Wonderful, page 18
My eyes narrowed as I stared at him. “Nothing. Happened.”
He pursed his lips at me. “I don’t know if I believe that. Because I know for a fact you saw her boobs that night. You still owe me details, by the way.”
I slammed my beer on the counter so hard that some of it came out of the top. “Oh my fucking God, Griffin. All we did was go out to dinner. Dinner. That’s it.”
Griffin held up his hands. “Okay, fine, I got it. You didn’t fuck her, and you didn’t see her naked. Damn, calm down, Pollyanna.” He eyed me for a second as I wiped off the counter with a nearby towel. “So you really don’t want to have sex with her? Like…ever?”
Striving for patience, I let out a long sigh. “No, I don’t. I love my wife, and I don’t want anyone else. I’m completely faithful to Kiera, and I always will be.”
He gave me a puzzled expression. “That’s still so weird, man. You’re a rock star, and you look like…” Pausing, he indicated my face with his hand. “You could probably have anybody. Or everybody.” He smirked. “All at the same time. Why would you give that up?”
I smiled at the confusion on his face. “Because I found something better.” His expression turned oddly thoughtful. Seeing an opportunity, I said, “You could try it and see for yourself. You might like it.”
His lips shifted into a sly grin. “Sex with Sienna? Yeah, I’m working on it.”
I gave him a flat look. “No. Monogamy. With Anna.”
He made an affronted noise. “Dude, get off it.” Kiera walked into the kitchen then, and Griffin instantly pointed at her. “And you get off it too.” Then he turned around and left the room, shaking his head and mumbling to himself.
Kiera frowned as she met eyes with me. “Do I even want to know what that was about?”
I smirked at her. “Monogamy.”
She tilted her head at me, confused, and I let out a light laugh. “He came in here all pissed, thinking I slept with Sienna.” I lifted an eyebrow at her as she wrapped her arms around my waist. “Apparently, he wanted her first, and he was annoyed at me for jumping the line.” Anger flooded Kiera’s face as she glared back at where he’d disappeared. Oops. Probably shouldn’t have mentioned that to her. She hated him enough as it was. Bringing my finger to her chin, I refocused her attention on me. “But I convinced him I didn’t sleep with Sienna and won’t ever sleep with Sienna. Because I love you.”
She smiled warmly at me for a moment, then frowned. “I’m not all that surprised that he believed it at first. It took some explaining with some of the girls too…and Denny.” Sudden worry marked her features. “Do Matt and Evan think you—”
“No,” I interrupted. “They know I would never…” A heavy sigh escaped me. “I’m so sorry, Kiera. I know this is awkward.”
She chewed on her lip for a moment, then smiled. “It’s not true, so it doesn’t matter, right?”
“Yeah, I guess.” Irritation pricked me at using such an indecisive word. “Yes,” I said more firmly. “It doesn’t matter at all.”
But a couple of weeks after that, I learned that Kiera and I were wrong. It did matter. To some people, it mattered a lot.
We were about to leave on a promotional tour for the album. The itinerary for it was so jam-packed that it had Matt freaking out on an almost daily basis. “They can’t be serious about this, right?” he said, showing it to me for the hundredth time. “This is insane. If one tiny thing goes wrong…” His voice trailed off as his eyes drifted to Griffin sitting on the couch, playing a videogame.
I clapped Matt on the shoulder. “It’ll be fine.” Leaning in, I quietly added, “We’ll have help with him.”
He gave me a small smile, but it quickly fell off his face. “We should talk to someone about this.”
Griffin let out a loud groan as he set down his controller. “Dude, stop bitching about it. Your stress is more stressful than the schedule. Relax, okay? Or I’ll be forced to relax you.” He grinned like he was daring Matt to test him.
Matt sighed, but he put the schedule away.
Griffin smirked and patted the couch cushion beside him. “Come on, come blow some shit up with me. It’ll take your mind off it.”
Matt stared at him a moment, then nodded and walked over to grab another controller. As he sat down, Griffin cocked his head at me. “You want in on this, Kell?”
