The Loneliest Tour (20 page)

Jett watched the mess of a song
continue. Colin moved left to right, stepping in Masie
’
s way, shouting at her to get the fuck out of his
way. It left Jett grabbing the railing to the steps, wanting to attack the
asshole lead singer.

Then it finally happened.

With only one more chorus to go,
Colin lifted his guitar and spun. He bumped into Masie again and sent her
flying to the back of the stage. This time Masie couldn
’
t save herself. She tumbled on the stage and stayed
there.

Colin ran to the mic and screamed,
“
Fucking yes! Thanks for fucking
showing up!
”

Crutch Fail finished their set and
then took the side of the stage. Jett rushed around and jumped up, wanting to
get to Masie. She was on her knees when he got there.

“
Are
you okay?
”
he asked.

“
Fine,
”
she said.
“
Just embarrassed. He was all
over the place.
”

“
I
know he was,
”
Jett said.
“
Asshole. Come here, stand up.
”

Jett helped Masie to her feet. The
other dancers came over, asking how she was. Lucky for her, she was okay.
Nothing was broken, sprained, or twisted. She was able to walk off the stage on
her own.

But Jett wasn
’
t letting it go that easily.

He jumped from the stage and Colby
was right there.
“
Whoa,
bro. You
’
ve got fire in
your eyes.
”

“
Move,
”
Jett said.

He pushed by Colby and charged
along the corridor. When he saw Colin standing with a bottle of beer in his
hand, he reached and smacked the beer out of Colin
’
s hand. The bottle shattered on the ground.

“
What
the fuck?
”
Colin yelled.

“
What
the fuck?
”
Jett said. He
grabbed Colin by the shirt and swung him across to the other wall.
“
You almost fucking hurt someone!
”

“
She
’
s fine,
”
Colin said.
“
Bitch
shouldn
’
t have been in my
way.
”

Jett stepped back and swung. He
cracked Colin in the jaw, sending Colin stumbling to the left. He cocked back
another fist, wanting to knock his damn teeth out, but reality settled in.

This wasn
’
t the old days before cellphones and stuff. This
was current time and that meant there were phones and cameras everywhere.

“
Ah,
shit,
”
Jett said.

He turned and stormed away, wanting
to check on Masie again.

There were crew guys everywhere,
hurrying to unload the Crutch Fail equipment and bring the Willow Son gear
forward. The entire process was designed to be timed for a fifteen minute
window. Enough time for the people to get another drink, a t-shirt, and get
back in their seats.

Jett flexed his hand and found
Masie sitting on the edge of a case.

“
Are
you okay?
”
he asked.

“
What
did you do to your hand?
”
she asked.
“
Did you hit
him?
”

“
Asshole.
He deserved it. If he ever
…”

“
Jett!
”
a voice boomed.

He looked back and saw Harry and
Portis standing there, their faces a matching red.

“
I
think you
’
re in trouble,
”
Masie said.

“
I
don
’
t give a shit,
”
Jett said.
“
As long as you
’
re not hurt.
”

“
Even
if I was hurt, punching him wouldn
’
t
have helped.
”

Jett grinned.
“
But it felt good.
”

Jett went to face the music. On the
way, he grabbed his first guitar from the guitar tech. He put it over his
shoulder and stood before Harry and Portis.

“
You
punched the lead signer of Crutch Fail?
”
Harry asked.

“
That
’
s the best PR they
’
ll get,
”
Jett said.

“
Goddammit,
”
Portis snapped.
“
What is this? This isn't how my
tours go!
”

“
He
’
s up on stage, drunk,
”
Jett said.
“
And he
’
s endangering people.
”

“
The
woman from the bus,
”
Portis
said.
“
Christ, Jett. You
’
re defending her?
”

“
He
hurt her.
”

“
She
doesn
’
t look hurt to me.
”

“
Okay,
”
Harry said, getting between
Jett and Portis.
“
Let me
run damage control on this. Jett, you get on stage and do your job.
”

“
It
better be fucking amazing,
”
Portis said.
“
I
’
ll pull the plug on this.
”

“
Try
it,
”
Jett said.
“
Crutch Fail couldn
’
t get fifty people in the seats.
”

Jett turned and walked away.

The rest of band came a minute
later, ready to go.

Van with his bass. Ryker with his
guitar. Brantley put his ear pieces in, talking to the drum tech, making sure
everything was just the way he liked it. Colby rubbed his throat and stretched
his neck.

And all the lights went out in the
arena.

And the crowd exploded.

**

Masie was in awe.

Willow Son played as though they
were larger than life. They were able to get every single person in the arena
to stand, cheer, and sing. It was wildly sexy to watch Jett from the side of
the stage. Watching him play guitar. Watching him walk to the edge of the stage
and seeing people grabbing for him.

Being the ultimate bad ass
rockstar, he played a guitar solo with his left hand while he stole someone
’
s phone with his right hand and
started taking pictures. He stood, tossed the phone to the crowd, and turned,
never missing a note of the solo and the song.

