WILDER: A Rockstar Romance by Vivian Lux Page B

laughing in Keir's kitchen like I didn't have a care in the world. I was certain that she'd be able to somehow smell him on me, the traitorous mix of man and desire.
    She stood in the center of my room, her eyes going everywhere. I waited, not saying anything, trying to see the room through her eyes. What had I missed? A speck of dust, a book out of place on my shelf? My bed was made, my windows were free of fingerprints, infractions that had earned me her ire in the past.  I looked harder, wondering what it was that she saw, wondering why she looked so livid. From what I could tell, there was nothing that I had missed.
    But there was always something I had missed.
    "Do you remember what today was?" she asked me. 
    My whole body went on red alert. That's what I had missed. I had forgotten about her presentation to the library board. She was expecting me to ask about it at dinner, but I was still lost in my daydreams of Keir.
    "How did it go?" I asked brightly, pasting a wide smile across my face.
    But she wasn't fooled. "You forgot, didn't you?" she said. Her nostrils flared white.
    "Oh no, no, of course I didn't, Mom. I'm so proud of you. I'm sure you did really well." I hoped that was enough.
    She smoothed her hair. "Well, I was clearly the right choice for the coordinator position," she said.
    I nodded enthusiastically. "Well, that's always been clear. You're way better than Beverly Wilshire."
    Her eyebrows knitted together. Instantly, I realized I had said something wrong. I backtracked quickly through my head—what had I said? Was it about Beverly? Was it about her position, even though it was only as a volunteer? Where had I made the mistake?
    "You are an awfully ungrateful little shit. I did not raise you to speak that way about your elders. Beverly Wilshire is very good at her job."
    "Of course, of course. I'm really sorry, Mom."
    "I raised you better than that."
    "You did." I bit my lip. "That was wrong of me. I'm sorry."
    She shook her head. "I should've known better than to hope that you would remember. You're so selfish, Scarlett."
    She slipped from the room, and I breathed a sigh of relief in spite of her harsh words. Perhaps that would be all, just a cutting remark. Those I could handle.
    Besides, some of them were true. I was selfish. Instead of staying home with my family, who had given me everything, I started spending every afternoon in the Wilders' garage. While my mother volunteered and my father managed his dental practice, I steeped myself in rock 'n' roll rebellion. I was there, watching, as they assembled the band. And I was there at their first shows around Buffalo, sneaking out of the house so I could be there, cheering them on wildly as their number one fan. I was there watching as Keir snaked his way under the microphone in those first few shows, stretching upwards like he was reaching out for a kiss. I was there, flushed and breathless watching him, desire boiling off my skin like a vapor.
    The music of Ruthless was the soundtrack to my awakening. Keir and his songs made me love myself for the first time in my life, and the feeling of blossoming confidence was opiate in my system.
    Of course, by that time, I had fallen madly in love with Keir Wilder.
    Music and love boiled through my veins in equal measure, leaving me frustrated and restless, not knowing what the hell to do with myself. Suddenly, not just the house, the block, but the entire city of Buffalo was too small to contain me. I needed to get out.
    Keir was my ticket out.
    I set my pen back down again, appalled at what I had just written. This was too raw, too personal to allow it to be splashed all over the pages of Auteur .
    I thought for a moment, then scratched everything out and started over again.

Chapter 15
    Keir
     
    Once you're in the groove of touring, when the roadies know their jobs through and through, and there are no guest performers to rehearse with and no more surprises to contend with, then it's okay to skip sound