I shook my head. “No, Kiera and I are going down to the pool.” Just as I finished saying it, Kiera emerged from the bedroom dressed in a swimsuit and a pair of shorts. I grinned as she walked my way. “Hey, beautiful.”
She gave me a demure smile as her eyes drifted to the T-shirt and board shorts I was wearing. “Hey, yourself. Ready?”
As I nodded, Griffin partly turned his head toward the bedrooms and yelled, “Evan! Stop whacking it and come play videogames with us!”
Kiera instantly grimaced at Griffin, and I instantly wished we’d left five minutes ago. I heard an annoyed sigh from Evan’s room, then he appeared in the open doorway. His deep brown eyes locked on mine, and his expression was so unamused that I had to laugh. Evan cracked a smile, then rolled his eyes. Walking into the living room, he muttered, “Grow up, Griffin.” Griff snickered in response.
Evan gave Kiera an apologetic smile, then studied the game Matt and Griffin were playing. “The object is to kill Griffin, right?” he asked Matt.
Matt smiled, his eyes glued on the screen. “Isn’t it always?”
As Evan grabbed a controller, Griffin made a sound of confident disbelief. “Please. You can’t kill a god, remember?” Then he scowled as his character on the screen abruptly fell face first to the ground, dead. “Goddamn it, Matt.”
Matt snorted. “Me one, god zero.” He shifted to look at Griffin. “You’re right, I do feel better.”
Kiera laughed, then grabbed my hand and started pulling me downstairs, where we could be alone. Hopefully.
It was hot outside, so Kiera and I wasted no time getting into the water. We swam for a while, played for a while, then cuddled for a while. We were holding each other in the shallow end when Griffin came out of the house and interrupted our quiet time. He looked puzzled as he approached the stairs leading into the pool. He wasn’t wearing swim clothes, so I was pretty sure he wasn’t here to join us. Unless he planned on going commando, and if that was the case, then he could have the entire pool to himself. But all he did was stop at the edge of the stairs and scratch his head like he was confused. I had no fucking clue what he was doing until he shrugged and tapped his knuckles on the railing dividing the steps. Oh my God…he actually remembered my warning about knocking. And even more shocking—he was doing it.
It took a lot of willpower, but I managed to stop myself from laughing. “Yes?” I said, like we were in a room, not a pool.
“That dude from the record is here. Wants to talk to you.”
That got my attention, and the humor fell right off me. Setting Kiera beside me, I stood up. “Which dude?”
Griffin’s eyes immediately locked on Kiera’s chest, and his lips lifted into a slight smile. Shrugging, he said, “I don’t know. The uppity one in a suit.”
Annoyed that he was openly ogling my wife, I stepped in front of her to block his view. Hopefully, that would help him focus, because this sounded important. “Nick? The vice president of the label?”
Now that he couldn’t see Kiera, Griffin raised his eyes to mine. “I don’t know. Sure.”
Irritation shot up my spine that he didn’t know for sure, but it was quickly replaced by dread. “The uppity one in a suit” had to be Nick, and I wasn’t entirely sure why I felt uneasy about that. After all, the last time I’d spoken with him, it had led to a great opportunity for the band. If he wanted to talk to me again, it was probably about another great opportunity. I shouldn’t be worried. And yet…
Kiera and I quickly dried off and put our cover-up clothes back on. I briefly considered going back to our room to shower and change but keeping Nick waiting probably wasn’t a good idea. Griffin led us upstairs to the room where we’d met Nick and Sienna last time. Nick was on the couch, just like before. Matt and Evan were sitting on a couch across from him, looking both nervous and excited. Nick stood as I approached him. Noticing that Kiera wasn’t beside me anymore, I glanced back to see her just outside the room, talking to Griffin. Or listening to Griffin talk to her. She had an annoyed look on her face. I wanted to go save her from him, but Nick was greeting me. I had to stay.
“Kellan,” he said, extending a palm. “It’s good to see you again.”
“Likewise,” I replied, shaking his hand. Like Griffin had said, Nick was in a full suit, complete with a bright red tie. I wasn’t an expert on suits, but it shouted money to me. In fact, everything about him felt like a statement. Not a single strand of blond hair was out of place, not one scuffmark marred his shiny shoes, and there wasn’t a speck of dirt under his neatly trimmed nails. I instantly felt a little unkempt beside him, which was probably exactly how he wanted me to feel.
