Chapter Fifteen

Christy would remember that concert until the day that she died. After Randy had scared off those girls, he had kept her and Chad company until Leighanne arrived a few minutes later. She introduced herself and sat down beside them, chatting with them. Christy liked her instantly. When the lights went down, Christy thought for sure her eardrums would pop from the intense screaming going on around her.

Loud music began to play and smoke billowed out from the black box Randy had pointed out earlier. And from that smoke rose five darkly dressed figures. She spotted Kevin instantly and felt her heart leap. He was a born performer, she’d known that forever.

They landed on the stage on the side just to the left of hers. They were unharnessed and then immediately positioned themselves in an army-like formation.

She tore her eyes away from the people onstage to look up at the huge screens. The camera focused on Kevin and she smiled. So he’s in charge of this whole shebang, eh?

With a serious expression and the stance of a leader, he looked out at the crowd and nodded several times, then turned on his heel to go to the next side of the stage, her side.

She held her breath as he looked out to the packed arena, just over her head. Chad jumped up on his chair, waving his arms wildly and screaming Kevin’s name. She almost collapsed into a fit of giggles when he spotted Chad and her. His serious gaze faltered into one of complete and utter shock that the whole audience saw. His eyes widened and he let out the tiniest laugh, before shaking his head and narrowing his eyes again.

Chad hopped off his chair, grinning.

“He saw us!” he shouted excitedly.

The show was awesome. There was so much to take in, it was almost an overload on Christy’s senses. It wasn’t until after the third song, when the guys did their introductions, did Kevin really make eye contact with Christy.

He was laughing as he spoke, and when he came to her side of the stage, he paused and waved at her, mouthing, “Thank you.” She mouthed back, “You’re welcome.”

When it was time for “Quit Playing Games,” Leighanne nudged her and pointed upward to the track above their heads.

“Kevin’s going to be flying above us,” she yelled.

When he was lifted from the stage and sent into the air, Christy gasped. He was up there doing somersaults and flips! The crowd went wild, and he indulged them by tossing down stuffed animals.

After that came “Don’t Want You Back.” Kevin seemed to be having a private conversation with Nick, using hand signals and gestures. Nick grinned and nodded. The infamous ladders were brought out, one set up directly in front of where Christy and Chad sat with Leighanne.

Kevin came over and started doing his thing with the ladder, making Christy’s knees knock together so hard she was forced to sit down.

“He switched with Nick!” Leighanne squealed in her ear. “Nick was supposed to be on this side!”

Christy gulped and glanced up just in time to see him aim a stare that was full of fire and passion straight into her eyes. She thought she would melt right there.

The rest of the show went by quickly. She cried during “The Perfect Fan” and Kevin’s piano solo, along with “Back To Your Heart.” She danced away with the remainder of the songs, bumping hips with Chad and Leighanne as they really got into it.

By the time the final pyro effects went off, Christy was exhausted. Randy appeared in front of them, and Leighanne stood up, taking Christy’s arm and Chad’s hand. They followed as Randy took them backstage.

Kevin was pulling out his earpiece and wiping his face off with a towel when they got there. He saw Christy and Chad, dropped the towel and took off running. He crashed into them, scooping them both into his arms at the same time.

“You lied to me!” he accused, but not angrily. “Was Brian in on this? The rat!”

Christy laughed and kissed his cheek. “I can’t reveal my sources, that’s private information!”

He set them down and ruffled Chad’s hair. Then he placed his hands on either side of Christy’s face and kissed her.

Not just a friendly little peck either. This kiss caused a chorus of “ooohs” and “aaahs” and whistles to fill the area. When he ended the kiss, she collapsed against him.

“Hot. . . damn . . . “ she breathed.

“I’ve missed you so much, you have no idea,” he whispered, burying his nose in her neck.

“Kevin! My goodness, please, there are children present!” Brian scolded, coming up behind them.

