Chapter 10
Chapter Ten
LUCA
Whatever ground I’d gained with Ollie disappeared into the wind as the day went on. I didn’t know what I’d said this morning to make him close up, but since then, he’d gone out of his way to ignore me.
It was driving me crazy.
I wasn’t used to people avoiding me. Not to sound big-headed, but I was Luca Weston, for fuck’s sake. I normally couldn’t pay people to stay away from me.
But perhaps that was one of the reasons why I was drawn to Ollie. It’d been a long time since someone had made me chase them.
I didn’t plan on letting Ollie outrun me.
Apparently, I was the only band member he was avoiding. He’d spent the morning chatting with Kai and Silas, their conversation lively as they warmed up to him. I’d had to stop myself from storming over and inserting myself every time one of them laughed.
Right now, I was being mic’d backstage, ready for the sound check, while Ollie and Arlo conversed quietly in a corner. Their heads were bent together, Ollie’s notebook held loosely in his hands as he focused intently on what Arlo was telling him.
I glanced sideways and realised I wasn’t the only one watching them. Jack stood beside me, arms folded over his chest and his gaze unreadable.
“I don’t think they’re flirting.”
Jack stiffened. “I didn’t think they were.”
“Really?” I nudged him with my arm, twisting so the sound technician could clip the mic pack on my hip.
Everyone here had signed an NDA, but even if they hadn’t, they knew discussing what was said backstage was a one-way ticket to ending their career.
“Then why are you staring at them like you’re two seconds away from throwing Arlo over your shoulder and dragging him back to your cave? ”
Jack snorted. “No, that’s how you look while staring at Ollie. Me? I’m just happy Arlo is opening up to someone.”
Before I could respond, he turned on his heel and marched away. His words had guilt and shame curdling in my stomach as I tried to recall the last time Arlo had confided in me. Shit. I couldn’t remember. He’d been pulling away from us all so slowly I hadn’t even noticed how far he’d gone.
Arlo gave a bark of laughter, Ollie grinning in response. Instead of jealousy, I felt…relief. Five minutes alone with the most closed-off member of the band, Ollie had him laughing.
“Who’s ready, mother and fatherfuckers?” Silas whooped as he entered the room with a disarming grin.
I rolled my eyes, thanking the sound technician as she finished working on me.
She focused on Silas next, who lit up at the sight of the perky redhead. His grin eased into a flirtatious smile we’d all seen far too often. Lifting his shirt with one hand, he yanked it over his head in a practised move, puffing out his muscled chest.
The techie blushed, smiling and ducking her head as she taped the mic wire to his skin.
He spoke to her in a low tone, too quiet for any of us to hear, but there was no missing the fact he was hitting on her.
Her increasingly giddy giggle suggested he’d got himself set for his after-show celebrations.
Kai entered, his attention landing immediately on Silas and the techie. There was a brief flash of pain before he smoothed it away. Turning on his heel, he stormed back the way he’d come from, the water bottle in his hand crushed beneath his grip.
I was tempted to go after him, but I knew that wasn’t what Kai needed. If he wanted company, he’d seek it out. But otherwise, he liked to process his emotions alone.
It wasn’t like we didn’t expect it. After all, Silas did the same thing at every show.
His so-called bromance with Kai was something both Silas and the fans revelled in.
Silas thought the fan theories about them being a couple were hilarious.
He’d laughed about it so many times without knowing how much his reaction killed Kai.
Even worse, he leaned into it on stage. The fucker would grind against Kai and generally drive him wild without realising it…
before going home to fuck whatever girl had caught his eye that night.
I had no idea how Kai coped. I’d sat with him one too many times, keeping him company while he sought solace in a bottle of whisky.
For someone who rarely spoke, those nights were ones when I couldn’t shut him up.
Not that I wanted to. We’d all fallen for a straight boy before. It was never an easy thing to get over.
And for Kai? It was damn near impossible. He couldn’t avoid Silas. Couldn’t stay away from him on stage, couldn’t ignore him off it.
They were best friends, had been since they were kids.
Arlo and I had tried to persuade Kai to either tell Silas how he felt or put some distance between them.
I had no doubt that if Silas knew the impact his actions had on his best friend, he’d be horrified.
He was as protective over Kai as Kai was over him.
But Kai wouldn’t tell him. If we brought it up, he told us to fuck off. Every. Time.
Ollie evaded me the entire time we set up for the sound check. Disappointment and frustration filled me as I took to the stage, looking over the empty stadium. Tonight it’d be full of screaming fans, unable to take their eyes off us.
I didn’t want that. Well, I didn’t want only that. I wanted someone who couldn’t take their eyes off me.
And as stupid as it might seem, given how he behaved around me, I wanted that person to be Ollie.
As Arlo tapped out the opening beat to “Tease”, I saw a flash of movement from the corner of my eye.
Ollie was in the wings, his arms folded over his chest. His expression was inscrutable.
To an outsider, he probably looked like a consummate professional, cataloguing the goings-on on stage in preparation for his first article.
But as I lifted my mic and belted out the first note, his eyes held mine.
With no audience other than Ollie to perform for, I turned to face the wings. This song was sultry. Sexy. Hungry. For a sound check, we normally kept it perfunctory, hitting the necessary notes but holding back the true performance until the concert kicked off.