He indicated an open space on the couch beside Evan. “Please, have a seat.” With a nod, I sat down, leaving a space for Kiera. Nick smiled as he returned to his spot on his couch. “I was just telling your bandmates how great the finished album is,” he said. “Truly spectacular. If success was based on talent alone, it would definitely be a hit.”
“But it’s not,” I said, both as a statement and a question.
Nick frowned. “No, it’s not.”
He opened his mouth to say more but paused when Kiera and Griffin entered the room. Nick smiled as they sat down, a forced, impatient smile. His eyes drifted over Kiera as she nestled into my side. “Making good use of the home’s amenities, I see,” he said, taking in her swimsuit top and wet hair. His eyes shifted to me. “That’s good. You’ll need your rest now to get you through the launch.”
I glanced at Kiera. She had an uneasy, uncomfortable expression on her face. It matched the uncertainty churning in my stomach. I gave Nick a brief nod, acknowledging his comment, then waited for him to explain what we were all doing here.
Nick’s expression brightened once he had our attention. “I have good news. Great news.” He paused as he leaned forward, letting the air fill with expectation. “Diedrick Kraus just agreed to shoot the video for ‘Regretfully.’”
I secreted a look at Matt. The name wasn’t ringing a bell for me, but it might for him; he followed the industry a lot more than I did. Matt’s brows were furrowed, though. Clearly, he was clueless.
Nick spoke in the silence. “You have no idea who that is, do you?”
Speaking for the group, I told him, “Sorry, no.”
Nick dismissed my apology with a wave. “Diedrick Kraus is the genius behind some of the greatest music videos of our time. He’s exclusive. Hard to come by. We gave him a sample of your song, and he wants to direct it. No, he fucking insisted on it.” He pointed at me. “Diedrick’s got a couple of days available at the end of the month, Sienna’s got a tiny break in her schedule, and we’ll squeeze it in for you during the promotional tour.” Smile on his face, he lifted his hands. “I swear the stars aligned for this.”
Surprise washed through me as I glanced at the guys. “We’re making a music video? Do people even still watch those?”
I thought I heard one of the guys let out a soft snort. I supposed it was kind of a dumb question, but I was barely ever online, so I never saw anything. Matt sometimes showed me videos, but he always showed me concert footage. He said a band’s true talent was only evident when they played live, so why watch anything else. I guess. All I knew was that filming a music video sounded like doing a really long, obnoxious photoshoot, so already I wasn’t too excited about this.
Nick frowned at me. “Yes, they do.” He suddenly grinned in an overly animated way that was kind of creepy. “And we’ve got an opportunity here to stir the hornet’s nest.”
The hair rose on the back of my neck as wariness coursed through me. “I have no idea what that means.”
Nick gave me a look like he thought I was slow. “It means we’re going to cause some serious buzz with this video. Ever since the public caught wind of you and Sienna in that photograph, there has been a firestorm of interest. Everyone is curious about Sienna’s new man.”
“I’m not her man,” I immediately stated.
Nick kept going like I hadn’t even opened my mouth. “We’re going to fuel the flames of Kellan and Sienna madness and ride the hype to the top of the charts.”
His words, mixed with the excitement on his face, filled me with dread. I didn’t like the sound of this. At all. Lana’s vague warning suddenly flashed through my mind, and my stomach felt like someone was clenching it tight. There were a lot of different ways to interpret his statement, though. I needed clarification. “What do you mean?”
Nick spread his fingers, his pale eyes glowing with avaricious delight. “We’re going to play up the romantic portion of the song, make the video seriously hot. Naked bodies, deep kisses, moaning and groaning, whatever we can get away with. Anyone who watches it will immediately need to take a very cold shower. The buzz around you and Sienna is going to skyrocket.”
What. The. Hell? The direction he wanted to go with the video made absolutely no sense to me. He wasn’t serious, was he? I can’t do any of that. “The song is about a breakup,” I spat out, hoping I’d somehow misunderstood him.
