Chapter Eight - Devon
Devon was finishing up a sound check on stage before their concert later that night. He’d been struggling all day to keep his mind on his singing rather than on Mindy.
When they got back to the hotel the night before, she’d stormed upstairs. She went into the bedroom and locked the door, without even tossing out his pillow or blanket. As he’d laid on the couch, cool without his blanket and uncomfortable. He’d heard her crying.
He felt like a complete bastard. He’d never meant to make her think there was something wrong with her. He’d been surprised, and he hadn’t communicated very well that he wasn’t a good enough guy to have her first time with. He’d end up breaking her heart much worse if he hadn’t pushed her away.
Finished with the sound check, Devon walked offstage and headed out to the backstage door. Bret caught up with him as he was getting in the car. Great. That was the last thing he needed. “Share a ride, man?”
“Sure,” Devon said. He didn’t know what to say to Bret at this point. He’d tried to seduce his sister, and if Bret knew that, he’d beat the hell out of him. It wouldn’t be pretty, for either of them. Especially if Bret knew his sister was still so innocent.
“So how’s it going with Mindy? She sounded pretty upbeat when I called the room this morning.” Bret looked out the window as they passed some early fans gathering outside the arena for tonight’s concert.
“Did she?” That was news to him. He hadn’t seen or heard from her since they arrived back at their hotel last night. Except for the crying. That he couldn’t get out of his mind.
“Yeah, the image consultant you hired was coming by to show her some clothes. I guess Chet set it up for her.” Chet took care of all the little details they didn’t want to bother with anymore. This was a little detail Devon had completely forgotten about.
Mindy was right. All he cared about was himself and his record label. Sure, he didn’t want to lose the record contract for the guys, either, but mostly? He just cared about himself.
His dad had been right when he said Devon was a screw up because, damn, had he made a huge mistake in trying to seduce Mindy last night.
“Hey, man. Where’s your head at? You haven’t said more than two words all day,” Bret said.
“Sorry.” Devon scrubbed his face with a hand. “I’m getting road-tired, I guess. And I’m not getting enough sleep on that couch.”
“Hey, you stay on that couch or I’ll kill you.” Bret punched him in the arm playfully.
If he had any idea how close Devon had come to taking his sister’s virginity last night, Bret would never forgive him. Devon forced a laugh. “Like I said, Mindy isn’t my type.”
“Don’t try to bullshit someone who has known you as long as I have. Your type is female and warm. You’ve gotten better choices since we got famous.”
“Yeah, yeah. I’m an ass, I know.” And he did. He didn’t know why that thought was making him so gloomy today. He used to not care about it.
The car pulled up to the hotel. Tomorrow it would be a new hotel, and a different one the day after that. At least he was glad they weren’t all still sleeping on a tour bus together.
He got into the elevator alongside Bret. His best friend got off on his floor, and Devon continued up to the seventeenth floor. This was his stop, and he made his way out of the elevator and let himself into the room.
A woman wearing dress slacks and a purple blouse with a mane of highlighted blonde hair stood beside Mindy. They were looking at two dresses. “I think the pink looked beautiful with your coloring. What do you think?”
The two of them turned when he shut the door. With both their eyes on him, he had to say something. “Hi, sweetheart.”
“Hi.” Mindy glanced at the consultant then dragged her gaze back to Devon. With a small sigh, she crossed the room and gave him a peck on the lips. “Why don’t you tell us which dress you prefer, Devon? I like the blue, but she recommends the pink.”
Mindy made her way back to the dresses.
“In my experience, when you pay someone for an opinion, you listen to it, even when you don’t want to hear it.” He’d done that plenty of times with his manager. But he sounded like an ass again, didn’t he? “But I’m sure you look beautiful in both.”
Mindy nodded, keeping her distance from him. “Pink it is, then.”
“I hope you got more than one dress out of all this.” Devon offered Mindy a smile she didn’t return.
“She’s set for several weeks.” The consultant took the blue dress and hung it on a rack that she then zipped up and wheeled to the door. “Remember what I said about your makeup. Keep it light, play up those fresh looks of yours. Bye, now.”
She shut the door behind her and Devon raised his eyebrows. “What the hell does ‘fresh looks’ mean?”
“Oh, you know. Young, naïve.” She shrugged her shoulders. “Like a virgin.”
Devon sat down on the couch and patted the seat beside him. “Come sit with me for a minute.”
Mindy did, but she didn’t sit next to him. She put herself on the opposite end of the couch. “I’m sorry I forgot about your blanket and pillow last night.” She peered with intensity at her hands.
“I deserved it.” He waited a beat. “Don’t deny it.”
It took her a minute but she gave a small laugh, and she finally lifted her gaze, studying his face. “I should go decide what I’m wearing to the show tonight.”
“Let me finish. I didn’t mean to hurt your feelings. Everything I wanted to say came out all wrong.”
“I don’t want to talk about it.” She looked away, lifting her eyes to the ceiling as though she were afraid she might start crying any minute.
“I’m almost done. What I meant to say is that you’re too important to me for… me to ruin things. I want your first time to be special. I care about you. Always have, ever since you aggravated me and your brother to let you join in when we played video games.” He scooted to the edge of the couch and stood to pace the room. He was like a caged tiger. He needed to get away, but more than that he needed to make sure she understood him.
“So, you still think of me as a kid? Is that what you’re saying?”
“I think I proved last night that I don’t see you as a child, Min.” He looked at her, in her black yoga pants, yellow tee shirt, and red hair in a messy bun. She wore a little makeup. The image consultant probably had shown her how to do it. Freckles dotted her face. “I think you’re a beautiful woman. I think I did manage to articulate that much last night.”
Mindy approached him and he held his arms out for a hug. She walked right into it, burying her face in his chest.
“Forgive me?”
“Yes.” She pulled back and gazed up at him. Her lips shone in the. light. And just like that, he wanted to kiss her again. But he wouldn’t let himself do that again. He wasn’t sure how much control he actually possessed anymore. Not when it came to Mindy.