4
On the opposite end of the spectrum, Griffin, his attention-seeking, horn dog of a cousin, ran up and down the front of the stage, smacking people’s hands and pumping his fist in the air. His pale eyes scanned the crowd, and even though I wasn’t yelling for him, he actually did hear me. Spotting Jenny and I back a ways from the front, he pointed at us.
Then he lifted his fingers up to his mouth in a V position and did suggestive things with his tongue that made my cheeks flame hotter than the steamy sunshine I was standing in. I immediately looked away.
Several people around Jenny and I laughed and looked at us. My embarrassment tripled. Jenny beside me saucily exclaimed, “Ewww, Griffin!” then started laughing with the crowd. I shook my head, wishing my sister, Anna, hadn’t been at her photo shoot for the Hooters calendar today, so she could, maybe, attempt to keep her pseudo-boyfriend in line.
Evan had come up during the middle of that display, and seeing Griffin sexually harass us, he looked over our way. He smiled and waved, blowing a kiss to Jenny. She snatched it in the air and blew him one back. His warmhearted smile got even bigger, but once he’d acknowledged us, he twisted to take in where he was, and his dark eyes seemed awed. I laughed at the look, happy that the good-spirited man was taking a second to enjoy his success.
Then the scream got so loud my ears started ringing. I actually half-closed my eyes it was so painful. The girls right next to me, looking all of fourteen, started clutching each other and chanting, “Oh my God, there he is. Oh my God, he’s so hot. Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God!” I grinned and shook my head, amazed and amused at how my rocker boyfriend could affect people. Of course, I completely understood. Lord knows he had completely affected me in the beginning. Still did, honestly. Even just watching him confidently strut onto the stage, the stage he owned with every fiber of his being, my body tingled for him.
Kellan walked up to his microphone slowly. Or maybe it was a regular pace and my mind was just on the slow-motion button. Whatever the reason, it seemed to take him forever to get to where he was headed. He had one hand up, waving to the mass of people clamoring for him and he ran the other back through his thick, bed-head hair. The heat and 5
sweat made the sandy-brown mess stick out even more crazily and he looked just completely edible.
I bit my lip as he finished his saunter to his mic stand. He scanned the crowd as he adjusted the height on it. I knew from experience just what the front row was feeling as those midnight-blue bedroom eyes washed over them. He had a way of looking at you that made you feel like no one else existed in the world, even if a crowd was around you. Add that to the sexy half-smile on his face, and you got a man who could ignite you with just a glance. He was igniting me now, and he hadn’t even spotted me yet.
As his face turned away, hopefully looking for me out in these masses, I studied his jaw line—strong, masculine, so freakin’ sexy it hurt. The girls behind me seemed to think so, too. From amongst the screaming, I clearly heard, “That is going home with me tonight,” and, “God, that man is completely fuckable.” I resisted the urge to turn and tell them that he was taken, keeping my gaze focused on him instead. I shouldn’t be jealous or irritated by fans, but their comments were a little less cute than the fourteen-year-old’s.
As Kellan’s eyes finished with one half of the crowd, they swung over my way. Like magic, he spotted Jenny and me instantly. She waved then whistled with her fingers in her mouth. I flushed and smiled as those amazingly intense eyes locked onto mine. He nodded at me and mouthed, “I love you.”
The stupid girls behind me started moaning that he’d said it to them. I again ignored the desire to acknowledge that I knew him and to tell them that he was mine. It wouldn’t change their feelings towards him one tiny little bit and I’d only end up opening myself to endless questions about our personal life. Questions I did not want to talk about with complete and total strangers. I’d gotten enough of that at school before Kellan and I had even gotten together.
Instead, I discreetly mouthed that I love him too and gave him a couple of thumbs up. He laughed at my move and shook his head, clearly confident that he’d completely kick ass on stage. And he would.
If anything, Kellan had been preparing himself for a moment like this for years now, playing small bars and clubs down in L.A. and then up here, 6
after his parents had died. He’d sort of been preparing for this his whole life.
Slinging a guitar over his shoulder, he wrapped his hand around the microphone. The screams intensified again when it became obvious that he was going to speak. Over the sound system, I heard his warm laugh, then, “Hello, Seattle!” The girls around me jumped and screamed his name. I laughed and tried to move away from some of the more revved up girls, although, with nowhere to go, I only ended up bumping into a couple of guys in front of me.
Muttering apologies when they glared back at me, Kellan’s voice hit me again. “We’re the D-Bags…in case you didn’t know…” another long screaming session, “…and we’ve got something for you…if you want it.” He raised an eyebrow after he said that, eyeing some of the women up front a little too suggestively for my taste. But, I knew it was an act.
While his face clearly said, screw me later, that wasn’t what was in his heart. I was in his heart. Heck, I was tattooed over his heart. I smiled, knowing that not one single woman here was aware of that fact. Well, besides Jenny, anyway.
He held up a finger to quiet the crowd. They surprisingly did back off, a little bit. “Do you want it?” he asked suggestively. The crowd loudly indicated that they did. Jenny was hollering her answer through her hands, so I joined in.
I noticed Matt shaking his head, smiling as he flexed his hand. Evan was now sitting in front of his drums, moving his body to an unheard beat and spinning a stick in his hands. As Kellan eyed the crowd, I watched Griffin try to get a couple of girls to lift their shirts. I didn’t keep looking to see if they did.
Kellan brought his hand up to his ear. “Well, if you want it, I’m gonna have to hear you ask for it.” There was hooting and hollering and more obscene suggestions tossed out from behind me, but I didn’t care. I no longer cared about any of them, because Kellan brought his eyes back to mine and the pure joy I saw on his face was enough to make all of the forward women, all of the grabby men, and all of the sweaty strangers, completely worth it.