Page 23 of A Way Out (Rock Star #2)
Chapter Twenty-Two
“ H ow concerned are you with being outed by the press?” Holly asked as she dropped into the seat next to Maria.
“Good morning to you, too, freshly minted Mrs. Stokes. What are you doing down here so early? And all alone,” Maria asked.
“I got up to pee, saw you were down here. Wanted to make sure you’re okay.”
Maria furrowed her brow. “What do you mean?”
With a grimace, Holly slid her phone across the glass top table. Maria stared down at the article on display.
“High society ladies apparently like to get down ’n dirty sometimes, as Maria Bernard ne Hearsy shows us in this photograph of her and her young daughter, hanging out with a tattooed and pierced rocker from a band called Demigoddess Revival.”
Underneath that headline was a picture of Maria and Oz and Riley.
They were all standing on the staircase, smiling widely.
Oz’s hand was clearly pressed to the small of Maria’s back; his other hand rested on Riley’s shoulder.
The tattoos on his forearm were on full display, as were his ear piercings and the silver lip ring Maria found so sexy and fascinating.
The publication was from a local society paper in her hometown.
Maria bowed her head and pressed her fingers to her eyes. “Tell me this is not happening.”
“I wish I could. Have you heard from our mother yet?”
“My phone is upstairs. Although it’s still early on the West Coast, so I may have a little reprieve.”
“I’m so sorry.” Holly hugged her. “I don’t know how they managed to find this picture and publish that article so quickly.”
Maria recalled the guy from the catering staff who had been snapping pictures of her and Oz on the staircase. No doubt he’d gone online on his first break and offered that pic up to the highest bidder.
“Apparently, I am even better at being a publicist than I thought if Demigoddess Revival’s popularity is stretching all the way to our mother’s circles.”
Holly chuckled. “They better hire you permanently. We may hire you too. Dahlia texted and said she needs to go on an indefinite hiatus.”
“Is she okay?”
Holly shrugged. “She says she is. Says it’s family stuff, and she understands that we’ll need to hire her replacement. She even offered to give me some recommendations, although I obviously don’t think that’s necessary.”
“Thanks for the vote of confidence.”
“Of course. You earned it. Now, are you sure you’re okay?”
“Yes. I’m not going to stress about it until our mother calls to reprimand me.”
“Good girl,” Holly said approvingly. “I’m heading back upstairs to seduce my new husband. Again.” She winked and scurried away.
Hmm, Holly had a good idea. Maria returned to Oz’s bedroom, where he greeted her with sleepy, hungry eyes and arms spread wide.
Of course she went back to bed. Who wouldn’t?
After they were both sated, bodies humming once again, Oz climbed out of bed and hopped into the shower, then he and Riley went downstairs to make breakfast.
After her shower, Maria joined them, sitting at the counter and sorting through the wedding pictures the photographer had generously managed to pull together for them already. The poor woman must have stayed up all night. Hopefully, Holly was compensating her well.
Courtesy of the concert tonight, no one had plans to leave. Even Holly and Sam had scheduled their honeymoon to start on Monday, and Lacey and Parker hadn’t planned a honeymoon, of course, since they hadn’t known they were getting married.
The excitement over Demigoddess Revival’s first sold-out show was palpable. Everyone felt it, even Riley.
Who was disappointed she couldn’t go.
“Concerts are no place for toddlers,” Maria tried to explain, which her daughter did not understand. “Besides, it won’t even start until after your bedtime.”
“I stayed up late for the wedding,” Riley insisted, which was true. Maria had let her eat dinner, dance, had even poured water into a champagne flute and let her toast with the rest of them as they cheered on the new couples.
Ultimately, Riley did not win this battle. She was left behind with Stephanie’s elderly neighbor, who promised they’d have loads of fun baking and decorating cookies before Riley had to go to bed.
The goal was to head out at 2:00 p.m., which would give them plenty of time to get to Tulsa before they were scheduled to check into the venue where they’d play in front of three thousand screaming fans.
Maria had done her research. A place with a three thousand-person capacity wasn’t terribly big by, say, Panic Station’s standards, but everyone had to start somewhere.
And the Phoenix show was at a seven thousand-person venue.
If they managed to secure spots at a few summer music festivals, that could mean tens of thousands of potential fans, all in one place, all clamoring to hear them live.
