“No, I wrote it for Noah,” he quipped as he stood up.
Before he could offer something more sincere, Skyler had jumped off the bed and launched himself into his arms. Trevor managed to catch him, but the force sent him stumbling back a few steps before he steadied himself, narrowly avoiding them both crashing to the floor.
“Are you okay with us recording it for the album though?” he asked, using his arms under Skyler’s thighs to hoist him up higher as Skyler peppered his face with kisses. “I wasn’t sure if it would make you uncomfortable.”
Not that anyone would know it was about Skyler. Other than him and Skyler and the rest of the band—and okay, probably half the people who worked with them. But the world wouldn’t know. Even though Trevor kind of wanted them to.
“Are you kidding?” Skyler asked, legs squeezing tighter around Trevor’s waist. “That’s—you’re—I—”
“Yes?” he prompted with a laugh.
“I don’t even know what to say. How is it that every time I think you couldn’t possibly get more incredible, you outdo yourself?”
Trevor carefully set him down. “I’m not, like, trying to. I just…”
Love you.
“I know,” Skyler said. “I love you too.”
He was pretty sure he hadn’t said that out loud.
“I can’t believe I get to go onstage and sing a song thatyouwrote for me,” Skyler went on. “It’s going to be like this thrilling secret every time. But hopefully the guys won’t feel weird about singing it.”
“I doubt it,” Trevor told him. “We’ve all been writing stuff together. I helped Noah with the lyrics for that song about the girl he’s been talking to back in Seattle.”
“But this is different, because this is aboutme, and I plan to be insufferable about it.”
He tugged on one of Skyler’s curls. “Good thing you’re adorable when you’re insufferable.”
Skyler batted his hand away, grinning. “Play it again! You need to play it until I learn it. I want to sing it together!”
Trevor reached for his guitar. He’d play it a thousand times for him, play until his fingers fell off, if that’s what Skyler wanted.
While everything had seemedto happen incredibly fast for the band the first time around, this time Trevor thought things were happening even faster as they prepared for the release of their new album and their second tour. They knew what to expect now, but they still got swept up in the whirlwind.
And they were more famous now than when they’d started out. That meant more traveling pre-tour, more mobs of screaming fans outside every television and radio station, more security escorting them from place to place.
All this only made it feel nicer whenever Trevor could go home and simply be with Skyler for the night. Which is what he was dying to do now. They’d leftL.A. early this morning and flown on a private jet to Chicago for an interview, then flown back to L.A. in time to do a skit and perform onJimmy Kimmel.
Being on the show was cool as hell—even after their world tour, it felt like a big deal—but Trevor was exhausted. He wanted to get Skyler home and into bed, cuddle him close until they fell asleep.
They’d gotten to the point where the whole band wasn’t carted around together all the time, especially when they were going to different houses now. They were each given their own private cars and drivers, with Trevor and Skyler obviously choosing to share.
Exiting the building, he and Skyler were laughing with Oli as they followed one of the show’s security staff. Jermaine and Noah had walked out a minute ahead of them. Trevor had lost sight of the guy who was supposed to escort him and Skyler to their car, but he figured it didn’t matter because all the cars would be parked together.
He realized his mistake when chaos suddenly broke out around them.
High-pitched screaming assaulted his ears as he tried to figure out what was going on. A small mob of girls—maybe less than twenty of them, but they sure felt like a mob—had found their way around the barricade and were running straight at them.
Trevor’s hand moved to Skyler’s waist instinctively, fingers curling tightly into the material of his shirt, as he looked around for help. The man they’d been following was swiftly leading Oli to his car, using his body to shield Oli from the girls who were reaching for him. Another man was at the barricade, trying to stop more of them from getting around it.
Where the hell was everyone else? There should have been more security.
Two cars pulled away from the curb, presumably with Noah and Jermaine inside, as Oli ducked into a third. Trevor didn’t see a fourth car.
Another security guard appeared, but rather than coming to help Trevor and Skyler, he ran automatically toward the barricade.
Trevor tried to guide Skyler away from the onslaught, but he didn’t know where to go. Before he could find a way to escape, they were surrounded by screaming girls. Skyler, always the people pleaser, smiled and greeted them. He reached out to offer one girl a hug, but then all at once it became too much. The fans were crazed, all fighting each other to get to the two of them, arms reaching out, hands grabbing.
