Rock Hard: A Bad Boy Rock Star Romance Read online

  Hey, I might be having a little bit of a starstruck experience with Grant, but swooning over a hot guy and deciding that crappy music was suddenly wonderful because I was swooning over a hot guy were two very different things thank you very much.

  I was surprised Kayla was going along with it though. I figured she would be out there in the middle of the crowd until the very end whether or not I wanted to sit and suffer with her, but when I suggested we get going she’d hopped up right away muttering something about how it was well worth missing a song she’d heard a million times anyways to avoid the rush of people who were inevitably going to be trying to get backstage whether or not they had backstage passes like we suddenly did.

  I was surprised at that sentiment from Kayla of all people, and I had a pretty good feeling that she wouldn’t be so understanding about, say, leaving the concert early to avoid the rush out to the parking lot in a hypothetical world where I didn’t get backstage passes and we weren’t going to meet the band.

  Not that I’d ever get to test that particular theory. No, Grant, lead singer of Twenty Promises, seemed to have it out for me. It was the strangest turn of events I never could’ve imagined when I headed out with Kayla earlier in the day, but here I was so I figured I’d roll with it.

  It took forever to make our way through the press of bodies, but eventually we got up to security and flashed our passes. One of the guards, a big muscular hulking thing with a bald head, smiled and stepped aside to allow us through. And then he immediately moved back into place with a scowl on his face as other women tried to rush into the opening we'd just created.

  Other women who didn't have the backstage we’d gotten in the most spectacular way possible. I couldn’t help but think “tough luck girls” as I felt an irrational flash of jealousy. Oh yeah. I knew who those girls were back here to see, and even if the rational part of me thought it was ridiculous to feel jealousy over Grant the irrational part of me hiding in the back of my mind was pretty damn happy that those wannabe groupies were being kept out.

  Wannabe groupies. Was that even a fair thought? What was I doing back here? I know what the fire burning between my legs wanted me to be doing back here, and I quickly stomped down on those thoughts before they could get too out of control. As it was I got a little wobbly in the knees and almost stumbled to the ground before Kayla caught me and gave me a funny look.

  They were just starting up with that number one hit, the opening strains of "Txting My Luv (2U)," as we made our way into the backstage area. Hey, what can I say? They got popular back when texting was first starting to be a thing and everyone was using shorthand because the world still had to contend with godawful number pads instead of the digital keyboards we enjoyed today. So naturally their biggest hit was mired in the technology of a decade past as much as their popularity was mired in that same decade long past.

  As we were walking through the backstage area I heard some commotion behind us and turned in time to see the bouncers let in another couple of girls. They looked just as excited, though they were probably a couple of years younger. Definitely still in college.

  I fought the urge to scowl. It wasn't polite to think bad thoughts about the younger generation, but I couldn’t help but wonder what a couple of obviously younger girls were doing back here. I figured Kayla and I were on the younger end of their target demographic, and those girls had to still be in elementary school when Twenty Promises was popular. Now they were back here with their silly smiles and their hair highlighted a shade of blonde that definitely came from a bottle and…

  I stopped myself. What the hell was wrong with me? Why was I getting so upset about other women being back here? So what if they probably thought Grant was hot? Only women who preferred the company of other women wouldn’t think he was hot, and even then there might be some wiggle room.

  It’s not like I had a good reason to be jealous either. I’d just had a quick conversation with him at a diner, that flirtation during their set, and that one brief shining moment of perfection where he serenaded me on stage. It’s not like we were engaged to be married or anything. It’s not like I had some sort of claim on him.

  So I stomped down on that jealousy. Or tried to. I didn’t do a very good job of it from the way I still felt heat rising as I looked at those girls, and not the kind of heat I felt when I thought of Grant. So I turned and pulled Kayla farther backstage where I wouldn’t have to think about Barbies one and two.

  As we walked along I caught a glimpse of what I would consider to be the true "backstage" area. Roadies carrying equipment this way and that. Technicians doing who knows what with wires. And I thought I could even see somebody from the band, though I wasn’t entirely sure so I elbowed Kayla and pointed in his direction. The resulting squeal was loud enough to be heard even over the music pounding through the massive speakers somewhere overhead and very near to us.

  Okay, so there was a pretty good chance that guy was in the band.

  The final strains of Txting My Luv (2U) faded and I figured the rest of the guys would show up soon. Goose bumps ran all along my skin as I thought that he was so near.

  It occurred to me that we had backstage passes, so why not make use of them and do some exploring? Unfortunately as I walked towards the roadies and technicians another security guy stepped in our way.

  This one was even beefier than the last to the point that he didn't have a neck. I'm talking like his bald head, why is it that all security guys at concerts seemed to have that bald head, was more of a dome that gently sloped down to his shoulders than a head and neck.

  The guy was a fucking mountain holding out a beefy arm blocking us from going any farther. Damn it.

  "What's the big idea? We have passes!" I said.

  "Trust me, you don't have backstage passes for this area," he said.

  "Then what the hell are these passes good for?" I asked.

