Tangled Up In You (Rogue #1)

Chapter 32

32

SOPHIE

T hough Sophie’s dress was red carpet worthy, she was happy to make her way to her seat at Radio City Music Hall on her own and leave the media stops to Gavin and the boys. She didn’t need the attention. Making Gavin’s jaw drop when he saw her all done up was enough.

Her dress was form fitting and a nude shade that blended so well with her skin tone it would have been scandalous if not for the shimmering bead embellishments on it. Falling to upper-thigh, with just one shoulder strap and a draped back that fell away to reveal smooth bare skin, it had the perfect amount of sex appeal without going too far. The nude Jimmy Choo stilettos she wore were the perfect match. Her drop-down earrings were multi-colored gems that turned her hazel eyes deep green. She had set her hair so that it fell past her shoulders in soft, loose curls, and done her make-up in delicate shades but with a deep red lip. The overall look was incredibly sexy and ultra-feminine—and she fit the part for this event.

Still, it was a surreal being there.

The whole experience of being at Rogue’s first MTV Awards was surreal, in fact. The response to the band’s appearance was huge. Though they had built up popular and critical respect, there was no denying that their well-chronicled romance had been publicity gold.

She found her seat just as the lights went off and the audience screamed. A minute later, the guys all rushed in to join her and Conor ended up sitting next to Sophie.

The opening act began with Britney Spears doing a cover of Madonna’s “Like a Virgin,” complete with the white veil and a short wedding dress. Christina Aguilera soon joined her in the duet. When Madonna herself appeared as the “groom” all in black, she brought the house down. The only thing that topped her initial appearance was when she and Britney had an open-mouth kiss. Her kiss with Christina was chaste in comparison.

When Gavin turned to Shay to get his opinion on whether any tongue had been used, Conor leaned into Sophie.

“You look amazing tonight, honey.”

“Thanks,” she said.

“What, are you angry you didn’t get to show off on the red carpet?” Conor asked, clearly mistaking her short reply for something it wasn’t.

“No, of course not.”

“Look, you didn’t miss anything out there. You’ve got to understand that this band, it’s a job. We were working, and if you were there, it would have become the Sophie and Gavin show and nothing about Rogue. Understand that, please.”

“I do. It’s okay.”

Though she had been sincere, he seemed to hear the opposite and was instantly annoyed. “It’s a phenomenal skill you women have, to say the exact opposite of what you really mean.”

Before she could respond, Gavin interrupted by telling Conor to switch seats with him and she was glad to have a reprieve from Conor’s hostility.

The show flew by and Sophie thought herself incredibly unbiased when she found Rogue to be the best performers of the night. And when Gavin and the boys took the stage to accept their award for Breakthrough Video, they made the most of it. Gavin quickly thanked the producers of the video, James, and MTV and then shifted gears.

“This show opened with an amazing performance by three lovely ladies,” Gavin said and the audience cheered wildly. “I must say, I felt a little left out. But then again …” He looked to Conor and before his friend could understand his intentions, he grabbed him by the back of his neck and kissed him hard on the lips as the crowd laughed, screamed, and whistled.

“He’s been looking for the perfect excuse to do that,” Martin told Shay with a laugh and the microphone picked it up.

Conor finally pushed Gavin off of him and wiped at his mouth.

“Well, he is a pretty bastard,” Gavin said with a grin. “No, seriously, one more thing. Thanks also to my sweet girl, my love, my Sophie.”

In the limo on their way to Blender magazine’s after party at Tao, Conor helped himself to the mini bar, pouring a tumbler full of Jack Daniel’s and downing half of it in one swallow. “Aye, Gav, did you see that little actress who was chatting me up backstage after we performed?”

“No, I didn’t catch that,” Gavin said, glancing at Sophie.

“You sure? The reason I ask is ’cause she said she would find me at the party and that she had a friend who was interested as well.”

“So, take Shay along,” Gavin replied.

“Thing is,” he said and took another drink, “she’s interested in you in particular, so I thought?—”

“For fuck’s sake, Con, you’ve never needed me to get yourself laid. What are you going on about?”

“He’s trying to annoy me since my being here seems to annoy him,” Sophie said. The progress she thought she had made with getting on Conor’s good side back in Los Angeles had clearly dissipated with her surprise arrival. It was obvious he saw her as intruding.

“No, this is normal tour life, honey,” Conor told her, smiling. “You think your man wasn’t taking every advantage before you came back? You think he wasn’t fucking a different woman every night?”

“Enough of that!” Gavin snapped.

Conor shrugged. “It’s the truth now, isn’t it? If she’s to be a part of all this, glued to your side and all, then she’ll have to deal with it.” He raised his glass in a mock toast to her.

“Ignore him—he’s drunk,” Gavin told Sophie.

“I’m just enjoying myself, don’t everyone panic,” Conor said before taking a prolonged swig.

“He’s not drunk. But do you think he’s taken something?” Sophie asked. If Conor was going to make her uncomfortable by suggesting that Gavin help him chase groupies while she was right there, then she would go ahead and push back against his game-playing.

“Why, you want what I got, Sophie?” Conor asked with a suggestive leer.

In a rush, Gavin leaned forward so that he and his friend were inches apart. “Knock it the fuck off,” he said.

“Piss off, Gavin. You know what your problem is? You’re no bleeding fun anymore. You’re tired and boring me to death.”

Sophie winced at the look of hurt on Gavin’s face. Before he could recover and respond, the limo drew to a stop and the door was opened for them. A waiting crowd of paparazzi and gawkers drowned out any effort Gavin could have made to reply. Conor jumped out first and didn’t wait for the rest of them. He ignored the red carpet screams of photographers for him to stop at the step-and-repeat background for photographs and went straight into the restaurant-turned-event-space.

“Let him be, Gav,” Shay said. “He’s bound to get it out of his system first girl he finds.”

“Yeah, sure.”

Sophie expected to navigate around the media like at the awards show but Gavin held her close, his arm around her waist as he slowly moved them along the red carpet entryway. The flash of the dozens of cameras blinded Sophie but Gavin held his own, doing his best rock star stare.

“Conor is going to really freak out about this,” she said.

“He needs to shut his gob and worry about himself.”

She hated the idea that she was creating a rift between Gavin and his best friend. She wasn’t quite sure why Conor felt so threatened by her but she wanted to try to fix things.

“He’ll come around,” she said, and they inched forward.

Gavin was oblivious to the fact that Martin was mimicking them by trying to hold Shay in the same intimate way that Gavin was holding Sophie, but she saw it from the corner of her eye and tried not to laugh. Gavin needed her attention at the moment.

“Fuck him,” Gavin grunted.

“Oh, don’t say that,” she said reproachfully. When he didn’t turn to look at her, she playfully bit his earlobe, pulling on the tender skin with her teeth and making him laugh.

She knew the increase in the camera flashes meant the moment would be well documented the following day. She was quickly learning what the paparazzi responded to. Anytime she and Gavin appeared relaxed with each other, they pounced—just like now. Gavin was comfortable with the attention but she worried it would just rile Conor up all that much more and had to remind herself to keep her guard up around the press.