Snare (Falling Stars #3) (37 page)

"Don't be," I retort with a sickeningly sweet smile, "'cause if Mia's dropping Chris, I've got first dibs and I'm not sharing. She has an amazing ass. I know 'cause I've groped it."

Xavier's mouth opens, then closes.

"You've felt my wife's ass?" Chris coughs out.

I nod. "Yeah, I've pretty much gotten my hands on all the women in this room." Then, I point to Serena. "Except you, I'll need to remedy that."

"Well, fuck, no time is better than now," Elliott boasts, nudging Serena with his elbow. "Please, use tongue," he begs.

"You're such a guy," Serena says, shaking her head.

"I've got pretty magical tongue skills," I announce, "you may want to rethink this."

Elliott's mouth opens immediately.

"Nope, tongue fuck away." He takes his phone out.

"Ow, babe, we talked about the head smacking," he grumbles, rubbing the spot Serena smacked.

"You don't hold the gold medal," Xavier boasts.

Looking back at him, I grin, "Nope, you still got the title."

"Gold medal?" Kat asks.

"You don't want to know," Liza blurts.

"I think I do." Kat sits up to the edge of the couch.

"He's a Cunnilingus Olympics Gold Medalist," I explain.

"Oh God," Liza groans.

"Nice," Laney giggles.

"Girl, it's like he's doing the Greek alphabet on my clit."

"Why the Greek alphabet?" I'm surprised by the seriousness on Elliott's face.

"Have you seen those crazy swirly letters? That takes some tonguemenship right there." I point to Xavier's mouth and he sticks out his tongue.

Kat falls back onto the couch, laughing. Mia, Serena, and Laney follow suit.

"Dude," Elliott drawls, "respect."

Xavier pulls me against him, kissing the side of my head.

Chapter Thirty

Sidra

The concert kicks off with such a high level of energy, the social media pages and donation site move too quickly to keep up.

From the moment the Lux Hedonica girls open with their rendition of
Lady Marmalade,
a new tone is set for this concert. Big Kam returns to the Hope Rocks tour, and this time, he reveals the song he and Liza have been working on. Vehicle of Destruction—a rock band rising up the charts and giving The Forgotten a run for their money—takes the stage and own the audience. Gemma Harper provides a surprise performance, loaning her operatic voice to one of VD's songs and joins Mia and Hush.

Having returned to L.A., Jeremy Danvers plays with Corrosive Velocity. Chris starts the vocals for their performance, with Mia joining them in her own solo performance. Then the rock duo merge together on the song from earlier today.

Before, they'd only played the instruments, now Chris and Mia blend their vocals around lyrics so touching, the hairs on my body stand. The video clips of the band, including Ethan and Randy, flicker like an old movie in the background, intensifying the moment.

What the hell is with all the tears?
I mentally yell at myself.

And when Zarek Sisko joins them, creating a live, four band collaboration, the crowd loses their minds. I almost forget to take pictures.

Moving my lens, I focus on the front row of the crowd before sweeping across the stage and pausing on Xavier. My heart tries to escape my chest, beating against my ribcage in time to the pace he sets with his drums.

Loose strands of hair stick to his face, the sweat on his arms glistens under the stage lights, and his expression…fuck, he's so lost in the moment and it's beautiful.

I snap pictures in rapid succession.

Those will be mine.

The show ends with almost every performer on stage, singing along to one of Corrosive Velocities most popular songs.

Backstage, the media can't wait to get their hands on each band. Chantel has requested my assistance, due to the chaos, and I agreed.

But right now, I'm spread out on the dressing room bathroom sink with Xavier's face buried between my thighs.

"Oh God," I pant, fisting his sweat dampened hair.

"Xave," a knock sounds, "the press is waiting."

"Greek alphabet," I yell, locking my legs around his head.

When we step out of the bathroom, Kat, Laney, Mia, and Serena sit side by side, grinning like mad women.

"Did you get an earful?"

At my question, they begin clapping.

"Gotta go," Xavier rumbles in my ear.

"Ow!" I rub the spot on my ass where he slapped. "Manhandling," I shout after him.

"So, would you hate me if I tried to seduce his tongue?" Kat throws an arm over my shoulders.

"Honestly?" I quirk an eyebrow at her.

Grinning, she nods.

"I'd be disappointed if you didn't try," I shrug, "but I'm afraid you don't have these." I cup both my boobs and lift them.

Kat's eyes drop to my chest and move to hers.

"He's a boob guy?"

"Seems that way," I confirm, and swing my eyes to Serena.

"You, I would have to cut," I warn.

"What?" she laughs the word. "I didn't do anything."

"No, but those massive mammaries," I point to her chest, "those could be competition."

Laney gives a delicate snort, standing from the couch.

"Sid, the man just walked out of here with your cum on his beard, I'm pretty sure his tongue is on lock down." She wraps her arm around mine, tugging me toward the door.

"And if you haven't locked him down," Mia joins us, "you better."

"Thank God, you're done." Liza sidles up as we leave the dressing room.

I raise my brow at her.

"I love you, but I don't need to hear your orgasm sounds," she says, holding her hands up, palms out.

"But I had to hear your and Jackson's?"

"You'd press your ear to the walls and the door," she deadpans.

I shrug. I really can't feel ashamed of it.

"It's Jackson fucking Shaw, Liza. Of course, I'm going to listen. You're lucky I didn't record that shit and tweet it out to the universe."

"I'm still going to give it a go," Kat announces, hands on her B cups.

