Risky Rockstar: A Hero Club Novel, стр. 35
I turn to face him and join in. The chemistry is insane. It’s like a physical entity, it’s so powerful, but the chemistry isn’t about us, it’s about the performance. Two people, passionate about doing what they love. Even if Kevin doesn’t want to admit it, he loves the stage nearly as much as I do.
We sing about becoming closer, being one, being more, as his eyes sweep from my face to my toes. Drinking me in. I fight a smile because this afternoon at rehearsal, I wore a Pikachu onesie that I ordered online for the sole purpose of watching Kevin pretend I was all kinds of hot in my outfit, when in reality, I looked ridiculous.
I see him take a deep breath and know this part is difficult for him. It always is because he is touching me for all the world to see when I know all he wants is to be touching Claire. I nod, the slightest movement of my head, and hope he remembers what I told him in rehearsal. “Be with her up here. Pretend I’m her.” I know it’s near impossible to pretend you are with the love of your life when you’re with someone else, but Kevin didn’t get nominated for an Oscar for nothing. He reaches for me and pulls me to him, so close a breath can’t pass between us. I reach for the back of his head, pulling him closer while I try not to giggle as I remember how many times I head-butted him over the last few days. We sing into each other’s necks, and I know he is struggling not to laugh too because he is ridiculously ticklish, and we’ve barely managed to get through this during our rehearsals.
I pull back just before he snorts out a laugh and circle him. As rehearsed, his eyes track my every movement as I walk to the opposite side of the stage. We get to the bridge and sing it in harmony, moving back to each other, creating the illusion that we are unable to fight the attraction. I turn it up a notch and shoot him a seductive smile. If this were any other show with one of my dancers, I would be doing exactly the same thing—I’d be performing and entertaining the crowd—but this isn’t any other dancer. This is the guy I’ve just told everyone in the stadium I’m in a relationship with so we can protect the woman he really loves. Even if he won’t admit it to me.
I turn back to the crowd and bite my lip as Kevin moves in flush behind me. Reaching up, I lift my arm to rest at the back of his neck, thankful Sam did a nipple check this afternoon to make sure I wasn’t giving away more than I wanted to up here. The song ends, and I turn to face Kevin. His hands go to my waist, and he dips his head and presses his lips against mine. And just like that, all the chemistry onstage leaves with the kiss. The crowd feels differently though, and the noise level hits heights that are beyond anything I’ve ever experienced. And just like that, all the rumors about Kevin and I have been confirmed. This is going to blow the news up.
Chapter 14
Kade
“Well, it’s not the chicken à la king I was promised, but it was still good,” I tease, chucking my pizza crust into the open box on the coffee table and taking a swig of my beer.
Maddie lobs the lid of her flavored water at me, and I snatch it out of the air before it takes my eye out. She’s leaning against Keller’s chest on the couch opposite me. As usual, he has his arms wrapped tightly around her. He never seems to be doing anything other than holding Maddie these days, and it’s great to see, especially after he spent a shitload of time running away from commitment. “If you’d been on your feet for fourteen straight hours, you’d take the easy way out too. My feet are killing me.”
Keller taps Maddie on the shoulder. “Turn around.”
She looks from him to me, a horrified expression on her face.
Keller bursts out laughing. “Not that way around. Give me your feet.”
Maddie throws her head back. “Oh, I thought…” She catches herself for a change. “Never mind what I thought.”
Keller shakes his head, a smile wrapping right around his face as he slides her socks off and rubs her instep with his thumb. She moans loudly.
“You know, Mads, if you ever need any help, just shout,” I offer. We may be rock stars who work manic hours, but Maddie is the hardest-working one of us all. It’s as if she never stops. She loves it though. In fact, I’d go so far as to say she lives for it.
Maddie scoffs. “After the way you massacred the icing on my last batch of cupcakes, you think I’m going to let you into my kitchen again?” She stares pointedly at Keller. “I still believe you two did that on purpose so you could eat the flops.” Keller’s mouth pulls into a devilish smile, and he winks at me. “Bro code.”
I laugh. We’d actually tried our damnedest to do the fancy swirls you see on cupcakes. It looks so easy when Maddie does it, but we just ended up making it look like a unicorn had taken a dump all over the cake.
Maddie sits up suddenly, nearly kicking Keller in the face.
“Fucking hell, sweets,” he complains as he dodges Maddie’s blow.
“It’s on!” she squeals, ignoring his complaints and pointing to the flat-screen mounted to the wall.
I turn to the TV and forget how to swallow. Fuck me, but I’m going to need to jump into a fishing hole in the middle of