Now I’m sitting, half awake, at a local vinyl shop in Paris, signing a hundred-plus records and taking pictures with our fans. Nausea pools in the bottom of my stomach from the lack of sleep, and my fingers tremble from a mixture of anxiety and too much caffeine. I don’t even want to know how I look in some of those pictures. One eye might be open, the other half shut.
God help me.
The line was out the door and went around the building when we pulled up. As things are winding down now, my hand gives me no mercy by cramping up.
“Hello, Elijah.”
I jump in my seat. I didn’t hear the blonde who’s currently standing in front of me move up in line.
Placing my coffee down, I grab the vinyl she extends to me. “Hey. How’s it going?” I say while signing, trying to remain as friendly as possible when all I want to do is just lie down.
When I slide it back to her, she leans forward on the table. “Can I get a picture with you, cutie?”
Would it be rude if I said absolutely fucking not?
Yeah.
So, I just sit in place and smile, not breaking my furious gaze from her phone when she pushes her boobs right under my nose.
“Do you sign boobs? I want to get it tattooed.”
What. The. Fuck?
Pulling back, I stretch my legs out. “I don’t.”
She frowns. Her boobs practically spill out of her top when she pulls the material down further. “Please, it will only take a second.”
My bodyguard, Jonathan, takes a step closer once he sees the frustrated look on my face.
“I don’t do that, sorry.”
Jonathan places a hand on her shoulder when she starts to protest. “Ma’am, we need to keep this line moving. You need to respect Mr. Drakos’s wishes and move along.”
I tune her out when she grumbles something under her breath as she storms out of the store, skipping Amelia, and slams the door shut.
What the fuck?Leonidas mouths to me, seeing the aftermath of the commotion.
Too tired for this bullshit, I shrug, moving on to the next fan … and the next and the next …
TWENTY-SIX
LILY
“I know this answer,” Stella says proudly, sitting on her knees and scribbling words onto the lined sheet of paper.
Before both bands left for the venue today, Amelia styled Stella’s hair into two space buns. I’ve never wanted to squeeze her more.
Her letters combine messily on the paper, making it hard for me to read anything. I pull her hand back from the paper, and she gives me a confused look.
“Remember, the paper isn’t going anywhere. Let’s write slowly.”
She nods, gazing up at me like I’m the smartest person in the world.
“What is the first sense you think of?”
“Well, I’m looking at you, so see!” she yells, scaring me by the sudden noise.
I laugh, nodding as her little finger around the sharp pencil twitches. “Good. Now let’s write that nicely between the lines.”
