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Daisy and the Front Man
A Backstage Pass Novel
By Rebekah L. Purdy, Stacy Abrams Entangled Publishing, LLC
Copyright © 2015 Rebekah L. Purdy
All rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-63375-299-3
CHAPTER 1
Nine months later ...
Lights pulsed onstage as girls screamed Trevin's name. He smiled, pointing at a brunette girl in the first row. "Girl, I just want you to know ... You can kiss this," he sang, gesturing back to his mouth.
The girl reached up to touch his hand, and he bent down, letting his fingers graze hers. She screamed louder, her eyes welling with tears. When he pulled away, he felt her slip something into his palm, and he glanced down to see a pair of panties dangling from his fingers. Damn.Not another pair. His face burned. Someone could probably write a book about his cheeks called Fifty Shades of Red.
Ryder slid across the stage next to him and grinned at the underwear. No way would he live this down. Still holding the mike, Trevin quickly shoved the panties in his pocket. The drums pounded out and Ryder leaped back to his feet, humping the air in front of him and singing "Kiss This."
The song ended, and Will moved to the front of the stage. "Good night everyone — thanks for coming out ..."
They stood in a line and bowed, Ryder on one side of him and Miles on the other.
"You're blushing." Ryder nudged Trevin's arm. "If you don't want the panties, maybe you can give them to Nathan."
Trevin rolled his eyes. Nathan was the youngest in the group and the most innocent. Plus, he wouldn't be caught dead holding anyone's panties. Trevin watched as Nathan's ears turned pink, and he shook his head at Ryder.
"What did I say?" Ryder chuckled.
"Do you need to ask?" Trevin hurried offstage. They'd have just enough time to get out the door and onto the tour bus. Already, screaming fans were pouring out of the stadium. A few girls pushed toward them, but their bodyguard, Beau, quickly blocked the way.
"Get a move on, guys — these girls mean business tonight." Beau held out his arms, moving them ahead.
"Am I the only one who cringes every time I see our tour bus?" Will asked, coming up beside Trevin.
Trevin glanced at the giant pictures of him and the guys, standing shirtless and posing like they were bad-asses. "No. I kind of want to spray paint a shirt on me. My nipples look cold."
"And cover up those gorgeous abs? The chicks love them." Ryder tore off his T-shirt and the girls in the crowd went wild. The mob pressed forward, nearly shoving Beau over. "Here you go," Ryder shouted and threw his shirt into the thrashing group.
They squealed louder. It was like giving blood to piranhas. After a few minutes of pushing and shoving, the guys finally scrambled onto the bus.
"All right, boys, we're on to the next town," Beau said, leaning against the edge of a chair.
"In case the rest of you missed it, Trevin was given another pair of panties tonight," Ryder said.
"How many does that make now?" Miles kicked off his shoes and slid off his belt.
"Too many." Trevin attempted to run a hand through his dark hair. But the three tons of hair product the stylist had used held it in place.
"Let me see them," Ryder said. "Is it a sexy black thong or are we talking granny panties here?"
"I have no idea."
"Wonder if the chick wore them before giving them to you." Ryder waggled his eyebrows.
"You're sick, you know that?" Trevin ripped the undergarment from his pocket and tossed it in the trash, then hurried to the bathroom at the back of the bus to scrub off whatever germs now clung to his skin. What he wouldn't give to have Ryder go back to his quiet, jerky self where he avoided everyone. But ever since he'd started dating Mia, he'd become more involved with the guys in the band.
When he came back out, Beau stood like a giant tank, watching everyone. He cleared his throat, his short red hair standing in spiky pieces. "Don't forget, tomorrow I've got to pick up my daughter at the airport. She'll be joining us on tour."
"Is she hot?" Ryder asked.
Beau narrowed his gaze. "You'd better not try anything with her."
"Whoa, I was kidding." He held up his hands. "I have a girlfriend, remember?"
"For your sake, I hope you were kidding," Beau said, before he went to sit up front with the bus driver.
"Five bucks says she's a dog ..." Ryder grinned at Trevin.