Entering the first room set up for press, I watch Hush take a seat at the front of the room and Chantel grabs my arm.

"Where have you been?" She drags me to the far side and into the next press room. "They are acting like sharks tonight."

"I was…busy."

I glance to the front of Press Room B where The Forgotten and Vehicle of Destruction are answering questions. When Chris confirms Mia's pregnancy, the room erupts with applause. Elliott stands and walks away, only to return carrying Mia bridal style from the other interview room.

"Put her down, dumbass," Chris growls, taking her out of his arms.

"There's a radio station that says you gave permission to ask about Ethan," Chantel says, pulling my attention away from the front of the room.

I glance down the list and nod. "Yeah, they were supposed to get a personal interview in Philadelphia…" I trail off, Paul flashing in my mind.

"You okay?" she asks, rubbing my arm.

Shaking off the terrible memories, I continue.

"Yeah. Um, I talked to Red and he gave the okay. He's going to address the questions."

"Okay," she nods.

Slipping through the crowd, Chantel escorts a petite blonde woman with a killer tan and amazing shoes into the press room next door. I follow.

Red, Jeremy, Xavier, and Corbin sit as a united front before the press group.

They go through the process, answering questions. Red fields the Randy and Ethan questions, but I don't miss the tightening of Corbin's face with each mention of the lost band members. He's also the first to push away from the table when the group interview is complete.

Xavier

I don't miss how forceful Corbin pushes away from the table, or the way he exits the room.

"Give him a minute," Red says, putting an arm on my shoulder.

I nod and follow Red into the private interview room instead of going after Corbin.

Inside the room, a tiny blonde sits in a chair with a microphone on the table between her and the couch. A man on her right holds a box on his lap and earphones around his neck.

Taking a deep breath, I try to fortify myself for the questions I know are coming. Red told us all today would be different. Not only would Randy and Ethan be memorialized on stage, but we would talk about them to the public, through the press. He hand chose a couple of journalists and radio personalities for personal interviews.

Sitting on the sofa across from the woman, I mentally prepare myself.

The cushion next to me shifts. Glancing, I find Corbin seated on the edge.

"You okay?" I mumble, looking away.

"Yeah," he clips.

Jeremy takes a seat on the arm of the couch next to Corbin and Red sits down in a chair to my right.

"Pam Brooks." She puts a hand out.

Red grabs it first, and then we each take a turn shaking.

"If I can, I just want to start by expressing my condolences for your loss." Her eyes genuinely tear up. "It's a terrible loss and your band has already lost so much."

"Thank you," Red responds.

"Thank you for allowing me the opportunity to interview you one on one," she says, nodding to the man on her right.

He places the headphones over his ears, flips some buttons on the box, adjusts a couple knobs, and give her a nod back.

"Shall we begin?"

"Yeah," Red gives a quick answer.

He's feeling the same nervous energy we all are.

She begins, leaning close to the mic.

"Hi, rock fans, it's Pam Brooks for WPPP backstage tonight after the amazing benefit concert from Corrosive Velocity! I've got the band with me.  They have been gracious enough to speak to all of us, even in their time of loss.  Fella's I'd like to offer you our condolences from all of us at the station and all of your fans."

"Thank you," Red accepts on our behalf.

Her eyes move from us, to her notepad, and back to us.

"Guys, first of all, you all blew me and Los Angeles away tonight, to say the least."

"Thank you," Jeremy and I say in unison.

"We all knew for a while it was very possible Chris and Mia would join you tonight but WOW. Zarek also—how did that come to be?"

"He actually contacted us," Red explains. "Said he and the band would be near L.A. and wanted to get involved. We appreciate him giving us their time and involving their fans."

She smiles warmly before moving on to the next question.

"Such an emotional night for the whole band and your new tribute song had the whole house out of their seats! Xavier, did the whole band collaborate on it? Did Chris and Mia participate in any way on it?"

Clearing my throat, I lean forward.

"Corbin actually brought the song to us earlier today, which is why it wasn't a perfect performance," I admit, referring to the few times our timing fell out of sync. "Chris and Mia worked over the lyrics for hours and I think we were successful for it being a first-time performance."

"Will you think about putting it out as a single to raise money for the charity?"

"That's a great question," Red jumps in to take this one. "Since the song only just—"

"Yes," Corbin interrupts. Lifting his head, his eyes meet Pam's. "We will be working on getting it out as a single."

"Great," she exclaims, making notes on her pad before returning to the interview.

"Coming off a high like being back onstage tonight, even though there will always be the hole of not having Ethan and now with Randy's loss, will you all consider either finding a new lead singer or having one of you take over the lead and bringing Corrosive Velocity back to the stage permanently? Or how about a new album?"

"No," Corbin's answer cuts Red off before he can open his mouth, "there are no replacements for the brothers we lost. While our friends have stepped in to make this a success, and we're thankful to them, there is no one else I could go on stage or create a new album with."

Hearing Corbin confirm that we would never be whole again stabs at my chest. We all knew it already, but there's something about verbal validation. It's both painful and beautiful at the same time.

"Tell your fans about the charity and how they can donate."

Red clears the emotion from his throat before answering, but a movement catches my eye and I don't hear his answer.

In the back corner of the room, Sid stands, watching through her camera lens. The moment she realizes I'm staring, she lowers the camera.

Our eyes meet and she smiles. I want to abandon the interview and take her back to my house. The girls staying with Mom and Dad gives us an empty house and there's a large floor-length window in need of Sid's ass print.