Nick nodded, a sly smile spreading over his face as he steepled his fingers under his chin. “Yes, and what great breakup didn’t start off with a fiery romance?”
Shit. He was serious. He wanted me to basically get it on with Sienna. My heart pounded in my chest as I studied him, my stomach churned. There was no way I could film something like that. How could he even suggest it without asking my opinion first? Because he didn’t give a shit about my opinion, that much was obvious. Well, fuck. How the hell do I get out of this? If I flat-out refused to do it, what would that mean for our future? I supposed it didn’t really matter, because there was no way on Earth I could say yes. I couldn’t do that to Kiera. Fuck. I couldn’t even look at her yet. I was too scared of what I might see on her face. She was rigid beside me, like she’d been frozen solid. I didn’t even want to imagine what she was thinking right now, what she was feeling. She had to be sick to her stomach, just like me.
Hoping Nick would understand, I began the process of bursting his bubble. “I’m married. I can’t do that.”
Griffin instantly volunteered. “I can!”
Yes, please, let Griffin do it. But Nick clearly wasn’t interested in Griffin as his leading man. His eyes hardened as he glared at me, and the expression on his face had me instinctively tensing, preparing for a fight. “I’m not asking you to have an affair with the woman. That part is entirely up to you.” He smirked as he threw a glance Kiera’s way, and a burst of rage flashed through my body. Fucking asshole. I opened my mouth to tell him exactly what I thought of his entire proposal, but he continued speaking before I could. “I’m merely asking you to film a fictional video with her to a song that you’ve already recorded, a song that we own, by the way.” The heat running through my veins suddenly shifted to ice. By his tone, it was clear that he meant he owned me just as much as he owned the song. And fuck…maybe he did.
As I swallowed a sudden knot in my throat, Nick pushed back on his thighs, preparing to stand. “Entertaining the masses is part of your job description, and sometimes that includes acting. If we’d known you were…unwilling…to do that, we wouldn’t have signed you.” He stood up and took a step toward me, so he was towering over me. “All I’m asking for here is for you to suck it up and do your fucking job. And in case you couldn’t tell…I’m not really asking.”
He left immediately after that, but the menace in his words lingered. And the meaning: Do this or you’re done. Jesus. This was it. The one moment that our entire career hinged on, and for some reason, the moment was entirely dependent on me—on what I would or wouldn’t do to my wife. It wasn’t right. My personal life and my career should be separate. He had no right to force me to do this. None.
The air was chokingly thick with tension as I sat and stewed. I could feel my friends’ discomfort, Kiera’s concern. I still couldn’t look at her. What the fuck do I do?
Griffin, oblivious to the mood in the room, suddenly said, “Dude! You get to film-fuck Sienna Sexton! High five!”
He had the audacity to hold up his hand to me, like I would actually high five him for that. All the anger in my stomach shot out my eyes to drill into him, but he didn’t even notice my mood. He was too excited about the whole thing…so excited he wasn’t even jealous. Yet. I was sure that would come later. If I did this. Fuck. I can’t do this.
I can’t. I can’t. I can’t.
No…I won’t.
Decision made, I stood up. Staring at the doorway where Nick had gone made the heat in my chest swell into fiery rage. “This is bullshit.” And I’m not doing it. Fuck it. Fuck it all.
In my haste to get out of the room, I roughly brushed past the others sitting on the couch. Evan said my name, concern clear in his voice, but I ignored him. He wasn’t going to like my decision, none of them were, but they weren’t the ones being asked to cross a line. And there was no way in hell I was going to willingly cross that line. Kiera would never forgive me. I would never forgive me.
I fled to my bedroom and immediately grabbed my bag and Kiera’s. After setting them on the bed, I began ripping open dresser drawers and grabbing shit. Kiera and the guys walked into the room as I was shoving shirts into my bag.
“What are you doing?” Kiera’s voice was soft, cautious, and careful, like she thought I might bolt any moment. Or snap. I was buzzing with so much adrenaline that I felt like I could do both.
Trying to keep calm, I met eyes with her. “Pack your stuff. We’re going home. I’m done.”
Griffin was instantly pissed. “What the fuck, Kellan?”
