Chapter 27
Jodi Castle
There were too many souls packed into the too small space, and the Ghost Boys dressing room was by no means small.
Okay, it wasn’t vast either, but it certainly hadn’t been designed with this many occupants in mind.
How the guys were supposed to get ready to head on stage with this amount of chaos around them defied reason.
For the most part they seemed to be revelling in it.
Balin had a girl on his lap. The guy beside him had a possessive hand on the small of her back.
Boyfriend, she concluded. Giving his girl a treat and hawkishly wondering if he was going to be throwing punches before the night was done. He was right to wonder, considering.
Lee, freshly rested and showered, was attempting to blow dry his hair, surrounded by a group of six young women all sporting Vans and with a collective hemline of approximately six inches. “Your hair’s so amazing,” one of them said.
“Are you and Spook Mortensen related?” asked another.
They weren’t even the same shade of blond.
“I love guys with beards. Yours is so soft.”
“You okay, babe?” Jez bumped against her arm as he passed. In a show of pre-show nerves, he was pacing. Only he had a train of fans dogging his steps creating a tail effect that kept colliding with itself.
“Where’s Nash?”
He waved vaguely. “Hogging the bathroom so he can doll himself up and look beautiful for the fans in the front row. Good thing the rest of us are beautiful already.” He gave her a wink.
“Who’s that?” the fangirl directly behind him asked.
“None of your business.”
“Is she entertaining you tonight? I thought I was your number one for later.”
“Only if you’re not a drag.”
Jodi found Nash in the bathroom sitting on the vanity unit by the sink surrounded by an array of sweets and deodorant cans.
The former he appeared to be handing out to anyone with the forethought to ask.
As she approached, he unwrapped one for a girl in fishnets and black lipstick then placed it on her tongue.
“Nash?”
“Jo-Jo.” He bumped off the vanity sending various aerosol cans flying. “Babe.” Seeking askance with his eyes, he sought her consent to get closer. When she nodded, he gave her a forehead kiss. “Sorry. I’m an arse. You know what I’m like when I’m tired.”
“It’s okay. I should’ve checked in and made sure I wasn’t needed.”
“Yeah. Give us some space, ladies, eh?” His fan club twittered and cooed “—we’ll see you later, Nash—” but dutifully vacated the room. Mostly. “That includes whoever’s in the loo.”
There were a few moments of shuffling, then the door latch clicked, and a girl with blue hair exited. She smirked at them both, then left. Balin followed her out.
“Didn’t you literally have someone else on your lap three minutes ago?” Jodi asked.
Balin shrugged. “I’m popular.” He zipped up, then pushed between her and Nash and used the sink. Then pushed between them again to reach the drier, which he used for approximately three seconds before wiping his hands against his thighs. Nash followed him to the door and locked it behind him.
“When did you all turn into such sleazeballs?”
“Ahem.” Nash put his back to the door. “My dick hasn’t been anywhere but your pussy.”
Jodi rolled her eyes. “The rest of them.”
“The rest of them were always sleazeballs. You just didn’t realise, and luckily you wound up with me, not any of them.”
She nodded. “Well, I’m glad you’re feeling better for having had a nap?” she said changing the subject.
Nash pinned her with a sultry look. “I didn’t have a nap. I had a couple of Monsters.”
No wonder he looked bouncy. He turned to the mirror, pulling the remains of a packet of love heart sweets from his pocket. He smiled at whatever was written on it, then slid it along the countertop to her.
MAKE UP.
“Not sure how to interpret that. Are you asking me to apply your eyeliner or…”
He dragged his teeth over his lower lip, flooding it with colour. “I’m saying that I don’t like being at odds with you, and it feels like you’re not entirely onboard with us anymore.”
“That’s not fair, Nash. I am.”
“Are you?” He drew her closer to him, one hand hooked behind her neck. It didn’t take a genius to figure out what he had in mind. Except a quickie in a bathroom wasn’t going to smooth things over or fix things. It’d just mean he could convince himself he was the same sort of stud as his bandmates.
“Aren’t you due on stage in like ten minutes?”
