Reckless (47 page)

I patted his shoulder. “He’ll be there. He’s an idiot, but he’s not stupid.” Matt gave me an amused smile, and I laughed at my own summation. “How’s
Rachel?” I asked him.

Grinning, Matt leaned forward in his seat and started telling me all about her. Matt was generally more reserved when he spoke, but there was clear longing in his voice and I immediately
understood his sudden openness. Matt and Evan hadn’t had a chance to see their loved ones in a while. I knew how that felt, since Kellan and I had gone through it last tour. Matt seemed to
need to talk to somebody, so I tuned the world out and gave him all of my attention.

We were stopping at the arena before it had even registered with me that we’d left the hotel. Security whisked us backstage and dumped us into a couple of dressing rooms with instructions
that they would come collect everyone when it was time for today’s meet-and-greet. Walking up to Kellan’s back, I wrapped my arms around his stomach and kissed his shoulder.
“I’m going to go look for Anna. Make sure she’s okay.”

Kellan nodded and flashed a grin. “I’m sure she’s quite okay.”

I rolled my eyes at his comment, then twisted to leave him. He called out after me, “See you later, KK.”

I stopped in my tracks, my cheeks heating. Was he really referencing my underwear? We weren’t the only ones in this room! In fact, Deacon was staring right at me, his face amused and
confused. Oh well. If Kellan was talking about my under things, at least he’d used a vague reference. To the person not in the know, he could just be saying my initials . . . which I just now
realized matched his. Amused by that sudden insight, I twisted back to him. “I look forward to it, KK.”

Kellan’s eyes widened and I knew he understood what I meant by that subtle innuendo. Feeling a little proud of myself, I set off in search of my hard-to-miss sister.

Oddly enough, I couldn’t find her anywhere. And none of the crew had seen her either. Flitting from person to person, I asked everyone I came into contact with if they’d seen a very
pregnant girl. Nobody had. I called and texted her about a dozen times, but no response yet. As the minutes stretched longer and longer, I began to get really worried. It wasn’t like my
sister to miss this. Even yawning and tired, she still showed up to the sound checks and fan greetings.

Thinking she was just waiting in the greeting room like we had yesterday, I started heading that way. All of the winning fans were there, waiting for their brief moment with the rock stars. I
scoured their faces, but didn’t notice Anna’s among them.

To a surge of shrieks, Holeshot walked in, followed closely by the D-Bags. Griffin wasn’t among them. Matt looked severely freaked out by the absence of his cousin and was snarling into
his cell phone. Evan looked worried too as his gentle eyes swept the room. Kellan was frowning. When he locked eyes with me, he mouthed, “Anna?”

I shook my head. I hadn’t found her yet. And apparently, no one had found Griffin yet either. God, what if something was wrong? What if she’d gone into labor this morning? She could
be in a hospital right now, giving birth, and I wouldn’t know. Surely she would call me. Why hadn’t she called me? Where the hell was she?

Pulling out my cell phone, I stepped out of the room so I could start calling hospitals.

Fans filed past me as they completed their time with the stars. Anxious about finding Anna, I turned my back on them. By the time I put my phone back in my purse, I’d called every
hospital, clinic, and veterinarian that I could get the number for. Who knows where Griffin would take my sister if she was having a baby. God, I hoped she wasn’t in labor.

Hands clenching my stomach, I debated making the hardest phone call of all . . . to our father. He’d been so worried about my safety, I doubt he’d considered the possibility that
something could happen to Anna. She’d always been so strong, so tough, so capable of taking care of herself. I doubt Dad even knew she was on tour with me. He was going to lose his mind.
He’d call in the National Guard to help find her.

Pulling out my phone again, I sat in a hard folding chair and stared at the screen. Dad was going to officially disown me for losing her.

Kellan came up to me as I was contemplating what to tell Dad. Squatting down, he looked up at me. “No luck?”

I shook my head, tears in my eyes. “What if something happened to her?”

Kellan rubbed my thighs. “She’s with Griffin. I’m sure she’s fine.”

I heard disgusted snorts and glanced over at two lingering fans staring at us. Kellan noticed them too and stood up. They glared at me with open dislike on their faces. As security forced them
to move along, I wondered what that was about. Were the Kell-Sex fans so protective of the Kellan-Sienna relationship that Kellan couldn’t even console a friend? Geez. They had bigger
jealousy problems than I did.