Shortly before they were due to leave the lodge, Maria emailed a video montage to the production crew at the facility in Tulsa. She gave them explicit directions as to when the video should be played.
And then she started feeding wedding pictures to both Demigoddess Revival’s and Panic Station’s social media accounts.
“Holy shit,” Holly said, bouncing down the stairs dressed for the show in a white tank top and white ruffled micromini skirt, her signature Vans on her feet.
Her blue and silver hair was braided and loosely wrapped around her head in a messy parody of a wedding updo.
The fans didn’t know it yet, but Panic Station planned to take the stage with Demigoddess Revival for a handful of songs.
“You are a genius,” Holly continued, staring at her phone as she danced over to drop onto the couch next to Maria. “These posts are blowing up. They’re going to surpass the ass pics here in a minute.”
“Everybody loves a good love story,” Maria said, grinning. “Especially when it involves their favorite band.”
“I’ll say.” Holly tapped on her screen, replying or liking comments, encouraging the excitement.
“Ready to go?” Oz called out. He placed his guitar case in the foyer and strode over to Maria, pressing a kiss to her lips like it was the most natural thing in the world.
Maybe it was, because Holly did not even raise her eyebrows. To be fair, her nose was practically pressed to her phone screen.
Still, it felt natural. All of it. Connecting with Oz, doing publicity for both bands, participating in her sister’s wedding.
This entire weekend had been utterly perfect—once they got over their little bump in the road on Friday—and she was certain she would not feel so buoyant and happy if not for Oz.
“You are beautiful,” he whispered in her ear.
She felt her face flush. She was wearing a pair of skinny jeans and pink tank top, borrowed from her sister’s wardrobe.
She wished she had some Demigoddess Revival swag to wear, but she’d set up an online shop on the band’s website only this morning.
It was a bummer they wouldn’t have any physical merch to sell at tonight’s show, but at least now they could direct fans to the website for a nice selection of shirts, hoodies, hats, and posters, as well as, of course, links to download the band’s music.
She’d never wanted something so desperately in her life as she wanted this band to succeed.
Well, besides wanting Oz himself, of course. That trumped everything.
Stephanie’s neighbor arrived to watch Riley, and everybody piled into a couple of SUVs and a rented van to accommodate Travis’s borrowed drum set. Two and a half hours later, they were parked behind the venue, unloading the band’s equipment.
The manager went glassy eyed when he spotted Holly, which turned into a positive for all of them. Holly suggested they’d like some food and beverages before the show, and he took off to deliver.
This was not typical at smaller venues like this, Holly whispered to Maria while they headed down a narrow hall to a dressing room behind the stage.
In no time at all, the bands were on stage doing a sound check. Maria wandered through the currently empty seats, snapping pictures and trying to imagine what it would be like when all those seats were claimed and rock music was blasting from the speakers.
It was even better than she imagined.
By the time the lights went out and the place was draped in darkness, Maria stood stage left, directly across from where the band would enter. The best view in the house, according to the manager.
The sound crew cut off the house music, and the crowd’s cheers and screams bounced off the walls. Excitement was a living, breathing entity, and it was contagious. Maria clapped her hands and stomped her feet, just as thrilled as all those people out there who had bought tickets to see this show.
Holly walked out onto stage in her white outfit and silvery blue hair. A spotlight clicked on, illuminating her.
The crowd went even wilder. Demigoddess Revival was gaining popularity, but Panic Station was huge .
“Hey, everybody,” she said, her voice amplified by the mic. She waved and smiled at the audience, who bounced and flapped their arms and screamed her name.
“I’m just here to introduce the band,” she said. Roars interspersed with laughter filled the room.
“Well, maybe I’ll sing with them. If you want me to.”
Unbelievably, the volume of excitement increased again. None of these people were going to be able to speak tomorrow.
It was a beautiful realization.
Guitar riffs vibrated off the walls, and another spotlight popped on, following Oz as he walked onto stage to stand next to Holly, his head bowed as he watched his own fingers glide over the strings.
More screaming, more shouting, more anticipation.
Oz’s short, dark hair was spiked all over his head. The hoop curled around his lip caught the light and sparkled. He wore a black button-down shirt with half the buttons left undone and tight black jeans with more holes than actual material.