Whipping out another CD case, she shoved Kellan’s album in front of him. I glanced at the cover of the D-Bags’ CD as she held it in her trembling fingers. The picture the label had ended up using was one that had all of the guys standing in a line, Kellan slightly in front of the others. Kellan’s head was down and he was looking up at the camera with a seductive half-smile. It was an incredibly hot shot, but it conveniently cut off Kellan’s hands so you couldn’t see his wedding ring. The lengths Nick would go to to create the illusion that Kellan was single were as amusing as they were annoying.
“Can you sign this, To the girl of my dreams?” She sighed after she said it. Justin sniggered, then walked away.
Kellan covertly looked my way as he answered her. Lip in an amused curl, he said, “I don’t think my girl would appreciate that.” I hid my smile. Even though we were married in our hearts, Kellan was respecting my wishes by not publicly clarifying our relationship. He usually just said he was “seeing somebody,” or he “had a girl in his life.”
Fan-girl waved her hand. “Oh, I know you’re with Sienna, and I don’t really have a shot, but—” She giggled. “—it’s fun to pretend.”
Kellan snapped his gaze to the fan. “I’m not with Sienna. She’s not my girlfriend. We only worked together on an album . . . and a music video.” Remembering the video, he frowned. I subtly put my hand on his back.
The fan smiled and nodded, but it was obvious that she didn’t believe a word he’d just said. Kellan flicked a glance my way and opened his mouth. Knowing what he was about to do, I pinched his back. While Kellan was being obscure about me to the masses, he probably wouldn’t think twice about explaining things to fans on a one-on-one basis. I’d rather he didn’t, though. When it came to his job, I’d rather be as anonymous as possible.
Kellan flinched and snapped his mouth shut. Just signing his name to the album, Kellan handed the CD back to the uber fan. She held it to her chest, cradling it like a baby. Even though the moment was over, she didn’t move away. I thought she might hang out with us for the remainder of the concert, but she spotted Griffin emerging from the bathrooms and dashed off yelling, “Griffin! I love you!”
I could only shake my head in disbelief. Justin, Kellan, and . . . Griffin? Really?
Turning to face me, Kellan asked, “What was that?”
I blinked, not following. “What was what?”
He rubbed his back. “The Smurf bite. I was only going to tell her you were my girl, not Sienna.”
Cringing, I massaged the spot I’d probably bruised. “Sorry. Yeah, I know you were. I just . . . I don’t want to be paraded around your concerts and introduced to fifty thousand curious people. I don’t want them all looking at me, talking about me. I don’t want one of them mentioning something to all the press around here. I don’t want them catching wind of me. And I really don’t want to be front page news, and since everyone wants you with Sienna, that’s exactly what would happen. I would be a breaking news story. And I just . . .” I shrugged. “Let’s stay vague about us, okay? This craziness will die off soon.”
Kellan set down his drink and looped his arms around my waist. “So, should I not be doing this then?”
I laced my arms around his neck. “This is fine. We don’t need to stop living our lives, we just don’t need to go into detail about it. We can be private. We’re good at private.”
Kellan smirked, then pulled me into him for a hug. “Well, people are watching me right now, so they’re probably figuring it out that you’re my girlfriend.”
Laughing, I pushed him back. “No, trust me, they’re most likely trying to figure out where the ‘Get a Hug from Kellan’ line forms.” Kellan just laughed, but I knew I was right.
While we waited for the D-Bags’ turn on stage, Kellan and the boys visited with fans and band members. I stayed close to Kellan’s side, laughing with him and enjoying the mixed company. Several of the other band members had been on the last tour and knew the guys well. A couple of band members even recognized me from Kellan’s scrapbook, and made a point of saying hello. Aside from a few jealous glances, the fans didn’t comment much on my “flirty” relationship with Kellan as he put an arm around me or held my hand. Since a couple of other fans did successfully tackle him into a quick hug throughout the evening, maybe they just assumed that he was a friendly, give-the-fans-what-they-want kind of guy. And he was. To a point.
The D-Bags were slated to perform right before Justin’s band. Before he headed off to the staging area, I leaned up and gave Kellan a soft peck. “Good luck.”
The excitement in his eyes was evident as he grinned at me. He loved this. “Thank you. Back in a bit.”