As Dust Dances (Play On 2)

Unfortunately, the incident existed for Micah.

He’d gone quiet when we were out doing tourist stuff and I was grateful for the sullen response, and for the fans who stopped us on the street for photos and autographs, making it even harder for him to say anything to me about it.

But then I got back to my hotel room and hadn’t even been in there five minutes when I heard the knock on the door. It was Micah. And he was pissed.

I could still hear him shouting at me, tears in his eyes. “Jay Preston! Jay fucking Preston?”

It was so unfair. He did this every time. He could go off with groupies and I didn’t say a word, I suffered in silence, but God forbid I let another man touch me.

Micah was born in the wrong goddamned century.

“I hate you!” he raged, shaking his hands like he wanted to wrap them around my throat. “I hate that you do this to me!”

“Me to you? What about your groupies, Micah?” I’d said, trying to stay calm. I never wanted to be that rock star who screamed like a banshee in her hotel room and caused scenes. “You whore yourself out all the time. I don’t. That doesn’t mean I don’t need someone sometimes.”

“I’m right here.” He pounded his chest breathlessly. “Take me. I’m all yours.”

“Until you decide I’ve hurt your feelings and you go stick it in someone else to spite me.”

His face mottled with frustration. “How many times do I have to explain? If I’d known you were coming to work things out, I never would have been with her. I can’t even remember her fucking—”

The door to my hotel room blew open, cutting him off. Gayle waved a keycard as she glared at Micah. Austin and Brandon were right behind her. “The entire hotel can hear you.”

“Come on.” Austin grabbed Micah’s arm.

“We’re talking.” Micah shook him off.

“I swear to God, man, you better let him walk you out of here because if you don’t, I’m going to fucking beat that pretty face to a pulp,” Brandon warned.

Micah lifted his chin defiantly. “Try it.”

“You think I won’t.” Brandon strode over to him. Our drummer was a big guy and although they’d never gotten into a serious physical fight before, he’d easily subdued Micah on the rare occasion our guitarist got a little aggressive when drunk. Brandon cut me a worried look before turning back to Micah. The anger slammed back down over his expression. “I hear you come at her like that again and I will fucking end you. You hear me?”

Micah’s head whipped back like Brandon had actually hit him. “I would never hurt her.”

Brandon snorted. “You do it all the time. And if you’re not careful, it’s going to rip this band apart. Now get out of Skylar’s room before I physically remove you from it. And I swear to God, man, stay out of her business. She gets enough shit from the press and the fans. She doesn’t need your immature ass in her face about it too.”

“You need to stay out of this,” Micah warned.

“Enough.” Gayle sighed, crossing her arms over her chest. “Is this what it’s like when I’m not here?”

Austin shook his head. “No, we’re fine. It’s just been one of those days.”

“Well, I’m officially worried.”

“Don’t be.” Micah shrugged off Austin’s grip. “We’re fine.” He stormed out of my room without looking back at me.

Brandon rubbed my shoulder affectionately. “You okay?”

I was shaken but what was new? “I’ll be fine.”

But I wasn’t. These days I never was. And now I had to finish our set, like always, with the love song that I’d written about Micah. A love song he knew I’d written about him.

It was also the only song the band didn’t play with me. I did it solo.

I took a shaky breath, exhaled, and strummed the opening chords.

“Under my bed there’s a box

Filled with these things

My heart has saved.

A photograph of a young man,

Wearing green and a face of the brave.

“And beneath that there’s

A case my mother bought

That she couldn’t afford.

Inside, a CD of a song

That made me realize what I was meant for.

“Somehow one day, one rainy day,

This boy found himself in that box.

Somehow one day, one rainy day,

He smiled his way into my thoughts.

“I think of those moments I’ve kept

Hidden and safe

Beneath my old bed.

And wonder if you ever knew

They say all the things

My mouth never said.

“Somehow one day, one rainy day,

I fell for a smile I can’t have.

And yesterday, yesterday we found,

We found ourselves on different paths.

“Under my bed there’s a box

Filled with these things

My heart has saved.

And even though we said goodbye

I can’t help but keep hold to my faith.

“That out there on some rainy day,

In some other time,

On some other plane.

Our love is waiting for us,

To give us a chance without all this pain.

“Somehow one day, one rainy day,

A girl and a boy will collide.

But this time, this time they’ll stay

Tied as they brave the landslide.”

There was an unexpected hush as the last chord sang from my guitar, but then I felt him.

I turned my head from the mic, confusion furrowing my brow at the sight of Micah standing guitarless by the stool. This wasn’t part of our show.

I opened my mouth to say his name but it turned into a gasp as he clasped my face in his hands and bent down to crush his mouth over mine.

The arena filled with the deafening boom of screams and catcalls as he kissed me with passion. But I knew those kisses. I’d tasted them before. They were Micah’s angry kisses.

And all I could think, all I could fear, was how this was going to be all over entertainment news tomorrow. I couldn’t push him off or get mad at him in front of the fans because it would only make things worse.

Instead I let him kiss me. When he finally let me up for air, he didn’t let go of my face. He had this smug, triumphant gleam in his eyes that fought with the anger. “Thanks for the reminder.”

I put my hand over the mic so the crowd couldn’t hear. “What reminder?”

“That no matter how many morons you fuck, you’ll always be mine.” He kissed my forehead, setting the crowd off even harder, and I swear it took everything in me not to throw my beloved Taylor at his back as he walked offstage.

I fought for composure, turning to the crowd with a shaky smile. Sliding the mic into the stand, I slipped off the stool. “That’s all from us tonight, Glasgow. We’ll see you soon!”

The yells that accompanied us offstage were different. They were even more explosive, fueled by Micah’s little performance. I met Brandon’s gaze as we walked offstage and he appeared ready to murder Micah.

“You okay?”

I shook my head. “Let me deal with it.”

“What the hell was that?” Gayle cried as we gathered in the wings, the thrum of the crowd growing more frenzied. “Is this something that’s been added to the show that I didn’t know about?”

I bet our manager was glad she’d decided to join us for the last leg of our European tour. She was going to be even happier when she heard what I had to say.

I glowered at Micah who stared back at me defiantly. “What the fuck was that?”

He shrugged. “Giving them a show.”

“Do you realize that you’ve stirred all that tabloid shit up even worse?” I yelled to be heard. “Do you even care?”

“Look, we need to get back out there,” Austin interrupted.

“Yeah, we do. And now thanks to this idiot, I have to go out there and pretend that I don’t want to rip his face off!”

“Oh, come on, Skylar, it was just a kiss!” he yelled.

Brandon moved toward him but I clamped my hand on his arm to stop him. I stepped forward with deathly seriousness. “I am not yours. I don’t belong to you.”