23. Elijah
Chapter twenty-three
Elijah
R ight as the band and I got through the sound check on stage, my phone buzzed in my pocket.
MP
We are almost there. Can’t wait to hug my bestie.
I smiled, and my chest did some weird jolt thing. I started texting back, but my brother's voice came from behind me. “Is that smile for me, or is your girl almost here?”
I looked back down at my phone and continued to type before answering him, “Fuck off, man, she’s not my girl. She is too good to want to be my girl. I will never be worthy of a girl like her.”
“Eli.” I looked at him in surprise. He had never called me that before. “You are worthy of a lot of things that you don’t believe you are. I have seen changes in you since you met her.” He gripped my shoulder. “She is good for you, man. She cares about you more than you think.”
“You don’t even know her.”
“I don’t have to. I have seen the things she has done for you and how just being around her has changed you.
” He chuckled. “I mean, I haven’t seen you fuck around with a woman in I don’t know how long, and I can only contribute that to her catching you with Maxine that night at the bar.
You got sober, kinda. She got you talking to Dad again.
No one ever saw that coming. In turn, your going there helped me decide to go, and now we have a little time to get to know him.
You’re even talking and going to therapy with your mom.
You’re becoming a better person. She is good for your life and everyone in it. ”
I looked down at the text I was sending and added a little more to it before hitting send.
I can’t wait to see you, Masterpiece. I have a few things I want to discuss with you.
I looked back up at Owen. “Thanks, man.”
“Anytime, bro.”
I changed my clothes while I waited for a response from Brielle.
MP
Everything okay?
Yep. All good things. All of you have VIP passes waiting for you at the gate. Text me when you get here, and I’ll come out and grab you guys after the security check.
MP
Will do.
The moment I saw her, my insides twisted. The look she gave me sent pure happiness rushing through me. As she ran up to me, she carefully put down her camera bag and jumped into my arms. I held her up by the back of her thighs.
“Damn, I’ve missed you, beautiful girl. You have to stay for a long time now that you are here.” I turned my attention to anyone who would listen. “My best friend is here, everyone.”
Her smile was contagious. “I’ve missed you too.” She hugged my neck and kissed my cheek.
I slid her down my body, keeping her as close as possible. Once her feet hit the floor, she moved her arms to my torso and hugged me again before looking up at me. “Hi. How are you?”
She had stray hair from her ponytail that had fallen onto her face. I moved it behind her ear. “All better now.” I looked at everyone else, slid my arm over her shoulder, and smiled. “Hey, guys.”
Lincoln smirked. “How come I don’t get that type of hello? And since when is she your best friend? What the fuck, bro?”
I let Brielle go and ran up to him. “Oh, you want me to pick you up, big boy? Come here. I didn’t realize you missed me like that.”
Brielle, Aubrey, and Amani all laughed as I picked him up. I was barely able to lift his tall ass. He stayed stiff as a board, making it harder for me to pick him up.
“You are so fucking dumb,” Link murmured.
I laughed as I put him down. He leaned in and gave me a proper hug. “Seriously, I missed you, man. How are you? How’s your dad?”
I shuffled on my feet and put my arm back around Brielle. It still felt weird when people asked me about him. I was so used to just telling people he wasn’t around. “He’s doing his best, thanks for asking.”
Brielle looked up at me. “Where to? Don’t let us get in your way.”
“You are never in my way.”
She smiled big.
I let them into the VIP area, where the meet-and-greet was going to be.
We actually had a few local magazines and news stations coming to do interviews before and after the show.
Everyone but Hunter was there already. I told Beck to go grab him so my friends could get some pictures with all of us.
I wanted to give them the whole VIP experience like I did last year when Link made his love declaration.
“Everyone say cheese,” the photographer, Allie, called out.
We took a lot of pictures, and as everyone started to disperse, I gestured for Allie to take a few extra.
Aubrey was looking on like a protective mother, as she usually does, but Link grabbed her attention and walked her over to the food table. He smiled over at me, giving me a nod.
I pulled Brielle into me and got behind her. I put my head on hers and my arms around her neck. She stepped to the side and hugged my waist. She started giggling. “What are you doing, crazy?”
I looked down and kissed her cheek. “I want some pics with my girl.” I turned her face back toward Allie and said, “Now, smile, pretty girl.”
She relaxed in my arms. I knew she would ask me later about the ‘my girl’ comment, but for now, I could avoid it.
