The Rock Season (10 page)

“Tyson came by and told me to tell you to take off after Bonham.”

I nodded to him and glanced at Stevie to see that she was biting her lip. Jesus, she was killing me!

“Thanks, Coop. See you later.”

He nodded, gave me a mock salute, and took off at a jog. I stifled a groan, but Stevie was giggling.

“I didn’t know you merited a salute! Did I break protocol?”

I rolled my eyes and led her over to sit on my stool. I stood next to her and looked around.

“You laugh, but I did get wounded this summer in battle. That did a lot for my street cred.”

She covered her mouth and I laughed at her reaction. “If this is your side job, Aaron, can I ask what else you do?”

I shrugged, kicking a rock around absently. “You can ask.” Her eyes flared and I laughed. “I’m kidding. I don’t want to play guessing games tonight,” I said, semi-seriously. “I own a music store in Hayward called Vinyl Mine. We sell vinyl and CDs as well as instruments and sheet music. My friend Schroeder and I opened it up about three years ago.”

She was smiling at me. “That sounds like a dream job. I always wanted to work in a record store. Or a bookstore.”

I cocked my head. “So what did you do instead?”  

She laughed. “Went to college, became a high school teacher. You know, I went for the big money.”

I barked out a laugh and thought that yeah, I could totally see her as a teacher. Then I thought of how obnoxious the twins were and I said, “I’m sorry. I mean, I think that’s great that you are a teacher. I just think it’s got to be hard. You know. Teenagers.”

She nodded. “It can be. But I’m actually doing a whole lot of nothing now. I took a leave of absence.” Her smile fell a little so I went for the save.

“Except going to shows. And interviewing a new concert buddy.”

She looked up at me and I could see she was grateful that I changed the subject. “Exactly. Although I think you passed the interview with flying colors. Now it will just take some time to see if you’re the right concert buddy to replace Maryland.”

I swallowed hard. “I don’t know that I can replace her. She’s got a much quicker wit than I do, and she slays with innuendo. Plus, I can’t quite rock the leather pants like she did the other night.”

She got hit with a giggle fit and almost fell off the stool. I steadied her with my hand and she took it in hers for a minute before noticing that I was still on duty.

“Oh! You probably aren’t supposed to fraternize while wearing this lovely shade of neon, are you?”  

I ran my hand over my head wondering if anyone would notice if I took her in the bushes right now and kissed her senseless.

“I guess not,” I said, hearing the disappointment in my voice.

She raised an eyebrow and leaned around me to look at my ass! She...what?

“For the record, I think you would seriously rock leather pants.” She sounded almost wistful.

I swallowed hard again. “I, uh, do have some. At home. But the last time I wore them my little brother saw me and gave me shit about it for a month.”

She sighed loudly. “He probably has really poor taste. What does he wear, Coogi? Diamond Supply?”

My eyes bugged out. “How did you- Oh! Right. Teacher.”

She shrugged. “Past tense. Yeah, I took this year off to decide what I wanted to do. I was working in Palo Alto but I moved out of there and, well, with everything that happened I just didn’t want to go back. No reason to. Now I just need to decide if I still want to teach or if I want to do something else.”

I nodded, crossing my arms and looking down at her. I really was looking around to do my job. There was still no one around. “What else do you think you might want to do?”  

She smiled. “I’d love to write. Either novels or for a music magazine. I have written a couple of novels, just never published them. I was thinking of getting back to that. I had a nest egg saved up so it won’t hurt me to take this time for me.” She had a really healthy attitude.

“I think it’s important to be doing what you want to do. I used to work in venture capital, but it was eating me alive. I left and I bought the store. Best move I made. Career wise.”

We talked a little more about what made us happy and fulfilled. It was obvious that she loved kids and wasn’t ruling out teaching again, but she needed a break. Physically she looked really healthy so she was obviously benefiting from taking this time.

Cooper came over a short time later and said, “Tyson said for you to take off. He said you’d understand.” He was giving me a goofy smile and Stevie picked up on it.

“You heard the man. Time to go have some fun, McShane.” She pushed me from behind up the hill and I heard her say, “Let’s go have some fun. We haven’t done any people watching and I’m hungry.”

