Denny had only mentioned that our new roommate, Kellan, was in this band. He had never elaborated on which member that might be. I hoped it was the big, teddy bear looking guy in the back. He seemed like he'd be easy going.
Denny had finally worked us through the crowd to the burly man. He'd noticed us approaching and was smiling broadly at Denny. "G'Day, mate! Glad to see ya again," he yelled over the music, trying to mimic Denny's accent, and butchering it horribly.
I smiled to myself. Everyone always tried to sound like him, once they heard him speak. Usually, nobody pulled it off well. It was just one of those accents that sounded phony unless you had lived there. Denny was always trying to get me to use it, it highly amused him when people tried, but I knew I couldn't, so I didn't even try. No point in making myself look stupid.
"Hey, Sam, long time, no see." Denny's year here as an exchange student back in high school had introduced him to Kellan. Since Sam looked about Denny's age, I assumed that was how he knew him too. I smiled wider as they gave each other a swift "guy" hug.
Sam was a big guy. He definitely had a beefcake body, his red shirt barely containing his muscles. His head was completely shaved, and if he hadn't been grinning, I would never have dared to approach him. There was just an air of menace about him, which, now that I noticed the name of the bar across his shirt, seemed appropriate. He obviously worked as a bouncer here.
Sam leaned in closer to us, so he didn't have to talk quite so loud. "Kellan told me you were coming in tonight. Staying with him, huh?" He looked over at me standing beside Denny. "This your girl?" he asked, before Denny could answer his first question.
"Yeah, this is Kiera, Kiera Allen." Denny smiled over at me. I loved the way his accent slid over my name. "Kiera, this is Sam. He and I were mates in school."
"Hello." I smiled slightly at him, not knowing what else to do.
I hated meeting people for the first time. It always made me a little uncomfortable and very self-conscious. I didn't feel like I was anything special to look at. Not that I was unattractive, just nothing special. My brown hair was long and, thankfully, thick, with a slight curl to it. My eyes were hazel and I'd been told expressive (which in my head, always translated to overly large). My height was in the middle for a girl, 5'5", and I was pretty lean, thanks to running track in school. But overall, I felt very average.
Sam nodded back at me and looked over to talk to Denny again. "Anyway, Kellan had to start his set, but he left your key with me in case you guys didn't want to stay....you know, long drive and all." He reached in his jeans pocket and handed the key over to Denny.
That was sure nice of Kellan. I was dead tired, and really just wanted to get settled in, then sleep for about two days straight. I really didn't want to have to wait for who knows how long a "set" lasted to get our key. I glanced back over to the band again. The singer was still mentally undressing every woman he spotted. Occasionally, he would suck in a breath through his teeth, exaggerating the sound in a way that was almost intimate. He leaned over the microphone and reached out a hand to get closer to his adoring fans, making them squeal in delight. Most of the men in the bar were farther back, but some boyfriends had stuck close to their girls. Those men eyed the singer with decided distaste. I couldn't help but think that some day he was going to get his ass seriously kicked.
More and more I believed the nice looking guy in the back was Denny's "mate." The drummer just seemed like the good-natured, carefree type of person that he would easily bond with. Denny was taking a minute to chat with Sam, asking him about what he was up to now. When they were finished catching up, we said our goodbyes.
"Ready to go?" Denny asked, knowing how tired I was.
"Oh, yes," I said, aching for an actual bed. Thankfully, the last tenant had left some furniture behind.
Denny laughed a little and then looked over to the band. I watched him, waiting to catch his friend's eye. He liked having light facial hair along his jaw line and upper lip. Not a lot, and not heavy, he just looked like someone who had been on a long camping trip. It made his could-be baby face seem older, more rugged. It was soft though and felt nice when he nuzzled my neck. It was also incredibly sexy. I realized I was ready to leave for more than one reason.
Still intently watching Denny, I noticed him raise the hand clutching the key and nod his chin up. Apparently he had finally gotten Kellan's eye, and signaled to him that we were heading home. I was so lost in my dreamy thoughts that I'd forgotten to watch who he signaled. I still wasn't entirely sure which one he was. I glanced over, but none of the four were looking our way.
As we started to make our way back to the door, I looked over to Denny. "Which one is Kellan anyway?"
"Huh? Oh, I guess I never really explained that, did I?" He nodded back to the band. "He's the singer."
My heart dropped a little. Of course he was. I stopped and looked back, and Denny stopped with me, watching the band as well. Sometime while we had been walking away, the song had changed. It wasn't quite so rock; the beat was slower and Kellan's voice was lower and smoother, sexier, if that were possible. But that wasn't what made me stop and listen.
It was the words. They were beautiful, heartbreaking even. It was a poetic declaration of love and loss, insecurity and even death. Of wanting someone left behind, to remember him as a good person, a person worthy of being missed. The insipid girls, who had doubled in size, were still clamoring for his attention. They didn't even seem to recognize the change of the music's tone. Kellan was completely different though. Both hands were now curled around the microphone and he looked out over the crowd, his eyes unfocused, absorbed in the music. His whole body was lost to the words; they seemed to come from deep in his soul. Where the other song had just been fun, this one was personal; it obviously meant something to him. He stopped my breath.
"Wow," I stated when my breathing started back up. "He's...amazing."
Denny nodded over to the stage. "Yeah, he's always been really good at this. Even his band in school was good."
