I nearly jumped out of my skin as Jayce walked through the door to the artist’s lounge. This concert venue only had one, and I’d been perched on the edge of a loveseat, trying to get some work done.
“Sorry. Did I startle you?”
Jayce looked like he was on his way to the stage, pure white guitar in hand. I thought, not for the first time, what a perfect contrast the skin of his hands made against that guitar of his. Was that why he’d chosen it? Did he know how seductive it made him look?
He must. Everything Jayce did on stage was probably calculated to bring fangirls to their knees.
His eyes flickered to the phone in my hand, no doubt taking in my clenched fist and white knuckles. I relaxed my grip and shoved my phone into my purse. The threatening message still echoed in my head. I couldn’t shake it.
“I’m good. You should get to rehearsal.” I hoped he didn’t hear the trembling in my voice.
He looked me up and down, then lay his guitar down gently on a nearby couch. He came up to me until his body was right in front of mine. I had to crane my neck up to meet his eyes. Jayce reached out and cupped my cheeks between two hands. The skin of his fingers was rough and callused from the strings of his guitar.
My lips parted in surprise. His hands were warm and broad, engulfing my cheeks, the tips of his fingers threading through the strands of hair behind my ears.
“You sure you’re okay?”
“I’m fine,” I mumbled, looking down, not wanting to meet his gaze as I lied.
“If something’s wrong, you can tell me.”
I didn’t want to worry Jayce over something so stupid. The kinds of messages I’d received were part of the reason I had my job in the first place. The band members had enough to take care of without having to worry about internet trolls and obsessed fangirls.
I faked a bright smile. “Don’t worry about me. The internet is just a creepy place sometimes. It’s my job to deal with it; that’s all.”
He studied my face carefully before nodding and letting me go.
I realized, for once, that my heart wasn’t racing and my nerves weren’t tingling. Usually being in Jayce’s presence was enough to ignite my insides and start a slow burn between my legs. He usually trapped me in that fiery gaze of his.
He hadn’t this time. He wasn’t trying to flirt with me. There’d been no tension between us, nothing sensual at all.
He was just worried about me.
My heart fluttered in a completely different way than it usually did. I felt warm inside, but it wasn’t an erotic feeling. I felt safe. Protected.
I was touched. I knew from the looks Jayce had been giving me that he was attracted to me. It was plainly obvious. But the fact that he paid attention to my well-being went beyond simple lust.
Did Jayce actually care about me?
“If you need anything, just tell me.” He picked up his guitar and headed toward the door, pausing with one hand on the doorframe.
“Anything at all.” He threw me that familiar smirk, that heated stare. I flushed and squirmed.
Affection and lust weren’t mutually exclusive after all.
***
WE’D BEENON the road for weeks. I thought seeing Feral Silence in concert every day would get old, but it never did. Whenever they were on stage, they lit up the concert halls with their burning-hot presence.
We were in a new city every other day or so. I’d been worried their fans wouldn’t figure out the secret clues in time, but each and every venue was packed. I heard people lined up for hours.
Dynamic and full of energy, Kell crouched down at the edge of the stage to see the fans face to face one minute, jumping all over it the next, never staying still.
Morris looked as comfortable as ever pounding away on his drums, concentrating hard on the beats. He played with the same intensity whether he was in front of an audience or not.
Reaching out his hand, Ren got right up close to the side of the stage, nearly causing fistfights as fans clambered over each other for the chance to touch him. His long, glossy hair fell over his shoulders, and a few fans almost seemed to snatch a few of the dark strands right off his head. He laughed and pulled back, whirling away from the grabby hands of his fans. Their disappointment was almost audible.
Jayce had the fans eating out of the palm of his hand. He put a hand to his ear and they screamed their lungs out. He jerked his arm up, pointing to the ceiling, and they jumped, bouncing along to the beat. He darted his tongue out to wet his lips and girls nearly fainted in the front row, squeals and shrieks deafening even over the loud music.
