My Side (11 page)

Gerry strolled up,
grinning. I smiled, about to introduce them but Danny was up and out of his
seat within seconds, “Oh man, Gerry Ronson?”

Gerry laughed, “You
must be Danny?”

Danny shook his hand,
“I’m a huge fan. You’re the best drummer.”

Gerry shook his head,
“No way. The best will always be Rick Allen from Def Leopard.”

Danny put his hands
out excitedly, “I know right. One arm and he still kicked the shit out those
drums.”

Gerry winked at Danny
and gave me a look, “How’s it going?”

A slow smile crossed
my
lips,
it was forced, “Great.”

He laughed, “Some
wine?”

My eyes narrowed, “He
told you?”

He laughed and sat
next to me as Danny went and attacked the bass player, Mike. We’d met briefly
once.

Gerry sat down next to
me, “He told me about the new deal.”

My stomach ached,
“Yeah?” What else could I say? Lochlan had friend-zoned me, after I
friend-zoned him first. Then we kissed and now we were pretending that didn’t
happen.

We both watched as
Danny mauled Lenny, the other band member. Gerry laughed, “Your brother is
awesome.”

I glanced at him,
“He’s annoying and completely smitten with Lochlan.”

“Everyone is. That’s
why we asked him to join. He’s brilliant with business and an
amazingly-talented
singer. As long as he keeps his temper in
check, he’ll take us to the top.”

I lifted my head,
“He’s smart?”

Gerry laughed, “You’re
an asshole. Yeah, he’s got his MBA in business from the University of
Tennessee. He’s smart. He’s already got us an agent and a few tour dates for
the winter months. We got a huge offer a couple days ago but he told us to turn
it down. We’re just waiting to see if that move pays off.” His voice was filled
with admiration.

“God, he’s perfect.” I
mocked.

He laughed, “He’s got
a horrid temper, and an even-worse roving eye; he’s not perfect. He has
groupies like I’ve never seen. Those poor girls are all in love with him and
he… well he’s not interested.”

That made me sick. He
was a womanizer. The worst kind of not perfect. The foul temper didn’t even
affect me. I could have cared less about that. He had never shown it to me. I’d
seen the glimmer in his eyes and that was about it.

Lochlan strolled over
with
a cranberry
lemonade, “I told them you can’t have
more than three of these or you’ll be their problem.”

I gasped, “Ass.”

He took a sip and
placed it in front of me, “Hey, it’s not my fault, you can’t hold your liquor.”

I scowled, “You’re
mean
.”

He shoved me over,
sitting too close. I moved over, taking my drink. He grabbed it and took
another drink. I snatched it
back,
“I don’t like it
when you drink…”

He turned, cutting me
off, “You wanna go to Salem tomorrow? Danny was saying he’d be interested in
seeing where the Witch trails were.”

I gave him an
exasperated look.

He shrugged, “We don’t
have to go.”

Danny sat down, “Mike
freaking Jones. Like… oh man, I am dying right now.”

Lochlan beamed at him,
nudging me, “You can tell him you don’t want to go to Salem, break his poor
heart.”

Danny’s lip popped
out, pouting like when we were little. I looked at Lochlan, “I never said
that.”

Lochlan cocked his
head, “You never said yes.”

“Yes.” I challenged
him with my stare.

He cocked an eyebrow,
“Yes?”

My stomach dropped,
but I kept my brave face on and nodded my head, taking a drink of my lemonade.

Danny looked at Gerry,
“You wanna come too?”

Gerry shrugged,
“Sure.”

Lochlan continued to
stare at me.
Even when the group of girls came over with
things for him to sign.

I sighed. Danny smiled
like a kid in a candy store and Gerry watched me with a smug look.

Mike came over, “Hey,
Erin.”

I nodded, “Hi.”

He sat down next to
Danny and started to drum with his fingers, “So, you liking it here?”

Mike seemed awkward. I
shrugged, “Yeah. Are you from here?”

He shook his head,
“No. Lenny is. I’m from Maryland. I answered
an add
,
like these guys. Lenny and Vic are from Boston. They had a band before but it
was a small-time gig, once a week at a small bar. The band broke up and they
decided to try again.”

“How long have you
guys been here?”

Gerry looked like he
was thinking, “Me, four years.”

Mike nodded, “Yeah and
I was just after you. So, almost four years.”

Lochlan finished
signing and spoke softly, “We gotta go.”

Mike beamed at me,
like he wanted to say something. Danny looked at
him,
“We’re going to Salem tomorrow, you wanna go too?”

Mike nodded, “Yeah.”
He handed his phone to Danny, “Put your shit in here.”

Danny took the phone
and added himself to it. Mike was the opposite of the rest of them. He looked
like he should be in a rock band. He had shaggy, brown hair and a handsome face
with brown eyes and a scruffy unclean look. He and Danny could be brothers.
They both looked like scruffy surfers who suited the band look.

Gerry was in skinny
jeans and a tight, graphic tee shirt. He had on thick, black glasses and his
hair was perfectly coiffed. He looked like a pop star. Lochlan had on his tight
denim shirt that I hated, with his sleeves rolled up so his tattoos stuck out
the bottoms of the rolled cuffs. He had on tight, dark-blue jeans with big boots
and his dark hair was a mess. He looked like he belonged in a mosh pit in
Ireland or the unemployment line.
The sexy side of the
unemployment line.

He flashed his blue
eyes at me, “See you after. Don’t leave, okay?”

I nodded.

They all climbed out,
leaving
me and Danny to watch
. The bar was packed. The
dance floor down front was filled with waiting fans.

