Chapter 9
Chapter
Nine
Harvey
Opening. Fucking. Night.
Hell yeah.
The stink of sweat was strong backstage; the crowd deafening as they screamed Blood Dirt off the stage with the frenzy of predators closing in for the kill.
The curtains rippled, and for a moment I was blinded by the stage lights as someone slid past me, chest to chest. Lainey.
Her body looked banging in the tight corset she wore onstage, and it occurred to me that she might be just the kind of trouble that could help use up the energy of my opening night high.
“Come see me later,” I growled in her ear, squeezing her waist to make my intention clear.
Her blackened lips split in a sharp smile as she palmed my cock through my tight jeans. Squeezing hard enough for me to feel the bite of her pointed nails, she pushed up onto her toes, bringing her mouth closer to my ear.
“Play that fucking guitar like you want to play with my cunt, and I’ll think about it.” Drawing her tongue up my neck, she bit my earlobe and released me with a final squeeze.
Fuck.
I turned to watch her tight ass as long as I could before rearranging the hard-on she had left me with. Worth it. I’d make her deal with it later.
If not, there would be plenty of groupies eager to help.
“You ready, man? Jesus, leave your dick alone, we’re about to go on.”
I smirked at Otis and made another readjustment just to fuck with him.
“Gotta keep him happy, man, otherwise he might fall off from misuse or something. Speaking of…`are you ready to talk about what happened with our little manager last week?”
We all knew he’d gone over to her house the day she was hired, but he wouldn’t say a word about what they’d spoken about. I was pretty sure they’d fucked, but no one seemed to care about my opinion. Same as always.
Otis rolled his eyes and muttered something that I didn’t quite catch. Whatever. Probably not anything I wanted to hear anyway.
The stage lights dimmed, and we took our cue to move into position.
Behind the drum kit, Tobias was vibrating in his skin. His knee bounced double time while his eyes refused to settle on one thing. Luckily, I knew damn well he could still keep time when he was this coked out, or I would be losing my shit.
My Fender Stratocaster sat prettily in her stand next to Otis’s Fodera Emperor Five bass.
When our national tour was confirmed, Otis and I splurged on our dream pieces.
I lived on instant ramen for a week after I cleared out my account.
Otis hadn’t needed to make that sacrifice.
His parents would have bought the bass for him if he asked, but do-gooder that he was, he wanted to earn it himself.
Speaking of Otis, his eyes were focused intently on the curtains stage right, even as he swept up his bass and moved into position on the far side of Toby’s kit.
Calix stood centerstage, and as I slid my guitar strap over my head, I realized his attention was also focused backstage.
Curious, I craned my neck to follow his eye line and spotted the distraction immediately. Wearing tight jeans and a plain black tee, with her dual-colored hair scraped into a high ponytail, Tatum looked more girl-next-door than kickass band manager, but both Otis and Calix were mesmerized.
This was going to be fun.
Did I want to fuck her? Hell yes, I did, and I would just as soon as she warmed to the idea. But Calix never showed interest like this. He was usually icier than a wood frog in winter, but the heat in his eyes said she’d managed to get under his skin.
I wouldn’t be having the same problem. If smash and dash were an Olympic sport, I’d take home gold. Every. Fucking. Time. Pun intended.
Calix lifted his arm, and I adjusted my grip on my Fender as we were plunged into darkness. The crowd roared their approval as Toby snapped his sticks together to count us in.
“You guys were amazing!” Tatum threw her arms around Otis as we bounced offstage after the second encore, adrenaline pumping through our veins.
Her eyes sparkled like she’d gotten a contact high from the audience, and I had to admit I saw the appeal. The urge to throw her over the nearest speaker and make her scream was so strong my hands twitched.
“Do we all get a turn, or are you already playing favorites with the golden child?” I sneered. I immediately regretted opening my mouth as the smile dropped off her face. A hard hit from behind sent me lurching forward as Tobias practically ran through me to sweep Tatum from Otis’s grip.
“Did you have fun, Angel?” he murmured into her hair as he carried her farther backstage.
Her grin returned as she slapped at his arms, trying to get him to release her.
Considering he was drug-fucked out of his mind, she should be worried about his ability to keep them from walking into a wall, but no one else seemed particularly concerned.
