Chapter Two

The show had been amazing.

Absolutely freaking amazing.

But as my sister and I shuffled along with the rest of the backstage pass holders—pretty much all women—my anxiety spiked.

Keagan skipped beside me, clapping her hands in front of her. “This is going to be so epic. I can’t wait to meet all the band members,” she prattled on, as we were stopped just outside yet another barricade. This one kept us on one side of a long hallway. People I assumed helped with the show marched back and forth in the open area across from us, all scuttling in and out of a bunch of doors I assumed were dressing rooms. I really had no clue, considering I’d never experienced anything like this in my life.

“I’m telling you right now, sissy. I’m not leaving until I bang at least one hot rocker.”

“Ugh! Gross,” I groaned.

“OMG! Did you see the lead singer of Usual Suspects? He was totally checking me out during their entire show,” I heard a female voice say behind me.

I turned my head and saw that the woman talking was the very one who’d tried to meld my sister into the metal guardrail during the concert. The same one I’d given the stink eye to in order to get her to back off.

“Dude! He wasn’t checking you out,” Keagan scoffed. “He was checking out my sister. You weren’t even on his radar.”

“Keag—shut up,” I grunted under my breath.

“What?” my sister shrugged carelessly. “It’s a fact.”

“Please, just… don’t start anything, okay? I’d rather not have to get into a fist fight to protect your honor.”

She snorted. “Not like it would do my honor any good. You fight like a girl.”

My jaw dropped, and I was just about to tell her off when the women around us started squealing.

“Jesus,” I mumbled, looking around me. “They’re like a bunch of rabid do—”

I nearly choked on my words as the men causing the ruckus came into view. Keagan emitted a high-pitched squee near a frequency only dogs should hear, causing my ears to ring. “That’s Garrett Wilder! He used to be on my list. But then he went and got married to his baby mama, ruining the illusion for me.”

“You’re list?” I questioned.

“You know, the list of famous people you’d get to have sex with whether you’re single or not? It’s like a hall pass, but for celebrities.”

My brow furrowed and my top lip curled. “How are we even related?”

“Guess you’re just lucky like that,” she teased. “Make cracks all you want, but every single man on that list just so happens to be under the same roof tonight, so there’s no way you can get me down!”

The rest of Civil Corruption passed us by, most of them stopped to sign whatever was thrust in front of them. Scarily enough, there were an obscene number of breasts offered up for a signature. One woman even threw herself at the dark-haired lead singer and unceremoniously shoved her tongue down his throat.

A beautiful redheaded woman standing behind the guys rolled her eyes, a look of disgust on her face as she watched the scene unfold before turning and stomping away.

“Hey there, Green Eyes.”

I’d been so caught up in the drama unfolding in front of me the voice gave me a start, causing me to jump as I spun around. For the second time that night, I went breathless, all because of a set of startling bright blue eyes.

“Uh…”

“Oh. My. God!” The aggressive, delusional chick screeched from behind me. “It’s Maddox Sheppard!”

The women rushed so hard I grunted in pain when the steel from the barricade dug into my stomach as I was slammed into it. “Ouch!”

Security ran over to try and get control of the crazy bitches, but it wasn’t helping much. I was about to grab Keagan’s hand so we could make a run for it, but before I could take a step two arms banded around my waist and hauled me over the guardrail.

“Wha-what are you doing?” I stammered, as he placed me back on my feet. “Yo, Bass! I got mine. Rest of you get yours and we’ll start the afterparty, yeah?”

A peek over my shoulder showed that the “Bass” in question was Usual Suspects’ lead guitarist, Sebastian Miller. I only knew this because Keagan spent most of the show detailing all the members of each bands’ lives for me.

“Fuck yeah!” the guy called back before turning to the mass of screaming women, examining each like they were specimens under a microscope.

“Wait…” I pulled against Maddox’s grip on my hand as he tried tugging me away from the crowd and pointed at Keagan. “Stop. I can’t leave my sister.”

“Bass, dude!” Maddox shouted. “Grab that one.”

I turned just in time to see Sebastian give Keagan a seductive smirk. Then he grabbed her and lifted her over the barrier, making her squeak in delight. He shifted and tossed her on his back, piggyback style, like she was a rag doll, and started past us.

“Thanks, sissy!” Keagan called, waving at me. “Cut loose for once! If you’re not sure, just ask yourself, What would Keagan do?” she yelled as they disappeared behind one of those closed doors.

“I’m Maddox Sheppard,” the incredibly hot stranger next to me spoke, drawing my gaze back to him.

I was in too much of a daze for my brain to function properly. “Huh?”

