Chase Read online

  Secret Confessions: Backstage

  Chase

  K.M. Golland

  www.escapepublishing.com.au

  Secret Confessions: Backstage

  Chase

  K.M. Golland

  An All-Access pass to Sex, Love, and Rock ‘N Roll. Because what happens on tour doesn’t always stay on tour…

  From Australia to the world…

  Chicago. The last stop of their wildly successful US tour sees Australia’s biggest rock band, The Screaming Tuesdays, in sultry, summertime Chicago to play two sold-out shows. But the stage is not where the action is, and no one knows what goes on behind the scenes…

  Chase needs this concert—he’s had a bad day, a bad week, a bad month. When he arrives at the venue to discover that he’s left his ticket behind, it’s just one more item on a long list of ways his life sucks. Until a stunning brunette steps in to save the day, and the summer night gets a whole lot steamier…

  Secret Confessions: Backstage

  Reading order

  1. Chase—K.M. Golland

  2. Josh—Eden Summers

  3. Yanis—Lexxie Couper

  4. Theo—Zaide Bishop

  5. Kelly—Shona Husk

  6. Jet—Rhian Cahill

  About the Author

  ‘I am an author. I am married. I am a mother of two adorable little people. I’m a bookworm, craftworm, movieworm, and sportsworm. I’m also a self-confessed shop-aholic, tea-aholic, car-aholic, and choc-aholic.’

  Born and raised in Melbourne, Australia, K.M. Golland studied law and worked as a conveyancer before putting her career on hold to raise her children. She then traded her legal work for her love of writing and found her dream career.

  Acknowledgments

  To Kate and everyone at Escape Publishing: Thank you very much for inviting me to tour with the Screaming Tuesdays. It has been an absolute joy working with you.

  To the three loves of my life who allow me to breathe words.

  Contents

  About the Author

  Acknowledgments

  Episode 1—Chase

  Bestselling Titles by Escape Publishing…

  Episode 1—Chase

  The sun disappeared into the Chicago horizon, momentarily painting the sky orange and purple. Chase Lewis had been standing in a queue outside the Allstate Arena for over an hour, waiting impatiently in the humid night air to see one of his favourite rock bands, The Screaming Tuesdays. As the queue of concert-goers moved slowly toward the entry turnstiles, Chase fidgeted; the thought of finally being inside the stadium with a beer was ecstasy. In fact, he wanted more than just one beer tonight; he wanted a few. His objective: forget the shitty week he’d just worked, the overbearing boss who constantly gave him a hard time, and the ex-girlfriend who wouldn’t leave him the fuck alone. Yeah, he definitely wanted to forget about her.

  “Come on,” he muttered to himself, shifting from one foot to the other. He stumbled forward when he felt a body push into his back. The intrusion pissed him off. He was hot, thirsty, and his patience was all but gone.

  Spinning around, he was about to give the clumsy son of a bitch a piece of his mind, but swallowed the words before they exited his mouth.

  “Sorry,” a young, petite brunette said apologetically. “I tripped.”

  Chase gave her the quick once-over, instantly taking note of her tight body and red lips. He was a sucker for red lips…literally. Nothing drew his balls up quicker than sucking on a plump rouge lip while hearing a moan of anticipated sexual pleasure.

  He dipped his head, so that he was at her level, and tried to look beyond her large, white-rimmed sunglasses. “That’s okay. How was it?” he asked, a playful grin on his face.

  “How was what?”

  “Your trip?”

  The pretty young woman tipped her glasses down her nose and looked up at Chase with the most gorgeous green eyes he’d ever seen. “I’ve had better.”

  “That’s a shame.” He placed his hand across his chest, feigning heartbreak at her retort.

  “No, a shame will be me peeing on your leg if you don’t keep moving along. I swear to God, if I don’t get to a toilet soon I may end up doing just that.” She pushed her glasses back to sit on the bridge of her nose and then pointed ahead, indicating Chase should continue along the queue. Strangely enough, he did what he was told. He had no words. No reproach. No witty comeback. Nothing. Instead, all he could think about was the colour green and thick black lashes.

