Wicked End (35 page)

“OK, now leave.” Brandon wanted her to himself. Once they were alone, he took her in his arms. “I’m so glad you feel better.”

She smiled. “Me too. That nap helped even more. I feel like myself again.”

“Don’t push it, though. Please.” He kissed her lips. “The last thing you need is a relapse. I want you to sit and relax for most of the show. I got them setting up a special spot for you.” He winked. “Very special.”

Scott had just come back from his trip to a local music store with Daniel and Jeff. When their truck had to stop short and the back fishtailed, one of the power amps had gotten smashed, and a large speaker crushed the extra box of strings. Replacing both was a no-brainer. They were important.

“Hey, man!” Tommy shouted and clapped Scott on the back, backstage. “We gotta hang out this time. After the show in Michigan I took this set of twins to a hotel room and woke up happy as shit the next day.”

Scott laughed. “Damn, why didn’t you invite me?”

“If I knew how wild those chicks were gonna be, I woulda.” Tommy looked around the hallway. “Where’s your dressing room? I wanna meet Mackenzie. Brandon told me this crazy story of them on a boat. Damn, she sounds like fun.” In Michigan, he had seen her, but then she disappeared.

“She is,” Scott whispered too low to hear.

Austin came down the hall and smiled at Scott. He had been looking for him. “Tommy, what’s up?” He put a hand on Scott’s shoulder. “Where you been, man?” His lips came as close to his ear as he dared in public. “It’s on tonight.”

Scott grinned, knowing that meant Austin found a young man for them to break in. He enjoyed nervous virgins, at least in the anal sense. The day was brightening already.

Brandon stood outside the open bathroom door. Mackenzie was showering again. “You almost done?”

“Yes.” She had pinned her hair up, only wanting to clean up what was necessary. She knew Brandon had a time problem. She turned off the water. “Can you get me a towel? I left mine inside.”

He grabbed a clean one from the rack and opened the stall’s door. “You sure you’re still OK?” She was leaning on the wall. “You look tired.”

“Thanks.”

He put the towel over her shoulders. “If you need to rest, I’ll have Jesse stay with you again.” He carefully stepped into the stall and held her. “Don’t push it for me. We play again tomorrow.”

“I just needed a minute,” she admitted. “You took a lot out of me.”

He exhaled slowly. “I realize that. I should’ve help you in here. You’re exhausted.” His phone vibrated in his pocket. With one hand, he found it was Chico.

Our set’s delayed, power outage, in-house crew’s scrambling to fix it.

He replied,
Good, me and Tink are gonna rest
. Then he shot a text to Tommy.
I’m gonna be late. Girlfriend needs me
. He was pretty sure Tommy was busy anyway.

He smiled and leaned his head on her shoulder, glad he hadn’t fixed his hair yet. “We got some more time. Let’s go lie down.” Her nod made him feel better. If she overdid it, he would feel terribly guilty.

Scott and Austin stood in the hallway alone. As the show organizer, Tommy left to check on the power problem. It was the same location that Triple Threat won their record contract. Gasoline played there at least once a year.

“You heard from Brandon?” Austin asked. “Is Mackenzie well enough to watch the show?”

Shrugging, Scott checked his phone, but no messages. “I think she is. He’s probably making her take another nap.” He heard a high-pitched voice and turned.

A very young, crying girl was chasing Dean. “Please. I’ll do better. Give me another chance.”

He turned to her. “I came. That’s all I wanted. Fuck off.” When she clutched his arm, he pushed her. “Go the fuck home.” She landed on the floor.

Scott rushed over and grabbed him by the shirt. “What gives you the right to shove her on the floor?” He glanced down at Austin, helping her to her feet. “Why can’t you just play nice like the rest of us?”

“Why do you care?” Dean tried to hide his fear of the much bigger Scott. “She’s just a groupie.”

Scott got in his face. “You give us all a bad name.” He paused. “She’s a kid who’s crazy about you. For once, don’t be a dick.”

Chico came around a corner. His eyes opened wide. “Oh shit! What’d he do now?”

“Same shit, different day,” Austin relayed. “I’ll be back.” He walked away with the young fan.

Dean pulled away from Scott. “Get lost, both of you! How I fuck my fans is
my
business.”

“Whatever.” Chico rolled his eyes. They all knew Dean was an asshole. “Brandon has Mackenzie laying down again. Hope she can make it through the show.”