When Allie was done, I put my arm around Brielle and walked her over to everyone else. I looked down at her. “Are you hungry?”
She looked up at me with the sweetest smile. This was my girl. I didn’t know how we would do it, and I didn’t know if she would even want to, but looking at her, I knew I wanted this. I wanted to make her mine in every way possible.
“I am good right now, actually. I just want to watch you guys set up everything and get ready. I’d love to take some pics if that’s okay with your photographer?” She looked over at Allie and got the nod of approval. “Do you have a lot to do before showtime?”
“We have a few interviews, with magazine interviewers and news reporters, beforehand, and then a small VIP meet-and-greet. Then it’s showtime.”
“Can’t wait!” she squealed.
After mingling and doing the first VIP meet-and-greet with the band, we had to sit down with Tennessee Talks , the gossip magazine that covered up-and-coming celebrities in the area.
They mainly focused on asking Owen most of the questions, since he’s the one who started the band. Everything was going well until the interviewer said something I didn’t think would ever come up.
“So, Owen, we know your dad is in the hospital. Is that going to have a major effect on the band and what you choose to do this summer? Is that going to postpone anything for the fans?”
Owen looked over at me. I shrugged, not really knowing what to say or how they would even know that. We had done our best to be careful and not let it get out to the public, or so we thought.
He hesitantly started answering, “We have nothing set in stone at the moment, so there is nothing to postpone really, but yes, my father is sick, and that is all I will say about that, so I can respect and protect his privacy, and I ask you to do the same.”
He looked back at me and nodded. I think he was trying to keep me out of it. Most fans knew we were half-brothers, but I was pretty sure everyone assumed it was through our mom because we had only ever talked about Owens’s mom in previous interviews.
I jumped in and answered a few of the more mundane questions: What is next? Plans for the summer? Those kinds of things. When the interviewer moved on to Connor and asked who he had been seen sneaking out of a hotel with a few nights ago, I looked into the crowd and found Brielle.
She mouthed, “Are you okay?” I nodded. “Good.”
The interviewer asked all five of us about our love lives. It was usually the most straightforward question for me to answer because I had always been alone. This time, though, I wasn’t quite sure how to answer, so I kept it vague.
“At this time in my life, I am focusing on my friends and family.”
She looked down at her notepad in her lap. “Yes, I see that you have been keeping your nose clean by not being pictured lately. The last pictures we have of you with anyone are from about four or five months ago. Care to explain that and what you have been doing lately?”
I brushed my fingers through my hair and smiled. “Sure, so as I said, my main focus has been friends and family, but there is someone special in my life that I am starting to care very deeply for, and I am hoping that will blossom as time goes on.”
“That is so sweet. Do you care to let us in on the secret about who this someone special is?”
I laughed. “Not at this time. I don’t want to scare her off just yet. I have quite a lot of convincing to do. Don’t want the old me to ruin her rep. She is too special for all that.”
I did my best not to look over at Brielle, but I desperately wondered what expressions she was giving.
The interviewer nodded and laughed. “I see you won’t let us in that hard exterior of yours just yet, so I won’t pry, but make me a promise, okay?”
“What’s that?”
“When you are finally ready to tell the world about this amazing girl, let us get the scoop first.”
“I will do my best.”
Once the interview was over, everyone went back to the green room. Brielle walked slower than the rest of us, taking pictures with her camera.
“You like taking pictures, huh?” I asked.
She held her camera close to her chest, almost as if she felt embarrassed or ashamed. “Yeah, kind of. But I enjoy painting pictures more.”
“I think you are great at both.”
She smiled, put her camera back up to her face, and took a snapshot of me. “Thank you, Eli.”
“Thirty minutes to showtime,” our stage manager called out.
“Thanks, Red,” Beck and Hunter said at the same time. “JINX,” they both said again in sync.
Amani walked over to Beck and pulled him up off the couch. “Come on, sweet cheeks. We still have a few minutes.”
As they walked out, whistles, hoots, and hollers broke out from everyone else. I laughed and turned my attention to my friends. “You guys should go settle into your seats.”
I expected everyone to get up, and everyone but Brielle did. She remained next to me, holding my hand, rubbing her thumb across the back of it in a circular motion.
“Bean, you coming?” Aubrey asked.
“Yep. Just want a few more pictures of this cool signature wall. It will only take a second.”
