Chapter 23
Boob – as good a place as any to get an autograph
Gibson
“Where the hell is Jett?” Cash growls at me.
“Why are you asking me?”
Dylan rolls his eyes. “Are you seriously asking? Maybe because you’re Tweedle Dee and he’s Tweedle Dum?”
I grit my teeth. “Stop calling me that name.”
Fender snorts. “The same way you stopped calling me grumpapottamus when I asked.”
I shrug. “If the name fits.”
Fender growls and steps toward me but Dylan clears his throat and nods toward the press waiting on the other side of the studio. We’re in the recording studio so they can’t actually hear us but I wouldn’t put it past them to make up what we’re saying. It wouldn’t be the first time.
“Has anyone heard from Jett?” Dylan asks the room but everyone’s attention focuses on me.
“I haven’t heard from him. I’ve been kind of busy.”
“Being busy never stopped you and Jett from pulling your shenanigans before,” Fender says.
I glare at him. “You better not be comparing Mercy to the fans and groupies.”
The door opens and our manager, Mike, stomps in. “Where the hell is Jett? I can’t keep the fans waiting much longer.”
“We can start without him,” I suggest.
“We can’t start without Jett. The rest of Cash the Sinners are in committed relationships,” he spits out. “I need at least one of you to flirt with the fans.”
The implication is obvious. I used to be the one who flirted with the fans at these meet and greets.
Cash clears his throat. “There’s no actual requirement for us to flirt with fans during these events.”
Mike glares at him. “Those fans out there didn’t spend days phoning into radio stations to win a meet and greet with Cash the Sinners.”
“They didn’t?” Fender growls.
“They want the fantasy of some rockstar falling in love with them. Which means you need to flirt with them.”
“In my experience,” I say. “I don’t need to flirt for fans to think I can fall in love with them. In fact, they don’t need any encouragement at all.”
Mike sighs. “You had to throw the naked woman out of your shower? You couldn’t kiss her at least?”
Mike’s a good manager but I’m going to have his ass fired if he doesn’t reel it in. I nearly lost Mercy once because of the antics of fans. I’m not risking losing her again. My sassy girl brought the sunshine back into my life. I’m not returning to the dark.
“I am not kissing fans to please you,” I grit out.
Cash, Dylan, and Fender move to stand behind me.
“None of us are,” Cash says.
“Love has ruined all of you,” Mike mutters.
The door bangs open behind him.
“Love hasn’t ruined me,” Jett declares as he saunters into the room.
I rush to him. “Where have you been?”
I slap him on the back and he winces.
“Are you hurt? I told you the surfing competition wasn’t a good idea.”
He smirks. “It wasn’t a good idea. It was an excellent idea.”
I roll my eyes. “Did you finally find a woman to lower her standards for you?”
“Don’t be jealous I’m winning.”
I bite my tongue before I tell him I no longer give a shit about winning our bet. He can sleep with as many women as he wants. I’m only interested in sleeping with one woman. One very sassy woman who’s my match in and out of bed.
“What the hell, Jett?” Cash asks. “We were worried about you.”
“With good reason.” Dylan waves toward Jett’s head.
I step closer. There’s a ragged scar about two inches long near his temple. “What the hell happened? And why didn’t you contact us?”
He waggles his eyebrows. “I had company.”
I cross my arms and glare at him. “You still should have contacted us.”
“It was fine. One night in the hospital was all.”
“You were in the hospital and didn’t call? What the hell, Jett? I’m your emergency contact. I should have been informed.”
“Like I said, I wasn’t alone.”
“What happened?” Dylan asks.
“I hit my head.”
Dylan sighs. “I can see you hit your head. How did it happen?”
“I fell while surfing. I got a new scar and a concussion as a participation prize.”
“Are you trying to break the record on how many concussions a person can get?” I ask.
“Nah. I don’t play football.”
“If you’re done, can we start with the meet and greet?” Mike checks his watch. “Which is now officially thirty minutes off schedule.”
“I thought Aurora was the one who had a hard-on for schedules,” I joke.
Jett grimaces. I am so done with Jett and Aurora and their hate-on. They need to get over it already. We’re professionals. They need to act as such.
Mike ushers us forward and we line up behind him. We walk through the sound room. “Ready?” He doesn’t wait for an answer before opening the door.
Immediately the crowd starts to chant. Sinners! Sinners! Sinners!