I suddenly wished we could stay all night, but Denny was every bit as tired as I was, maybe more so, since he had done the majority of the driving. "Let's go home." I smiled up at him, loving the way that sounded.
He grabbed my hand and pulled me through the rest of the crowd. I glanced back at Kellan one last time before we stepped out the door. Surprisingly, he was looking straight at me. That perfect face focused solely at me, made me shiver a little. His powerful song still played on and again, I wished I could stay to hear the end.
He was so different now than the first time I had noticed him. In that first glance he had just seemed so...sensual. Everything about him had screamed, I'm going to take you right here and make you forget your own name. But now he appeared deep, soulful even. Maybe my first impression was wrong? Maybe Kellan was someone worth getting to know better?
Living with him was going to be...interesting.
Denny found our new place easily; it wasn't terribly far from the bar. The house was on a smaller side street, tightly crammed to the houses next to it. The street itself so completely lined with vehicles, it was practically a one-way street. The driveway looked just big enough for two cars, so Denny pulled into the spot farthest from the front door.
Denny grabbed three of our bags from the back seat while I grabbed the remaining two, then we made our way inside. It was small, but charming. The entrance had hooks for jackets, all of them empty, and a half-moon table, where Denny tossed his keys. To our left, was a short hallway ending in a door. A bathroom maybe? Off that hallway, I could just make out a countertop. Must be the kitchen. Directly in front of us, was the living room, with an overly large television set being the most prominent feature. Boys will be boys. And to our right, was a set of stairs that curled around to the top floor.
We followed the stairs up and stopped at a set of three doors. Denny opened the right door - the exceedingly messy bed and an older looking guitar propped in the corner, gave it away as Kellan's room. He shut the door and tried the middle one, laughing a little at our guessing game. Ah, he had found the bathroom. That left door number three. Smiling, he opened it wide for us. I started to look around, but didn't get much further than the impressively large, queen-sized bed in the middle of the wall. Not one to miss an opportunity, I grabbed Denny's shirt and pulled him suggestively to that bed.
Alone time didn't happen very often, we were usually surrounded by so many people - his Aunt, my sister, or ugh...my parents. It was cherished, and one thing I had quickly realized upon inspecting our tiny new home was that we weren't going to be quite as alone here as I had hoped, especially upstairs; I could tell the walls were very thin, not much in the way of privacy. So we threw our bags in the corner of the small room and took advantage of the fact that our roommate had a night job. The rest of our stuff could wait to be brought in the house. Some things were just too important.
I awoke early the next morning, still groggy from days of traveling, but refreshed. Denny was stretched out on his side of the bed and looked entirely too peaceful to wake. A small thrill passed through me at waking up next to him. We rarely were able to spend an entire night together, but now we would get every night. Careful to not disturb him, I stood and made my way to the hall.
Our door looked directly across to Kellan's room and his door was slightly cracked. The bathroom was in-between the two small rooms and the door was shut. My family never had it closed unless someone was in there. It was bright enough outside now, that no light would be needed in there. Do I knock? I didn't want to feel like an idiot, knocking on my own door, but I hadn't been introduced to Kellan yet, and walking in on him was not the way I wanted to meet him...not that I ever did want to walk in on him. I glanced over to his door and listened until I thought a vein might burst. I thought I could hear light breathing coming from his room, but really, I could have been hearing my own. I hadn't heard him come in last night, but he seemed like the type to stay out 'til four and sleep in 'til two, so I took a chance and turned the knob.
Relief washed through me that the room was empty. Relief and the intense desire to wash the travel grime from my body. Making sure the door was securely locked (I didn't need Kellan walking in on me either), I turned on the shower. Last night, I had hastily scrounged through my stuff for my pajamas before passing out from exhaustion. Now, I stripped off my sleep pants and tank top and stepped into the near-scalding water. It was heaven. I suddenly wished Denny was awake. I wished he was in here with me. He had the nicest body and it was even more so, streaming with water. But then I remembered how dreadfully tired he'd looked last night. Hmmm...maybe another time.
I relaxed into the hot water and sighed. I hadn't remembered shampoo in my hurry to the bathroom, but luckily there was a bar of soap in the shower. Not the greatest way to wash my hair, but I wasn't comfortable using Kellan's expensive looking stuff. I luxuriated under the hot steam for a lot longer than I should have, considering the other people who probably wanted a tiny bit of warm water for themselves. I couldn't help it - it just felt so good to be clean again.
Finally, I shut the water off and dried away the droplets with the only available towel. It was dreadfully thin and slightly too small; I would need to remember my big, comfy towel next time. Hastily wrapping it around me, I braced myself for the cooler hallway air and opened the door. I had forgotten all of my toiletries, not to mention a change of clothes, in my desire to be clean. I was concentrating on remembering which bag in our chaotic pile held my stuff, when I noticed that Kellan's door was now open...and occupied.
He was standing in his doorway, yawning lazily and scratching his bare chest. Apparently, he preferred sleeping in just his boxer shorts. I couldn't help but to be momentarily distracted by the sight of him. A nights rest hadn't affected his messy hair negatively at all; it looked downright delicious, going every which way. His body was mostly taking up my attention however. It was as fabulous as I had suspected. Where Denny's body was great, Kellan's was just ridiculous. He was tall, maybe a good half-foot taller than Denny, and his muscles were long and lean, like a runner's, I suppose. And they were very clearly defined. I could have taken a marker and etched every single line.