I stepped to the side and took my jacket off, carrying it with my left hand so I could grab her hand with my right. I went to the security office and turned in my jacket and my radio. They wished me a good night and I checked out. Stevie dragged me back to the snack bar where she got some candy and two bottles of water.

“So where do you want to sit,” I asked her. She looked confused. “The show didn’t sell out. There are some good seats still up front. I checked with the box office earlier.”

Her eyes lit up and she bounced on her toes. “That’s AWESOME! OH! Stay still, and do not move.” She searched through her bag for a minute and pulled out her phone. “Now don’t move while I take this great picture of you,” she said with a wink. I frowned and laughed a little as she snapped shots in my direction, but not. Then she moved around to another angle and took a couple more.

“Got it!” She came over to my side and pulled up her photos. She’d gotten a picture of me looking at her like she was a little crazy, but behind me were two women, nearing forty, dressed very much like old school Brittany Spears. They were dancing all over each other, trying to catch the interest of some twenty-something guys who were looking at them and trying to determine if getting laid was worth it. I burst out laughing and then I remembered that first show.

“Hey, is this what you two were up to when I took your picture back in May?”

She looked guilty and nodded. “We’re bad, aren’t we?”

I gave her a stern look and said, “You two are quite naughty.”

She was furiously working on her phone, texting pictures, I assumed, to her friend. She spoke without looking up, humor in her voice.

“Well, duh! You’ve met Maryland, haven’t you?”

I laughed with her and we walked to the seats together. I’d scouted out some seats in the lower 100s on the far end. A pretty good view for sure. We had a few minutes before the show started and I wanted to just sit and relax with her. We were surrounded by much older people and it made me think back to her parents.

“So do your parents still go to shows?”

She shook her head, her smile sad. “No. They both passed away when I was in college. Mom had cancer, dad had a heart attack.”

Jesus, she was totally alone!

I asked her, “Do you at least have any siblings?”  

She shook her head. “Nope. Just me.”

I could really feel her strength and resilience. It was such a big part of who she was. True, she could be vulnerable, but I sensed a strong woman behind it all.

She smiled and took my hand in hers again, looking down at our fingers linking together.

“I hope you don’t mind me touching you,” she said with a blush. “That sounded weird. I’m sorry. You’re just, I don’t know. Touchable.” She laughed nervously and I used my free hand to brush a wisp of her amazing hair off her shoulder.

“It feels nice, you touching me. I like it,” I said quietly, hoping I didn’t sound like a total perv.

Her eyes got serious then and she said, “I’m not seeing anyone, you know. I’m single. Have been for a while, well,” she exhaled harshly and I didn’t know what she was getting at. “My ex,” she continued, “He, um, didn’t want to be a father. I stayed at his house because I wasn’t up to moving out. We didn’t share a bedroom anymore, so it was more like roommates. Until I was almost eight months along...” She trailed off and then laughed nervously. “Wow, I’m sorry. Was that an overshare?”

I took both of her hands in mine and shook my head. “No, Stevie. Not at all. You can tell me anything, ok? I want to know. And in case you were wondering, I’m single, too. Since before I met you.”

She raised an eyebrow and ran her fingers along my wrists. “Which time,” she asked and looked up at me with sultry eyes.

Her moods changed so fast it was giving me whiplash! Not in a psycho way or anything, she just turned on that killer charm when I was least expecting it. I reacted too physically to her.

“The first time. The time that counts. The first time I laid eyes on you.”

She turned red. “You mean when I almost face-planted?”

Still serious I said, “When you looked up at me, I don’t know. It did something to me. I’ve been thinking about you ever since.” Shit. Was I overdoing it? Her smile said no.

“And what have you been thinking?”

Oh my overworked adrenal glands! My heart was racing and I felt the back of my neck start to sweat. I was even breathing heavy. What the fuck was I supposed to say to that? When I opened my mouth to speak the lights went down and the crowd roared. We both stood up to cheer, still looking at each other. Before I knew what she was up to, she reached up to my shoulders and lifted onto her toes to kiss me quickly on the lips. Her smile made my knees weak and I stumbled. Thankfully, she had turned her attention to the stage and was bouncing up and down clapping for Heart. She didn’t notice the effect she had on me.