Pushing them out of my mind, I looked up at Kellan. “What do we do?”

Running a hand through his hair, Kellan sighed. “Griffin won’t miss the show. He’ll be here, and he’ll know where Anna is. We wait.”

He extended his hand and helped me stand up. Rubbing my back, he led me to the dressing room so I could fret in private.

It felt like days passed while I waited for news of my sister’s whereabouts. I tried her cell phone over and over, but she never answered it. Every time I asked Kellan if I should call my
parents, he told me to wait another ten minutes. I was getting tired of waiting. So was Matt.

Pacing the room, he barked into his phone, “We’re on in twenty minutes, Griffin! Wherever the fuck you are, get back here now!”

I’d never seen Matt angry before. It was a distressing sight. His cheeks were splotched with color, his temperament as prickly as his hair. I suppose part of his fiery behavior was being
fueled by concern for his cousin. Even if they bickered like an old married couple, they still loved each other. Matt had to be just as worried as I was.

Stopping his friend from wearing a hole in the carpet, Kellan calmly told Matt, “Relax, he’ll be here.”

Matt tightened his grip on his cell phone, clearly blaming that inanimate object for Griffin’s disappearance. “And what if he’s not, Kellan? Do we bail on the show, or go up
there without a bassist?”

Scratching his closely cropped head, Evan pointed in the direction of the stage, where Holeshot was finishing up their act. “David said he would play with us if Griffin didn’t
show.”

Matt snapped his head to Evan. “Does he know any of our songs?”

Evan shrugged. “He said he’d fake it.”

Matt threw his hands into the air. “Fake it? Wonderful!” Unfurling his fist, Matt took his aggression out on the touch screen of his cell phone while he flicked to Griffin’s
number. I was sure Matt was damaging the sensitive device and was about to offer to call Griffin for him when Griffin finally walked into the room. Seeing his cousin, Matt lost the final hold on
his temper. He chucked his cell phone at him, almost hitting Griffin in the cheek. “Where the fuck have you been!”

Griffin managed to dodge and catch Matt’s phone at the same time. Juggling it for a second, he exclaimed, “Jesus, Matt! You almost nailed me in the face!”

Anna walked in right after Griffin. There was an aura about her that I’d never seen before. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say my wanderlust sister was completely and totally
at peace. Seeing her alive and well made
me
completely at peace. Shoving my phone in my pocket, I rushed over to engulf her still-with-child frame. “I was worried sick. Where were
you?”

Pulling away from me, Anna bit her perfectly plump lip. “Well, don’t be mad, but I sort of . . .”

She looked over at Griffin and he smirked back at her. That’s when I noticed Griffin’s fingers around Matt’s phone. One of them was adorned with a very shiny gold ring. I
immediately grabbed my sister’s hands. Sure enough, she had a freshly placed ring as well. “Oh my God! You got married?”

Anna started giggling while Griffin put his arm around her shoulder. “We did!” Letting out a squeal, she lifted her hand to show all the guys in the room.

Everyone was too shocked to comment. Except me. I was too shocked to say anything other than, “You got married?” again.

Not getting the reaction she wanted, Anna pouted. “Yes.”

I pointed at her new husband. “To
him
?”

Anna put her hands on her hips, her pout now a hard, angry line. “Yes.”

As I struggled to not shake her and scream,
Why on earth would you do that?
Kellan came over and gave her a hug. “Congratulations, Anna.”

Anna’s frosty mood melted into excited giggles. “Thank you!”

Shaking his head, Kellan patted Griffin’s shoulder. “You too, I guess.”

Griffin raised his chin, pride on his face. “Thanks.” Leaning over, he added, “The bachelor party is at the next stop.”

Recovering, Matt and Evan finally offered their congratulations. Then Matt grabbed Griffin’s elbow. “We have to go.”

All of the boys left the room. When the dull thud of the background rock music was our only noise, I turned to my sister and again asked, “You married . . .
Griffin
?” She
smacked my arm so hard I felt it in my teeth.

