High Strung (Power Station Book 1) (29 page)

“Let’s get closer to the stage.” Megs moved us deeper into the throng, her hand wrapped around mine giving me no way out. Fifty-seven minutes. Brianne and Kyla were looking just as horrified as I was. Good, so it’s not just me.

“I hope you know this is the worst place ever,” I all but yelled into Megs’s ear. “Is this punishment for not talking to Troy about you?” I was joking of course. At least I think I was. She couldn’t honestly be mad at me for that. It’s not like Troy and I were friends. I barely counted Dan as a friend, and I was sleeping with him.

“This isn’t a punishment. So self-absorbed.” Megs laughed back. “One might question the company you are keeping.” Her smirk widened.

Oh smart. She hadn’t exactly mentioned Dan so therefore technically not broken any rules but the implication was there. Not that the other girls picked up on it. They were too busy looking around with wide-eyed expressions. We looked like tourists and we weren’t fooling anyone.

“Hello Manhattan.” The music had stopped and a voice pierced through the blackness on the stage. That voice. I knew that voice. I swallowed, trying to place it. Think, Ash. The stage remained dark, forcing me to play more mental guessing games.

“I was wondering if it would be okay if we hijacked the stage for a while,” the voice continued, the toned dipping slightly, teasing the audience seductively.

The crowd around us seemed to have clued in and had started screaming and yelling excitedly. I was assuming it was their way of saying yes, they didn’t mind. Either way, I was glad the mysterious voice meant DJ whoever had quit spinning whatever crap he’d been spinning at ear-bleeding decibels. I guess there was a silver lining. Crap. How much longer did we have left?

“I’m going to take that as a yes.” The voice chuckled sending the crowd into an even bigger frenzy.

A spotlight fired across the stage, lighting up the area to reveal five men standing ready to play. My heart stopped. I think I forgot how to breathe as well as the room around me started to spin. My eyelids peeled back so far away from my eyes I’m surprised my eyeballs didn’t fall right out of my head. Holy shit. Is it really? Yes, it is. It is Power Station, standing four feet in front of me.

Dan stared right at me, shrugging before attempting to give me an innocent-looking smile. Not even close, buddy. I knew this was more than just some freaky coincidence.

James—the now identified owner of the voice—smiled, dazzling the crowd as their screams got louder. Their suspicions were clearly confirmed as to who had been taunting them from the dark. He had a nice smile. James, I meant. I could see why girls loved him.

“Our bass player has a few words. Have you guys met Dan Evans?”

The screams got louder as Dan stepped into the center of the stage. His smile grew bigger the more the crowd hollered, his ego no doubt expanding as well. He was clearly enjoying himself. He looked down at me, as James handed him the microphone and he brought it to his mouth. “Hello Manhattan.”

The crowd erupted.

“Wow, it’s Power Station. Dan is fucking hot.” Kyla grabbed my arm and shook me. You know, in case I wasn’t sure of who was standing in front of me. She had no idea.

“So you see, ladies and gentlemen, I have a problem. I have talked it over with my brothers and they agree with me that this shit cannot stand. So we’re going to need your help here tonight.” I take back what I said about James’s voice being seductive. It was nothing compared to what was coming through the speakers now. Raw, hot, and demanding attention. I couldn’t stop watching him if I’d tried and there was no way I was going to try and stop. Not even for a minute.

“I met this girl.” Dan grinned as he looked directly at me. I had no idea what he was about to say. None. Not a clue. I needed to remember to breathe.

“And while she was fucking drop-dead beautiful and smart and has an attitude like no other, I couldn’t date her.”

My heart stopped. Again. No this time I was serious. I think I was actually dying. Was Dan seriously and very publicly telling me I was not his girlfriend? Did he have a soul? The disruption to my cardiac rhythm was short-lived. I unfortunately wasn’t going to die. Not from a heart attack at least. If ever there were a case of someone dying of embarrassment, I would probably be it. I was mortified.

“You see, for all her fucking perfection, she has never been to a concert. How does that even happen? I mean, I can’t be with someone who hasn’t been to a concert. Troy, can you believe that shit?”

