Chapter Two
Rich
“How was that then, you D-bags?” My voice boomed from my chest, causing everyone in the room to turn and look at me. I threw my hands above my head and smirked. I was used to all eyes on me. In fact, these days it was weird if they weren’t. “Did we fucking rock the joint or what?”
“For God’s sake, Rich, do you have to be so damn noisy?”
I turned to glare at Liam, wondering who he’d become. He used to be my wingman, the guy with whom I did everything. I used to throw all the chicks his way, and he’d help me to scout out the hottest dudes. It was epic. We were an unstoppable team. But that had all changed in the last eighteen months, and sometimes it felt like he’d done it with the sole purpose of pissing me off. Ever since he’d found Amy he was practically married and boring as all hell. I despised it. My life was a dream. I had everything I could ever want, but these days he was a downer that I truly did not need.
Now, he did the gigs, then wanted peace and quiet backstage… what sort of bore wanted that? The backstage part was the best bit about this lifestyle. We got stuck in these tiny, crappy ass rooms while we waited for the crowd to filter out, to prevent us getting mobbed, and that was where the real fun began.
“Ugh, what an ass!” I cried out, causing a round of laughter from the other band members, Nick and Michael, the staff that accompanied us on tour, and the odd cling-ons who had made it backstage. The girls who flashed their tits to security, that sort of thing. “Well, out of the rest of you… the ones that are fun, who wants a drink?”
Again, the cheering, damn, I loved the cheering. It made me feel like a god. It proved to me that I’d made it, that I wasn’t just a big fish in a small pond anymore, that I owned the whole goddamn world.
This was what it was all about.
“Uhm, Rich?” mousy Jenny, the group’s manager tapped me on the shoulder, just as I was sloshing vodka into the nearest plastic cup. I turned to stare at her, continuing to pour even as I felt it trickling all over my fingers. “I have… what you requested.” She was practically whispering now, her face flushing bright red. Humiliation might as well have been written right across her forehead.
It was funny – when Morton first started, I used to find her incredibly stark and intimidating. Now, she feared me.
“Oh, you mean my latest boy toy?” I had no intention of keeping my voice down. I wasn’t ashamed. I could have anyone I wanted. The whole fucking world fell at my feet. It was awesome. “Bring him in.”
I could feel all the eyes in the room prickling over the back of my neck. They were all waiting in anticipation, desperate to see which lucky bastard I’d picked from the crowd tonight. I had a good feeling about this one, he was hot as hell and he gave me that awesome tingling in my pants just from looking at him. He was going to be fun, I was sure of it.
I stared at the door, waiting for it to swing open, and just when it did I turned coolly back and continued pouring the drinks. I wasn’t bothered, and I didn’t want to look it. I was Rich freaking Gold. I was the one who turned knees to jelly, and the way I did that was tried and tested. There was no point in changing the game plan now.
“Ooh, hello!” Sally, one of the women who shoved our shit around from place to place, squealed. I could already tell that she was drunk from the lisp she’d developed which was perfect. She’d welcome my hottie, make him feel at home, then I could sweep in and steal him. “And what’s your name?”
“Drinks, guys!”
I didn’t want to learn his name, not really. It would probably crop up eventually, it usually did, but I wasn’t bothered to know. Learning names meant connecting emotionally. It was only the physical connection that concerned me.
Everyone circled around me, grabbing at the cups… well, all except for boring Liam, Sally, and the newbie. He remained fixed by the wall, picking at odd scraps of wallpaper, while she barraged him with questions. As if he could sense me looking at him, his eyes were drawn right back to mine, and we had that intense connection again.
He was hot… seriously fit. Tonight, I was about to be lucky, and so was this guy. His orange-tinged hair was cropped and cool, his piercing blue eyes drew me in—that was the first thing I’d noticed about him—his body looked like it was going to be good under that clothing. I couldn’t wait to find out more at any rate.
‘Hi,’ I mouthed, a playful smirk playing on my lips, the game plan long forgotten.