But there was none of that now. Not with Ollie watching me like it was costing him everything to look unbothered.
This is where I thrived. It might not be who I really was, but I was arrogant enough to know I was good at my job.
Like they knew what I was doing, the rest of the band stepped up to the plate, giving a performance worthy of awards.
The backtrack allowed me to slip fully into my role.
I gyrated my hips to the music, sucking on my thumb before running it down my chest…
just to watch Ollie’s eyes darken as he followed it.
He was remembering it all. How it felt to have my hands on him.
How I’d run my fingers up his thighs. How I’d taken him deep into my throat.
The song trailed off. I grinned at Ollie, preparing to nab him before he could disappear. Before I could take more than a step, Kai began knocking out the notes to a song we weren’t even playing on this tour.
I spun on the spot to frown at him. He raised an eyebrow at me, continuing to lazily strum out the chords. Behind him, Silas picked up the tempo, with Arlo jumping in on the drums.
Okay…I had no idea what my bandmates were up to, but apparently, we were giving “Something” a go.
With a shrug, I turned my focus back to Ollie, throwing my all into the song. As I let the lyrics wash over me, the familiar words easily sliding from my lips, awareness began to prickle at the base of my neck.
“Something” was slower, more personal. I’d written it a few years ago after going through a particularly horrendous anxiety attack alone.
At the time, I’d pictured some faceless stranger next to me.
Someone who might sit beside me as I pulled myself back together.
Someone to tread water with me when I tried not to drown.
Now though, I wasn’t picturing a stranger.
That was fucking terrifying.
As I lifted my mic to sing the final lines, the lyrics hit home like they never had before.
All because you do something to me
Something that stops me being lonely
Something that makes me need you
For the love of all that’s holy
Say there’s something
That makes you need me too
The final line left my lips, and I let the mic fall to my side. During the song, I’d crossed the stage to be closer to Ollie.
I stared at him with my chest heaving. Ollie’s lips were parted and his arms hung loosely at his sides.
The stage was bustling with workers and my bandmates, but for all the attention Ollie and I paid them, we might as well have been the only ones there.
I took a step towards him, lifting my hand. “Ollie, can we—”
Just then, Kevin appeared over Ollie’s shoulder. His calculating eyes darted between the two of us, suspicion dawning.
I dropped my hand, hardening my face into nothing more than disinterest. “Ollie, do you need anything from me before the show tonight?”
Ollie stiffened, oblivious to the audience we’d gained. “No, Mr Weston. I’ve got enough material for today.”
I gritted my teeth at the name. Fuck, I’d never hated the sound of my surname as much as I did when it slipped from Ollie’s lips. “Excellent. Please excuse me.”
Without waiting for a response, I shouldered past the confused journalist, nodding curtly at Kevin as I passed.
“Thought I told you to play it cool,” Jack muttered as he joined me backstage. “What the fuck do you call that?”
I took the bottle of water he held out, guzzling half. “Don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Really? Because during that first song, it looked to me like you were thirty seconds away from launching into a strip show. Last time I checked, you’re a member of Caffeine Daydreams, not Magic Mike Live.”
I scowled at my suddenly chatty bodyguard. “Do you want to talk about how things look? Because I gotta say, I’ve got a lot of opinions where you are concerned.”
Jack slammed his mouth shut and regret rolled through me. “Shit, Jack. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that. That was crossing a line.”
“It’s okay,” he replied automatically, his gaze over my shoulder. I didn’t need to look to know he was watching Arlo. Again. “But this is why I’m telling you to be careful. The last thing I want is for you to end up like me.”
My brow furrowed. I dropped my voice, aware of the many people around us. “Listen, Jack. If Kevin is stopping you from seeing Arlo, I can—”
His expression cooled. “Now you’re stepping over a line.”
I held up my hands in apology. “Okay, I’ll leave it.”
Just then, Ollie crossed backstage, giving me a tight nod as he passed. I winced internally. No doubt my hot and cold flashes were fucking with his head.
They were certainly fucking with mine.
Inspiration struck. “Hey, will you be watching me from the pit tonight?”
“Yes, like always.” Jack eyed me warily. “Why?”
All our guards normally observed the crowds from different points in the venue, with Jack taking the front of the stage. He liked to claim it was because it put him closer to me.
But we all knew it wasn’t me he did it for.
“Tell Ollie he’s to join you,” I said, staring at the tight set of Ollie’s shoulders as he retreated into the distance. “He’ll have a good view from there.”
“He’d have a better view from the seat he’s been allocated. You know, the one the venue has provided.”
I ignored the pointed note in his voice. “I’ll feel better knowing he’s got you next to him.”
“What’s he got to worry about? It’s not like he’s famous.”
“Please, Jack?” I dragged my attention from where Ollie was sitting, making notes. “What if it was Arlo? What if he wasn’t famous? Would you want him out of your sight and reach during a massive event like this?”
Jack glared at me, his jaw working. Eventually, he blew out a sigh. “Fine, I’ll keep him with me.”
“Thanks, man,” I slugged him on the arm. “I appreciate it.”
“You sure he’s worth it?”
I turned back to Ollie, delighting in how his hand flew over the page, his face creased in concentration. “Honestly…I don’t know him well enough to answer that. But I hope he is. My gut says he is. Sometimes that’s got to be enough to take the leap.”