Kellan smiled and shook his head. She groaned. “Dear, God . . . you’re killing me.”
Her male counterpart held his arm out like he was holding her back. “Easy, there, let’s not’s mount the artists before they’ve even had a chance to play.”
The female DJ let out an exaggerated sigh. “I’ll try, but you know me and good-looking men.”
The male DJ immediately added, “The whole city knows about you and good-looking men.” Kellan and the guys chuckled and he added, “Sienna Sexton is also here in the studio, and, on behalf of men listening everywhere, can I just say . . . you are smoking hot!”
Sienna flashed him a smile as she brushed her dark hair away from her shoulder. “Ah, thank you . . . so sweet,” she cooed in her charming accent.
Pointing a finger between Sienna and Kellan, the woman asked, “So, Sienna, Kellan, rumor has it the two of you are an item?”
Sienna looked at Kellan right as he looked at her. Kellan grit his jaw. Sienna shrugged and said, “Well, he is quite . . . edible.” She looked back at the woman jockey with a conspiratorial grin. “I would have to be an idiot to pass him up, right?”
The woman leaned in, like she and Sienna were best buds. “Is that a yes, then?”
Sienna gave her a coy smile, but didn’t answer her. Probably hoping for something juicy that she could talk about later, the woman turned her attention to Kellan and said, “So, come on, give me the scoop, Kellan. What’s going on with you and Sienna?”
Looking very uncomfortable, Kellan scratched his head. Tory was standing beside me, but she looked like a coiled viper, ready to strike out at the DJs if they asked just the wrong question, or at Kellan, if he answered in a way that the label didn’t want him to. Just standing beside her pent-up energy made me nervous. Finally, Kellan murmured, “Ah . . . our single is out today . . . the album drops in September.”
Both DJs laughed at his sad attempt to change the subject, knowing smiles on their faces. I felt a sharp sting jolt through my body, like a Band-Aid had just been ripped off of my soul. He’d done it. By dodging their question, Kellan had just confirmed his relationship with Sienna. Where that was going to go from there, I didn’t know, but I knew it had just started. The match had been struck with Kellan’s answer; I just prayed the resulting fire was small and easily contained.
Kellan looked over at me, an apology in his eyes. I kept up my encouraging smile. It didn’t matter what the public thought. We knew the truth.
The DJs spent the next few minutes talking with each boy in turn. Evan seemed completely at ease as he gushed about Jenny. Matt seemed like he hated every second of being interviewed, and was even vaguer about his life than Kellan. Griffin ate up the attention like a starving dog downing its bowl of kibble. He told all of Los Angeles about his “availability” should any of them want a private performance. But then he went on to mention that he was about to have to kid with his girl. I had no idea if he was being serious about his single status, or if he was just playing up the rock star image. Either way, I was surprised that he mentioned Anna and his soon-to-be child.
The boys set up to play after that. Griffin and Matt both grabbed acoustic guitars while Evan sat behind a compact drum that one of the assistants must have brought in. Kellan stood at a microphone, looking comfortable and relaxed. I would be sweating bullets if I were him, about to perform to thousands of people, maybe hundreds of thousands if they broadcasted online. And performing acoustically was even more of a challenge; no searing electric guitar to hide your flaws. But Kellan was pretty flawless, so I knew he’d do well.
When the DJs gave them the go-ahead, Evan started the intro. Griffin and Matt joined in on their part with Kellan a few beats after them. The first portion of the song was quiet, but Kellan’s smooth voice still filled the small space. When the song switched to a more emotional section, his voice was powerful, commanding, and yet heartbreaking too. As I knew he would be, Kellan was perfect. What the audience was now discovering about him was something that I’d known from the very beginning—Kellan was so much more than a pretty face. He had genuine talent.