I stared at my ringing phone in annoyance. I almost didn't have it in me to explain to yet another friend that Kellan wasn't having an affair with Sienna Sexton. It was a little irritating how quick they all were to jump on the "He's a D-Bag" train. But with the music video, the photos, the tour changeup, and now the sex tape, the evidence against him was pretty damning, and I didn't blame them too much. If I weren't here with Kellan, I might have believed it too.
Seeing Denny's name on my screen, I hesitated, then picked it up. "Hey, Denny," I answered, feeling sleepy.
"Hey . . . I bet you're tired of people calling you."
I smiled for what felt like the first time in hours. "You have no idea. But I'm glad you called me."
"So . . . do I ask?"
"It's Joey's tape, the one I told you about. She finally leaked it . . . and everyone thinks it's Sienna. It's kind of sad, really. Joey wanted to be in his spotlight so badly, and even with documented proof, she still can't get there." A humorless laugh escaped me.
Denny exhaled a long breath. "I figured that's what it was. Are you holding up okay?"
Relief flooded through me. It was so nice to not have to convince someone. "I'm as okay as I can be, considering Kellan is making front page news with another woman. Regardless of who that other woman is or isn't, it still sucks. I'm afraid to even turn my computer on."
"Give it some time. They'll move on to something else soon."
I shifted my gaze to a raindrop running down the window. Watching the rain was so peaceful. My life used to be peaceful. Wasn't it, just this morning? "I know, but it's entirely possible that the next story they move on to will also include Kellan." I sniffed, hating that this was getting to me. "I just miss . . ."
My voice trailed off. I was about to say that I missed nobody knowing who he was, but that was never true. Kellan had always had a swirl of notoriety around him. He was always a star. It was just on a much smaller scale at Pete's. Sharing him was nothing new, it was just more expansive now.
Denny answered my open-ended statement. "I know." Silence stretched out between us, then Denny added, "You could always come home, Kiera. Let that world go for a while?"
Holding my knees tight to my chest, I considered it. I could stay home in an empty house, writing all day and night. I could visit my sister, my friends. I could even fly home to see my parents-briefly-and I could spend time with Denny. It sounded nice, familiar, comfortable, but . . . my heart was anchored to Kellan. Being apart from him stretched my soul in opposite directions. It was painful. No, it was torture. He was everything to me, and I didn't want to miss a moment of his journey just because parts of it were unpleasant. No. When I'd agreed to be his wife, I'd also been agreeing to stand beside him through thick or thin. And if I could stand by his side during the filming of that damn music video, then I could stand beside him while he dealt with the consequences of his reckless youth. I wasn't running, I wasn't avoiding-not anymore.
"No . . . I belong here with Kellan. But thank you for listening, Denny."
When I ran into Sienna that night, she was all smiles, loving the attention. Of course, she acted mortified when she spoke with anyone who interviewed her. She even walked away from a gossip site reporter, throwing her hands into the air and stalking off like she was offended to the core of her being that something so private was being brought up in casual conversation. By her actions alone, the rumors were confirmed: Kellan and Sienna had made a sex tape together. The world went into a gossip mongering frenzy, and the glorifying of them as a couple exploded into the stratosphere.
Kellan tried to put out the fire. Physically, he stayed as far away from her as possible, even going to the extreme of singing their duets on the other side of the stage as her. He told everyone who would listen that Sienna was not the girl in the video, and he was not, nor had he ever been, in a relationship with her. It was all too little, too late, though. Nothing could stop the gossip train.
Two weeks after the tape's release, the sordid gossip was still going strong. We were in Atlanta, Georgia, a place I had always wanted to visit, and the boys were doing an early afternoon in-studio radio interview. I was sitting on a stool against the wall by Tory, who was always present when Kellan and the boys spoke to the press. While I was slumped against the wall, Tory sat ramrod straight, slightly leaning forward, ready to pounce. Her eyes watched the DJs like a hawk-or like a mama bear protecting her cubs.
"So, Kellan . . . rumors are going crazy. Anything you want to say about the lovely and quite talented Sienna Sexton?" The DJ stressed the word talented, and everyone in the room knew he wasn't talking about her music.
Kellan shifted on his seat. "I've said this about five million times, but she's an acquaintance of mine. We work together, nothing more." Tory's eyes tightened at Kellan's admission, but she knew, just like Nick and Sienna, that nothing Kellan said at this point really mattered-a fact the DJ confirmed seconds later.
"Right . . . work." He turned to his partner. "That's a gig I wouldn't mind getting."
They both let out hearty laughs while Kellan's expression darkened. "I am not, nor have I ever been, in a relationship with Sienna."
The men turned incredulous eyes to Kellan. "So, that's not her on the tape with you?"
Kellan closed his eyes and seemed to count to ten before answering, "No."
The second male DJ responded with, "Sure looks like her. Even freeze-framed."
My stomach churned and my hands balled into fists. I hated that the odds were very good that everyone in this room had seen the tape of Kellan hav**g s*x. Well, everyone except for me. There was no way on this green earth that I was watching that. Some things can't be unseen, and Joey and Kellan going at it like p*rn stars was one of those things.
Staring the DJ down, Kellan straightforwardly told him, "I don't see what any of this has to do with my music, which is why I'm here. The woman in the video was a girl I dated years ago, long before I ever met Sienna. While she happens to sort of resemble her, it's not Sienna Sexton."
