The Publicity Stunt

4. Chapter Three

Kace sits, annoyed, in the VIP section of the Bri Waters concert he didn”t want to go to. Brett forced him. Not just forced him but literally dragged him out. No matter how much Kace protested, Brett refused to give in. The moment he found out Kace had tickets for the opening show, there was no chance at getting out of it. And Kace kicks himself for letting it slip.

The two came up with a deal after they ended up on different teams that whenever they play each other, the loser takes the winner out to dinner at any place of the winner’s choosing. Because Kace and Rudy can”t get along on the ice, the Twisters kicked their asses last night. Brett opted to go to the concert rather than dinner the moment he knew about the damn tickets.

”When are you gonna get over whatever happened with Rudy and just kiss and make up? You played like shit last night,” Brett says, his light red hair cut into a classic hockey mullet with his natural curls adding to it.

If his hair was black, he”d look like AC Slater from Saved by the Bell. Except taller. If he wasn’t so large, Kace was sure someone would kick his ass for looking like such a dope.

”Get over what happened? What”d the asshole tell you went down?” Kace asks as they”re shown to their box.

Brett shrugs. ”He didn”t say much. Said you two had a fight, and you got dramatic.” When Kace shoots him a glare, he holds his hands up and adds, “His words, not mine. I heard from my agent yours was calling every team from here to Florida to get you traded.”

”Dramatic? Huh... that”s an interesting choice of words.”

”You two have this weird push-pull relationship lately. Maybe you”ve always had it, but it”s really hitting a head lately. Maybe there”s a way to talk it all out so you both can move on from whatever it is making you so pissy with each other. Then, maybe, you can stop being quite so embarrassed when you play my team.”

”You know these seats we”re in?”

He stares at him and looks around the small area slowly filling with more people. ”You”re kidding, right?”

”I bought them for me and Sasha. Instead, I”m here with you.”

”This has something to do with Sasha? Also, you dropped how much money to bring her to a concert?” Brett asks and stares with his eyebrows nearing his hairline. “Seriously? Why?”

Sniffling, Kace moves his head from side to side to crack his neck. ”When her favorite song played, I was gonna get on one knee and ask her to marry me.”

”You”re kidding, right?”

”Nope. But, again, I”m here with you instead of her.”

”And whatever happened with you and Rudy involves Sasha?”

He grits his teeth. ”Yep.”

”Kace, there has to be a misunderstanding-”

”He”s been fucking her for six months,” he cuts him off. The last thing he needs to hear is some bullshit disguised as a logical explanation. ”Happy? You brought me to the concert I didn”t want to go to because I was going to propose to the woman who”s been carrying on a sexual relationship with my ex-best friend and teammate I can”t stand to be in the same state with. The reason I wanted to be traded is because I can”t guarantee I won”t kill him.”

Sighing, Brett rubs his chin. ”You really wanted to marry her?”

”What?” Kace asks, staring at him like he suddenly grew a second head. He has to be kidding. ”That”s your response to everything that fucking happened?”

”What he did was shit. I”ll stand by that one ten times over, but he might”ve done you a favor. Sasha wasn”t good for you, man. She wasn”t the one, and we all thought you were just biding your time.”

In the span of two weeks, Kace may not only lose his girlfriend but both of his best friends along with her. He lost her and Rudy already, but Brett’s putting himself on thin ice. ”Brett-”

”She brought out the worst in you. When you were together, you”d just kind of disappear into your own little world because she didn”t actually want to be a part of yours. You”d become a shell version of yourself, almost like you had to become smaller to be with her. Is that really the type of woman you want to marry?”

”Stop it,” he says and looks around the small box they sit in, hoping no one else comes in.

The box only has so many seats, and it”s already starting to get crowded as it is. With how expensive the tickets were, he”s hoping there won”t be any belligerent fans joining them, making it more miserable than it already is. His patience is already thinner than ice in late spring, so it could end terribly for him if someone comes in screaming in his ear every thirty seconds.

His eyes fall back on Brett. The man may be three inches shorter than Kace, but his shoulders stand just as wide. If anyone else joins them, they”ll damn near be standing nuts to butts just to fit. At that point, Kace decides he”ll just leave. Even without Brett with him, there”s not nearly as much space as he”d thought he”d have. It wouldn”t have been that easy to get on one knee and propose to Sasha, and she”s half the size of his friend.