The bar went black,
except for a white-blue light shining down on where Lochlan stood, center
stage.

I was holding my
breath seeing him up there.

He started to sing
softly. He held the microphone so close to his face his lips caressed it when
he sang. Everyone’s hands went into the air, swaying with the soft lyrics
coming from him. Danny jumped up, grabbing my hand and dragging me down front.
I got shoved and squished, but we made it.

Lochlan held a long
note, taking it higher and higher. The rest of the band exploded, as the lights
lit the rest of the stage up. The song picked up and the crowd erupted. My
heart burst with the shock of the dramatics.

Lochlan moved with the
beat, bobbing and swaying. He moved like the song was his heartbeat. When the
chorus hit again, he held the microphone out and let the crowd scream the
lyrics with him. He bobbed to the song with his arm stretched out. As the
chorus ended he kicked his boot with the beat of the drum and leaned back,
taking the song slow again. The lights faded again as he took it all way down.
He closed his eyes, caressing his lips against the microphone.

His arms flew into the
air as the light came back on and the band kicked back in. The song was
incredible.
My arms were in the air
,
I was swaying with him
. I was screaming like all the other
fans.

The song ended with
the lights going down again.

We stood in breathless
silence, waiting for it to hit again. The lights came on in the back,
showcasing Gerry lightly tapping on the cymbals. Lochlan started to sing from
somewhere in the dark.

His voice made every
hair on my body stand on end. I couldn’t even name the sounds I heard. The band
exploded again with the lights. Flashes of lights matched the movements of the
band.

The crowd frothed.
Elbows hit my back, the crowd swallowed me up and I didn’t care. All I saw was
him
. He was so alive. He was everything I wanted to be.

The flow of their
music was perfect, never letting us get comfortable. We were on edge, waiting
for him to rock us, or woo us, or make us hold our breath.

I moved with the
crowd, moving with him. He was the puppet master.

The show ended with
the best song of the night; he let the savage crowd sing most of the song as he
moved with the beat.

The lights went out;
the crowd went insane. The lights came back on and they were gone. The stage
was empty. Bouncers pushed us back a bit.

I made my way back to
my table. It was roped off but as I approached, a server took the rope away.
Danny slid into the booth, “That was fucking nuts. You see the dramatic pauses,
that’s what he and I were talking about.”

I
smiled
,
I was high from it
. “That’s cool.
They’re so good.” A server brought us
a lemonade
and a
beer. He smiled at her, ”Thanks.”

She eye-fucked him. I
didn’t even care. I searched the crowd for the band but they never came back. I
finished my lemonade, feeling the high of them and the buzz of the booze.

“I’m going to the
bathroom,” I shouted at Danny. He was mid-conversation with the server and
waved me off. I needed to tell him about our no-sex house.

I walked down the dark
hall to the bathroom. Girls were in a huge lineup. I stood at the back of it
for a second, but a door opened at the end of the hall. Gerry walked out,
getting mauled by the girls. He pointed at me, “Hey! Help?”

I laughed watching
them attack. Had they never noticed? Seriously, he was on our team. The lineup
thinned out; I smiled at him, “No way, you’re on your own, but thanks for clearing
a path to the bathroom.”

He gave me a look. I
budged ahead and slipped into the bathroom. I finished and washed my hands.
Gerry must have been in the hallway still. The bathroom was dead. I looked at
myself, wincing. I was a hot mess. My curly hair was huge and my face was red
and sweaty. Whatever.

I made my way back to
the table, but Danny nodded at me and pointed at the stage. In the dark corner
I saw Lochlan. He waved at me, trying not to get attention from anyone. I
walked over that way.

“We have to leave
through the back. It’s too nuts now,” he shouted at me.

I laughed and looked
around, “I’ll meet you at the house.”

He shook his head, “No
way, princess.” He put a hand out. I heard girls shouting behind me, over top
of the DJ music. I looked back as they rushed us. I grabbed his hand and let
him pull me up. He dragged me to the back of the stage and through an open
black, metal door. He closed it, pressing his back against it. Hands started
banging on it within seconds.

I looked up into his
eyes, “They’re like a zombie movie.”

He nodded.

We were alone in the
dark hallway.

The pounding of the
crazed fans, matched my beating heart.

My mouth hung open,
like I wanted to say something but I couldn’t.

The thing I wanted to
say would have broken our deal.

“Stop looking at me
like that,” he pleaded.

I shook my
head,
“I’m not looking at you like anything.”

He pushed me against
the wall behind me, pressing my back against it, “You are. I saw you in the
crowd.”

I shook my head,
“You’re magnificent.” The words were a whisper.

He struggled with
something and I could see it in his eyes when he lost the fight. He lowered his
face, pressing his lips against mine.

It was like the moment
when the lights came on, on the stage. It was explosions of sound and light.

His soft
lips against mine was
overwhelming. His hands ran down my
body, tracing my bare arms gently. I shuddered but let it happen.

Then, like it was a
second explosion of lights and sounds, I joined in. I wrapped my arms around
him, pulling him down on me. He moaned into my mouth as his tongue caressed
mine. His hands cupped my ass, lifting me up into his arms. He smelled like
sweat and tasted like beer.

I wrapped my legs
around his waist as he held me to the wall. His body pressed against mine was
exactly how I’d fantasized. His lips were softer than I imagined. He kissed
like he’d majored in it.

He pulled back,
letting me stand on my own and backed up away from me. “Oh shit. Sorry.”

I shook my head, “It’s
okay.”

We didn’t speak. We
breathed and tried to comprehend what was happening.

We had really crossed
the line this time. I didn’t want to stop but he had shut it off. I could see
it.