Miles of Pleasure

chapter 2




"Dude! That was so f*cking awesome!" Jayden yelled as he ran back into the dressing room. He felt like he was on a high.

"Another sold out crowd, boys! Great job tonight. You were all dead on and it seriously rocked," Kaylee congratulated them. She gave each one a hug and kiss, stopping when she got to Ashton, and opted to give him a friendly punch on the arm instead of the affection she had showered on everyone else.

Ashton rolled his eyes, and yelled to the bodyguard at the door. "Let the 'hos in, man!"

Kaylee shook her head. No matter how many times she had seen him act like this, she never thought she'd be completely comfortable with it. He was such a man-whore.

In a flash, hordes of people flooded the dressing room. Most were women, but there were a few men too. Some had won backstage passes from the radio stationcontests, while others had been handpicked from the crowd by the band members.

Kaylee hung back from the crowd for a little while, giving the fans time to meet the band members. After it seemed like everything had settled down a little, she came out from her spot in the corner and started tomingle. As usual, most of the girls were hoochies, just looking for a quick f*ck from a member of the band. There were a few who seemed pretty down to earth, and some who could even form coherent sentences. Kaylee gravitated toward those women.

She was getting along great with a couple of the girls, talking about where the local hotspots were in town and where the cutest guys hung out. They were laughing and joking, drawing the attention of a couple of the men who had gotten backstage.

One in particular seemed to take a strong interest in Kaylee. He listened to her talk for a few minutes before he stepped up and introduced himself. "Excuse me, I'm sorry for interrupting, but I wanted to introduce myself. My name's Brandon," he said, holding out his hand.

Kaylee smiled. Hmm...Good looks and charm. It seemed there was plenty of intelligence too. Nice!

"Kaylee," she said. She shook his hand, gazing into his crystal-clear green eyes.

Brandon didn't miss the suggestion in her eyes. He felt a slight stirring below the belt, and it seemed as though the temperature in the room shot up about 20degreeshotter than it already was. "Um, can I get you something to drink?" he asked, his voice cracking with sudden nervousness.

Kaylee nodded. "Sure, go tell my brother to mix me up a 'Kaylee Special'," she said and pointed to Noah.

Brandon looked over to where she was pointing. There were five or six women surrounding one of the guys from the band. He didn't see any other guys in that general area. "Which one are you pointing at?"

"Noah," she answered, as if it was no big deal.

Brandon nodded, suddenly even more nervous. He weaved through the clusters of people until he finally reached his destination. "Excuse me," he interjected into the conversation, or lack thereof. Noah looked up at him from the bar stool he was sitting on. "Uh, Kaylee asked if you could make her a 'Kaylee Special'."

Noah looked the man over. Definitely his sister's type. He got up from the stool and grabbed a few liquor bottles. "So, you're trying to get with my sister?"

Brandon didn't know what to say. "Nah, man," he said nervously. Noah gave him a look that said not to bullshit a bullshitter. Brandon tried another direction.

"Your sister's a knockout," he said honestly. "She looked like she was having a lot of fun. I wouldn't mind getting to know her, and it'd be cool to hang out with her."

Noah sized him up again as he mixed together some fruity concoction. "Hurt her and die," he said, ever so friendly. He handed over the drink, and went back to the groupies who had been drooling all over him.

Brandon scratched his head at the weird exchange and stood there for a moment, contemplating, before he headed back to Kaylee. She gratefully accepted the drink from him and moved over on the couch so that he could sit next to her. They talked quietly, getting to know each other. When Kaylee's glass was empty, she pulled him off the couch and led him back to her brother.

"What is that stuff, by the way?" Brandon asked.

"Technically, it's a 'Sex on the Beach', but my brother hates it when I call it that," she laughed. She looked at her brother, held up her empty glass, and shook it at him.

Noah laughed and got up to make her another drink. As he mixed it, he made conversation with his sister and Brandon. He found out that Brandon was a new writer from The Hits magazine, and that he was doing a piece about bands on the rise. It was his first big article for the magazine, and they were giving him free reign on the topic as a trial of sorts.

"So you chose us for the article?" Noah asked.

"Well, there are two other bands that I'm including, but the main focus is on you. I can't believe your publicist didn't tell you about it," Brandon said.

"Maybe we were told," Brandon said. "Things move so fast out here..."

Brandon nodded. "I understand that. So...I guess you don't know that I'll be traveling with you to a few cities ?" He sounded sheepish, like a boy who had just got caught doing something wrong.

"Nope, definitely hadn't heard that one," Noah told him. He looked questioningly at Kaylee. She shook her head to let him know that she hadn't heard anything either.