”Okay, I get it. You aren”t a Bri Waters fan, though?”

The woman walks out on the stage, and the music stars. Lights dim, and the crowd goes wild. ”I”m indifferent.”

”Dude, she”s hot,” Brett shouts, and Kace steps a few inches to his left. There”s a little room, and he wants his space when the song he dreads comes on.

He watches Bri dance across the stage as she sings, and he shrugs before leaning down to shout in Brett”s ear. ”She has stage presence. And she”s in great shape... I”ll give you that. Being able to sing like that while moving around that large ass stage means she has to have one hell of a workout regimen. Might even rival ours.”

Turning, Brett gapes at him like he’s the biggest idiot he’s ever encountered. ”That”s what you think when you see her up there? That she”s in great shape and has a solid workout routine? Man, she”s ten times hotter than your ex ever was. And she”s sexy as hell.”

”Don”t,” Kace warns.

”You”re just turned off by all women because you were burned by one, but come on, Kace. Bri Waters is hot. So hot it hurts.”

In his mind, he can”t deny the truth. She is sexy. Her long, dark hair makes her blue eyes stand out and shine. He”s always been a sucker for blue eyes, but usually they”re accompanied with blondes. What he can”t get over is how small she looks. On TV or in the media, she seems so much bigger. Taller. Instead, he watches this little thing bounce across the stage.

”She has great legs,” he finally admits. They’re lean and muscular. ”And I have to admit, she has a hell of a voice. She”s also doing a great job acting like nothing happened.”

Brett smirks. ”Read up on her, huh?”

”Every time you turn on the TV or scroll through social media, all you see is Bri Waters. It”s hard not to know about it.”

”Yeah, she”s taking the whole getting-publicly-cheated-on thing in stride. You”d never guess she”d been humiliated by that scrawny excuse of a man just weeks ago.”

Scrawny excuse of a man? ”You know her ex?”

Shrugging, he keeps his eyes on Bri. ”He was pretty much famous for dating her. He was in a boy band that did okay, I guess, but then broke off to be a solo country artist. He”s terrible, by the way, and now that he”s been caught with what”s her name, he”s circling the drain. He”s gonna fall off the music scene, and he has no one but himself to blame.”

Country music has never been Kace”s genre, even being born and raised in Texas, with the exception of a few big songs. It surprises him even more that Brett”s listened to Easton Duffy. Of the two of them, no one would bet Brett would be the one to know anything about him or his music. Eminem, Dr. Dre, NWA, and Ice Cube were all the man ever played in high school and beyond. He was a self-proclaimed ginger gangster.

”You”ve listened to his music?” Kace asks, and he can”t help but catch the slight country-style in the song Bri sings on stage.

”Yeah, and he sucks. I hope he”s taking songs rejected by good artists instead of being the one writing them because at least he has some plausible deniability. It really can”t get much worse than him,” Brett says. ”No, wait, I take that back. He could add a cowbell. That”s about all it would take to make it the worst shit you”ve ever heard.”

”Since when do you listen to country music?”

His finger points to the stage. ”The man dated Bri Waters. Of course, I had to listen. I get why he dated her. She”s fucking amazing. And sexy, and damn near the perfect woman. But why the hell would she date him?”

”Jealous?”

”Of the guy dating my dream girl? Hell yeah, I”m jealous. He”s one lucky bastard, and then he goes and screws it all up.”

Kace watches her singing her heart out, and he likes her voice. He never really listened before because anytime her music was on, Sasha sang at the top of her lungs. And Sasha can”t sing to save her life.

”She has a good voice.”

”See, I knew you listened to Bri Waters,” he says, nudging him and smirking.

It”s his turn to point at the stage. ”We”re at her fucking concert, dude. Besides, Sasha would listen to her on repeat if I”d let her. There were certain songs I wanted to bang my head against a wall whenever she”d turn them on because she”d sing them. On repeat. All day.”

”I read something funny the other day,” Brett says. ”There was a quote from someone, a friend of hers, I think, who pointed out her ex”s initials are ED. She kept calling him Erectile Dysfunction, and I think that”s the best analogy I can come up with for his music. It can never quite hit its peak.”