While Anna told me all about her romantic day of hanging out at City Hall, trying to get married in one afternoon, I contemplated the fact that Griffin was now officially my brother-in-law.
Holidays, birthdays, family reunions . . . he would be there for all of it, cursing like a sailor. And, oh God, if Kellan and I ever had kids, he would be their uncle.
Uncle Griffin
. Just
the thought sent a chill up my spine.

I watched the show in a daze. My sister
married
Griffin. On a whim. Because he said he loved her. And even more shocking, Griffin, the biggest player I’d ever met,
married
my sister. I never thought I would see the day. It was like the world had screeched to a stop and started spinning in the opposite direction. How had Anna beaten me to the altar?
Our parents were going to flip. Or maybe not. Things like this tended to happen with Anna; they’d both learned to go with the flow years ago.

Needing to share my utter disbelief with someone, I texted Denny.
Guess who decided to throw logic out the window this afternoon and officially become Mrs. Griffin I’m-a-God
Hancock.

Denny’s response was fast in coming.
Anna married Griffin? Really? Wow. Your dad is going to lose his mind
. I laughed at Denny’s reaction. We really were a lot alike.

A few days after my sister’s impromptu marriage, the tour was in Washington, D.C. Kellan and I had spent a good chunk of the morning exploring the city with everyone and
were resting up a bit before the show tonight. I could not believe how much heritage was crammed into our nation’s capital. Everywhere we’d turned there had been some amazing historical
artifact or monument that I’d just had to see. It was like a
School House Rock
video come to life. Kellan and I were definitely coming back here when we had more time to explore.

While Kellan scribbled down some song lyrics in one of his journals, I typed
The End
on my story, saved the file, then reached across the table and wrapped my fingers around
Kellan’s. A sense of relief and completion filled me as I leaned back in the chair. It felt really good to get all of that out of my head, to finally be done telling my story. Kellan lifted
his head as he noticed my expression. “You’re finished? Do I finally get to read it?”

I hesitated, then turned the laptop so that it faced him. There were parts of this he was not going to like. A lot of parts, actually. But he wanted to know them, and I’d given him my word
that I would let him read them. His eyes remained locked on mine as he set aside his pen and paper and slowly sat up straight. He knew the amount of trust I was showing him by letting him read my
deepest thoughts.

When his eyes went down to the computer screen, a horrible feeling filled my stomach; it was a bad case of nerves mixed with a hefty dose of fear. I suddenly wanted to be anywhere other than the
bus. I’d rather be in a press conference admitting to the world that I was Kellan’s girlfriend than be sitting across from Kellan while he read my torturous book.

As Kellan worked his way to the beginning of the story, I stood up. His eyes flashed to mine, and I shook out my trembling fingers. “I can’t just peacefully sit here while you read
it.” I looked around the empty bus, not knowing where to go. Everyone was still gone. Some were at the hotel, some were still exploring the city. My sister had gone shopping with Griffin. She
was starting to turn the back of the bus into a nursery, which made me wonder if she really
was
going to stay on the tour until she delivered.

Kellan started to close the laptop. “If it bothers you, I won’t read it.”

I shook my head, running my fingers through my hair. “No, I want you to. I just . . . can’t watch you do it.”

As Kellan reopened the computer, I headed toward the cubbies. I could grab his Discman and listen to some classic tunes for a while. There were a few fans hanging around the perimeter of the
parking lot. From the corner of my eye, I saw them start to freak out. Cell phone cameras were recording, people were yelling. They reminded me of a pack of jumping, chattering hyenas. I had no
idea why they were suddenly riled; things had been pretty quiet here for a while.

The bus door was lightly rapped on, and Kellan and I both twisted to look. Who the heck was knocking? Security? Someone from the crew? I was pretty sure all of the guys in the band were still
gone. Besides, none of them would’ve knocked; they would just enter if they were back. Well, except Griffin; he was still making an effort to knock whenever Kellan and I were alone together.
I couldn’t tell if he was trying to be respectful or trying to be an asshole. Either way was fine with me, so long as he didn’t walk in on us again.

While I stayed near the center of the bus, Kellan headed over to the door. I peered out the window to get a better look and rolled my eyes.
Sienna
. Of course it was Sienna. Who else
could get the Kell-Sex fans in a tizzy? I stepped forward as Kellan opened the door. “Sienna? What are you doing here?” She didn’t usually bug us on our bus.