Dan smirked as he continued, looking back toward the drum kit. Troy seemed amused as he glanced back, shaking his head. I couldn’t understand whether this was some bad, bad joke or a bad dream. Neither seemed plausible and both seemed horrible.

“So because it’s her birthday and because I’m not willing to walk away from her, we are going to rectify that situation tonight.”

What? What did he say? My head whipped around to Megs who was grinning, obviously in on whatever the fuck was going on. All of which was still unclear right now other than the fact that Dan Evans was standing on a stage talking about me.

“I need you to be loud, and I need you to rock this joint off its foundations so my girl can see what she’s missed.”

Did he just call me his girl? The crowd roared, giving Dan exactly what he wanted. Loud. Fevered. Crazy. I, on the other hand, stood stupefied. Wondering if I’d actually heard him correctly. Now would be a good time for that intelligence he spoke of to kick in.

“Ashlyn Murphy.” Oh fuck he said my name. Kyla and Brianne whipped their heads toward me, reflecting the shocked, bewildered look I was wearing. At least now I wasn’t the only one who had no idea. That was a positive surely, no longer alone in oblivion.

“Ash,” he repeated in case anyone had missed it the first time. “You have no idea how much it turns me on to be your first, and trust me, babe, I’m going to pop your cherry like it’s never been popped. Happy birthday.” His voice rumbled low through the microphone as he eyed me with intent. Intent to blow my mind and ravage my body. Although probably in the reverse order. And while I was still clueless as to what was happening, I was almost one hundred percent sure if he touched me right now I’d orgasm on the spot.

The noise around me was insane, the crowd engulfing us as Dan handed the microphone back to James and they launched into the first song.

The people around us started jumping in unison with the beat. Bodies pushed and pressed up against us as they carried us closer to the stage. I looked around at Megs, Brianne, and Kyla and their expressions matched those around them. They had experienced this before. They knew what awaited them. The anticipation of greatness was written all over their faces. I was the one who didn’t know what this would be like. To have them with me as I experienced this made it that little bit sweeter. That and having one hell of a live band be your first.

It was amazing. The sounds of the instruments and the vocals meshed seamlessly. It was uncanny. Flawless. It was exciting. It was thrilling and it was more emotional than I could have ever anticipated. I didn’t know what I felt just that I was feeling. Excited, elated, exhausted and they were just the E emotions. I totally got it now. What the appeal was. Why people lost their minds. Why people would line up for hours in those hopes of being this close to the band. It all made sense, and I took back whatever I may have thought or said about Power Station. They were amazing. Each of them worked their asses off. They moved through the set, each song pulling just a little bit more from the crowd. The crowd seemed to know every word, they sung it back to the band with so much passion, their arms outstretched hoping one of the band members would reach out and touch them. Girls dissolved into a puddled mess if Alex, James, Jason or Dan made contact. Troy was even able to evoke the same crazed reaction with just a look and smile, being hidden behind a drum kit not hindering his contribution to the mayhem. The temperature of the room and the excitement rose to a maddening level. I was awed.

The music stopped and the lights dimmed, plunging us back into darkness. The band left the stage but the noise continued to ring in my ears, disorientating me for a few minutes. I had no idea what I was doing or where I was. If asked, I would have been lucky to remember my own name.

“Ash.” Dan wrapped his arms around me materializing from the rowdy crowd. Wow. It was like magic but cooler, and with no cheesy bikini-clad assistant. His body, saturated from sweat, coated my skin as he embraced me. I loved it. He was so raw. I want to rip his clothes off and fuck him. The fact we had an audience didn’t even bother me. I just wanted him and I didn’t want to wait.

“Dan,” I moaned as I attacked his mouth with my own. I kissed him. Hard. I settled for my tongue doing the fucking for now. At least I could have that immediately.

“Whoa, Ash.” Dan’s hand’s reached down to my ass and pulled me up, grinding me against his cock. He was hard and obviously just as turned on as I was.