  The guy jerked his head off to his left, our right. Away from the stage. Away from the real backstage area. Away from the tantalizing glimpses I was getting of members of the band walking around doing their thing after the show.

  "Those get you into the green room for the meet and greet. It's that way. The guys will be over there shortly."

  "This is bullshit!" Kayla said. Her voice carried all the anger of a cornered animal. Or a fangirl who just discovered she might not get to meet her favorite band up close and personal after all. Same thing, really.

  I turned to her and nodded. "Definitely! What good are backstage passes if they don't actually get you backstage?"

  I figured backstage passes that Grant Thompson personally slipped to me while pretending to squeeze my ass would be better. Maybe he was just looking for an excuse to get in a squeeze? What if he did that with all the girls? No, I wasn’t going to think like that. I also shouldn’t be getting as giddy and turned on as I was at the memory of him squeezing my ass while singing to me onstage.

  The guard shrugged, though it was more like a mountain that was rolling its shoulders. I half expected to see rubble and boulders come crashing down from his insanely thick neck.

  "I don't make the rules, I just enforce them," he said. He sounded like he didn't care at all. And why would he? His job was to keep us out and he was just doing his job. Sure he was crushing our dreams, but for him it was just Tuesday.

  That didn't stop me from thinking he was a huge asshole though. "This sucks."

  "What's going on here?"

  I felt a thrill. I felt an impossible heat as though my entire body was on fire. As though I'd just contracted a fever. I felt weak in the knees, and I almost started shivering. All of that from a few words from Grant. I’d recognize that voice even if I couldn’t see him yet.

  A part of me hated that I was reacting like a groupie getting excited at hearing the lead singer of Twenty Promises, a group that I despised. The rest of me, the part of me that was thinking of how hot Grant was, quickly stomped down on the skeptical band-hating part of my mind that had been i
n control for so long.

  No, the part of me that was excited at a super hot guy being interested in me was in control, and it was on fire! Damn!

  But could you really blame a girl for reacting that way? Because when I turned and looked past the mountain that was a bouncer I saw him standing there. Grant. My mysterious man from the diner who was oh so sexy. Looking every bit as gorgeous in person as he had out on stage when he treated me to that rock star moment.

  He was looking particularly delicious now in a leather vest and nothing underneath which showed off his sculpted body perfectly. He looked every bit the rock god he'd been when he was up on stage singing to the crowd, reaching down and touching my hand, pulling me up on stage for a song I shouldn’t have enjoyed because it was a Twenty Promises song but I’d already downloaded it to my phone to listen to later and oh God he was corrupting me. Making me actually like a Twenty Promises song, damn him.

  I shivered again as I thought of that brief moment of heaven together on stage.

  Grant looked at me and his eyes lit up. Damn. It wasn't fair for one man to look that good. It wasn't fair that one man could make me feel this way with just a look.

  "Mia!" he said.

  "Mia?" Kayla said, sounding incredulous. “He knows your name?”

  I blushed as I looked at my friend who I’d been less than honest with ever since we got to the concert. “Maybe?”

  “Grant Thompson knows who you are? How does Grant Thompson know who you are?”

  I blushed. I was in very real danger of melting into a puddle of hormones on the floor. Kayla was the one who was supposed to be acting like this. I was supposed to be immune to Grant’s superstar charms. Only it wasn’t really his superstar charms that grabbed me. No, it was a charming sexy guy sharing a quick conversation in a diner who got my attention.

  Just my luck. An insanely hot guy acted interested in me and it happened to be the lead singer of a band I despised. It was like I’d made the world’s lamest deal with the devil or I’d made a wish on a curse monkey’s paw to fall in love with a famous rocker and this is what the universe dropped in my lap. Talk about a cosmic joke some higher power somewhere had to be playing on me!

  Yeah, I was definitely melting. Figuratively and quite literally down between my legs where a flush of arousal and a dampness that hadn't come on so suddenly in a good long while was threatening to soak through my panties.

  I didn't know what to say though. Earlier when we were chatting in the aforementioned diner the conversation flowed naturally because while he was hot I also assumed he was very gay. That meant I didn’t have any chance with him sexually and I could just be myself. Now as I stared at this hunk of muscled hotness I felt every inch a silly schoolgirl with a crush. I didn't know what to do. I didn't know what to say. My mouth opened but nothing came out. I was tongue-tied. I wanted to kick my brain for betraying me like this!

  I felt another elbow hit my side. Kayla who was looking at me with an irritated expression. She nodded towards Grant before she hissed. "What the hell are you doing? Grant Thompson is standing there looking excited to see you! Go get him!"

  I shook my head and then I was back in control. I still felt weak in the knees, I still felt as though my legs were going to collapse out from under me at any moment, but at least I could try and put on a good show. Put up a front. Act like I was the confident woman I knew I was even if I felt like a giddy schoolgirl.

  I tried to think of him as a hot gay guy again, but that didn’t really work because all I ended up concentrating on was how fucking hot he looked standing there with that easygoing grin plastered on his face as though he was so excited to see me.