He caught a lock of her hair and twirled it around his finger. “Ten minutes is oceans of time. The door’s bolted. Can’t get much more private than that.”
Someone banged on the door. “I’d like to use the facilities before we go on,” Lee called.
“Find another one.”
“There is only this one. Stop assaulting Jo, fuckwit, and open the door.”
Nash rolled his eyes but relented. “I’m getting really tired of you cock blocking me, Murphy.”
“Then stop trying to cop a feel in the bogs, then.”
“Fuck off.”
“Whatevs,” Lee offered him a two-fingered salute, and headed towards the stall. He bobbed his head back out before closing the door. “Are you okay to give these to Xane for me?” He unhooked a pair of shades from the neck of his shirt and passed them to Jodi. “Ta, doll.”
“I guess I’d better...” She offered Nash a shrug.
“Time, guys.”
Back in the dressing room, Brian had appeared and was trying to hustle the guys towards the stage.
Three girls immediately got in the way of Nash’s exit.
He signed posters and shirts and offered cheek kisses.
Only at the last moment did he seem to recall her presence.
“You and me, after the show. We’re gonna find ourselves somewhere quiet. Kiss for luck?”
She dutifully did as asked.
**
The Black Halo dressing room was considerably calmer than the Ghost Boys one. There weren’t any fewer people, possibly more, but the atmosphere wasn’t manic, more purposeful. One of their crew asked to see an ID.
“She’s Rock Giant’s missus,” Spook called, prompting an apology. He gave her a nod, barely pausing in the act of pulling a brush through his acres of white-blond hair to gesture in Paul’s direction.
“Actually, I’m looking for Xane. Returning these.”
He pointed with the brush in the other direction.
Xane and Luthor were by the big mirror, Xane applying kohl and a death mask. Luthor sat on the dresser next to him, chatting, and feeding him bites of banana. She gave Luthor Xane’s shades, after Xane waved her away when she offered them directly.
“Tack till dig.”
Two arms wound around her from behind and lifted her off the floor. She squeaked, “Paul?”
“Castle.”
“Put me down.”
He let go of her enough for her to turn around and face him, only to be engulfed by another swaddling hug. She tapped against his pecs. “Can’t breathe.”
“You’re cute.” He smiled down at her. A pair of goggles sat perched atop his shaven head, and he had one eye shell in that rendered that eye entirely black. Iris, sclera, the lot. It was freaky, but cool. “This is a fun surprise, but what are you doing hanging around these pair of reprobates?”
“Favours for Lee.” She pointed to the sunglasses Luthor was holding. “Just delivering them. The guys are about to go on.”
“Time to hang for a bit, then.” He tucked her under one arm and guided her over to where he’d been getting ready.
They passed Ash, who had a games device in his hands that was taking up all his focus.
A squad of four young ladies were sat in an arch around him, but it seemed doubtful that he was even aware of their presence.
“I should really get to the wings.”
“Five minutes,” Paul insisted.
“What for?”
“So I can look at you.”
“Stop it,” she said, but he just grinned. “Did you get into trouble for skipping sound check?”
“Na.” He fastened a leather cord hung with a pendant around his neck. “Guess I’m done. They can love me or lump it.” He rubbed a hand over his scalp. “A lot less prep to do since this came off. You’ve never said what you thought of it.”
“Whether I like you better with or without hair? Not sure.” She reached up to feel, and he obligingly bent down so that she could reach. She expected prickles, but the new growth was soft. “You look good both ways. Not sure I’ve a preference. Whichever you’re most comfortable with.”
“Spoken like a true diplomat.” He scooped a hand around the back of her neck, and she feared he was going to lean in and deliver one of those magic, knicker-soaking kisses he was capable of, but she raised a hand between them just in time. “None of that, now. Friends don’t snog one another.”
That earned her a laugh, and the slide of his thumb against her cheek. “Tell that to Xane sometime will ya? Come on, Castle, I’ll walk you to your destination.”
“Not sure I need an escort along two corridors.”
“You’d be surprised by the number of people who come amiss in corridors,” he said, utterly deadpan. “You can’t be too careful.”
What she feared was what he was capable of doing to her in a corridor, particularly, an empty one.