The Loneliest Tour (6 page)

“
This
place?
”

“
Yeah,
”
Ian said.

“
Is
…
Portis here?
”
Masie asked.

“
He
will be. He wants to see Willow Son. It
’
s
their first real show since that guitarist got popped buying drugs.
”

“
I
read it was pain pills. Maybe he has something wrong.
”

“
Yeah,
”
Ian said. He leaned in.
“
Fucking rockstars are all morons
like that. Shit, look at these dopes in Crutch Fail. They
’
re all a product, girl. Remember
that. I mean, you
’
re a
product too. But I at least like you.
”

Masie felt her stomach flip around
a little. She slipped away from Ian.
“
I,
uh, need to talk to the other girls for a second.
”

There were doors that led to the
dressing rooms. It was simply a wide hallway with several doors. Nothing that
really separated men from women. Not that many of the men and women wanted to
be separated.

One of the doors opened and out
walked the bassist for Crutch Fail, Carson. He had two women with him, one on
each arm. They were in nothing but bras and panties. A big grin climbed across
Carson
’
s face as he looked
at Masie and winked.

“
Looking
good,
”
he said.

“
Yeah,
thanks.
”

“
I
don
’
t think these two would
mind one more,
”
Carson
said.

“
No
thanks.
”

“
Ah,
that
’
s right. You
’
re a Colin girl, huh?
”

Masie frowned and kept walking.

Carson laughed.

Crutch Fail sucked.

There, I thought it. The
y
fucking suck.

The band didn
’
t stand any real chance at
succeeding, but that wasn
’
t
Masie
’
s problem.

At the end of the hall, she found
the other three dancers. It was basically supposed to be one dancer per band
member. Of course, Colin had picked her to be his dancer. That meant Masie had
to be near him, dance next to him, and sometimes dance against him.

The other girls - Gabby, Ana, and
Josie - stood with drinks in their hands.

There was a bottle of vodka on a
small table.

“
For
our nerves,
”
Gabby said.
“
Want some?
”

“
No
thanks,
”
Masie said.
“
Should anyone get drunk before
this?
”

“
The
band is,
”
Josie said with
her lip curled.
“
I mean,
this is all kind of dumb, right? We
’
re
basically just there to flirt and mostly strip for the band.
”

“
At
least it
’
s money,
”
Ana said.
“
Plus, I met some guy that works
for some PR thing. He
’
s got
a modeling thing coming up. I
’
m
going to hook up with him after the show and get more info.
”

“
You
’
re going to sleep with him,
”
Gabby said.

“
Of
course,
”
Ana said.
“
If he gets me a modeling job, I
’
ll do anything he wants.
”

Masie took it all in.

When she was a little girl, she
used to stand in her room and wind up her music box over and over, watching the
small ballerina turn and turn. She begged for a dress for her birthday and got
one. And she wore it until it fell apart
…
and she stood in her room, turning and turning
…

This was a far cry from the
innocence of her bedroom.

A lump rose up in Masie
’
s throat.

“
Yo!
Ladies!
”
a voice cried. It
was Drake.
“
It
’
s showtime! Shake those fine
bodies over here and earn your paychecks!
”

“
God,
I fucking hate him,
”
Ana
said.

At least Masie had something in
common with the other dancers.

(5)

The band was brought in through the
backdoor to massive fanfare. Security had rushed to put up extra gates because
the fans were pushing them down. They were literally lifting the gates and
walking with them to get closer to Willow Son.

Once in the corridor, the five of
them stood like sardines in a can with two security guards that were massive
hunks of muscle that stunk like body odor. They were on walkie-talkies, calling
out orders.

Jett looked at Colby. Colby forced
his hand up and gave a weak thumbs up and started to laugh.

“
I
’
m getting claustrophobic here,
”
Van said.

“
Don
’
t you sleep on a tour bus?
”
one of the security guards
said.

“
Yeah,
but it
’
s usually with a
naked woman, not some lunk.
”

The security guard gritted his
teeth and made for the steps. He pointed and said,
“
Go up. Second floor there
’
s more security. You have a private area to watch
the opening band before you take the stage.
”

“
No
sound check?
”
Brantley
asked.

“
Bro,
”
Colby said,
“
this isn
’
t an arena. We
’
re
lucky to have this right now.
”

“
So
lucky,
”
Ryker said as he
pinched his nose.

“
Like
you smell any better,
”
Jett
said.

Ryker lifted his arm.
“
Yeah, but this is rockstar man
smell. Ladies love it.
”

“
Jesus
Christ,
”
the security guard
said.
“
Move, guys. Come on.
”

Jett lunged forward and took the
lead.

At the top of the stairs stood
Harry and Portis.

“
What
do you think?
”
Portis
asked.

“
Nice
place,
”
Jett said.

