His lip curled up in an expression that was both sexy and adorable. I had no choice but to wrap my arms around his neck and thoroughly start kissing him as we stepped inside the elevator. Pausing for only a microsecond, I murmured, “I don’t really care if she is.”
Kellan’s phone rang the entire time the car descended, but we both ignored it as we held each other. My good feelings diminished a bit when we stepped onto the chilly, gloomy New York sidewalk. The fans who had been outside before had grown in size during the interview. Their temperament was also different. The range of reactions was all over the place, from shock, to anger, to grief. But curiosity seemed to be the underlying factor. It was obvious that they’d all been listening to the interview. It was also obvious that they all still had questions.
There was also a fair amount of press in the crowd now. They hovered around, microphones ready, cameras blazing. The fact that news crews were already there reiterated to me how fast things happened in New York. I wasn’t thrilled about being broadcasted on TV, but after the interview, this didn’t faze me as much as it once would have.
Kellan and I had handed the media a story that was a little more in depth than just juicy are-they-or-aren’t-they gossip. We’d openly admitted being used by our label. That sort of scandal got noticed. The reporters tossed out questions as the assemblage pressed in on us: “Kellan, Kiera, any comment on what the label did to you?” “Will you sue?” “Will you leave the tour?” “Did you violate your contract by speaking out?”
Those were good questions, but they weren’t ones we had answers for yet.
The fans also had questions, but theirs were on a more personal level: “You’re really not with Sienna?” “That was really fake?” “The video looked so real though, are you sure you don’t have feelings for Sienna?”
Tory and the staff from the radio station were trying to keep the crowd under control so we could leave. I thought maybe we should have stayed and answered everyone’s questions, but the way they were trying to close in around us made me feel really claustrophobic and uncomfortable. There were too many, they were too close. I didn’t like it. We’d said enough for now. I just wanted to get into the car and get back to the privacy of our bus.
There was a brief space between the large clusters of fans and press hovering around the doors. Security was holding people back just enough that Matt, Evan, and Griffin were able to squeeze through, and I watched them hurry into the waiting SUV in relief. Kellan and I couldn’t press through the fans side by side, but he clenched my hand tight as he pulled me through the sea of people.
I noticed several flashes of light as we waded along and realized that not just press were in this mix. Paparazzi had shown up too, and they were by far more aggressive than the fans and reporters. While security merely had to stand in front of those groups to keep them back, paparazzi pushed to get past them. A pair of tenacious photographers found their way through the swarm to step right in front of Kellan and me. Kellan forced me back a step, and I shielded my eyes against the ceaseless bright flashes.
The people snapping our picture didn’t seem to care in the least that we were trying to get to the car. They tossed out question after question, never even pausing long enough for us to answer—not that we were going to. Miffed, Kellan tried squirming past one; the portly man wouldn’t budge, though.
Careful to not be too aggressive, since we’d just narrowly escaped an assault charge the last time we’d encountered these guys, Kellan politely said, “We’re trying to leave; please let us through.”
It was like they didn’t even hear us. They just kept snapping away. Looking up at the safety of the SUV, I saw Matt and Evan watching us in concern. They looked just about ready to start pummeling people aside to get to us. I didn’t want that. Kellan didn’t either. When I was beginning to believe there wouldn’t be another choice if we ever wanted to get out of this mob, a narrow path to the street opened up. It was far to the left of where we wanted to go, and it cut right through a pocket of excited fans, but it was our only option at this point.
Kellan saw the ray of hope at the same time I did. He pulled us to the right, faking out the paparazzi, then swung us around to the left, and we ran for the closing hole. Kellan pulled me through the break in the crowd just as it began to close back up. We were stroked and fondled by fans on the way through, but the aggressive photographers couldn’t follow us.