  That led me to wonder exactly why he was so excited. I’m sure a guy like Grant could pull any girl he wanted in any of the cities they visited, and now he was fixated on me. Was that because he was genuinely interested in me or because he was genuinely interested in a groupie experience that I definitely didn’t want to partake in even if I might be willing to take part in the Grant experience?

  I just didn’t know. If I’d actually been a fan of the band like Kayla I might know more about their habits, but it’s not like I had time to talk with her what with the loud music and going straight backstage from our seats. I’d have to ask her once we got some time alone. If we got some time alone. I needed to know if this was real or if it was all part of the show.

  "Uh, hi Grant?"

  "I'm glad I caught you back here," he said. "I totally forgot those passes don’t let you back where the band is anymore!"

  "Well I'm here. And I was hoping to get my friend Kayla back there to see the band, but we had a little problem…"

  Grant looked at the security mountain. "What's the problem?"

  "No problem if you say there's no problem Mr. Thompson," the mountain said, holding up his hands.

  Grant grinned and smacked the guy on the shoulder. "No problem Dave. I know. Just doing your job. These two can come through. I’ll take care of it from here."

  As Grant grinned and led us back where the magic happened I couldn’t help but feel a little like Cinderella walking into a fairytale of my very own. Sure it was a pop music fairytale with one of the most notorious bands of my generation, but with Grant looking the way he looked in that leather vest I'd take it. He reached out and I took his hand just like I had out on stage, only this time I found myself fervently hoping he didn't let go.

  I mean I know he had to let go at some point, but you know what I mean.

  I turned to Kayla and flashed a quick uncertain smile. She shook her head and had a huge grin on her face. The message was clear enough. If Grant Thompson takes your hand, whether or not you're strictly a fan of his music, you take it!

  I’m sure she was encouraging me for her own selfish reasons too. If I was being led backstage by Grant Thompson then she was coming with me and there was the possibility she’d get to meet the other guys in the band.

  Grant took us through the backstage area and introduced us to a couple of roadies. I figured that might be the end of our experience when I heard Kayla gasp. I glanced into the darkness, it was surprisingly difficult to see things back here since everything was only illuminated by LED lights clamped to metal supports.

  The lead guitar player appeared out of the darkness. He was cute enough even if he didn’t hold a candle to Grant. As soon as he saw us he broke into a huge grin. Though it would be more fair to say the grin broke out as soon as he saw Kayla. He was eyefucking her pretty hard and she was enjoying every moment of it judging by the way she was giving as good as she got! I thought both of them might need a cigarette after they were done.

  “Grant! Who are your friends?”

  “Blake!” Grant said. He pulled the guy into a huge hug.

  “Oh. My. God. Blake!” Kayla said. I didn’t know it was possible for her voice to go that high.

  “None other than,” the guy, Blake, said. “And hello there little lady. What’s your name?”

  “Kayla!”

  Before I could react or say anything this Blake guy took Kayla’s arm in his own. He leaned in close. Said something that made her giggle. Then the two of them were walking off in the darkness as I stared in slack-jawed astonishment.

  That was fast.

  Grant followed them for a moment, an unreadable expression on his face. Then he shook his head and smiled. “Classic Blake. Hope your friend knows what she’s getting into.”

  I looked at the retreating figure of Kayla and this Blake guy. She was laughing at something he was saying and seemed like she couldn’t be happier that one of the guys in the band was paying attention to her. I could’ve said something, but I decided not to. She was getting what she wanted.

  “Kayla’s a big girl. She knows what she’s getting into,” I said.

  She knew what she was getting into a hell of a lot better than I did considering she probably knew that Blake guy’s complete biography along with the name of his favorite hamster growing up and his favorite food
.

  “Fair enough,” Grant said.

  “Right! So you were taking me on a tour?”

  “Of course! Follow me my dear.”

  Grant led me deeper backstage and I followed more than willingly, which is something I never thought I’d say about the lead singer of Twenty Promises, but now that I was here I figured I might as well enjoy the ride!

  11: Luckiest Girl in the Arena

  Grant led me closer to the front. Towards the stage. I felt my palms getting sweaty as we approached. I could see light from the arena on the other side. Out there were thousands of women who would kill to be where I was right now, and I had a feeling I was the one they’d be more than happy to kill.

  Then again I hadn’t been ripped to shreds earlier when he pulled me up on stage so I suppose that was a plus.

  The crowd was chanting. Grant pulled me over to get a quick look out on the stage proper. Far enough back that we couldn't be seen, but close enough that I could see the crowd. Women shrieking and screaming for the band to do another song even though it was obvious they were done. The lights were coming on overhead in the universal concert signal for “go home, nothing to see here.” That could have been me stuck out there worrying about the traffic I was going to have to sit through and dealing with ringing ears from music I didn’t care for. Only that wasn’t happening because I’d run into Grant and got backstage tickets.

  Funny how life works out.

  "All those women out there screaming for you," I said.

  It was wild thinking about that. All those women wanted nothing more than to see Grant. Maybe get up close and personal. And here I was the one girl in the entire arena who didn’t even care for the band and I was the one back here with him. Like I said, funny how life works out.

  Grant came up beside me and shrugged. "Occupational hazard."