention, and he especially loves the looks of surprise he gets when he answers the door, so I usually swap with him.”

            “Does that happen a lot?” Tia asked. “The security seemed pretty tight when I came in today.”

            “It varies from place to place,” he said. “You just never know. But I do know I especially don’t want to be interrupted tonight.” He sat down on the love seat that was the only sinificant piece of furniture in the tiny room and pulled her down onto his lap. Then he tipped her, laying her against the armrest and leaned in to kiss her. Again she felt the bloom in her center as his lips brushed hers, and she gave herself fully to the kiss, caressing his tongue with her own and running her fingers through the soft waves of his real hair. She felt herself giving in; giving herself over to all the feelings she hadn’t experienced in such a long time. It was all she could do to let him lead—she wanted so much more from him.

            She knew it was a combination of factors that loosened her hold on self-control—now that he’d awakened the passionate side of her that she’d held dormant for such a long time every kiss, every stroke of his hands, every intense stare brought forth a deep ache of need that flooded her entire being and shook her nearly breathless. Little zings of electricity zipped through her when he nipped playfully at her lower lip and her stomach rolled over and over in delicious waves of pleasure. The rational side of her brain shut down and she surrendered to pure bliss, feeling her limbs turn to liquid and letting a small moan escape from the back of her throat. She may regret it later—she’d never had a one-night-stand in her life, but right now, all she wanted was him, and the intimacy that she’d been craving for months. Her breathing quickened as he intensified the contact, pressing his body along the length of hers and she felt, against her thigh, the undeniable evidence that he wanted more as well. His lips were sliding their way down her neck when the beep of an incoming message from his cell phone jerked them both upright. “Ten minutes, Dyl,” Bo’s voice announced from the phone on the dressing table.

            Dylan slid off her and slowly rose to his feet. It was impossible to miss the flames that burned in his eyes, and she wondered if her own passion was as obvious. “You have to go?” she whispered in a husky voice that she barely recognized as her own.

            “I always introduce the opening band,” he croaked, his voice even more gravelly than usual. “And I promised them I’d join them for the fourth song in their set.” He looked at her with eyes so intense she felt they could melt all her defenses, if she had any defenses left. “I can’t remember a night that I wished I didn’t have to work. I could get my head all wrapped up in you, Tia.” His voice was serious, and his gaze never left hers. “But I do have to work, and I need to get going, and then we have Bo’s party tonight, and then…” he hesitated, shaking his head slightly and turning his gaze toward the ground. “As much as I want to, I don’t know if it’s a good idea, this,” he gestured toward her, still lying on the sofa, needing the support of the armrest until she gained back some control of her liquefied body.

            He put his hand on the doorknob, then turned back and looked deep into her. “But if it does happen,” he added intently, “I don’t want it to be in a tiny backstage dressing room. You’re too good for that.” He reached down and pulled her to her feet, and finally, his gaze slid away. “I just really can’t make you any promises, Tia. I told you that. I want to, but I can’t.”

            “I know that, Dylan, and I’m not asking for any. You’ve already given me more than I could have ever hoped for.” Oh, but she wanted so much more.

            He kissed her again, lightly. “The thing is, Tia? You keep saying that, but have you considered that you’ve given me more than I’d hoped for, too?” He took her hand, and they headed for the stage entrance while she pondered his words.  

            She had a pretty good view from backstage as Outcast took the audience by storm. Their music was raw, edgy, and had a bit of Brit punk influence that got the audience on its feet immediately. They watched the first three numbers arm in arm, swaying to the beat of the music while maintaining constant contact. Dylan gave her a quick kiss before grabbing his guitar and joining them on stage. She watched with a sense of pride and awe—she’d seen him perform dozens of times before, but it was completely different seeing him not only from the physical perspective of being backstage, but the emotional perspective of knowing him as a person, and not merely a persona. That one letter made a world of difference, she thought.

            She took a moment to check out the front row. She was off to the side of the stage, but she could just make out Lexi, on her feet and, in typical Lexi style, trying to get herself noticed by the guys on stage. Tia pulled her cell phone out of her pocket and punched in Lexi’s number. She watched Lexi reach into her bag to pull out her own phone.

            “Hey Tia!” she yelled over the crowd noise. “Where the hell are you? Do you know where I am right now?” She didn’t wait for an answer before blurting, “The front fucking row, baby!!!” she screamed into the phone.

            “Seriously? That’s awesome!” she replied. “I can hear the music, and I can just see you now, jumping up and down and trying to get the band’s attention.”