He smiled and my knees began to shake. Good lord, he was sexy. “My name, gorgeous. That’s my name. And yours is?”

“Oh, uh…” I cleared my throat nervously. “Re-Reagan. I’m Reagan.”

“Beautiful name for a beautiful girl. It’s nice to meet you, Reagan.” He began tugging on my hand again, but the spike in my anxiety kept my feet rooted in place. “What the hell is going on?”

Maddox Sheppard leaned in and whispered in my ear like it was his right to invade my personal space, or something. “The real fun’s about to begin, Green Eyes.”

Talk about being out of my comfort zone. I didn’t belong here. I belonged at home, curled up in my comfy bed with one of my many romance novels, reading about stuff like this.

“I don’t think—”

He placed his finger over my lips, effectively stopping me. “No thinking aloud. This is a think-free zone. All you’re aloud to do here is live.”

I looked to where my sister had just been and admitted something I was embarrassed to say out loud. “I’ve never been very good at that whole living thing.”

Maddox’s smile was downright wicked, and for probably the millionth time, I found myself wondering if this whole thing was real, or if I was trapped in some parallel dimension where the Reagan of that world was actually fun.

“Well, lucky for you, I’m an excellent teacher.”

Girls yelled for his attention. When Maddox didn’t turn to grace them with his rock star smile, they turned their attention on me, screaming that I wasn’t good enough, that I was ugly. One woman even shouted how she’d go down on him if he’d trade me for her… like I was a cow at auction or something.

We went through the same door Sebastian had carried my sister through, and I discovered I’d been wrong. They weren’t dressing rooms. Well, unless the standard backstage dressing rooms was three times bigger than my bedroom at my dad’s house, with plush furniture, a fully-stocked bar, and more people that lived in my entire subdivision crammed into it.

Stepping through that door was like stepping into a totally different world. It was like Hedonism on crack. The rest of the band members had filtered into the room behind us with their nightly picks in tow. Not only that, but dozens of other men and women I’d never laid eyes on seemed to fill every square inch.

The party happening around me was the very definition of sex, drugs, and rock and roll. All three of those seemed to be happening at once.

The sight of people making out and women grinding on each other as they danced on every available surface made me uncomfortable enough, but when I saw what looked like a foursome happening in a back corner I knew I had to get out of there.

“I’m sorry.” I jerked on my hand. “I can’t do this.”

I turned to bolt out of the room when a familiar voice screamed my name. “Reagan!” I spun around at the sound of my sister’s voice. “Sissy, ohmygod! Isn’t this crazy?” She had that right. “This is incredible!” She lifted the tequila bottle in her hand skyward and let out a loud whoop. “This is the best night of my life!”

I disengaged from Maddox’s hold and moved in her direction. “Keagan, come on. It’s time to go.”

“Whoa there, sugar tits, she’s not going anywhere. She’s having fun,” Sebastian stated, before hooking an arm around my sister’s shoulders and pulling her against him as he asked her, “Aren’t you, sweets?”

Keagan gave him a look that promised things to come that I didn’t want to know anything about. “Gimme a sec, handsome. I’ll be right back.” Her fingers on my arm clenched to the point of pain as she dragged me away, somehow managing to find the only solitary spot in the room. “What the hell are you doing?” she hissed.

“Ow.” I winced and tugged at my arm. “Babe, you’re about to draw blood.”

Her nails disengaged and she dropped her hand.

“Thank you.” I frowned and rubbed my poor, abused skin. “Can we go now, please?”

“Are you crazy? No! We’re not leaving. Reag, we’re partying with famous rock stars! Do you know how often that happens in a girl’s life? Like, never! This is a once in a lifetime moment, here. I’m not letting you walk out of here without at least shoving your tongue down that sexy, muscled, tattooed singer, got it?” she snapped.

My skin got tight and itchy. The already cramped room grew even smaller. “I can’t do that,” I whisper-yelled. “You know that’s not me.”

“You’re right, it’s not.” She rubbed my arms in a soothing manner. “Because you’ve spent your whole life taking care of everyone else, you don’t do anything for yourself.” She wasn’t giving in, not this time. I could see it in her eyes. It was one of the many pains of having a twin, being able to read everything from facial expressions to body language to minds. “I can see it written all over you, sissy. You don’t want to leave! You want to do something totally out of character. And I refuse to let you leave until you do!”

I rolled my eyes, a total act to cover up the fact that she was spot on. For the first time in my life, I didn’t want to do the smart thing. I didn’t want to be the sister who kept everyone else in line. I wanted to live.

The only problem was, I didn’t know how to go about doing that.