The Crushes (19 page)

Rule 33:
Do not stalk or stare at your crush!

They arrived in New York sometime around one
P.M.
Auditions didn’t start until five, but Raven wanted to find a good spot in the line.

First, they had to drop Lana at JFK Airport. What a mess that was. Raven had never flown before and if the maze of roadways and traffic and different terminals at JFK were any indication, Raven could wait several more years before tackling it. She closed her eyes against the chaos, pulling out her iPod, slipping the earbuds in her ear. One of Kay-J’s faster, poppier songs played close to Raven’s ears, the bass beats almost drowning out the noise of the airport. She sang the lyrics over and over in her head, slumping against the car door for comfort.

“Hey, Rave!” Someone shook her.

Raven startled upright. She’d been sleeping? What time was it? Did she miss the audition?

The SUV was moving again, having left behind the busy highways for the more compact city streets. Raven
glanced at the dashboard clock. It was only two
P.M.
She’d passed out for roughly an hour.

“Sorry,” she muttered, clearing the sleep from her throat. “Are we going to the theater now?” She glanced in the backseat at Blake and frowned. “You changed your clothes and…where’s your hat?”

Raven had noticed he’d been growing his hair out over the summer. She’d seen it sticking out from beneath his baseball hat, but now that he was hatless, she realized just how cute he looked with the tiny curls of hair.

But that wasn’t the most shocking.

Instead of his usual jeans and sponsor freebie T-shirt, he wore a pair of dark washed Diesel jeans that fit him nicely and a black button-up shirt with a white tie.

Of course, the tie was loose around his neck and slightly crooked, but it looked good in an I-don’t-care kind of way.

“You’re staring at me,” he said, a grin quirking the corner of his mouth. “Do I have something stuck to my face?” He gave his chin a cursory swipe.

“No.” Raven blinked and looked away. “You just…you look good.”

“It’s the ice.” He tilted his head so Raven could see the diamond studs in his ears.

She laughed. “Actually, I didn’t even notice the diamonds until you mentioned them.”

“Sure.”

A car horn blared behind the SUV. Mil-D mumbled something about impatient taxi drivers. He turned left at an intersection after the SUV’s navigation system prompted him.

“So,” Blake began, turning sideways in his seat, “I have a surprise for you.”

Raven tensed. She suspected Blake’s kind of surprise was not a coffee, or a nice good luck card. Blake’s surprise would probably be over the top like his life was and that scared her. This was not the time for surprises.

“Really?” she said cautiously.

“Yeah. I wouldn’t have dressed in this monkey suit otherwise.”

“You didn’t have to.”

“I know. But this is pretty special, and I think you’ll like it.”

“But we’re still going to the theater? Right? So I can get in line early?”

He grinned.

“Blake?”

“Well…not exactly…”

Raven widened her eyes. “Blake! I have to get in line! Otherwise this whole trip has been a waste and Horace will—”

“Chill.” He put his hand on her bare forearm. Goose bumps popped on her skin despite his warm touch. “The surprise will be rad. Okay?”

She stared at him again for several longs seconds. Instead of admiration, she was annoyed this time. “If I miss that audition…”

“You won’t.”

“Fine,” she grumbled and stuck her iPod earbuds in her ears. She had less than four hours to make sure she knew all of Kay-J’s music. And Blake better get her to that audition.

Less than twenty-five minutes later, Mil-D pulled up in front of a hotel that said T
HE
C
ARLYLE
in cursive gold lettering on a black awning. A doorman in one of those silly hats stood near a topiary that had been trimmed to look like a poodle’s tail.

“What are we doing here?” Raven asked after she’d turned off her iPod. Was Blake trying to get her into his hotel room? Try to score with her or something after he fed her that I’m-a-faithful-boyfriend speech?

“Your surprise is here.”

Raven turned on him and gritted her teeth, hoping to get the point across. “I need to get to the concert hall! This is not the concert hall! Blake! I’m going to be last in line.”

“Tell her, son,” Mil-D said, “before she pops a blood vessel.”

Blake sighed. “I wanted it to be a surprise.”

“If I miss that audition, it’ll be a surprise. A bad one.”