Aubrey’s eyes narrowed with concern. “Okay. Call if you need me or can't find us.”
Brielle held up her ticket. “I know where we are sitting, Aubs. I will find you.”
I let go of her hand and sat back, extending my arms out across the back of the couch with a grin. Looking at Aubrey with a smirk on my face, I said, “You heard the pretty lady. We need a few more minutes.”
Aubrey scoffed but smiled. I knew she loved me.
“Let’s go, Link.”
Link smiled and guided her out, but not before fist-bumping me on his way out. I turned to the beautiful girl on my left. “Everything okay?”
“How are you, really?”
I was a bit taken aback, but I answered the same way I had before, “I am fine, Brie.”
“Are you sure? You said you needed to talk to me about something, and now I'm worried.”
“Oh…that.” I pulled her onto my lap, her legs hanging over to one side. “You do not have to worry about that. Like I told you, it's about good things.”
“Okay,” she said hesitantly. “I guess I'll go find my seat then. Break a leg out there.”
She stood, and I followed. Just as she opened the door, I raised my hand to close it again. She quickly turned toward me.
“Eli?” Her voice came out breathy.
I leaned down and whispered into her ear. “How about a quick kissing lesson before you go?”
She smirked. “I don’t need kissing lessons. I think that part went quite well last time.”
My grin widened. “Maybe I’m the one who needs some practice.”
She pushed me backward playfully. “Bullshit.”
I moved in close to her mouth, almost to the point of touching her lips. “Not. Bullshit.” Her green eyes bore into me. The little specks of gold rimming her iris made her that much more mesmerizing. I lowered my voice to a husky whisper, “Can I kiss you, baby?”
She nodded as her arms went up over my neck, pulling me down to her. She gasped when I lifted her up, just as I had before to hug her. I pushed her back up against the door, causing a low moan to escape her just as our tongues met.
“Fuck, I needed this.”
“Me too,” she panted into my mouth.
She began grinding her hips on my abs, so I pushed my body into her even more. “Is someone needy for me?”
“Yes.”
Her hands went into the back of my hair. She moved her mouth down my throat. “Fuck, Brielle, how do you have this much control over me?”
“Do you want me to stop?” she whispered.
“Fuck no, I don’t want you to stop.” I chuckled. “But if you don’t, I am going to have a raging hard-on when I go on stage.”
She giggled against my throat. Her beautiful eyes found mine, and she pushed my hair away from my eyes. She gave me a peck on the lips. “Remember, you started this. I was leaving.”
“I missed you.”
She chuckled. “I missed you, too, Old Man.”
I didn’t know how, but she quieted the noise in my head. Even staring at her in the silence was comforting.
“What’s wrong?” She tilted her head as she waited for a response.
I slowly put her down, and she kept her eyes on mine the entire time. “Nothing. I just…” I looked down at the floor.
She dipped her head so I was looking at her face. “Eli. Talk to me.”
I pulled her into a hug. “We can talk after the show. I just needed you for a second before I went out on the stage. You quiet my noise.”
She said my name again, but it came out in a whisper, as if she was surprised. “Eli.”
I cupped her face with my hands. “What baby?”
“Why?”
I gave her a questioning look. “Why, what?”
“Why do I quiet your noise? How?”
I couldn’t help but smile. “I wish I knew.” I softly kissed her lips one more time. “You are like a flashlight guiding me through a dark room that I didn’t know I needed help getting out of.”
Her eyes filled with tears, so I placed my forehead to hers. “Please don’t cry,” I pleaded.
“I’m not,” she said with a reassuring smile.
A knock rapped on the door behind her. “Twenty minutes E.”
“Got it. I am coming.” I said it without even looking away from her. “Go out there and have fun, okay?”
She nodded and turned the doorknob behind her. “Are you sure you’re okay?” she asked.
“I am perfect now that I got that kiss.”
She smiled before turning around and walking out the door. I knew she was only going out front to watch the band, but every time she walked away from me lately, it hurt just a little bit more. I needed to get a fucking grip.
I walked out right after her, watching her walk toward the curtains. Before she walked through, she turned to find me staring at her. A beautiful, radiant smile broke out on her face.
“Break a leg, Eli.”
“Only because you asked nicely.” I winked, and she turned to continue her way up front.
She blew me a kiss.
Only one word came to mind as she disappeared from my view… Mine.