Absolutely Unforgivable (17 page)

Billy said, “Hey let’s go” while he slid his arm around me, and rested his hand on my hip as he pulled me closer to him. We were so close that I could smell his cologne. It was heavenly. He led me back to the band’s table and then waved to the waitress to bring us some drinks.

“I can’t believe how incredibly hot you look.” A smile tugged at my lips, while I noticed his eyes working their way up and down my shimmering body.

“It’s shimmer body paint. The lady painted me with it all over.”

“
All
over?” he said as he raised an eyebrow.

I leaned in closer so that only he could hear and whispered, “Yes.
All
over”.

Billy shifted uncomfortably in his seat so I gave him a flirty smile and leaned back in mine. I crossed my legs, shifting up my skirt slightly so that it revealed my tanned and shiny legs. Billy’s eyes immediately shot down to look and then quickly back up at my eyes as if he was embarrassed by what he had done.

I didn’t recoil. I just sat back and enjoyed every minute of him wanting me. Billy eventually turned in his seat so he could force himself not to look. He took my hand, and started fondling my fingers, which I enjoyed immensely. I tried to ignore the tingling sensation, but to no avail as I still ended up smiling and blushing.

Unfortunately our special moment was broken when a very loud and boisterous Travis; a hyper Bran; and a very cheery Zander came to the table. They had ordered drinks to be brought to them, and were now taking their seats. The girls soon followed and took their places around the crowded table as well.

“Damn girls. If your intention was to be so hot tonight that we would be too fucking horny to play, I think you might have accomplished your goal.” I rolled my eyes at Travis as Darla rubbed his arm sensually and Starla leaned in to kiss him.

I wondered for just a minute what it must be like to share your boyfriend with your best friend. I wondered if I could ever do that and then quickly shook that thought out of my head, realizing there was just no way I could. I would be far too insecure and jealous. Still, it seemed to work for Darla and Starla. I wasn’t sure how, but they always seemed to be perfectly happy sharing him.

When I turned my head away to avoid looking at Travis, Bree caught my attention. I thought she was giving Zander the once over which then made me turn my head to check him out. I looked down to the other end of the table where he was sitting without anyone special by his side so I stood up and took Bree by the hand and walked her down to Zander.

“Zander, this is my friend. I think you two should meet.”

He cocked his head back like Billy and greeted her. “Hey. I think we met before, at Billy’s house.”

“Yes. That was me! I’m Brianna but my friends call me Bree.”

“Hey Brianna.”

“No, silly, you can call me Bree too,” she said while playfully hitting his arm. I noticed he flexed when she did that.
He liked her!

Feeling giddy with accomplishment, I went to take my seat near Billy when I noticed Brick, Patrick and Tiffany joining the mix. Everyone was here now; well except Trista who I had no doubt would be arriving any minute to give me more evil glares.
Why was she such a bitch to me? What did I ever do to her?

“One, two, three, four ... yeah, this will work.” I turned towards Billy to see what he was talking about. It was female bodies he was counting. “Eight of my little flag girls tonight.”

Before I could respond though Trista came up behind me and stuck her head over my shoulder. “Nine. That would be nine.”

I jumped, surprised at her touch. Then turned around to see she was dressed up as well, like the rest of us. I was shocked. She was normally so conservative and always did her best to distinguish herself from the rest of us in the group. Tonight, however, she was one of us. But unlike the others, she somehow found a way to make her slutty American flag outfit look classy. She had a flag shirt on that came down just below her breasts and exposed all of her well-toned stomach. Man that girl must spend some serious time in the gym. Her skirt was solid white, short and frayed with fringe around the trim. Her boots were also white with matching fringe. I hated to admit it, but she looked hot.

Even Tiffany had joined us in our little dress up game, only she didn’t exactly wear what the rest of us had on. She had some skinny jeans tastefully dyed to look like an American flag with bright red heels and a white shirt that tied in the front, exposing only a small part of her stomach. It was cute and sexy but not over the top erotic, like the rest of us.

Trista put a shot glass in front of me. “Truce?”

I looked her up and down, thinking carefully about my next move. On one hand I could pick up the glass and throw my drink at her and tell her to kiss my butt, and that was an option I was seriously considering, but when Billy put his hand on top of mine and squeezed it tightly, I opted to agree to the truce. We drank to our new found friendship and then Billy leaned in to speak to me. He told me that tonight they would be playing two sets, one at around six and then again at midnight to close the show. In between, several other lesser-known local bands would take the stage.

“I want you and the girls up there with us tonight.” I looked around at all of us dressed in our matching outfits and I could totally get that. It would be pretty cool idea to have us up there with him. “There is no way in hell I’m letting you out of my sight tonight,” he said with a grin on his face.

I leaned into him to whisper seductively in his ear, “If I agree, do you promise to behave yourself up there?” I ran my hand down his chest before pulling away and sitting back down in my chair all of the way.

He raised an eyebrow and said, “Do you really think I’m going to give you a choice about this?” I knew he was only teasing but still, the way he said it was so commanding and sexy. It sent a chill up my spine.

I sighed and begrudgingly agreed. I didn’t really want to be in the spotlight but I also wanted to make Billy happy and I also liked that at least Billy was trying to include me in his world. He made a real effort to bring me into the act. He wanted me to be up there with him, near him. That and I also completely understood why we should be up on the stage with him, even if I didn’t exactly like being the center of attention. Although they may call me their superstar, it wasn’t my dream to be in the spotlight. I would be perfectly happy to sit in the background.

We had about an hour before Billy and the boys had to go on stage and we threw back as many drinks as we could in that time. That was probably not the smartest thing I could have done. The more I drink, the more I seem to forget myself and lose my inhibitions.

