Page 9 of Echoes of a Muted Song

I heard Robby snort from somewhere off camera and had a good idea of exactly what they’d been so distracted with that they hadn’t bothered to take any selfies. My fingers flew over the screen as I typed my response to them.

“If I find photos splashed all over the internet that someone else took of the three of youpreoccupied,you are not going to like what happens next. I hate issuing takedown notices, you know that.”

“I don’t think anyone noticed who we were,” Keegan said.

“You don’t think. I know you don’t think. You never think. Then I find a picture of your naked ass somewhere with that very distinct tattoo of yours and I’m back to issuing takedown notices again. For fuck’s sake, my guy, damn. That’s it, that’s the final straw. I’m getting Damage Control back under contract and they will meet up with you guys wherever the fuck you are going next.”

Of course I had a moment of pause to appreciate the irony of warning them against making a spectacle of themselves when me and my loud ass device had managed to draw a small crowd. Cell phones were out, mostly pointed at Marilyn but one or two kept swinging our way, like they were just waiting to see if something newsworthy played out.

I should have just taken the damned picture and kept my mouth shut.

Johnny knew it, too, the rat bastard, becausehe cocked an eyebrow at me and waved his phone in my direction.

“Fine!” I snarled, throwing up my hands as I stomped back beneath the statue.

I knew he hadn’t heard what I’d said, but I couldn’t type a middle finger, which was what Iwantedto give him. The only thing that kept me from doing it was the crowd and my refusal to offend anyone.

At least he’d have to get off the phone to take the picture.

“Yeah, yeah, he’s under the skirt now. I’ll send it to you to post in a minute,” Johnny said as he ended the call, then snapped off a few shots of me scowling up Marilyn’s dress while I plotted my vengeance.

“That last shot was perfect,” he said as he shoved his phone in his backpack. “You could use it on promotion materials or even the inside of the case.”

There he went again, forgetting that I wasn’t going to be on the inside of any more CD covers. I was just the band’s manager now, not its lead singer, a fact Johnny should know since he’d sent his best friend to us to fill my slot. Instead of reminding him of that, I just took his hand and kept hold of it the rest of the way to Club Sensation, otherwise known as Club Sin, where I couldn’t wait to get a look at the outfit Johnny had on underneath his purple trench coat. As warm as it was, I hadn’t understood why thefucker had insisted on bringing it along in the first place, instead of leaving it with the rest of his stage gear. Now I knew exactly why he’d carefully wrapped it up and tucked it into the bottom of his bag. Was a good thing the rest of his wardrobe, or so I’d thought, had been comprised of shorts and tank tops. What the hell did he have on under that thing?

Whatever it was, I was betting it matched the high-heeled leather boots he’d bought right after we’d eaten breakfast at the most amazing little French café. Open air, twisting vines woven through iron overhead, forming a living canopy, complete with birds that nested there and shared their beautiful songs with diners. Was just too bad that my first time feeding him had to be in public, because I’d been in a bit of an excited state by the end of our meal. Between his hooded gaze every time he wrapped his lips around my fingers, to the feel of his tongue lapping the maple syrup from my skin, he’d had me fantasizing about taking him right there over that table.

Fuck.

And now I was hard again.

And there was a line stretching half a block past the awning of the club.

I thought at first Johnny didn’t notice it, only he just smirked when I stopped short and inclined my head in the direction of the disgruntled people who were glaring at us asJohnny led me up to the door. A wall of tatted up muscle stood behind a petite man with a wicked blue mohawk, who grinned at Johnny and rushed to hug him. Between the squealing and the jumping around, it was easier to just step up beside the muscle, who had at least three inches on me, and stunning green eyes. The woman was a knockout and damn, another time, another me and I’d have loved to get her number.

“Sky!” Johnny declared, hugging her like they were long lost friends. “Are you still keeping this little menace out of trouble?”

“When he remembers to listen,” she replied. “So don’t you go getting him into any tonight or you’ll have me to answer to.”

“I’ll be on my best behavior,” he said as he stepped back from her embrace to draw an X over his heart with his finger.

“Where have I heard that before?” she replied, messing up his hair.

“Boston, Newport, Providence, Fairhaven, Burlington, New Bedford, Worchester, New Haven…” Johnny rattled over.

“Okay, okay, forget I asked, ya shit,” she said, giving him a nudge that almost knocked him over.

“You need to make this one eat more,” she said, acknowledging me for the first time. “He’s still as skinny as he was the last time I saw him.”

“Sky, this is my boyfriend…” Johnny began, only to have the little guy cut him off.

“Oh, we know who Draven is, don’t we, Sky?” he said. “We just didn’t believe you were telling the truth when you said he’d finally stopped threatening to put you over his knee if you kept hitting on him.”

“That’s ‘cause he finally figured out that I considered it foreplay.”

Well, clearly they knew who I was, but I still had no idea who the blue-haired man was, or how either of them knew Johnny.

Some rumbling started up from the line behind us, I guess because it had stopped moving, only the little man lowered his shades and shot them such a look that I felt my balls shrivel when I saw it. They fell silent while he turned his attention back to Johnny.

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