“
Here,
”
Harry said.
“
We have an escort to the side
over here. To stay out of the way. Not get mobbed
…”

As soon as Jett stepped through the
doorway, it was chaos. People started cheering like hell. Everyone on the
second floor saw the band and went wild. That caused everyone on the first
floor to scream, even before looking up and realizing who it was. When they did
realize it was Willow Son, the entire place erupted.

“
Never
gets old!
”
Colby shouted
into Jett
’
s ear.

“
Never,
”
Jett said.

The rush of that feeling - so many
people cheering for them - made Jett smile.

They went to their section of the
club, right against the back of the railing, a perfect sight of the stage.
There was a curtain hanging with red lights behind it, bleeding through.

Willow Son stood there and waved.

The place kept going wild.

A few seconds later, the lights
went out.

The club was dark except for the
red lights behind the curtain.

Everyone kept cheering.

Four figures then appeared behind
the curtain. Jett could easily see it wasn
’
t
Crutch Fail. These were women
’
s
figures. He gripped the railing tight and watched.

Music started to fade in, a backing
track, heavy on the bass and drums.

“
Come
on
…
let
’
s move
…
let
’
s
…
move
…”

On that cue, the figures started to
move. The second one in from the right caught Jett
’
s attention instantly. He was a distance, yeah, but
the red light made their shadows bigger. The silhouette of their bodies moved.
Left to right, getting low, coming back up.

The backing track got louder.

A guitar came in - a live guitar.

Four more figures got on the stage.

Each dancer seemed to get close to
a band member.

“
Yeah,
”
a voice boomed through the
speakers.
“
Yeah, it
’
s time to move
…”

With that the backing track
stopped, the curtain dropped, and Crutch Fail began their set.

The lead singer played guitar and just
stood there, staring out. A woman clung to his side, inching up and down his
body as he played. Like he was in command and she was submitting to him.

Yeah, the entire thing oozed with
rock n
’
roll sex, which was
fine with Jett.

What shocked him though was the
woman on stage with the lead singer.

It was Masie.

And watching her move sent two
jolts through his body.

The first was heat. Intense heat.
Those hips, those legs, moving. Her hair let down, long and curly, dancing with
her body.

The second jolt was jealousy.

Because Masie was dancing against
the lead singer of Crutch Fail.

“
Hey,
”
a voice yelled next to Jett. It
was Portis.
“
Just to give
you a heads up. Lead singer is Colin. Bassist is Carson. Lead guitar is Jack.
Drummer is Stan.
”

Jett looked at Portis.
“
Stan? That
’
s not very rock n
’
roll.
”

“
This
is a cash play for me,
”
Portis said.
“
We
’
re going to boost them, sell a
few million albums, and then they
’
ll
fade out.
”

“
What
’
s your plan for us?
”
Jett dared to ask.

Portis smiled.
“
You
’
re my ticket, Jett. So stay away from the pills.
You
’
re going to make it so
I can retire and buy ten islands and a wife for each one.
”

Portis patted Jett
’
s back and walked away.

The music blaring through the
speakers was barely okay. Too generic and cliche. Christ, Jett could play the
entire song just by hearing the first verse and chorus. There was nothing
original and exciting about it.

Except Masie dancing.

When she broke away from Colin,
Jett was relieved. Such a stupid thing to feel like that.

The dancers then gathered at the
middle of the stage and moved with the song. Like they were some drunk chicks
at a concert out on the lawn having way too much fun.

“
Dancers!
”
Colby yelled to Jett.
“
There
’
s something for us.
”

“
No,
”
Jett said.
“
We just need our instruments.
Not eye candy.
”

Eye candy.

Did I just call Masie eye candy?

Well
…

Jett pushed from the railing and
went to get a drink.

He had heard and seen enough for
now. And while he couldn
’
t
get away from the loud sound Crutch Fail produced, he could get away from the
sight of Masie dry humping the lead singer.

Cool it, man. You don
’
t even know her.

Jett got to the bar and ordered up
a double shot of whiskey and a beer.

The whiskey went down really rough.
But the beer was perfect and cold.

Two women slithered their way to
the bar, looking at Jett.

He nodded, grinning.

One dared to lean in.
“
We hate to do this
…
since we were offered to be
here
…
but an autograph
…”

“
Done,
”
Jett said.
“
What do you want me to sign?
”

Before Jett had a chance to process
the scene, the women lifted their shirts up. They had large breasts pouring out
of white bras. The one woman held out a black marker.

“
On
the bra!
”
she yelled and
laughed.

In the background, Crutch Fail was
working into their second song. Another choppy goddamn song with a rhythm and
set of chords that a ten year old starter guitar player could grab in a second.

Jett signed both bras and within
seconds, the rest of the band was there. Ryker taking charge next, like a
hungry animal with a fierce look in his eyes.

“
Hey!
”
he yelled.
“
We don
’
t have to gear up for another twenty minutes. That
gives me some time.
”