‘Hello,’ he mouthed back. His face turned a funny shade of purplish red, which made me laugh so loudly my head fell back in mirth. God, when I thought back on all those years I thought the attention I got in my small hometown was awesome, what a crock. This was on another level.
Then I turned away and continued to purposely ignore him. The best thing for me to do now was shower my undivided, warm as shit attention on everyone else in the room. That was how I could tell if he could hack it or not. If he ran out after only a few minutes, crazed fan who wanted me to love him, and I did not want to make that mistake again. But if he stayed, he would be one of those magical people who was up for one night of fun, just because it was with me and he’d be satisfied with that.
When Morton first began, , but now I knew better. Now I was smarter. I had to be careful.
“So, my little sweetheart,” I grinned brightly at the red-haired chick tucked into my armpit. “Why don’t you tell me what it is you do for fun…?”
I tried, but I couldn’t keep my eyes off him. There was a magnet between us, one that was delicious and irresistible, so in the end, I gave up fighting it.
“All right?” I swaggered over to him and pinched his hip lightly. He flinched at the physical contact, but not in a hateful way. “How’s it going then?”
“Uhm, yes, I… I…” Aw cute, I made him nervous. “Thank you for…”
“Inviting you backstage? Yeah, well I saw you out in the crowd and since you’re without a doubt the fittest guy I’ve seen in a while, I knew that I needed to get to know you better.” Flattery would get me everywhere. Only this was the first time there was an actual punch behind my words. Maybe this time I meant some of it. “So, have you got a drink?”
“I’ve had one, but that’s plenty, thank you.”
Interesting, he preferred to stay in control, just like me. Maybe I’d met my match here.
“Okay cool, so do you come here often?” I laughed loudly at my own joke as I rested my body up against the ice-cold wall. “I mean, for gigs and stuff.”
“Not really.” Oh, my goodness, he was adorable! All shy and sweet, like no one I’d ever met before. He seemed to fully consider every single word he said. It was written across his face. “I wasn’t even sure I was going to come tonight.”
“Why not?”
He cocked his head and gave me an odd look, almost as if he couldn’t believe I was taking so much interest in him. “Oh well, you know, work and stuff. It’s a bit rubbish right now.”
“Yeah?”
Weirdly, I found the concept of a real life, office-type jobs, fascinating. It was so unlike my life, and while I wouldn’t trade it for anything in the world, every now and again I enjoyed the window into the existence of others. Admittedly, a lot of it was to remind me of just how shit-hot I had it. Except maybe the whole never staying in one place for longer than five minutes thing.
“Yeah, my boss is an idiot, and my colleagues are a nightmare.”
I was making him uncomfortable now, bringing his reality into what was so clearly his fantasy. It was time to cut the bullshit, to get down to business.
“Right, well I don’t think this party is going to go on much longer so… do you want to get out of here?”
I thumbed toward the door and waited for him to answer. He bit down coyly on his lip while his brain flicked from decision to decision.
“W… where are you staying?” he went for the diversion tactic, typical.
“The Keyper, around the corner.” The hottest, most luxurious place in the city. Why would it be anywhere else? “So, you coming, or what?” Oh, fuck it, I was going to have to ask, just this once. “By the way, what’s your name?” My eyes fixed on my fingernails, an intensely bored, flat expression fell onto my face, but inside, I couldn’t ignore my pounding heart.
There was something different about this one, and I couldn’t help wondering what it was.
“Yeah, okay then, yes. And it’s Nathan, by the way.”
As I slung my arm over his shoulder, and I led him out of the room amid wolf whistles and jeers, I felt intensely pleased with myself. I could even manage to pull a crazy shy person out of their shell. It was like I had a gift or something. It was like I was a magician.
Well, another gift.
But yeah, there was something about me, something that got every guy wanting me. I could probably even turn a straight guy if I wanted to… not that I had any interest in that. All I wanted was this hot bod besides me.
And Rich Gold always got the “yes.”