Kevin released Christy and whirled around, catching Brian in a headlock.

“You knew she was coming?” he asked, giving his cousin a noogie.

“Ahh! What! No, I didn’t! I swear! Ahhh!”

“Liar!”

“Okay, maybe I did, ahhh! Let go!”

Kevin release him and then hugged him.

“Thanks, man, it was a great surprise,” he said.

“Dang, you should have seen your face!” Brian exclaimed, mimicing the wide-eyed expression. “It was priceless!”

Kevin laughed whole-heartedly. “I wonder what the audience thought.”

Brian shrugged. “Maybe they’ll think you got a bug up your nose or something.”

Just as Kevin was about to take off and really injure his cousin, Howie and AJ jumped into the circle and asked for an introduction.

Christy hugged each of them and Chad shook their hands.

“Thank God you finally came to see him,” AJ said, gesturing to Kevin. “The man was about to start climbing walls soon!”

“Oh really?” Christy questioned, nudging Kevin in the ribs. “You’re that hung up over me, huh?”

Kevin coughed and blushed a little, making Christy giggle and hug him tighter. If she was capable of making a man his age blush, then he really must care for her!

The group gathered up their personal belongings and then were guided out the back door to the awaiting bus. Chad clambered on and Nick gave him a tour, ending with the rec room where all his video games were stored. The two engaged themselves with Nick’s Playstation during the trip back to the hotel.

Kevin dropped down tiredly on one of the leather couches and pulled Christy into his lap.

“So where are you staying?” he whispered, planting a kiss on her neck.

“Well, um, your room.”

Kevin paused. “Pardon me?”

“That’s where our stuff is anyway. If you don’t want us there. . . “

“No, no, that’s fine. That’s perfect,” Kevin said quickly, nodding. “How long are you staying?”

“We have to leave tomorrow night.”

She watched as Kevin’s cheery smile faded and instantly felt bad.

“I’m sorry,” she said.

“It’s okay,” he sighed. “We’ll just have to make the most of our time together, that’s all.”

“That’s right. So how will we do that?”

“I have an idea. . . “

Brian spoke up from his place at the small table beside Leighanne.

“Hey, hey, we don’t want to hear about that,” he said, shaking his head at his cousin and smiling. “I want to keep my head clean of all bad images, thank you very much.”

Kevin chucked a nearby pen in Brian’s direction.

“Oh I’ll still get my revenge on you,” he promised. “You’ll learn never to keep secrets from me again!”

Brian simply rolled his eyes and turned back to his girlfriend, but not before throwing a conspritual wink in Christy’s direction.

“This is a pretty nice bus,” Christy said to Kevin, looking around. “Do you like traveling on it?”

“It’s not bad, but after awhile, you start to get tired of it,” Kevin said. “It’d be better if I had someone along to keep me company. . . “

Christy smiled sweetly. “You mean, besides the four other hoodlums you’re with?”

“Exactly. I miss the feel of a woman.”

“What about groupies?”

Kevin made a face. “Christy, I can’t believe you would think I’m like that!”

“You seriously can’t expect me to believe otherwise.”

Kevin ducked his head in shame, then pulled her closer, inhaling her perfume.

“Things are different now,” he said, his voice husky. “I’ve got you.”

Just as he leaned in to kiss her, Nick and Chad burst into the front area of the bus.

“Ha! I beat you, I beat you!” Chad cried, jumping up and down.

Nick’s face was red with embarrassment as he flopped down on the couch beside Kevin and Christy.

“Damn, that kid’s good,” he muttered, glancing their way. “Oops, did we interrupt?”

Christy slid off Kevin’s lap and patted the space next to her for Chad to join them.

“You beat Nick?” she asked her son, ruffling his hair.

“Yup! Isn’t that cool?” Chad exclaimed, instead choosing to squeeze between his mom and Kevin. He focused his attention on Kevin, looking for his approval.

Kevin grinned and hi-fived him. “Very cool.”