I had to fight the urge to wrap my arms around her waist and bury my face in her hair. I watched her closely, worried that the songs and being here might be too much for her. But I worried for no reason. She smiled the whole time and sang along to every song. I got my wish to be closer to her when they played ‘Alone’. She stepped behind me and wrapped her arms around my waist. She rested her head against my back. I covered her hands with mine and closed my eyes, just enjoying the feeling of her close to me. This woman could easily make all of my dreams come true.

Stevie

He smelled so good and he felt so good. I just wanted to snuggle up to him and never let go. I felt him singing along to ‘These Dreams.’ I felt like mine were being realized. For a moment I thought of Ben, only to realize just how much I had missed out on by being with him. A few fun trips, good sex, and a decent taste in music didn’t mean anything without love. And we never loved each other. We never even told each other we loved each other. In fact, he’d never shown even half the amount of concern Aaron had in this very short time I’d spent with him. If Aaron was half as wonderful as he seemed…

He raised his arm and twisted, pulling me in close to his chest and wrapping his arms around me. I felt him inhale against my hair and I smiled. Standing like this felt so comfortable, like we’d always been this close.

As the encore started and the opening chords to ‘All I Wanna Do Is Make Love To You’ began, I tilted my head up and kissed his neck. I felt him moan and his hand cradled my jaw. His eyes searched mine and I let all the noise from the crowd slip away. The lights seemed far off. All I could see and feel was right in front of me. I rose up on my toes just a bit. He hesitated, his hand grasping my dress in back. The hand that cradled my jaw came around the back of my head and he tenderly dropped his lips to mine.

They were so soft! He pressed them gently to mine first, then with a little more pressure. Then he pulled back and looked deep in my eyes.

“Stevie,” he whispered. I smiled at him and brought my hand under his untucked t-shirt and up to his chest. He was all hard muscle and smooth skin covered with silky hair. I raked my nails gently across his pecs and he moaned again.

“Stevie, you’re so...” He sucked in a breath as my fingernails lightly scratched him again. “God, Stevie,” he said against my lips as he claimed them for real this time. His tongue touched mine hesitantly, but it was too late for that. I dug my nails in a little harder and he pulled me tight against his body, kissing me deeply, passionately. If I were in my right mind, I might have worried about the people around us watching, but we were swallowed up by the crowd. I didn’t have a care other than I needed more of this man.

He kissed me through the rest of that song, ‘Magic Man,’ and finally ‘Crazy on You.’ I’d never hear Heart the same way again. When the songs were over, he let me go. We were both panting hard. We smiled at each other and clapped for the band. As the other patrons started filing out of the amphitheater he pulled me close again. He was smiling like he’d just found a secret treasure.

“What do you want, Stevie? Hmmm? What do you want from me?”

I wasn’t even sure I could put it into words. I wanted all that he was making me feel, and more. I wasn’t even afraid of more, and that worried me.

“What I want and what I’m ready for might be two separate things. I want a helluva lot more of you, Aaron. Right now I’d love for you to walk me to my car and kiss me some more. Does that work for you?”

He smiled at me, his lips pink and glossy from kissing me. I giggled, knowing I was probably quite rosy from his heavy stubble. He had the kind of beard that probably needed to be shaved every day and would still look like it had been a day or two. His white teeth were gleaming in the dark.

“I’m definitely walking you to your car. As for what happens when we get there, I will be ok with whatever. I told myself, promised myself, I wouldn’t push you. I’m promising you the same thing, ok? But damn, woman,” he said in a gravelly voice. He took my hand and I looked around only to realize that my purse was gone.

“Oh no! Aaron! Someone must have taken my purse! Dammit! I knew better than to leave it in my seat.” I could see how angry he was with himself.

He squeezed my hand and said, “I am so, so sorry. What kind of a shitty security guy doesn’t notice something like that?” His eyes were dark and I could see him looking around but most of the crowd was already gone.