“So I take it from that reaction you enjoyed the show?” He smirked, squeezing my ass as he pulled away from me slightly. “Hey, Megs. I was beginning to think you weren’t going to show up.”

“Well your
girlfriend
was being difficult and wanted to go home. Like a spoilsport. On her birthday. I had my work cut out for me.” The word girlfriend rattled me to my core. Her choice of words or his? Megs had been in on the plan from the beginning. The fact that this whole night had been orchestrated was slowly coming together.

“How? What? When?” I waded through random thoughts unable to make my mouth function properly. How did Dan know it was my birthday? I hadn’t mentioned it. Did Megs go behind my back? I know she had good intentions but I couldn’t see her deliberately telling Dan when we had discussed not telling him.

“Hi, I’m Dan.” Dan peeled one of his hands from my ass and shifted me to his side so he could greet my friends.

“Kyla.”

“Brianne.”

They took turns in answering, still playing catch up as to what was going on.

“Nice to meet you, ladies. Thanks for coming out for the show. I swore Megs to secrecy.” Dan winked at Megs before dazzling the girls with his smile. He was charming them. It wasn’t hard.

Brianne nodded, unwilling or unable to speak.

“So the
Dan
you are seeing is Dan Evans?” Kyla pieced together, the penny finally dropping.

“Ah, she mentioned me. Be honest, did she tell you I’m the best sex she’s ever had?” Dan couldn’t help himself. Not sure if he was trying to embarrass me or he got some wild kick out of it, but there was no way we were going to be talking about our sex life with my friends. In a public bar. On my birthday.

“Actually I believe the words that were used were boring and sweater vests. Sorry, Dan.” I tried to steer the conversation away from anything sexual. And I was in fact telling him the truth. Granted they hadn’t been my words to describe him but they had been used while we had discussed him.

“Don’t make me fuck you in front of your friends to prove a point, Ashlyn. You know I’ll do it.” He wasn’t joking. I think we had established that when it came to sex, Dan didn’t ever joke and if given the chance he probably would have sex with me in front of all these people. Hell, I’d considered it not even twenty minutes ago.

“You crazy, crazy man.” I kissed him, knowing it was the only way I was going to shut him up. And because I wanted to kiss him,
really
wanted to kiss him.

“I don’t understand. You guys look like you are together. Who’s the guy you aren’t
really
dating?” Brianne found her voice finally in time to make things awkward again. I guess it was better just to get things out in the open.

“We aren’t dating? I’m kind of crushed, babe. I hope you haven’t been seeing someone else.” Dan pouted holding his hand to his chest, but I wasn’t sure if he was playing it off like it was no big deal or it actually was no big deal. It’s not like I had this thing worked out and deliberately tried to complicate things, and by the sound of it, he had no idea either.

“No, of course I’m not seeing someone else. You said you didn’t do girlfriends and I didn’t want to assume…” It had actually tormented me. He had put the idea in my head that what we had wasn’t a relationship. I had wanted it to be but I’d figured he’d made himself clear and I wasn’t about to beg. No matter how much I cared for him. No matter how much I was falling in love with him.

“Well just so there is no confusion. We’re dating. You are my girlfriend. This is a done deal.” He gestured between us. Well I guess it was. There was no way I wanted to fight it. It’s what I had wanted him to say. I just never believed he’d actually say it. Those words sent me even further into an emotional tailspin. Elation replaced the uncertainty I had been feeling. Every cell in my body tingled with excitement as he held my hand. We were dating, and I never thought I could feel so relieved.

People had started to surround us and while I hadn’t noticed before, it was painfully obvious now. Sharing this private conversation with my friends, while not ideal, was one thing. Sharing the conversation with a bunch of random people with camera phones, that was something entirely different.

“Hey, let’s get you ladies backstage.” Dan seemed to come to the same conclusion as I had. “You can meet the rest of the band.”

Everyone agreed, especially Megs who hoped to speak to Troy. I don’t know why she didn’t just go ahead and ask him. Actually I know why. The same reason why I hadn’t asked Dan for clarification on what
we
were. The promise of maybe was better than the disappointment of no.