"Don't be an ass." If Ryder riled up Beau, their bus would turn into a giant boxing ring.
Ryder took a swig of water, sat down, put his feet up on the coffee table, and then said in a hushed tone, "Trust me, she'll probably use her dad's connections to make a move on one of us."
Trevin frowned. "Why do you assume every chick is out to scam us?" Okay, so Ryder had massive trust issues, and in this business you never knew who might be trying to work what angle, but their bodyguard's daughter? "It's Beau's daughter, dude. No way would she be like that." He turned on the Xbox and handed one of the controllers to Miles. "How about a little Black Ops Zombies?"
Miles snorted. "Sure, mate. But you remember how bad we got our arses handed to us last time, right?"
With a smile, Trevin clicked on the video game map. "Yeah, but this time we don't have Ryder on our team."
"Screw you." Ryder threw a pillow at Trevin's face.
Will grabbed one of the other controllers. "I'm in."
Trevin watched him for a moment. He'd been a lot more talkative lately, which was so un-Will-like. He shook his head and turned to Nathan. "You wanna play, too?"
"Nah. I'll just watch."
"Is he even old enough to play that game?" Ryder tossed his empty water bottle at Nathan. "Isn't it rated 'M for Mature'?"
"If it's M for Mature, that counts you out, doesn't it?" Laughing, Trevin sank back onto the couch and relaxed for the first time in days. They had the rest of the summer ahead of them. A new town every couple of days. Hanging out with friends and bandmates. Doing what he loved most in the world. This was what dreams were made of.
Maybe it wasn't his exact dream. He'd hoped to be able to write more of his kind of music. So cookie cutter boy band didn't exactly satisfy his musical tastes. But their records were selling big, and they were the hottest band out there right now. Just look how well things had gone in the last nine months. Their manager, LJ, had orchestrated an appearance at the VMAs for them — he'd completely surprised them the day of, flying them out to L.A. Not to mention getting their faces on the cover of Rolling Stone. Everything had finally fallen into place.
They just had to keep on track and stay focused.
* * *
The scent of tofu burgers assaulted Daisy as she pushed into the house, glad to be done with her last recycling run. It'd been hotter than hell today and she just wanted to collapse in front of a fan and drink twenty gallons of ice water. She took the wadded-up newspaper article from her pocket and tossed it in the trash. The one Emma had left taped to the outside of her locker. A "last day of school send-off," she was sure. It'd been a copy of the original story from last autumn when Trevin had ditched her.
The whole school year had been like that. Bullies leaving her stupid notes and pictures and clippings of that horrible night. A constant reminder she couldn't leave behind. There'd even been videos posted to her social media pages, which she deleted, but they kept getting reposted. Daisy thought things would blow over after a couple of weeks — that everyone would find something else to talk about, but in her small town she continued to be the biggest news.
One of the jocks had even given her the nickname "Dump," which caught on like a wildfire in a drought. But, thank God, it was summer. Maybe things would finally die down over vacation.
"Hey sweetie," her mom's voice sounded from the deck.
"Okay, what have you done with my mom?" Daisy yelled from inside.
Her mom's laugh rang through the house. "What do you mean by that?"
"Um — you never cook, so what's the special occasion?" Daisy kicked off her flip-flops and tromped out onto the deck where her mom stood manning the grill.
Mom's face lit up and she tossed the burgers onto a plate. "Can't I make you dinner without you getting suspicious?" She'd totally avoided answering the question. Her eyes darted around the backyard, focusing on anything but Daisy.
"Seriously, what's going on?" She followed her mom back into the dining room.
Mom set the food on the table. "You like Dr. Bradley, right?"
"Yeah, I guess, but you've only been dating him for a few months so I don't know him that well —"
Mom squealed, hopping up and down like a drunk on a pogo stick.
"Oh, God, you're not engaged, are you?" Daisy's mouth went dry. It'd been just the two of them for so long. Not that she didn't like Dr. Bradley — he was nice, if not kinda nerdy — but she already had one dad who didn't come around. She didn't need another.