Raven could just imagine Horace’s disappointment. And then he’d wonder where she’d been if she hadn’t gone to the audition and then…what would she say? Blake tried taking her into his hotel room because she’d told him that she was attracted to him?

This whole trip was a bad idea!

“All right.” Blake pushed the hair off his forehead. “I got you a private audition.”

Raven frowned. “You what?”

“An audition. With Kay-J.”

“With Kay-J?”

Blake nodded.

“But…how…I mean…”

“I know her,” he said, figuring out the question Raven couldn’t seem to get past her lips. “We’ve partied before.” He shrugged. “It’s no big deal.”

Raven raised her brow. “No big deal? Are you serious? I mean, seriously, you’re serious?”

He laughed. “Yeah, I’m serious.”

The anger slipped away to be replaced by guilt. She shouldn’t have jumped to conclusions. Blake had never done anything sleazy—why had she assumed he was trying to hook up with her?

“A private audition?”

“Yeah. Are you ready to go up?”

She gripped her iPod tightly, sweat slicking her fingertips. No, she wasn’t ready. She’d run over this moment in her head a thousand times, but that moment had been on stage, with lights blinding her, and Kay-J so far back in the theater that Raven would need a pair of binoculars just to see her face.

Raven hadn’t expected a private audition with Kay-J sitting right there!

“I don’t know,” Raven said.

“Well, it’s too late.” Blake opened his door. “She’s expecting us, and you can’t back out now.”

He came around to Raven’s side and opened her door. “Come on.”

“But…”

“Come on.” He grabbed her hand and dragged her out. “I’ll call you when we’re done, Mil?”

Mil nodded. “I’m going in search of Krispy Kremes. The navigation system says there’s a store ten minutes from
here. Ten minutes to heaven.” He sighed, then, “Have fun, son.”

“Later.”

Blake set his hand on the small of Raven’s back and guided her over the gold
C
in the pavement in front of The Carlyle. The doorman tipped his hat and said good morning.

“What’s up, dude,” Blake said before pushing Raven into the revolving door. She went in. Blake took the next open slot and followed.

The lobby of The Carlyle felt like a different world entirely, which made Raven feel extremely out of place. The floors were black, maybe marble, or something else equally expensive. They were polished to the point that Raven could see her reflection when she looked down. It was as if she were walking on water.

There were two orange sofas diagonal from the reception area with big mirrors behind them.

Wherever she looked, Raven could see her reflection. It was unnerving, especially when her eyes looked too puffy from sleep and her lips dry and her eye shadow too dark.

“Good morning, sir,” the man behind the desk said. “How can I help you?”

“I’m here to see Kira James.”

“One moment.” The man picked up a black phone and punched in a number.

“Kira James?” Raven whispered.

“It’s her real name.”

“You can go up,” the man said, setting the phone back
in its cradle. “Go to the tenth floor. Someone will meet you at the elevators.”

“Thanks.”

“This is all so…elegant,” Raven muttered as they crossed the lobby to the elevator banks. The floor inside the elevator was black, too, the trim gold.

Blake pushed in the button for floor ten, and the doors dinged shut.

“This place is official,” he said. “You don’t get much better than this.”

“Have you ever stayed here?”

Blake laughed. “Hell, no. I can’t afford this place.”

The screen above the elevator doors counted the floors. A bell dinged again when they reached the tenth floor and the doors slid open. A man in a black suit and sunny yellow tie greeted Blake and Raven.

“I’m Manuel,” he said. “Follow me and I’ll take you to Kay-J.”

“Awesome. Lead the way, Man.” Blake smiled.

Manuel didn’t.

The bulky bodyguard headed down the hallway, his hands clasped in front of him. He stopped at a door and slid in the key card. The lock clicked open and he pushed the door in.

Raven’s heart thudded a warning in her chest. She was about to make a fool of herself!

Sure, in Birch Falls, people liked her singing, but they had no one to compare her to. Besides, being in a band in a small town had a cool factor attached to it. Maybe part of Raven’s appeal was that she sang in a band with guitars and drums that masked her suckiness.

This was such a bad idea.

They entered into a foyer where they were greeted with the sound of a hair dryer and music playing from an iPod docking station.

The bodyguard surged ahead of Raven and Blake and announced their arrival. Kay-J sat in a plush green chair, a magazine open in her hands as a man worked on her hair.

