Reckless (Thoughtless, #3)(85)

Grabbing my hand, Kellan started pulling me through the throngs. I had no idea where he was taking me. Storage closet, maybe? People we passed by murmured that Kellan sure was friendly with his fans, but they said it in an excited way. I even overheard one girl saying, “I hear Sienna’s really cool about his flirting, so maybe we’ll get to cuddle next!”

I almost couldn’t believe how dense some people were, but it really wasn’t their fault. They didn’t know him, they didn’t know me. They only had money-hungry gossip magazines to believe. It really made me wonder what celebrity stories I’d firmly bought into that had actually been complete crap.

Kellan was making a beeline for a hallway. He had to stop and sign something every five steps, but he always resumed his path when he was finished. His determination made me giggle. “Shouldn’t you be helping set up the show, rock star?” There weren’t a lot of roadies on the tour, so all the guys helped out with setup and teardown. Kellan was being a slacker by slipping away with me.

Kellan smirked at me over his shoulder. “When I can concentrate properly, I’ll—”

His comment was cutoff when Justin bumped into him. Eyes glued to his cell phone, Justin had been walking on a perpendicular path to us and hadn’t noticed Kellan in time to avoid him. Justin looked up when he was jostled, and the small smile on his face turned sheepish. “Oh, hey, sorry, wasn’t watching where I was going.” He flashed his phone at us, and I noticed Kate’s picture in the corner. I wasn’t too shocked to see it there; last time I’d spoken with her, she’d told me that Justin texted her every couple of days. She always giggled after she mentioned his name. It made me happy that Justin and Kate were frequently talking; he was a good guy, and she was a sweetheart.

I smiled at him while Kellan said, “No problem, we were just . . . running an errand.”

Justin scrunched his forehead together like he was trying to figure out just what errand we could possibly be running backstage. I had the sudden urge to pinch Kellan again. He was usually much better at making up stories.

Kellan clapped Justin’s shoulder, then started to move around him. Justin let us walk by, then called out, “Hey, I just wanted to let you know, I totally understand, and there’s no hard feelings. We’re cool, dude.”

Kellan stopped in his tracks and looked back at Justin. “What are you talking about?”

Justin took a step toward us. “You leaving the tour. I just wanted you to know that I get it. You guys are bigger than this. Even I’ll admit that.”

Kellan’s jaw dropped. “I’m . . . leaving . . . what? What the hell are you talking about?”

Justin’s expression was a strange combination of horror, shock, and confusion. “You don’t know? I just assumed you knew. Fuck, sorry, man.”

Kellan’s face clouded over. “Know what? What the hell happened since this morning?”

Justin sighed as he ran a hand through his choppy hair. “Ah, crap. Well, it went down while you guys were doing the thing with the radio station. Some, ah, bigwig from the label showed up and started barking orders at people. He said that he’d be sending people over after the show tonight to ‘collect’ your things, and if anybody else touched your stuff, there’d be hell to pay.”

Kellan’s grip on my hand tightened, and I subtly stroked his forearm. “And where exactly are they sending our stuff? Where the f*ck are we going?”

Justin shifted on his feet, clearly uncomfortable with being the bearer of bad news. “Uh, back to L.A. You’re playing Staples Center tomorrow night . . . with Sienna Sexton. The label’s putting you on her tour.”

For just a fraction of a second while Justin had been speaking, I’d thought Kellan had somehow done something really wrong, and he was being tossed off the tour as a punishment. Maybe he’d even be sent home. I wasn’t sure. But after Justin said her name, it all started making sense. Sienna wanted her spotlight amplified, and Kellan was just the extra wattage she needed. “That bitch!” I exclaimed.

Justin looked over at me, then back to Kellan. “I don’t think it was her. It’s just, you know, you guys are huge now. I mean, you could be selling out venues ten times as big as the places we’re going. The label knows that. They’re just doing what makes sense, and they’re right. It really doesn’t make sense for you to be on tour with us. I knew that the minute Sienna showed up for the duet.” He clasped Kellan’s arm. “You’re beyond this, man. We’re holding you back.”

Clearly not agreeing, Kellan shook his head. He tried to say something, but he didn’t have any words. Understanding, Justin smiled, gave him two congratulatory smacks on the back, then walked away. Kellan turned to me. “What the f*ck just happened?” he asked.

Sighing, I told him, “Sienna and Nick. That’s what happened.”

Kellan dug in his pocket for his phone. “I don’t think so.” He scrolled through his contact list until he reached Nick’s number, then he started the call and brought the phone to his ear. While it rang, he murmured, “This is bullshit, and this is not how this is going down.”

Kellan’s eyes hardened and I could tell Nick had picked up. “What did you do?” Fuming, Kellan listened in silence for a moment, then surprise washed over his features. “You’re where?” Kellan looked back at the hallway that we’d been approaching earlier. “Fine, I’ll see you in a minute.” I guess we were going down there after all, just for an entirely different reason now.