"No. It's just, well, he — he asked if I'd go to Italy with him for a few weeks to meet his parents. But I can tell him no."
"Wait, you mean just the two of you?"
Mom's face fell. "It's not that he doesn't like you — he does — we just thought it'd be a nice way for us to get to know each other better. We've had some really great dates. But if you don't want me to go ..."
Great. Daisy knew her mother never put herself first. And it wasn't like she'd dated much since her parents divorced all those years ago. How could she be mad about her going away? With a sigh, Daisy rushed forward and hugged her. "That's great. I mean, what an amazing opportunity. I can ask if Lena's parents will let me stay with them. Or maybe I can just stay here on my own and have Ms. Bennett from next door check in on me."
Mom's smile faltered and she sat down. "About that ..."
Oh. No. Daisy knew that look. Whatever Mom was about to say, she wasn't going to like it.
"I called your dad today. And, well, he said he'd love to take you for the summer."
"What? You never talk to Dad. Besides, I thought he had some bodyguard gig."
"H-he does. But he already got permission for you to tag along. I think you'll have a lot of fun."
"Who exactly is he working for?" Her heart hammered in her chest. This wasn't happening. All her summer plans to work on her recycling program in town went out the window in a single earth-shattering moment.
"Actually ..." She rubbed her neck, looking uncomfortable. "He's traveling with Seconds to Juliet."
"Are you serious?" Daisy stared at her, waiting for the punch line.
"Yes. I know it might seem like a bad idea, but you need to build a relationship with your father."
A bad idea? Hell no, it wasn't. Her dad was working for Seconds to Juliet — which meant he had access to Trevin Jacobs. The Trevin Jacobs, who'd stood her up and made a fool of her. Who'd caused her a year's worth of humiliation and teasing from her classmates. She'd been dreaming of her revenge for months, but she'd had no way to act on anything.
Until now.
Daisy smiled. "Mom, it's fine, really. And you're right; I need to spend more time with Dad. Everything will be great. You should definitely go with Dr. Bradley — in fact, I can call Dad myself to let him know I love this idea and to get all the details."
"Really?" Her mouth dropped open in surprise. "You're not upset?"
"No — trust me, there's no place I'd rather be this summer." And she meant it. This had to be the world's way of making things right. Good old karma. Now all she had to do was call her BFF Lena and start making a real plan.
Daisy sank lower in her seat, shoving her sunglasses back into place. A pop song came on the radio and she groaned. Did the station really have to keep playing "Kiss This"? She couldn't wait to meet the idiots who wrote this piece of crap, so she could give them something to kiss. Daisy turned the dial, searching for anything else to get rid of this annoying song.
Mom glanced at her, staring at the sign for the Ford International Airport. "I thought you liked boy bands."
"Ha-ha. Funny. After what happened with Trevin Jacobs, I'm so over them. In fact, the only good boy band that ever existed was The Beatles. And they weren't even a true boy band."
"Don't be so cynical. All music has its place, even these modern pop songs," Mom said, imitating Daisy's late grandpa's words. "Are you sure you're going to be okay hanging out with them all summer?"
"Just because I don't like their music doesn't mean I won't have fun. Besides, this is about Dad and me, remember?" She swiped her auburn hair back into a rubber band. God, it was hard lying to her mom, pretending to be cool with the whole "father-daughter bonding" thing.
Soon they pulled into the parking lot, parked the car, and her mom helped her get her suitcase and ticket out.
"Call me if you need me."
"I'll be fine. Stop worrying."
Mom waited with her until she got through security, as if scared she'd change her mind. And after two connecting flights and a stomach filled with butterflies she landed in Atlanta.
Daisy trudged into the main lobby to search for her dad. Instead, all she saw were strangers milling about, chatting on phones, hollering to their loved ones.
Daisy waited. And waited. Then waited some more.