Masie had tried to lay as low as
possible, fearing something was going to happen if she saw Colin, Crutch Fail,
Lenny, or Portis. She had met Portis for a second, and then a little while
later Jett punches the lead singer of the band that Portis was desperately
trying to launch.

It told Masie one thing.

She was far too close to Jett.

It
’
s happening again.

She watched Jett hold up his hands
after a song ended. He then turned his head, looked at Masie, and winked.

Yeah, she was far too close to
Jett.

Yet it felt okay. It felt good.

Gosh, with just that one wink, she
was turned on by him.

Masie crept along the side of the
stage and started to make her way to the dressing rooms. She got to hers and
opened it. That
’
s where she
found Josie on top of Jack. In a chair. Jack
’
s
pants were down to his ankles, Josie naked from the waist down. There was a
moment of shock that went through Masie
’
s
body, allowing her to see way too much. She jumped back and shut the door.

“
Holy
shit,
”
she whispered.

She turned and Colin stood an inch
away.

Masie jumped and yelled.
“
Shit!
”

Colin had an ice pack on his jaw.
He moved it away and flexed his jaw.
“
Good
news. I
’
ll be able to sing
tomorrow night.
”

“
Okay,
”
Masie said.

“
Bad
news. I
’
m going to make it
so you
’
re never on stage
again.
”

“
I
had nothing to do with that,
”
Masie said.
“
You know that.
You were drunk. You still are. That
’
s
the second time
…”

“
I
don
’
t give a shit,
”
Colin said.
“
Know your stage presence.
”

“
You
can
’
t threaten me.
”

“
Hey,
girl!
”
a voice yelled.

Masie turned her head and felt even
more trapped.

There was Ian.

Running right at her.

“
Enjoy
your men,
”
Colin said.
“
You better choose one. Bad
enough you
’
re fucking a
rockstar, rubbing against another, and you
’
ve
got this clown wrapped around your finger. Quit acting like a slut.
”

Masie felt her left hand go back.
She was ready to slap Colin. Attack Colin.

But she didn
’
t.

She froze up and watched him walk
away.

“
Damn,
what a show out there!
”
Ian
said. He hugged Masie and then moved away from her.
“
Hey, you didn
’
t
get changed yet.
”

“
There
’
s a situation in the room,
”
Masie said.
“
Josie and one of the guys
…”

“
No
way,
”
Ian said.

“
Yeah.
”

“
Damn.
I
’
m sort of jealous.
”

Ian had that look in his eye.

No way in hell.

Masie managed to get out of reach
of Ian. He trailed her though, asking about the show. He told her how Portis
hooked him up with a sweet ride for the week so he could hang with the tour.
All that meant for Masie was a bigger headache.

“
Hey,
you want to go meet Portis?
”
Ian asked.

“
No,
”
Masie said.
“
I
’
m
good here. I want to watch the rest of the show.
”

“
Okay,
girl,
”
Ian said.
“
I
’
m
going to track down Portis. Then I
’
ll
be hanging around. I
’
ll
find you. We
’
ll hit
something good later. I got some cash from my little trip and stuff.
”

“
Ian,
”
Masie said.
“
Don
’
t do any of that. I mean, you and me
…
it
’
s not going to happen.
”

Masie couldn
’
t believe she just said that to Ian. Her mind
thought about what Jett had said about her being too talented to need anyone
else. Not that she was doing anything with Ian. He just latched on and refused
to let go.

“
What?
”
Ian asked.

“
You
heard me. I
’
m sorry if you
think anything. But it
’
s
not going to happen. You and me together. You know that it can
’
t happen.
”

“
Fuck
that, girl,
”
Ian said.

He looked pissed off and stormed
away.

Willow Son was playing their encore
set, thousands of fans cheering.

Masie stood there, shaking her
head. First night of the tour and she managed to piss everyone off. Including
herself.

(14)

“
Okay,
guys, I have to ask this. I know it was taken off the sheet. But you know how
my job goes. I
’
m here to
ask questions. To entertain the fine people who tune into this radio station.
”

Jett felt his throat tighten. He
looked over at the rest of the band as they all sat with giant headphones on
their ears. Over his shoulder, he saw Harry with his arms folded, stepping
forward. Jett threw out his hand and waved Harry off.

“
The
history of Willow Son has been well documented, all of which is simply the life
you guys enjoy to live. But there is the story that Jett knocked out the lead
singer of Crutch Fail.
”

“
I
wouldn
’
t call it a knock
out,
”
Jett said.
“
You saw the video.
”

“
Yeah,
the entire freaking world did.
”

“
Well,
then you know the truth.
”

“
Hey,
”
Colby cut in.
“
When you
’
re on tour, it
’
s
a lot of work and pressure. It
’
s
not a joke. It
’
s what we
do. All those people out in the audience spent their money to be there. Someone
working right now is doing so to save up money and buy a ticket to our show.
How is that not special?
”