Page 54 of Kind of Famous
With that invitation to leave, I bolted. Uneasiness pricked at the back of my head, but this opportunity excited me. As I walked down to see Kate, I took out my phone and texted Shane for clearer directions.
Chapter Fourteen
Shane’s text directed me to an area in Brooklyn I’d never been, but not too far from where he lived. When I emerged from the station, he waited at the exit, scrolling through his phone messages.
I tapped his forearm, and he blinked against the sunlight, a smile breaking out to compete with the brilliance of the afternoon. His freckles splayed out like a galaxy across his cheeks and the bridge of his nose. The glare forced his eyes to narrow so that his beautiful eyes were imprisoned by those long cinnamon lashes.
Neither of us moved or spoke for a full minute. Just as I’d been inventorying him, he’d been studying me in the new light of day. I gave him a wry grin and sighed happily. “Should we go?”
“It’s not too far. Let’s walk.” He crooked his elbow out, and I snaked my hand through.
For the third time in as many days, we strolled together on a Brooklyn sidewalk, and once again, he reeled me closer to him and wrapped an arm around me, high-school boyfriend style.
“I missed you this morning, Star Shine.”
The admission hit me with a mix of conflicting emotions. Just like Jaclyn had said, he was a big, dopey puppy—adorable, but overwhelming. If he’d been any other guy, his intense attention so early on probably would have freaked me out.
But Shane wasn’t any other guy. Time and time again, he revealed himself to be different than I expected.
I nudged him and teased him with my own choice of nickname. “Missed you, too, Cuddle Rock.”
He snorted. “Cuddle Rock?”
I shrugged and cast my eyes up at him. “Yup.”
His mouth turned down in a poor attempt to conceal a burgeoning smile, and I chuckled.
Maybe I’d been a social hermit for such a long time, I no longer knew how to handle sustained human contact. I was a castaway on a deserted island, and romance was a ship headed for adventure. Right now, I needed to get my sea legs and steel my nerves for the possibilities ahead.
As if he were reading my mind, he pulled me closer, and my disquiet melted away. It was impossible to resist his charms, so I stopped trying. Instead, I leaned into him and relished his arms enveloping me as we strolled together.
I wondered how often one of the band invited a girl to hang out. It was an instant aphrodisiac. Surely they’d used band practice to get chicks at least early on.
“Thanks for getting me out of work. Or at least getting Lars to let me go on a field trip.”
“It was a little selfish on my part.” He kissed the top of my head, and not for the first time I felt like I must be dreaming.
After a couple of blocks, we stopped in front of a building that looked like an abandoned mechanic with three metal garage doors covered in graffiti. Shane produced a key and unlocked a red door that opened with a grinding creak. Previously muffled noise burst out as a guitar solo mixed with an erratic bass line.
“This is where you rehearse?”
How many of their fans had figured that out? Anyone could hang out here and wait for them to appear. I scanned the immediate area, but the only person hanging around was a lumpy, pale guy across the street, leaning against a tree, earnestly reading his phone. Just as Shane held the door open for me, Mr. Potato Vampire lifted his eyes and met mine. It may have been my imagination, but I got the sense he was recording us.
When I got inside the entryway, I asked, “Did you see that guy?”
“Which guy?”
“Across the street. Looked like he just came up from some underground lair.”
Shane peeked back out. “Oh, that’s just Jim.”
“Jim? Who’s Jim?” My voice rose to compensate for the cacophony coming from farther in.
“Nobody, really.” He leaned against the wall. “He’s this guy who runs a fan site out of his basement or something. He snoops around sometimes.”
“A fan site?” My stomach felt sour.
“I guess you call it that. He’s not a very good fan.”
