Chapter 22:
After the Show
"What the hell was all that?"
screamed Kevin at the top of his lungs, ripping off his ear set and hurling it
viciously across the back stage. "What the fuck is going on?" He
glanced angrily at each one the Backstreet Boys as they exited off stage, the
concert over, the applause fading away as the arena began to empty.
"Well?" He searched each face for an explanation and got none. He
pointed a finger at Nick, livid. "Hey, hot-shot, next time you don’t come
on cue with Brian, I’ll make you live to regret it. You’re lucky the crowd
thought it was a joke." Nick opened his mouth for a smartass reply but saw
Kevin’s glare and thought the better of it. Kevin turned on AJ. "And just
what the hell do you think you were doing? This isn’t the Johnny-No-Name show
where you hog all the stage. You better not cut in front of us tomorrow night,
got it?" Kevin used his height to tower over AJ, making his presence felt.
AJ was braver than Nick. "Hey,
someone had to look alive. Maybe you should wake up your cousin over there and
tell him we were on stage." AJ smirked at Brian, who was leaning wearily
against a wall.
Kevin looked over at Brian, his face in a
frown. "You had better get some sleep, because I want to see some major
improvement by tomorrow night, got it?"
Even tired as he was, Brian felt
resentment stir within him. As he expected, Nick and AJ had made things
difficult tonight, but he hadn’t counted on Kevin slamming him too. He pushed
away from the wall, upset. "Okay, I’ll admit I nearly walked through the
dance steps tonight, but at least I made sure I sang my heart out, unlike some
others here," Brian said, glaring accusingly at Kevin, AJ and Nick.
Offended, Kevin grabbed Brian’s arm, not
noticing the wince on his cousin’s face. "Don’t you ever..."
"Anything wrong here, guys?"
Xavier’s tone was innocent enough, but
Brian tensed as he watched him cross his massive arms across his chest.
Startled, Kevin dropped his hand, annoyed at the bodyguard’s intrusion.
"Nothing that concerns you Xavier."
A cold smile enveloped his face, his eyes
boring into Kevin’s. "Everything concerns me, Mr. Richardson. And right
now, I need to see if Mr. Littrell is okay." He gave a quizzical look at
Brian. "You alright?"
Brian nodded, embarrassed by Xavier’s
exaggerated concern. "Fine," he said curtly, wanting the hell to be
out of here. He gave Kevin a quiet look as if daring him to say anything
further. Kevin stared right back at him. "Well, I guess everything’s been
said," Brian stated quietly. He turned and left, walking down the hallway,
feeling Xavier hurrying to catch up with him.
Howie sighed, shaking his head, Nick
mumbled something vaguely sounding like a curse, Kevin stood silently watching
Brian’s retreating back, and AJ watched Xavier, uneasy.
***