She glanced at the clock. Shit. Did he forget what time she was coming in? Not that it should surprise her; he wasn't exactly Father of the Year. Hell, he barely remembered to call her on her birthday. She expected him to let her down, to not show. But why now? Did he have to start out her summer like this? Panic coursed through her. What if he forgot her altogether and she was stranded in Atlanta by herself?
She bit back the tears that threatened to spill. Okay. She just had to keep it together. No need to have a breakdown. It's not like this was the first time he'd done something like this.
At last, she watched a tall, red-haired man dressed in black — her dad — rushing toward her.
"Daisy! Sorry I'm late, kiddo. Got caught in traffic." He grinned, holding his arms open to her. "Wow, you've really grown up."
"Yeah, I'm not fourteen anymore," she said. Fourteen, the last time he'd seen her. He'd sworn then he would be better about coming around, but Daisy learned early on not to believe the empty promises.
He chuckled, ruffling her hair. "Nope, definitely not fourteen. Come on, let's get out of here."
"So where are we going?"
"Well, for the next couple days we'll be here in Atlanta, then after that Florida ... I'm so excited for you to meet the guys. But we'll have to lay some ground rules."
"Great, can't wait."
"Hopefully this will make up for me missing Christmas with you last year, and ... well, the year before, too."
"Sure, whatever." Daisy shrugged, pretending that it didn't matter. But even she couldn't forget the tears she'd cried when he didn't show up for his visitations with her. The times she'd stood waiting at the door for him to show. Every forgotten birthday and holiday. She swallowed hard, trying not to focus on the bad memories. Last thing she needed to do was start crying. Again.
They made their way out to a black Suburban with tinted windows. Her dad placed her luggage in the backseat, then climbed in. They drove across town and pulled into a back lot.
"You ready to go meet the band?"
"Uh, sure." Daisy's stomach clenched. She was about to come face to face with the guy who'd totally ruined her year. She attempted to count to ten in her head for a distraction. Just because he'd screwed her over didn't mean she wasn't curious to see him in person.
Daisy traipsed after her dad, who led her behind the stadium. There, staring back at her like a teen girl's wet dream, were the tour buses with S2J's shirtless pictures on them — and front and center was the front man, Trevin Jacobs.
His almond-shaped brown eyes looked even bigger and sexier in the large picture. Totally kissable lips. And holy shit, he had some nice abs. Her gaze slid over the yin and yang tattoo on his shoulder. Damn, she'd forgotten how hot he was. Her mouth went dry. Okay, no reason to panic. She could do this. It wasn't like she hadn't spent most nights imagining his demise.
"You'll be living every girl's dream this summer." Her dad's smile widened. "You know they don't normally let girls on their tour buses, so you should feel special that I got permission from Lester Pearl."
Well, obviously he didn't know her fantasy, because it definitely didn't include these jerk-offs. She stood there for long moments, trying to comprehend the travesty that would be her summer. Two whole months stuck with the one guy she loathed more than anyone in the world. But she had to remember that it was her one chance to get even. No backing out now. Not to mention she'd gone along with this idea for a reason. And after all the teasing and humiliation she'd faced at school, she was ready to make him pay.
She'd insert herself on their tour. Wreak havoc. Then leave.
"Don't be nervous; they're regular guys." He grabbed Daisy's arm and half dragged her toward the tour bus.
Her dad knocked on the door, then opened it and tugged her up the stairs behind him. "We're here," he hollered.
Five pairs of eyes glanced at her. Conceit seemed to pour from them like a spilled bottle of name-brand cologne.
Daisy's gaze moved to Trevin. Whoa. He was definitely hotter in person. All six feet of him towered above her. She tilted her head upward. His almond-shaped brown eyes reminded her of freshly brewed coffee. His dark hair was messy as if he'd just gotten out of bed. The T-shirt he wore stretched across his chest, hiding the ripped body she'd seen in the picture on the side of the bus.
(Continues...)
Excerpted from Daisy and the Front Man by Rebekah L. Purdy, Stacy Abrams. Copyright © 2015 Rebekah L. Purdy. Excerpted by permission of Entangled Publishing, LLC.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
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