As the others followed them toward the green room, I was left to trail behind, wondering how long we’d have to play nice with the fans before I could go get my dick wet.
Fuck, I could practically feel the way Lainey’s pussy would slide over me until she sat on my balls.
The VIP meet and greet was set up in the green room with lounges arranged in the center of the space, ready for thirsty fans to get up close and personal with us.
Off to the side was a table loaded high with carb-laden junk.
Tatum snagged a cookie on her way past and had barely raised it to her lips when Calix opened his obnoxious mouth.
“You don’t want that.”
“Like hell I don’t.” Narrowing her eyes on him, Tatum took a large bite of the cookie and immediately seemed to regret it as he continued like she hadn’t spoken.
“It’s rum and raisin, not chocolate chip, and seeing as you have picked all the raisins out of your trail mix for the last two days, it seems like a poor choice.”
Swallowing with a grimace, Tatum placed the rest of the treat on the table, muttering something that sounded like “You seem like a poor choice.”
Turning back to our lead singer with a smile that meant trouble, she sidled closer until he took a step back to avoid body contact.
“You seem particularly interested in my eating habits. Careful, I might start to think you like me.”
His scowl was instant, and I barely suppressed a chuckle at his discomfort, but he rallied quickly.
“I don’t want you thinking you can get anything by me. Try to pull something on us, and I’ll know. I see everything.”
“Are you two going to fuck, or should we let the VIPs in?” I asked just to fuck with them. And maybe a little because the sexual tension was making me feel left out.
“Fuck off, De Beaux,” Calix snarled, predictably, as Tatum moved toward the door to give the okay to the security staff.
“Naww, did I interrupt your special time with the boss?” I cooed, dodging his elbow with a laugh.
“Harvey,” Otis warned, reaching up and pulling me down onto the sofa with him. “Behave, please,” he muttered as Calix moved to the single seat lounge so no one could sit near him.
Tobias disappeared into the attached bathroom, likely to top up on the coke, though maybe he’d start on the downers since the show was finished for the night.
Tatum noticed his absence immediately as she guided the first set of fans into the room and introduced each of us before slipping away to retrieve our wayward drummer.
Otis pushed up from his seat to go with her, but a look from our manager was all it took for him to turn his attention back to the frumpy teen boy beside him.
“Harvey De Beaux, you’re my idol.” A young girl with braces and freaking pigtails stood in front of me, her eyes shining with hero worship. I pasted a smile on my face and crouched so we could see each other eye to eye.
“Thanks, kid. You play guitar?”
She nodded enthusiastically and started to tell me in detail about her classic guitar coach, and how she had been promised a new Maton Blackwood acoustic if she got good grades for the school year.
This was the thing about VIP passes. They were expensive.
Which meant you could guarantee the only people who could afford them were entitled brats who had never had a day of hardship in their lives.
Was I making assumptions? Hell yeah, but I couldn’t find it in me to care.
As the girl continued to talk—it seemed like she was on some tangent about school—I took the opportunity to eye her chaperone.
Young. Early twenties, maybe? Which meant she was a sister.
Or maybe a young mom. Millennials looked crazy young these days.
I wasn’t fussed either way, since what was important was the interest I saw in her eyes.
While the young girl looked at me with hero worship, the chaperone was eyeing me in a whole other way.
“Hey, have you met Calix yet?” I asked, waving her toward our lead singer and fellow guitarist.
The girl’s eyes lit up, and she bounced toward the surly fuck, conveniently leaving me with…
“I missed your name,” I said, stepping in toward her before someone else could speak to me.
She grinned, her eyes sweeping over me as she answered. I didn’t bother paying attention to what she said; instead, I watched her closely as I intentionally moved well inside her personal space.
“Feel like having an extra special VIP experience with me?”
She licked her lips, eyes darting toward her sister who had made it to the front of the Calix fan club.
“She won’t even know you’re gone.” I let my lips linger against the shell of her ear, enjoying the way her shoulders hiked in a shudder.
“Okay.” The word was little more than a breath, but it was the approval I needed to take her hand and draw her toward the bathroom Tobias had used earlier to feed his habit.