  “Ticket please,” a security guard demanded, snapping Chase from his emerald daze.

  He nodded and dug his hands into his pockets in search of his ticket. “Sure,” he said, fumbling for a few seconds, heat surfacing on his cheeks when he realised his fingers were coming up empty. “Shit! Where is it? I put it in my pocket.”

  Unperturbed, the security guard motioned for the person behind Chase to come forward. “Next please.”

  “Wait! I have a ticket,” Chase explained, exasperated. “I swear it! It’s got to be here somewhere.”

  Sweat started to bead on his brow at the prospect of not getting into the concert. Surely fucking not. After waiting so long for them to tour the US, there was no way he was going to miss out. A leprechaun would dance on the tip of his dick before he’d let that happen. Somewhere between leaving his apartment and where he was currently standing, his ticket had become lost…grown fucking wings and flown the fuck off. He ran his hand through his hair and gripped it in frustration. “Shit! I can’t believe this.”

  Just as he was about to turn around and trace his steps back to the apartment, the green-eyed brunette called out. “Hey, you!”

  He looked up and noticed her leaning over the turnstile, offering him a ticket. His brow furrowed in confusion.

  “Here, take this. I have a spare,” she explained, passing it to him before turning and walking away.

  Stunned, he looked down at his hand then back up to where she had disappeared into the stadium. He snapped out of his stupefied state and shoved the ticket at the security guard. “Here. Here’s my ticket,” he said quickly, snatching it back after it had been scanned. He scooted past the guard, desperate to catch up to the woman. He wanted to talk to her again, thank her and, if all went to plan, suck on her perfect, red bottom lip.

  ***

  The guy was incredibly hot. A bit cocky and, more than likely a little in love with himself, but most guys of his height, muscular build, and tan were. Jess had felt sorry for him, so she’d given him the redundant ticket she’d possessed. She could tell from the look of sheer disappointment on his face that had he not made it to the concert his life would’ve been over. Well, if she’d been in his shoes at that time, that’s how she’d have felt.

  As Jess strode toward the toilet, she couldn’t help but recall his thick, light-brown hair that he’d kept brushing out of his eyes. For a split second while chatting to him, Jess had wanted to run her hand through it, entangle her fingers, and gently tug. She liked guys with a nice smile and good head of hair, guys that took care of their appearance. Ben, her boyfriend who’d dumped her via text message only hours before the concert, had nice hair too. He’d also had a nice personality…until that personality removed its disguise and showed its true colours—varying shades of shit brown.

  Shaking her head angrily, she took in a deep breath and repeated the mantra she’d had on replay for a solid sixty minutes since she’d read his break-up text. I refuse to get upset or angry over him. I’m not going to let him win. He’s a miserable asshole with a tiny dick. Tiny dick, tiny dick, tiny dick.

  Ben’s explanation for dumping her was ‘just not feelin’ it any more’. The truth of the matter was, she hadn’t been ‘feelin’ it any more’ either. In fact, she hadn’t felt much of anything for the past few m
onths. Not even his tiny dick.

  Taking care of business as quickly as possible, Jess made her way out of the toilets only to come face-to-face with the hair and teeth guy.

  “Feel better?” he asked, one foot propped up against the wall, the epitome of cool, calm and collected. The guy was all kinds of aggravatingly hot and cocky.

  “Much better, thanks,” Jess replied, squaring her shoulders and walking past him, her cheeks revealing her attraction when they lifted into a smile.

  She continued to walk despite sensing he was right on her heels. Her plan: head straight for the bar—something cold, sharp and refreshing at the top of her pre-concert drink list. Hair and teeth guy was not going to stop that from happening.

  Chase stepped up beside her, matching her pace. “I just wanted to say thanks,” he said hurriedly. “You know, for the ticket.”

  “Not a problem. Like I said, it was a spare.”

  “Did someone stand you up or something?” he joked.

  Jess’s footsteps slowed at the hurtful truth, but she quickly regrouped and avoided his piercing gaze before answering. “Yeah, my asshole—and now ex—boyfriend did.”

