Effortless (Thoughtless, #2)(2)

Kellan walked up to his microphone slowly. Or maybe it was a regular pace and my mind was just on the slow-motion button. Whatever the reason, it seemed to take him forever to get to where he was headed. He had one hand up, waving to the mass of people clamoring for him and he ran the other back through his thick, bed-head hair. The heat and 5



sweat made the sandy-brown mess stick out even more crazily and he looked just completely edible.

I bit my lip as he finished his saunter to his mic stand. He scanned the crowd as he adjusted the height on it. I knew from experience just what the front row was feeling as those midnight-blue bedroom eyes washed over them. He had a way of looking at you that made you feel like no one else existed in the world, even if a crowd was around you. Add that to the sexy half-smile on his face, and you got a man who could ignite you with just a glance. He was igniting me now, and he hadn’t even spotted me yet.

As his face turned away, hopefully looking for me out in these masses, I studied his jaw line—strong, masculine, so freakin’ sexy it hurt. The girls behind me seemed to think so, too. From amongst the screaming, I clearly heard, “That is going home with me tonight,” and, “God, that man is completely f*ckable.” I resisted the urge to turn and tell them that he was taken, keeping my gaze focused on him instead. I shouldn’t be jealous or irritated by fans, but their comments were a little less cute than the fourteen-year-old’s.

As Kellan’s eyes finished with one half of the crowd, they swung over my way. Like magic, he spotted Jenny and me instantly. She waved then whistled with her fingers in her mouth. I flushed and smiled as those amazingly intense eyes locked onto mine. He nodded at me and mouthed, “I love you.”

The stupid girls behind me started moaning that he’d said it to them. I again ignored the desire to acknowledge that I knew him and to tell them that he was mine. It wouldn’t change their feelings towards him one tiny little bit and I’d only end up opening myself to endless questions about our personal life. Questions I did not want to talk about with complete and total strangers. I’d gotten enough of that at school before Kellan and I had even gotten together.

Instead, I discreetly mouthed that I love him too and gave him a couple of thumbs up. He laughed at my move and shook his head, clearly confident that he’d completely kick ass on stage. And he would.

If anything, Kellan had been preparing himself for a moment like this for years now, playing small bars and clubs down in L.A. and then up here, 6



after his parents had died. He’d sort of been preparing for this his whole life.

Slinging a guitar over his shoulder, he wrapped his hand around the microphone. The screams intensified again when it became obvious that he was going to speak. Over the sound system, I heard his warm laugh, then, “Hello, Seattle!” The girls around me jumped and screamed his name. I laughed and tried to move away from some of the more revved up girls, although, with nowhere to go, I only ended up bumping into a couple of guys in front of me.

Muttering apologies when they glared back at me, Kellan’s voice hit me again. “We’re the D-Bags…in case you didn’t know…” another long screaming session, “…and we’ve got something for you…if you want it.” He raised an eyebrow after he said that, eyeing some of the women up front a little too suggestively for my taste. But, I knew it was an act.

While his face clearly said, screw me later, that wasn’t what was in his heart. I was in his heart. Heck, I was tattooed over his heart. I smiled, knowing that not one single woman here was aware of that fact. Well, besides Jenny, anyway.

He held up a finger to quiet the crowd. They surprisingly did back off, a little bit. “Do you want it?” he asked suggestively. The crowd loudly indicated that they did. Jenny was hollering her answer through her hands, so I joined in.

I noticed Matt shaking his head, smiling as he flexed his hand. Evan was now sitting in front of his drums, moving his body to an unheard beat and spinning a stick in his hands. As Kellan eyed the crowd, I watched Griffin try to get a couple of girls to lift their shirts. I didn’t keep looking to see if they did.

Kellan brought his hand up to his ear. “Well, if you want it, I’m gonna have to hear you ask for it.” There was hooting and hollering and more obscene suggestions tossed out from behind me, but I didn’t care. I no longer cared about any of them, because Kellan brought his eyes back to mine and the pure joy I saw on his face was enough to make all of the forward women, all of the grabby men, and all of the sweaty strangers, completely worth it.

7



It was like watching his soul come alive as he smiled down at me. He loved this. Aside from me, it was the one thing that Kellan really lived for. True, he tried to act like it didn’t matter, like he just did it because it was something to do at night, but over time I’d come to see that that was just his way of coping. I think a part of Kellan was afraid that this would get snatched away from him. He hadn’t grown up under the best of circumstances. Quite the opposite. He’d had the horror story childhood that would have had most people running straight for booze and drugs.

But Kellan had found music, and music, along with a seriously healthy sexual appetite, had saved him from a life of mind-numbing addictions.

Kellan flicked his wrist behind him, and Evan, waiting for his cue, immediately began to play.

The song was fast, catchy, and even though I’d heard it a bazillion times, I started jumping up and down with the excitement of it. There was just something about the crushing, noisy bodies rubbing against me, the deafening vibrations of the severely amped-up music, and the hot sun beating away on all of us, that sent electricity through the crowd. It gave me a rush. I could only imagine what Kellan was feeling.