Jett throws his hands in the air. “Who’s ready to meet and greet me?”
Women rush to him and the security team hurries to protect him from being crushed.
“Shouldn’t you take it easy after your concussion?” I have to shout to be heard.
A woman bats her eyelashes at him. “I can take care of you. I’m a nurse.”
Jett waggles his eyebrows. “I always did enjoy playing doctor.”
I guess he’s fine. I leave him to do his thing.
“Gibson, Gibson!” A woman waves to get my attention.
“Hi,” I greet.
“Can I get an autograph?”
“Sure.” This is what we’re here for today after all. Greeting fans who won the chance to meet the members of Cash the Sinners.
She whips open her blouse to reveal her naked chest. “On the right boob. It’s bigger.”
Shit. Shit. Shit. What do I do? Mercy lost her mind about the naked woman in the shower and we were only fake dating then. Now we’re the real deal, and I don’t want to risk her wrath.
“I already have an appointment to have my tattoo guy ink over it.”
She is not making things better.
I should have anticipated this. It’s not my first meet and greet the fans day. And it’s definitely not the first time a fan flashed her tits at me either. Not even close.
“What do I do?” I ask Dylan.
“Didn’t you discuss this with Mercy before today?”
That would have been a good idea. Had I thought of it. But Mercy doesn’t enjoy talking about me being a rockstar. Except when she teases me about never googling me. The woman seriously has no clue how big Cash the Sinners is and she doesn’t care.
Dylan chuckles. “Good luck, man.”
I dig the marker out of my back pocket. I keep my eyes focused on the woman’s shoulder as I sign her skin right below her collar bone.
“Thanks,” she says as she buttons up her shirt.
Huh. Maybe this won’t be as bad as I thought.
Two hours later I’ve come to a different conclusion. It is as bad as I thought.
“Come on, Gibson,” the latest woman cajoles. “I promise I’ll give you the time of your life.”
I snort. As if some nameless, faceless woman can compete with Mercy.
“Not interested.”
“He’s boring now because he has a girlfriend,” Jett hollers.
Naturally, the press hear. The paparazzi aren’t allowed at our meet and greets but there’s still press to make sure the day is documented on social media and in news stories. Let the questions commence.
“You have a girlfriend?”
“Who is she?”
“Does she live in Winter Falls?”
Crap. I don’t want them knowing about Mercy and where she lives. Although, I don’t have to worry about Mercy getting scared. She’d probably drive them out of town with her uncle’s Charger while cackling the whole way.
Mike claps his hands to gain everyone’s attention. “The band members will not be entertaining personal questions today.”
My mouth gapes open at his announcement. Mike’s never had a problem using our personal lives to gain press coverage before. Don’t get me wrong. The guy’s a good manager. But he’s also a vulture who will do anything to ensure the band stays in the limelight.
“I spoke to him this morning,” Cash mutters to me.
I cock an eyebrow in question.
“We don’t need a repeat of what happened with Virginia.” The paps surrounded her and she had a panic attack. Dylan thought he’d lost her.
“Or Leia,” Fender grumbles.
Leia chased the paps out of town with a shovel. We were away on tour but I wish I had been there. I bet it was glorious.
A reporter points at Jett’s forehead. “Can we ask how he got the new scar?”
Jett grins. “You noticed? How sweet.”
“What happened?” Another reporter shouts.
“Let me just say this. You can’t fight off a shark with a punch to the nose. It’s an urban legend.”
“You fought with a shark?”
Jett shrugs. “I’m sworn to secrecy.”
I chuckle. “Did the shark make you sign an NDA?”
“They’re called sharks for a reason.”
The DJ from the radio station out of Denver sponsoring today’s event stands on a table to gain everyone’s attention. “I hope you enjoyed the first portion of today’s event. If everyone will proceed to the door, the limos are ready to drive us to lunch.”
We retreat to the recording studio while the fans and press leave.
I sigh in relief. “I’m glad we’re done.”
Jett scowls at me. “You used to enjoy these events. But since you’ve been dating Mercy, you’re boring.”
“I’m not boring just because I don’t want to sign a woman’s pubic.”
I shiver. The woman with the boobs was not the last person to disrobe in front of me today. I can’t believe I used to enjoy this. There’s no challenge when a woman throws herself at you.
But Mercy? Now there’s a challenge. And I know the prize is worth the effort since I’ve had a glimpse of it already.