  Chase stopped walking for a moment. “No shit! Sorry I didn’t—”

  “Don’t be. The guy had a tiny dick. I was just too nice to tell him so.” She bit back a smile.

  Chase burst into laughter, prompting Jess to do the same as she stopped at the bar to order a drink.

  “Let me,” he offered. “It’s the least I can do considering you gave me Tiny Dick’s ticket.”

  Jess smiled and nodded, her eyes momentarily locking on Chase’s before his stare dipped to her mouth. She ran her tongue across her bottom lip and gently sucked it into her mouth. He blinked and swallowed heavily, and Jess felt that near-forgotten tingle in her pussy.

  Embarrassment burned her cheeks, so she looked away, focussing on the many bottles of alcohol on the shelves behind the bar. “Okay, thanks. In that case, I’ll have a vodka and cranberry.”

  Chase ran his hand through his hair and she clenched her thighs tightly. There was something about him that awoke her nerve endings and sent an I-want-to-fuck-him message right to her brain. It was a strange notion for her to comprehend, because she’d never ‘just wanted to fuck’ anyone based solely on their appearance. She’d never thought herself as that shallow. Maybe it’s a subconscious retaliation toward Ben? Maybe she just wanted to fuck hair and teeth guy to feel better about being rejected?

  “The name’s Chase,” he said. He handed over her drink and offered his hand to shake.

  Jess extended her hand and placed it in his, the touch of his skin against hers more enticing than it should be. “Oh… Jess. My name is Jess. Thank you.” She quickly retracted her arm before it spontaneously combusted.

  “So how long have you been listening to The Tuesdays?” he asked, taking a swig of his beer.

  Jess watched the way his lips covered the rim of the bottle and how his Adam’s apple protruded when he swallowed. The sight made her swallow, too. “Ever since they released ‘Blindsided’” she said, sucking on her straw to refrain from choking.

  “Yeah, me too. Although, it’s not my favourite song of theirs.”

  “Mine neither,” she mumbled. “So what is your favourite?”

  Chase waggled his eyebrows, placed his beer on the bar top and threaded his fingers together before stretching his arms out in front of himself. He then proceeded to drum out the infamous beat of ‘Breathe With Me’, one of the only songs to contain a solo by the percussion genius that was Sawyer Temple, the band’s drummer.

  Jess closed her eyes. It was one of her favourite songs as well. “I lovvvvve that one,” she moaned.

  The bar-top tapping stopped, Jess opened her eyes to find Chase staring at her, mouth open, breath held. She leaned forward and sipped her drink, finding her position behind the straw strangely comforting. As she sucked in her cranberry and vodka, she watched his jaw shut tight then open again—like a fish out of water—before he stepped back from the bar.

  “Men’s room. Be right back,” he blurted, jogging off before she could ask him what was wrong.

  His sudden disappearance left her confused, embarrassed and alone. She’d obviously said something that had him fleeing her company. What it was, she had no idea, but she wasn’t about to wait around and find out. She pulled the straw out of her glass and tipped it to her lips, sculling the contents so that she could get the hell out of there.

  ***

  “Jesus fucking Christ,” Chase murmured as he made his way to the bathroom. The moan that had left Jess’s mouth while he’d tapped out the beat had sent his dick into woodland territory. In fact, if he unzipped his jeans he was sure a pixie, or fairy—or whatever other fucking woodland creatures lived among the trees—would fly out of his pants and give him the thumbs up.

  Pushing the bathroom door open, he made his way to the urinal. ‘Fuck, I can’t piss with this’, he thought, cradling the semi-chub that was bobbing in his palm. He shoved it back inside his boxer shorts and quickly washed his hands. Then, pulling out his phone, he tapped the envelope icon and messaged his friend, hoping to bide some time for his cock to return to its impersonation of Gonzo.

  Chase: Just heard the hottest girl I’ve ever seen moan when I played air-drums.

  Almost instantly, he received a response.

  Tyler: Fucking shitting me? What she look like?

  Chase: Brunette, big tits, green eyes, fuckable lips

  Tyler: You gonna do her?

