“There should be seats reserved for you in the front row,” Mason said.
Damn, all this mystery was going to drive me crazy! What had happened to Mason? I needed to find out what had happened, but I knew I couldn’t push him right now, right before he went on.
Bran chose that moment to rejoin us and assured Mason that the materials were cued up and ready to play. He looked at Mason a little oddly, and asked, “Are you sure you want to do this?”
It was Mason’s turn to reply without hesitation. “Absolutely.” Bran clapped him on the shoulder and wished him good luck. “Have you seen Bill… Conyers, anywhere?” he asked nervously.
I laughed. “The last time I saw him he was on the floor with a broken nose, courtesy of my sister.”
Mason’s eyes grew wide. “He had a broken nose?”
“It was a sight to behold,” I said laughing. “He tried to cop a feel of my sister. He might need reconstructive surgery now.”
My laugher must have been contagious because Mason started laughing too. I loved this side of Mason. He seemed stronger, more confident than I’d ever seen him.
I stepped close to him, wrapping my arms around his waist and pulling our bodies close together.
“A kiss for good luck?” he asked.
“As you wish,” I whispered. Our lips met in a searing kiss, full of hunger, happiness, relief, and every other good kind of feeling. When we finally pulled apart, his eyes were glassy, his beautiful lips pink and swollen. And I didn’t think I looked any better. It was what I was coming to think of as Mason’s “freshly fucked” glow.
“Good luck,” I whispered, then turned to walk away from him and take my seat, questions still whirling through my head.
As I left the stage area, I saw Conyers arguing with someone outside the stage door. The man he was yelling at was a tall man in his early forties, dark hair with just a few lines of silver running through it. He was wearing a black t-shirt with the word “Security” emblazoned across his extremely well-muscled chest. Not that I was looking, of course.
“Who am I? I’m Bill Fucking Conyers, you overgrown gym reject,” he spat at the man guarding the stage door. “Now get out of my way!”
I didn’t remember seeing the man with the convention volunteers before, but I figured he could have been hired as additional security for the event.
“I’m sorry, sir, but you are no longer on the approved backstage entry list for the event,” he said calmly.
“Approved entry?Whomade an ‘approved entry’ list? This ismycon, goddammit,” he insisted. “I’m here with the speaker, John Dowling.”
The Security Guard eyes glanced over at Conyers and I swore the man growled.
“John Dowling is not the speaker for this event, Mason Cameron is. I know Mason Cameron, sir, and you arenotMason Cameron,” the guard continued.
Conyers scowled. “Of course not, I’m not that degenerate piece of filth! I am with the replacement headliner, since Mr. Cameron was not able to attend.”
“Ah! I see the mistake now,” the guard said. I thought for a moment he was going to let him through, but instead he stretched his arm out to completely block the way through the door.
“Your mistake, that is. Mr. Cameron is here, and should be going on stage in about, oh, thirty seconds. If I were you, Mr. Conyers, I’d take your seat. You don’t want to miss any part of the show. Afterward, I’ll be more than happy to escort you to see Mr. Dowling. I’m sure it will explain everything.”
Conyers fumed and swore, but I saw him and a couple of hischurch buddies moving out to the auditorium to take seats on the far right side.
I made my way out the stage door to the seat reserved for me in the front row. To my surprise, Weaver was seated on one side of me and Jeri on the other. I eyed her for a moment.
“How’d you get in here?” I asked. “I thought it was eighteen and overs, only.”
She grinned at me mischievously.
“I have my ways…” she replied enigmatically.
Before I could question her further, the lights lowered in the hall and the applause started. After a moment, the emcee for the event walked out onto the stage.
“Ladies and Gentlemen! Welcome to Akron!”
The crowd roared, the applause and noise momentarily deafening.
