Absolutely Unforgivable(60)

As long as I was inside the house Vin didn’t follow me around or bother me much, but the second I get near a door he was all over me. I wasn’t happy about having him follow me around like a child. But I also knew the boys were only worried about my well-being so I tried to get used to him.

Wanting to give them privacy to discuss important things about the band, I decided to go upstairs and put on my swimsuit and lie outside by the pool. It was truly relaxing to be in the warmth of the Houston sun and it was quickly becoming one of my favorite pastimes.

It wasn’t long before I popped my head up from the lawn chair. I thought I heard a noise from off in the big flowery bushes to the side of the house. I was right. It was someone I didn’t recognize coming towards me. He was an older man with a deformed and pitted face with wild eyes and a wiry figure. I screamed in horror as my eyes locked on the strange man coming my way. He had his right hand buried in the pocket of a dirty brown overcoat and he started to make his way toward me. His walk was slow and strained, like he might be limping just a bit.

I started to ask, “Who are you?” But before I could even get out the first word, Vin was there and with a single hand, picked me up and threw me inside, shutting the door behind him with the other.

Before the door closed all of the way Vin shouted to Billy, “Don’t let her out of your sight.”

Trista was in the background dialing 911 while Billy pulled me into the kitchen and held me tight. I was scared and confused and panicked. My heart pounded as if it was going to leap out of my chest and my mind raced. “Who was that, Billy?”

He simply said, “I don’t know,” and pulled me closer into him, holding me tightly. My body trembled in fear but hearing Billy’s steady heartbeat helped me relax.

I was still scared, petrified in fact, but seeing the anguish on Billy’s face made my heart hurt and I didn’t want him to worry about me so much. I think I used my concern for Billy to help me block out my own fears. I was okay, after all, well technically. I was alive. The crazy man didn’t get anywhere near me. The whole situation could have been much worse.

So I took a deep breath, and then pushed Billy back into his chair. I plopped down on his lap and said, “So I guess that means you aren’t going to let me play with you on stage anymore.”

I wasn’t really okay. I wasn’t really that carefree, not even close. I just wanted to push all of this fear and anxiety in the room aside.

Billy sat there, with an angry look across his face. His big sexy eyes suddenly turned hard and lifeless. Trista did speak up, however. “Just tell her, Billy. She’s going to eventually find out.”

“Tell me what? Find out what?” I glared at Billy, then at Trista and then back to Billy. “Tell me!” I demanded.

He sighed and then sat all the way up in the chair, holding the back of my thighs to keep me in place on his lap. “Your superstar video has kinda gone viral.”

“What do you mean?” My eyes made their way to Trista, who was now leaning over the center island, and she filled in the blanks.

“It means that video of you shaking your cute little behind has had over one million views on YouTube. Your Twitter account has over 180,000 followers now and Brick has been tweeting your fans updates about your condition since the accident. We run your Twitter feed through the band’s website and it’s gotten so much activity we had to upgrade the servers.”

She looked over at Billy holding me in his arms. “Everyone seems to want to know the latest on Billy and Stacy.”

I tilted my head, giving her a look of confusion. “Do they not know that it’s Jeromy and Stacy? How did they get the idea Billy and I were an item?”

She shrugged and continued. “I know it’s crazy. But the fans want what the fans want. Did you not notice at the gig last night that everyone kept wanting to take your picture?”

“Yeah. I thought that was kind of weird but I just wrote it off as a side effect of sitting with the band. Fans have always thrown themselves at Billy and I just figured since I was sitting near him, well ... I don’t know.”

Trista let out a laugh and Billy glared back at her, not happy at all. “Fans want Billy and Stacy and as a result requests for bookings have been pouring in. It’s so insane, I can barely keep up.”

I looked back at Billy and smiled. “That’s great! I’m so happy for you, Billy.” I leaned in to hug him. In my excitement I almost forgot about what was going on in the backyard.