“Hey! I told you to get Reid! What the hell are you doing? Jesus! Who even hired you?! You’re not even dressed appropriately!”
Oh…this bit—
“What the fuck is going on out here?” Reid’s door opened suddenly, his naturally tanned face beet red. His entire body was simmering with heat, and his pale lips were drawn tight.
He took one look at me and scrunched his face. “What are you doing here? And you…” he said, looking over at the woman. “Were you just yelling at her?”
Her natural reaction to Reid was to swoon on the spot. She may even take her clothes off. “Oh, yes. I’m so sorry for the commotion, Mr. King. This… thing was supposed to come get you as you’re now three minutes late for the show, but apparently, she can’t follow directions. I’ll have her fired immediately.” Then she turned and gave me a dirty look. My mouth opened, but before I could say anything, Reid went into full-on protective mode.
“Talk to her like that again and you’ll be fired within a second.” The woman’s face turned bright red, and I had to hold back my laugh. “She works for me and only me. Not you, not this arena, not the fucking soundcheck team. For me. So, get off your goddamn high horse and come get me yourself instead of sending someone that literally isn’t even in the same paygrade as you.”
I wanted to applaud as the woman scurried away without even mumbling an “Okay.” I turned to give my gratitude, as I was one million percent surprised that Reid had my back, but then he turned his stormy gaze to mine, that dark unruly hair falling over his forehead.
“Taking orders from others now?” I went to shake my head, but he opened that stupid, talented mouth again. “You can stand up for yourself around me but not to someone like that?” He shook his head. “Pitiful.” Then he walked away and left me standing there in a stupor.
One second, I felt bad for Reid, the next I was in awe of him, then seconds later, I was pissed beyond belief.
I was beginning to learn that being around Reid King was exhausting, and if I thought that working with him for the money to help my family’s debt was going to be a breeze, I was sadly mistaken.
So, so wrong.
After watching his long, lean body and broad shoulders walk down the hallway as cool as an ice cube as I stood back like a moron, I was seconds from going back to the tour bus. The music lover inside of me didn’t even want to hear him sing. God, he was so arrogant and rude. So, incredibly rude. I had the mere thought of dipping out of this entire agreement, but I knew I couldn’t do that, just like I couldn’t stop the way my feet pulled me closer to the stage after hearing the crowd kick up their volume. I couldn’t help the giddiness I felt hearing Reid command an entire arena full of people.
His voice was loud and unbothered by the conversation he’d been having seconds before walking out on me and the lady who I was certain was crying in a corner somewhere.
“Hey, hey, CALI! Sorry I’m a few seconds late. I was making sure I was good to go and didn’t puke on you guys like at my last show.”
Cue laughter from every single person watching Reid up onstage. I rolled my eyes as a woman shouted from down below, “You can puke on me anytime!”
I watched from the side, trying my hardest to blend in like a chameleon as Reid angled his head down toward the woman. “I appreciate that.” Then he winked, and by God, it made even me sweat. I gasped at my own reaction. Don’t you dare fall for his tricks! He just called you pitiful!
I shook out my shoulders and crossed my arms, leaning against a pole, appearing unbothered at the way the spotlights above Reid’s head cast an almost angelic hue around his body. I ignored the way his high cheekbones and angular jaw looked like they were cut from granite, stealing the breath right out of my body. His dark-brown locks were shining and bouncing like he was in a commercial for some high-end shampoo line that I’d never have the pleasure of using. My mouth ran dry as Reid closed his eyes and stood straight as Jackson and Finn started up the hymn for the first set. It felt like Reid was sucking my soul right out of my body as his mouth opened and the first line was sung.
A raspy, soul-crushing, feel-it-all-the-way-to-your-toes sound filtered through his lips, and right then, I was completely swept away. I was mesmerized. Unspoken for. What his voice did to my body was unspeakable. Reid King was just that. A king. He was a king onstage. He commanded everyone’s attention. He sang from deep within, not only feeling his own words as he sung but also commanding everyone else to feel them, too. I felt Reid King in my core, in my entire being.
I couldn’t take my eyes away, and I couldn’t ignore the way his voice, paired with his steely appearance, made me burn all over.
Reid King was a cold man, but he had an unbreakable fire inside of him. He made me burn from the inside out with desire.
A desire to feel like him.
A desire to love like him.
A desire to break like him.
He had the curse that not many people had. He felt all too deeply, and he made others want to feel it, too.
Chapter Seven
Reid
An entire week had passed, and I was still staring at this mother-fucking silver spoon that none other than Brooklyn slammed beside my hand. I couldn’t even look at her without being annoyed at the thought that she gave me fucking homework.
I was refusing to do it, too.
Which was stupid, because that wasn’t going to help anything. Part of me wanted to see what she had inside of her, to see if she could help pull me out of this dark hole of… nothing. But the other part of me wanted to refuse. I wanted to bask in my sorrow. Sometimes, I even felt like quitting. I wanted to go off the radar. To be alone and done with it all. Hell, maybe I’d even become one of those men who lived out in the wilderness with a gnarly beard and hunted for his food with his bare hands.
But then I’d think of Nana.