When it was time we made our way on stage. Before they started playing, Trista had positioned all the girls, in our cute little red, white, and blue outfits across the stage in various positions. Me, however, Billy wanted front and center near him. At this point I had enough drinks in me that I didn’t care. I was feeling great and ready to have a good time.

The set started with Billy screaming “AHHH YEAHHHH!” into the microphone. Everyone rushed to the stage. Those who weren’t already standing around watching us set up, that is. The crowds poured in from all over. It was an endless sea of people cheering Billy and the band on. I stood near Billy shaking my tambourine and my ass. Billy playfully turned my way to sing to me at various parts of the song.

For some reason my mind and body must have separated. Maybe it was all the drinks I had before, maybe it was the roar of the crowds and the excitement of being onstage. But whatever it was, something pulled me over to Billy and I started dancing seductively as he sang. With his hands firmly grasped on the microphone stand in front of me, I treated the rest of his body as if it were a stripper pole. Not to be outdone, Darla and Starla started to do the same to Travis. The crowd let out a deafening cheer as I bumped and grinded on Billy’s body. Amazingly, he never missed a beat.

When the song started to slow down, Billy reached out and grabbed me. He put his arms around my waist and pulled me into him. I, however, didn’t stop my erotic dance. I just slowed it down a notch. Then when the song sped up and he grabbed the microphone stand again with both hands I stepped back, getting out of his way and continued on with my sexy dance.

When the song ended, Billy turned his head my way and gave me a huge smile. I started to step back and take the spot on the side of the stage near Mindy and he shook his head and then pointed back to the spot near him. I shrugged and walked back to where I had originally been standing. I guess he wasn’t kidding; he really wasn’t letting me out of his sight tonight.

Billy rarely took his microphone off of the stand but for this song he did. That made me a little nervous. I wasn’t quite sure what he was up to. Behind us the band started to play a fast tempo and Billy walked over to me. I didn’t recognize the song. It must be a new one.

“I know a girl, she’s so fine. She’s one hot mess and for tonight she’s all mine. She looks so fine, maybe one day she really will be mine. She gives hot ass mess a new meaning.”

What the hell? Was Billy singing this song about me? I’m a hot mess? Seriously?
I could feel the heat filling my cheeks. Is this really how he saw me? I did my best to shake off my irritation, reminding myself this was just a song and this was just an act. We are onstage performing, after all.

He stepped behind me and put one of his hands around my waist and sang, “All you want is just to hold her tight.”

He walked around me and back to my side. He pulled me into him and held me tightly in his arms. My pulse quickened and I started to breath heavily. Our lips were incredibly close. There was that sparkle in his eyes I had seen before. He loved being onstage. This was where Billy was at his best. As he looked into my eyes he continued to sing. I tried to pull away but he held me closer. Then he let go of his grip on me and sang the rest of the song as he walked around the stage, eventually making his way back to his stand and replacing the microphone on it.

When the song ended, I took a deep breath and put on my best fake smile. Normally he only tortured me with two songs in a set before moving on to something else, but tonight I wouldn’t be so lucky. I started to have a feeling I was going to be here in this spot for the entire set. Luckily the next song was much faster and easier to dance to. It had a fun, fast beat. I shook my tambourine on my hip as I swayed to the music and then something strange happened.

Billy turned his head towards me as if he was again singing to me and shouted, “I love you. I hate you. I can never let you go. No matter what you put me through, you always feel like home. You are here with me, but you’re not. I love you. I hate you. But I can’t fucking let you go.”

I froze in place. I suddenly couldn’t breathe or even think. I couldn’t remember what I was supposed to be doing.
Was Billy singing that about me? No. He couldn’t be. Well, maybe. Is he trying to tell me how he really feels? God, what is wrong with me? It’s just a song. I’m just imagining things.

Trista, being the constant professional that she is, noticed I was in trouble. As Billy turned back to face the crowds to sing the rest of the song, Trista came up behind me and started dancing with me. It helped me come out of my daze. When the song ended, she didn’t leave and we continued to play up the girl-on-girl thing. It was very much not like the Trista I had known before. The beat of the next song started and I did my best to shrug off what Billy had said before.

Luckily for this next song he didn’t turn towards me and sing directly. I think I might have lost it if he had -- Especially since he was singing Simple Plan’s
Addicted to You
. Trista continued to dance with me throughout the song and soon Mindy joined our little fray and before long I had forgotten all about the incident.

At the end of the song Billy took the microphone back off of the stand, walked over to me, winked and then turned back to face the crowd. “Everyone give it up for our little superstar, Stacy Keller.” The crowd cheered. Next he took Mindy’s hand and lifted it in the air: “Mindy.” He made his way over to every person on stage, lifted their hand and called out their name.

I noticed behind me that Trista gave a commanding look to Brick and a few moments later he was making his way onto the stage with two shot glasses in his hand, one of which he handed to me, the other to Trista. “Here drink this quickly,” Brick said to me as he put the drink in my hand. I downed it and then Trista handed me hers. I gave her a look but all she would say was, “Hurry up, they are about to start up again.”

I did as she instructed and downed the drink. It was a sweet thick drink, with a butterscotch and chocolate aftertaste. I handed the empty glass back to Brick and he quickly made his way off stage. Just in time for me to hear that ominous riff on Zander’s guitar.
Damn it. They are playing Jessie’s girl.

Before I could turn around to look, Billy was behind me, dragging me back to the center of the stage. The crowd cheered on as I stood near Billy shaking my tambourine. Trista was a smart girl. She knew those drinks would help me relax and they really did.

Just as before, at the chorus of the song I leaned in to sing with Billy. As the song ended, Billy addressed the crowd saying: “Thank you. Thank you all. We are going to take a break now but we’ll be back later tonight.”