Chapter Twenty-two

Kevin walked down the hallway, hands stuffed in his pockets and his eyes averted to the floor. The image of Megan getting swallowed by the crowd kept replaying in his mind. The fear he’d felt in that split second was like nothing he’d ever experienced before. Although he knew if Dana had been in the same position, he would have been scared, with Megan it was different. Different how, he hadn’t quite figured out yet.

He reached the end of the hallway and stopped. To his left was the way to the stage, to his right was the front entrance of the arena. He turned left and made his way to the main floor.

There was no one around as he ducked under the stage and hit the button to raise the piano platform. As it started to move, he hopped on and sat down at the piano, running a hand over the keys.

And then he started to play. It wasn’t the song he would perform in concert. It wasn’t a piece he knew. His fingers seemed to have a mind of their own as they pressed out a tune. The music relayed his emotions at the moment: jumbled, frightened, uncertain.

After a few minutes of playing, he stopped and was startled to hear clapping coming from the door. He whirled around and saw the rest of the guys, along with Megan and Denise, standing there and applauding.

“That was really pretty, Kev,” Nick complimented. “What was it?”

“Um, nothing, just. . . nothing,” Kevin answered, standing up and hurrying to the edge of the stage. He jumped down and ran a hand absently through his hair. “Megan, are you okay?”

She nodded from where she stood beside AJ, his arm curled protectively around her waist.

“I’m fine. I’ve calmed down, accepted the fact that I’m one big bruise, and I’m ready for some ice cream. How about you?”

Kevin cracked a small smile. “Sounds like a plan.”

Denise told them that the crowd outside had been cleared and they would have extra security to take them back to the hotel. The group started to follow her out, but AJ hung back a little.

“Hey, man,” he said to Kevin. “I never thanked you for saving Megan.”

“It wasn’t a big deal.”

“Yeah, it was. Megan means a lot to me. I only wish I had been the hero, ya know?”

Kevin wasn’t sure how to respond, so he simply nodded his head. AJ did the same and they walked out together to rejoin the others. This time they were all able to make it safely to the van, and Brett drove them to the hotel.

“I am sooo sorry, Megan,” he apologized. “Jack and I feel like complete failures because we didn’t protect you.”

Megan almost burst into giggles at the fear on the huge man’s face. “It’s all right. You’ll just owe me a big ice cream sundae, okay?”

Brett smiled, relieved she wasn’t going to kill him.

Leighanne and Dana were waiting in the lobby when they arrived. Dana hurled herself at her best friend, wrapping her in a bear hug.

“Megan! Omigod, are you all right? Are you hurt? It was all over the news!” she cried.

“The news? I made the news?”

“You sure did, you and Kevin,” Leighanne said. “The whole rescue was caught on tape.”

Megan whistled. “Damn, and me without my vcr.”

“Is anyone else hungry?” Brian asked, rubbing his stomach. “All this excitement has made me hungry.”

“Me too!” Nick said. “I say we eat and take a nap before the show.”

They all agreed that the hotel dining room was their destination. Throughout the entire meal, the topic of conversation was Megan’s dramatic rescue.