“Hi!” she called, waggling her fingers. “Give me a sec, Don?”

Don, the hairstylist, nodded and disappeared into another room.

Raven tried to focus on Kay-J but there was so much else to admire in the room. The décor was expensive, with an Old World feeling, the furniture plush and lined with throw pillows. Candles flickered on a table behind the sofa.

But it was the view of 76th Street out the picture window that really threw Raven. She went over to it and looked down at the people and the cars. Several taxis drove down the street, their yellow paint the dominant color in traffic. New York was so…alive.

“Wow,” she breathed.

“It’s nice, yeah?”

Raven looked over at Kay-J standing right next to her. Raven had never been a huge fan of Kay-J’s. Her music was good and Raven respected her talent, but Raven had always been into rock more than anything.

Even so, she found herself starstruck. It was weird seeing the face that had been plastered all over magazine covers right there in front of her.

“Yeah,” Raven muttered. “I’ve never seen the city so high up.”

“It’s pretty. Sometimes I forget to look, though.” Kay-J flashed that brilliant white smile. “So you’re a singer, huh?”

Raven shrugged. “Kinda.”

Kay-J was the same age as Raven, but she couldn’t help but feel like the younger amateur. It didn’t help that Kay-J looked stunning. Her brown hair hung around her shoulders in soft waves. Blond highlights brightened her tanned face.

And she had flawless skin.

Raven was green with envy. Blake was friends with Kay-J? How did he ever stay faithful to Lana when he had a goddess as a friend?

“Come on.” Kay-J grabbed Raven’s hand and dragged her past Blake where he sat in the corner of the couch. “We’ll be back,” Kay-J said.

Blake just nodded.

Kay-J took Raven to one of the bedrooms and shut the door. There were suitcases lying on the floor, clothing spilling out of them. Several pairs of jeans had been slung over a chair in the corner along with a skirt and a flowy summer dress.

“Ready?” Kay-J pushed several shirts back on the bed and sat down. “Go whenever you’d like.”

Raven just stood there.

Anyone would have killed for this opportunity, and she was freezing up.

“Don’t be shy,” Kay-J said. “I know how it is singing in front of someone new, but pretend I’m a friend? Your mom? Sister?”

Raven nodded and took in a deep breath. She tried to imagine Horace on her right side, Hobbs on her left, with Dean behind her on the drums. She tried to imagine the drum beats vibrating through the floor of Horace’s garage, the bass chords ringing in her chest, and Horace’s guitar riffs sending chills up her spine.

She opened her mouth and sang.

Raven clasped her hands together and shrieked as the elevator doors closed. “She said I was good!”

“I heard,” Blake said. “I heard you singing, too, by the way. That was sick.”

“Sick means good?”

He grinned. “Yeah. Beyond good.”

She shrieked again, unable to stop herself.

Kay-J had said she liked Raven’s unique voice. She said she thought Raven had a good chance in the competition but that there were still two days of auditions to get through. However, Kay-J promised to send Raven notice personally, either by a phone call or a letter.

And to think, a few weeks ago Raven hadn’t wanted to come at all. Now that she’d gone through the experience, she couldn’t imagine giving the opportunity away.

“I cannot thank you enough,” she said to Blake. She bounced over and hugged him, wrapping her arms around his neck. Tiny wisps of his hair tickled her face. He smelled like cinnamon gum and a sweet cologne.

Blake wrapped his arms tentatively around her waist.

“It’s no big deal.”

“It’s a huge deal.” She pulled back to kiss his cheek, but he moved his head at the same time and they ended up locking lips.

Raven was surprised at first and she tensed up instantly.

Until Blake’s hands slid up her hips and the breath shuddered out of her lungs. He pressed into her more, and she leaned into the corner of the elevator, the kiss having gone from accidental to fierce in two seconds.

Blake ran his tongue along her lips and a chill breezed through her spine.

It was like she’d been waiting for that kiss the entire summer. Every thought disappeared from her mind until Blake pulled away.

“Raven,” he said, his voice husky, “we can’t.”

She knew that, but she didn’t want to listen to reason right now. Not with her heart thundering in her chest or the butterflies dancing in her stomach.