With a huge grin, Dean blurted out, “Mmmm, Mackenzie, she was a good lay. Tight-ass pussy. I love a fighter.” His eyebrows rose as he recalled thrusting into her, while she tried to stop him. He loved that.

“You son of a bitch!” Scott swung at him, but he ducked.

Chico quickly pinned Scott’s arm back. “He’s just fucking with you. Kenzie would never let him get away with it. He’s not worth the energy.”

“Dean!” Jon Harris’ deep, booming voice floated down the hallway. “You starting shit again? What’d he do, Chico?” Jon appeared, towering over all of them.

Chico let Scott go. “He was bullshitting about fucking Brandon’s girlfriend.”

“I did fuck her,” Dean insisted. “Ask her.”

Jon took a hold of Dean’s arm. “I don’t give a flying fuck what you did or didn’t do. Stop bragging and start working. Get your ass back to the room, and finish your interview.” He shoved Dean toward their dressing room. “Dominic just rescued your ass by filling in. You better thank him,” he growled. After watching him disappear into their room, he turned to Scott. “I’m sorry. He’s a dick, and that’s just the way it is. If he was anyone other than our singer, I’d fire his ass. But I can’t, or the band’s history.”

“I get it.” Scott took a deep breath. “He just said something that really set me off. I hope he’s lying.”

Chico looked up at Jon. “If he’s not, there’s gonna be a real fight when Brandon finds out.”

“Yeah, he’s lucky to be alive.” Jon scowled. “He went after my fucking sister, so Brandon ain’t the first in line. He’s on a lotta shit lists.”

Back on the bus, Brandon felt Mackenzie stir and opened his eyes. They were in his bunk, cuddled together, her still in a towel. “Do you feel better?” He had lain with her for an hour.

“Yeah,” she groggily answered. “But I think I need some coffee.”

He laughed. “Yeah, me too.” After helping her down, she went into the back to change, and he made two cups of instant coffee. It was all they had available. “You hungry? I can make you a sandwich.” He looked at the lunch meat on the middle shelf in the refrigerator. Then realized where they were. “Or you can eat in our dressing room. I’m sure there’s tons of food.”

Mackenzie walked towards him, fully dressed. “I’ll eat inside.”

Brandon stared at her as she walked. Her stilettos went well with the formfitting dress he had chosen. With her long legs, the dress looked shorter than he expected, but that made it even sexier. “Hot damn, you look good! I can’t wait to show you off.” He handed her a mug of coffee and waited for her to finish it.

“Who else is playing this weekend?” She put the empty cup down and lay a hand on his waist.

He thought for a second. “Well, there’s Delirious, Mark of the Devil, House of Insanity, Winter Winds, Ace of Spades…”

“Scott’s old band again?” She was surprised.

He nodded. “Yeah, that’s why we’re doing the ‘Damage Inc.’ thing tonight.” He touched her cheek. “And Gasoline’s headlining. They brought some new band, Metal Fuckers in Hell.”

She froze. Since she had been sick, she had not asked about the festival at all. “Gasoline?” she squeaked. Her breathing came faster as the memory of pain returned to her. She felt Dean thrusting and shuddered.

“You cold?” Brandon pulled her into a tight embrace.

Mackenzie fought to get a hold of herself. “No.”

She tried to focus on how good it felt when the pain lessened, but she couldn’t. His assumption that she was there for his pleasure bothered her. Although she did want him, he made no attempt to seduce her, just fucked her.

“Hey.” He lifted her chin. “Something scared you. What happened?”

“It’s nothing. Can we go?”

He kissed her forehead. “In a minute, I gotta do my hair and eyeliner.”

Wearing Brandon’s jacket and holding onto his arm, Angelo rushed them inside. Fans already surrounded the amphitheater, so they did not want to take the chance of Mackenzie getting hurt. They walked the backstage hallways, looking for their dressing room. Instead, they found Jon, Scott, Austin and Chico still talking.

“Hey, how you feeling?” Jon asked. “I heard you had a pretty close call.”

Mackenzie smiled shyly at him. She knew exactly who he was and could not believe he was concerned about her. “I’m better, thanks.”

Brandon kissed her temple and put his hand out to Jon. “Thanks for inviting us to this. We can’t wait to go on tour with you guys.”

“I should be thanking you.” Jon folded his arms over his chest. “Like I told you last time, you’re as talented as Dominic. You amaze me.”

Blushing, Brandon looked away. “Thanks, that’s so cool coming from you.”