  Chase: I’m gonna try

  Tyler: Good luck, my friend

  Chase smirked and slid the phone back into his jeans, giving his package a quick squeeze to test its firmness. He was good to go. He took a piss and thought of the douche that had dumped Jess. What a crazy fuck. Crazy or not, he was grateful the guy had severed ties, because it now meant that he could tie a knot of his own.

  Chase headed back to the bar, cock now limp, mind now functional. He was going to turn on the charm and, in doing so, hopefully turn on Jess at the same time. As he entered the bar, he wondered whether the rest of her body was as smooth as her hand, and whether her lips were as soft and sweet as they looked. Those very thoughts distracted him, until he looked up to find her gone. His stomach plummeted. Fuck!

  Running a hand through his hair, he turned 180 degrees in the hope she’d chosen a different spot to sit.

  She hadn’t.

  She was definitely gone. Son of a bitch!

  He shoved his hand into his pocket then pulled it back out again, his ticket coming out with it. A smug grin started to form on his face when he noticed the allocated seat number. ‘Fuck yeah!’ Just the thought of sitting next to Jess all night, listening and watching her moan to the sweet sounds of the band was music to his ears…literally.

  Sliding the ticket back into his pocket, he bought a beer and another cranberry vodka, and then made his way into the stadium, the stage before him illuminated in black light. The neon paint on the drum kit and backdrop graffiti artwork glowed brightly, making him smile. It looked great! Typical of the Tuesdays.

  Chase’s smile spread when he realised his and Jess’s seats were off to the left, front row and stage level, a metal railing the only thing separating them from the general admission patrons below. Preparing for their reunion, he breathed into his free hand, sniffing his breath for approval.

  His nose wrinkled.

  He didn’t approve.

  Which also meant Jess would not approve either. ‘Shit!’

  “Could you hold this for me?” he asked an usher, not allowing the poor guy an option of saying no before shoving the drink tray into his hand. “Thanks, Dude.” He slid his hand in his back pocket, pulled out some gum and popped a piece into his mouth. “I can take it from here,” he said, nodding with confidence while reclaiming the drinks.

  He continued forward with a renewed sense of courage and a swagger to match, confidence his middle name as he sat down beside Jess.
“Here,” he said, handing over her drink. “Figured you’d want another.”

  She startled and took it from him, eyeing the cup as she returned her phone to her ear. “Ah, Sal, I’ll call you…um…later, okay?” she said, ending the call. Jess then gave him a dick-shattering smile. “Thanks.”

  He leaned back and took a swig of his beer, the minty flavour of his gum now tainted. “Why’d you run off?” he asked, trying not to cringe; the taste was awful.

  “Why’d you run off?” she fired back, defensively.

  Her sass caught him by surprise. “I needed a piss.”

  “Me too.”

  “You pissed before.”

  “Weak bladder.”

  They commenced a silent war of stares, each daring the other to call their bluff. Neither of them was ready to relent, which was why it was a relief when the music kicked in, providing a distraction..

  The heavy base of the drums sounded throughout the stadium, sending vibrations through the concrete floor beneath their feet. Jess sprang upright and gripped the railing, bouncing up and down as she hollered, “Oh my God! There’s Sawyer!” She pointed to the drummer before turning to face Chase. “I love him! He’s my favourite.”

  Chase was already standing when Jess turned to face him, their close proximity swallowed the oxygen between them. Red lips beckoned his…his tongue…his teeth. His entire body craved hers, prompting him to lean in and murmur into her ear. “You have the sexiest lips I’ve ever seen. I want to fucking taste them.”

  The gasp that escaped her mouth had Chase pulling back to gauge her reaction. What the fuck did I just say? He was about to apologise when he noticed that she was flushed cheeks, timid smiles and seductive eyes—she was turned the fuck on. ‘Bingo!’

  A calculated smile crept in at the corners of her mouth when she slowly raised her finger and teasingly traced her lips, luring his gaze. The motion of her finger was hypnotic, mesmerising him into a state of immobility—pupils dilated, limbs indolent.