Both male DJs glanced at each other. "It's sort of strange that no girl has come forward then, right? I mean, if this 'not-Sienna' you dated leaked the tape . . . where is she?" He used air quotes, like he still didn't believe Kellan.
This was unfortunately a sticky point for us. Joey hadn't made a peep. She hadn't come out to fight for her right as the proud participant in the video. She hadn't basked in the glow of Kellan's spotlight. She hadn't snatched her claim to fame. The only thing she'd done so far was stay quiet as a mouse and let Sienna take all her "glory." It seemed completely unlike Joey to me.
Kellan stammered on his answer. "I don't . . . I don't know." Knowing he was digging himself into a hole, Kellan turned around and glanced at Tory, silently asking her to shift the conversation.
A female in a back booth chimed in with her thoughts. "I think it's sweet that he protects Sienna by denying it. It's chivalrous." She pointed at the two DJs. "You guys could learn a thing a two." I wanted to stab the girl with a pen. How much clearer did Kellan have to be?
Tory stepped forward and made a cutting motion with her hand over her throat. The implication was clear to the DJs: End this line of questioning, or I pull my talent. They quickly redirected the interview toward the band's concert that night, and Kellan visibly relaxed.
When the interview was over, Kellan walked over to me, his expression glum. He really hated that he couldn't steer the public's perception of him. He was a puppet, along for the ride, but not really a part of it. No, this show belonged entirely to Nick and Sienna. I patted his arm in sympathy, then I dropped my hand to my side. I was keeping public affection to a minimum. Not only did I still not want the world's attention focused on me, but things with "Kell-Sex" were just too crazy at the moment. And if Kellan couldn't control what people thought about him, then he definitely couldn't control what people thought about me. If the gossipers figured out who I was, they'd never leave us alone. They would paint me as the other woman in the Kell-Sex love affair. I would be hated, reviled, possibly even egged. Being in an across-the-globe scandal freaked me out so much that I had even asked Kellan to switch his wedding ring to his right hand when we were out. I just didn't want to cause unnecessary problems for myself. The waters just needed to calm a little bit. And they would, as soon as this tour was over.
In an absurd way, I was Kellan's dirty little secret. It was a disturbingly familiar feeling, one I didn't care for. I had no idea how we were going to keep our wedding in December quiet. Or if we even could. Marriage licenses were a matter of public record, right? Anyone searching deep enough for info on Kellan would find it.
Since we had rolled into town this morning but the show wasn't until tonight, the bands were being put up in a hotel room. Kellan and I had decided to abandon our bus love nest for a spacious suite with a Jacuzzi. As an obscenely oversized SUV transported the D-Bags and company back to the hotel, my phone rang. Rummaging through my bag, I found my cell shoved between the pages of a book I was trying to read in my spare time. I was so busy writing that I would have had more luck reading an entire novel if Kellan read it to me. Actually, that wasn't a bad idea.
Glancing at the screen, I answered with, "Hey, sis. What's up?"
"Where are you?"
Looking out the window, I told her, "Atlanta, why?"
My sister huffed. "I know you're in Atlanta. Where in Atlanta are you right at this very second?"
"We're on the road. We just left the radio station and we're heading to the hotel, some swanky place in Buckheel, Buckhead, something like that. Why?"
My sister's tone brightened. "Oh, good! I'm coming to the show tonight. Can you flip a bitch and swing by the airport to pick me up?"
It took me a minute to register what she was saying. "You're in Georgia?"
Twisting around from the front seat, Griffin echoed my question. "Anna's in Georgia?" His eyes damn near sparkled with the news. "Awesome. Where is she?"
I answered Griffin with "Airport," while my sister answered me. "Yep! My flight just arrived."
Dumbfounded, my only thought was, "Why are you in Georgia?" My second thought was Swing by? The airport was nowhere near our hotel. In fact, our hotel was a bit north of the heart of Atlanta, where the concert was tonight, while the airport was south. Going to get her was way out of our way. But I wouldn't abandon her at the airport. Neither would Griffin; he was already telling the driver to turn around.
Anna snorted before she answered my question. "I just told you why. Now come get me. Love you!" Then she disconnected. I shook my head as I shoved the phone back in my purse. Of course my sister would travel over halfway across the country on a whim to watch a concert.
Chapter 18: Company
My spontaneous, erratic, fly-by-the-seat-of-her-pants sister arrived with a half-dozen pieces of luggage. Just by the look of her, I had a feeling she was staying for more than one concert. And her belly had grown so much bigger since the last time I'd seen her. Her waddle had turned genuine. As I wrapped my arms around her, the baby pressed against my stomach. Giggling, I leaned down and placed a hand over the protrusion. "Hi, Max," I cooed.
"It's Maximus," Griffin interrupted, brushing me aside to collect Anna into his arms. Grabbing her face, he greeted her with his tongue. It was a little over the top on the PDA scale, but I'd been watching Griffin ever since his admission that he hadn't been with anyone else since Anna told him she was pregnant, and from all I'd seen, he was telling the truth. And that was a lot of abstinence for the horn dog; he had to be practically dying on a daily basis.
When they pulled apart, my sister's deep green eyes scoured Griffin's body like she was starving and he was a prime rib dinner. She'd been "abstaining" too, and had a sex drive just as insatiable as Griffin's. Great. Unless I locked myself away somewhere, there was no way I'd be able to avoid hearing, and possibly seeing, their sex-ploits. This was going to be a long visit.