Footsteps made Mackenzie look up. She wished she hadn’t. Dean was coming their way. When he got closer, she stepped back, feeling fear and anxiety. The reaction did not make sense, but she couldn’t help it. Possibly, it was her still fragile condition.

Brandon looked down when she put an arm around his waist and clutched him tightly. “What’s the matter?” He looked up at Dean and frowned. An image of him drilling Mackenzie came to mind. He shook his head and wrapped an arm around her shoulders, lovingly. “Talk to me, Tink. You’re acting weird tonight.”

“I’m fine. It’s no big deal.” Her eyes were still on Dean.

Dean grinned as he scanned her outfit.
Hope I can get under that again
. His eyebrows rose, as did his cock. “Nice to see you again, Mackenzie. What’s up, Brandon?” He hoped Brandon knew he had a piece of his woman, but maybe not how.

“Just heading to the dressing room.” Brandon pulled Mackenzie away, not wanting to see Dean for another second. Then he noticed Noelle Young walking towards them. She was looking down, so he stepped in her path. “Hey, how’ve you been?”

She looked up surprised. “Oh, Brandon, Mackenzie, hi.” She nervously looked around, hoping no one noticed where she had come from. She didn’t want it known she had been ravaged by Dominic Spinelli of Gasoline. She would have said no to anyone else, but he was special to her.

“Chico gave me your message. Thanks.” He winked at her.

Mackenzie smiled at Noelle. “What message?”

“Um…” Brandon did not want her to know he recruited Noelle’s help for her surprise that night. “It was about Winter Winds being available for the autumn festival in Virginia Beach at the end of the month. We had to back out because of a scheduling conflict.” That was true.

Noelle caught on. “Yeah, we’re looking forward to it. Gasoline is coming too, right?” Her face lit up, hoping they were.

“Yeah.” Brandon frowned. “Gasoline’s doing a lot of east coast Festivals this fall.” He was glad he wouldn’t be seeing Dean again until January.

Noelle smiled. “Great. Hope I get to see you guys again.” She winked. “Have fun.”

“Thanks, you too.” Mackenzie waved as she walked away.

“How the fuck you doing tonight, Boston?” Jake shouted into the mic, halfway through their set. The sun had set by then. He put a hand to his ear as the crowd roared. “Sounds like you’re doing better than the last time we were here. We got something special for you tonight. Scott, get your ass front and center!”

Scott looked up confused. He gave Jake a questioning look.

Mackenzie almost giggled in her chair that was on the side of the stage. She could see the whole show and watched Scott hesitate.

“Don’t be shy,” Jake teased.

Brandon stepped up to his microphone while he took his guitar off. “How many of you have seen Scott with his old band?” He watched as most of the crowd cheered. “Anybody wanna hear him sing again?” Screaming was the answer. “Me too, come on, Scott.”

Scott nervously moved towards them. “I don’t got anything planned.” He was making excuses, unsure of himself.

“Don’t worry.” Jake gripped his shoulder. “We do.” Then he whispered, “Gimme your bass.” He carefully put the strap over his head and shoulder.

Brandon handed Scott his guitar. “You’re the star for about five and a half minutes, unless you wanna do another one.”

Jason scrambled to set the special guitar pedal in place. They had purchased the part just for that song. It had an effect they never used, but it was needed for the intro. He handed Jake the plug end of the cable, since they hadn’t adapted it for their wireless receivers.

The lights suddenly went down, the stage dark. Then a long note was heard from the bass that faded in and out a bit. A spotlight fell on Jake, as he played the slow intro all alone. The crowd roared again. Jake had not played an instrument live in years, yet he didn’t miss a note. “Damage Inc.” was something special to him also, Cliff Burton having been his idol as a kid.

Scott grinned madly. “You’re fucking kidding me!” He adjusted Brandon’s guitar so it was more comfortable and got ready to play when the time came. He had performed that song hundreds of times before. He knew it better than any other, rhythm and lead roles.

Brandon patted Scott on the back and walked over to Mackenzie. “He’s like a pig in shit!” He yelled, to be heard with the earplugs they both wore. He sat next to her and lifted her hand. Then Chico, Scott and Austin joined Jake, and the song’s metal phase began. “How you doing?”

Mackenzie watched his mouth to understand him. She heard nothing but the music at that point. Her head banged to the beat while she replied, “Awesome! You guys are kicking ass tonight!” She ran a hand over his cheek and smiled. The love in her heart grew each day. She wanted to hold onto him, but she did not understand it was love.