            “Of course—Dylan Miller’s on stage right now doing a song with Outcast and—holy shit! He just looked right at me! Hold on a minute…”

            Tia watched the exchange with amusement. She hadn’t mentioned to Dylan that she was planning to let Lexi discover for herself just who she’d met last night, so he assumed she knew. He went to the front of the stage and nodded at her, smiling, and motioned back stage with a toss of his head indicating that Tia was there. Lexi, of course, thought it was all for her. Tia watched Dylan move across the stage to address the rest of the audience, and Lexi was back on the line.

            “Holy crap, Tia, I swear, Dylan just looked me right in the eye, smiled at me, and motioned backstage! He winked at me!” she exclaimed. “Maybe we can get back there!”

            Tia stifled the laugh in her voice and tried to sound serious. “Sure he did. He was probably laughing because you were making an ass out of yourself trying to get him to notice you, as usual.”

            “I am completely dead serious!” she said with conviction. “These seats are so close I can see the buttons on his shirt—he looked me right in the eyes, I swear! You have to get here!”

            “I’m…tied up at the moment. But don’t worry; I’ll be in my seat by the time InHap takes the stage.”

            “You’re going to miss the whole opener? These guys are really great live! You need to get here—hurry! Oh my God,” she gushed, “I’m going to try to get us backstage—this could be my lucky night!”

            “I’ll be there as soon as I can. In the meantime, don’t embarrass yourself, OK?” she giggled.

            “Hurry up—the weird guy in the seat next to yours keeps trying to dance with me, and it’s creeping me out. I need you as a buffer.”

            “A buffer—yeah, thanks. I’ll be down as soon as I can, but like I said, it’ll probably be right before InHap hits the stage.”

            “Aw, Tia…” Lexi moaned.

            “I can’t help it. I’ll explain more when I see you in just a bit. See you in the front row!”

            “Just hurry!”

            She broke the connection and watched Lexi toss her phone carelessly back into her bag. She had no sooner done so when the guy next to her sidled up and tried to entice her to dance. Tia laughed at the exchange, and turned her eyes back to Dylan.

            He was amazing on stage. It was like he became possessed with another spirit once he was in front of an audience. He moved, he danced, his facial expressions moved the audience, and he owned the stadium. The audience responded, regardless of what he did. He was only a backup in this number, but still you could feel that he had everything under his complete control. When he finished, he took a modest bow, and stepped out of audience view, back to where Tia was standing.

            “Holy crap,” she said breathlessly. “That was so amazing. I just know that when I’m out there watching you….” She shook her head, unable to finish her sentence.

            “And when you’re out there, it’s all for you,” he said.

            He was sweaty and breathless, and she found herself incredibly enamored by him. Again.

            “Let’s head back to the dressing room,” he suggested. We have about a half hour before I need to meet with everyone for our pre-show meeting.” They were heading in that direction when his phone beeped again.

            “Hey guys? I have a Hollywood A-lister here looking for Dylan,” Bo’s voice boomed. “Has anyone seen him since he left the stage?”

            “Maybe he headed to his dressing room,” Angelo replied. “I haven’t seen him.”

            “Fuck, not tonight,” Dylan said. “Let’s get moving,” he put his hand on the small of her back and led her quickly down the hall.

            “What’s going on?” Tia asked as Dylan was hustling her back toward the dressing rooms.

            “Some celebrity showed up, and thinks that I want nothing more than to meet her,” he replied, shaking his head. “I swear I get so tired of this. They think that since they’re actresses, they can just show up, uninvited and announced, and get an audience with whomever they like. It really pisses me off sometimes, but never as much as it’s pissing me off right now. We have to head back to the dressing room and hide out.”

            Tia mused. “How do you know it’s a her? What do you have, some sort of secret code for visiting celebrities?” she asked.

            “Absolutely—we have to. Hollywood A-lister means famous actress. Hollywood hero means it’s a dude. There’s a whole other code for those on the B-list, one for sports stars, local politicians… Either way, it pisses me off that they can just walk back here because they’re famous and think that everyone else is just going to drop whatever they’re doing because they’re so thrilled to see them.” He led her back down the hall toward the dressing room marked with Bo’s name. “It’s either deal with them, or avoid them, and right now, I’m going with option two.”

            They hurried into the room and shut the door. Another message came over the phone. “I don’t know where he is. He did the fourth song with Outcast, and disappeared. Maybe he’s in his dressing room, but you know how he is—probably left his phone lying around someplace, as usual. I’ll keep my eyes open.”