"Don't worry; I'm riding on the other bus most of the time. I believe my bunk is between the manager and the publicist, if you ever need to find me," he joked, as he started to feel more comfortable with them. "I'll only be on your bus now and then to get some material to write about."

Noah shrugged, not really caring. Brandon seemed like a pretty cool guy. Kaylee, on the other hand, was all smiles.

"Maybe I should take you out to the bus now, and show you around before the guys get back there. They can be a little overzealous when they get on the bus after a show," Kaylee suggested, enjoying the excuse to get Brandon alone. She led Brandon out of the dressing room and headed toward the bus, not realizing that she had a spectator watching her every move. The person watching rolled his eyes and went to talk to Kaylee's brother.

"Dude, who was that douche bag your sister just left with?" Ashton growled at Noah.

"Oh, that's Brandon, he's a pretty cool guy," Noah told him, then explained what Brandon was there to do. The scowl never left Ashton's face. Noah finally stopped talking and crossed his arms, staring down his bandmate.

"You know man, if someone didn't know how much you and Kaylee hated each other, they'd think you were a little jealous that she just left with another guy," he said.

Ashton immediately went on the defensive. "What? You're crazy. What would I have to be jealous about?" he demanded. "Why would I want your virgin sister when I just screwed this city's hottest deejay in the bathroom half an hour ago, and got the best blow job from some redhead in the closet right after that?"

"I'm just saying..." Noah started, but was interrupted.

"You know what? Never mind! I'm going back to the bus. It's time to blow this place anyway." Ashton stormed out of the dressing room. Noah stared at the place Ashton had been, then shook his head and laughed.

"I'll be damned," he said, chuckling.

Ashton ran onto the bus, hoping to break up whatever moment was being shared between Kaylee and Brandon, but was surprised to find Kaylee alone. She was sitting in her robe, on the couch, flipping through a magazine.

"Hey," he said, getting her attention.

"Hey. Great show tonight," Kaylee said nervously. She didn't know how to talk to him civilly. Most of the time they were around each other they were fighting. If they weren't fighting, then they just weren't speaking. She didn't know how to have a normal conversation with him.

"Thanks. It was a blast out there tonight. It's always better when the crowd is totally into it," he sighed, sitting down next to her. The relief coursed through him. He wasn't jealous - of course he wasn't! - but at the same time, he was glad to see she was by herself. Maybe he just wanted to talk to her. Just as his mouth opened to say something else, the bathroom door opened.

The guy she had been talking to - the reporter, or writer, or whatever the f*ck he was - stepped out, wearing only his boxers.

Ashton exploded. "What the f*ck is going on here?" His angry eyes turned from Brandon to Kaylee as his voice rose. "You met this guy tonight and gave him your virginity already? What the f*ck are you thinking?"

As soon as he saw Kaylee's face, he knew he was in big trouble.

"Her what?" the guy said, and Ashton rounded on him.

"You...shut...up!" he growled, punctuating each word with a stab of his index finger into the air, right at the guy's nose.

Kaylee blushed red hot. She stared at Ashton. Where the hell did all of that come from? But she didn't think about it too much, because her confusion was quickly giving way to fury.

"First of all, it is absolutelynoneof your business what I do with my life!" She was livid at his assumptions and his nerve. "Second, we didn't do anything. I spilled my drink all over us, and I'm washing our clothes. But thanks for airing all my business to some guy I just met," she said, her voice somehow loud and cold at the same time.

She turned on her heel and stormed to the back of the bus, where she rummaged through some drawers. She came back and threw some clothes to Brandon. "Here, they're my brother's. I'll get your clothes back to you tomorrow."

Ashton stood quietly and watched the scene unfold. He watched as the guy looked at the clothes for a moment, as if trying to process what had just happened. Kaylee's face was still a brilliant red, and her eyes were bright, as though she was trying not to cry. Ashton sank down onto the touch.

Brandon squirmed into the sweatshirt, then slid the wind pants on over his boxers. He looked at Kaylee apologetically, only to be met by her mortified eyes. He kissed her cheek softly, and brushed his thumb over the spot he kissed.

"I'll see you tomorrow," he promised, hoping she wasn't too upset to see him again.

Kaylee walked him to the door and shut it behind him. Silence immediately descended, and with it came tension so thick it could have been cut with a knife.

She turned to Ashton. He sat there with a blank look on his face. He didn't know what to say or do. He felt bad about the situation, and was confused as to why he exploded the way he did. He waited for Kaylee to blast him, to say terrible things, but her calm demeanor rattled him more than anything she could have shouted at him.

"Stay out of my life," Kaylee said, sternly and evenly, then disappeared into her bunk.