The laugh that escapes surprises Kace. He almost forgot what it sounded like to laugh. The more he watches Bri, the more he realizes how stupid this Easton Duffy guy must be. At least from what he can see. She might not be the great person the media portrays her as. Her PR time might work double time to make sure she has the perfect image, and she”s actually a raging bitch. But if she is as good as everyone thinks she is, this dude really screwed the pooch. If you”re going to cheat, you”re supposed to trade up, not down.

The music stops, and the crowd cheers. She”s played a handful of songs, and most of them were upbeat. Bri walks towards the middle of the stage with the microphone and her guitar. Most guys will say there”s not much out there hotter than a woman with a guitar.

”I want to thank everyone for coming out tonight to the opening show of my tour. How are you tonight, Texas?”

The crowd loses their ever-loving minds, and Kace laughs at the full captivation Brett has with this woman. Stage presence isn”t a strong enough term to do her justice and describe what she has. For such a small person, she seems larger than life. And when she speaks, sings, or just breathes, it”s like she”s cast a spell on everyone in the stadium.

”Some of you may know, but I”m from Texas. Grew up not too far away from here in a little town most people haven”t heard of. Texas will always hold a special place in my heart, and it”s why I wanted to open up the tour here, with all of you, tonight.”

Again, the crowd goes wild, and Kace can”t remember hearing cheers that loud at any of his games. Even when they damn near made it to the semi-finals. If he”s jealous of anything, it”s her fan base.

”We”re promoting my fifth album, but I also want to play my older stuff for you. Just in case anyone”s been living under a rock lately, yes, I”m aware my name”s been in the media. And it”s not to promote my album or tour. Apparently, my personal life is much more interesting.”

Boos fill the stadium, and even Brett joins in. It”s been a while since Kace has been to a concert, but this is crazy. Bordering on ridiculous.

”No, my name”s been tied to someone who did me dirty, so I want to apologize in advance to anyone who came out here hoping to hear love songs. I just can”t bring myself to sing them with the conviction you deserve, so I hope you”ll forgive me.”

The entire stadium starts changing ”Fuck Easton Duffy,” and, again, Brett joins in. Everyone in the crowd supports this woman, and the vast majority will never meet her or know her personally. It”s weird seeing how devoted these fans are. In his experience, fans drop you the moment you fall short of their expectations, but he supposes hockey differs from performing music.

”I”m not sure how long until I”ll feel up to singing them again on the tour, but I changed up the set list for these first concerts. If you know, you know,” Bri says, a wide smile on her face.

She has a beautiful smile, and if someone really was living under a rock, they”d never know she”d been humiliated by a second-rate pipsqueak just a few weeks before. Kind of like he was, only it wasn”t public. Just humiliating.

”But!” she shouts and pauses as the room falls silent. ”But... that means you get a nice surprise. At least, I hope you think it”s a nice surprise.”

Screams and cheers vibrate in Kace”s ears as the band slowly starts playing a few low notes. Her drummer hits the snare with quick, quiet taps, and the anticipation builds.

Bri walks closer to the edge of the stage, her hips swaying with the beat. ”Many people have talked about the songs that should”ve been singles but never were. And not all of them get played at concerts because we only have so much time to play. With this reorg of the set list, it opens up time to play some of those fan favorites. Would you like to hear them performed live for the first time?”

Everyone loses their goddamned minds, and the band plays a loud, almost heavy metal beat. The first few songs were more pop-heavy, and one had a touch of country. Now, she”s playing a rock style song. She has range. A range not many people have, and he almost laughs when she sings about setting someone”s pickup on fire. Somehow, she doesn’t look like the type capable of it.

Even if Kace had come with Sasha tonight, he wouldn”t have been able to propose to her favorite song because Bri Waters isn”t playing any love songs. What are the odds of that?

Suddenly, flashes in his face blind him and Brett, and they both look at each other in confusion. A few people around them seem to notice who they are, and they freak out. Neither expected seeing two NHL players at a concert would generate this much attention.

Their security teams help tamper the intrusion, and Kace sits in his seat to listen to the music that now oddly comforts him. It”s like the universe played a part in keeping Two Lovers off the roster of songs. He”s almost thankful to Easton Duffy for his terrible life decisions.