“Shut the fuck up, man,” Jamie grumbles then looks at me. “Are you planning on hanging after the show?”
“Maybe, it depends on what Samantha wants to do.” I glance over to where she and Lozz are sitting on the couch, talking.
“I’d guess she’d be cool with hanging out after.”
I smack his arm. “She’s not one of your groupies.”
He grins. “It only takes seeing us perform once to become a groupie.”
“Maybe you should get that printed on a T-shirt to sell at your concerts,” I say, taking his bottle of Jack and putting it to my lips, coughing as the heat hits my throat.
He laughs, wrapping his arm around my shoulders. “I’m glad you came.” He kisses the side of my head then lets me go and shouts, “Let’s go!”
A minute later, the guys are heading toward the stage, with me and Samantha going back the way we came. As we exit backstage, the crowd roars at the first cords of their hit song, “Drink with Me.” I look at Samantha and grin then lead her to the front of the stage.
“Holy shit, they are good!” she shouts at me three songs later, and I nod.
She’s not wrong; they are good, and I really do think that once they hit the road, they are going to take the music industry by storm. I’m happy for my brother but a little sad for myself, because I know things between us are changing. We don’t need each other as much as we once did. We’re both becoming adults with our own lives and our own futures. Even if those futures seem to be up in the air right now.
Needing a minute away from the crowd, I lean into Samantha and shout in her ear, “I’m going to go to the bar. Do you want to come with me?”
“I think I’ll stay,” she says, her eyes locked on Lozz. “But will you bring me a vodka tonic?”
“Yeah,” I shout back then push through the mass of people trying to get as close to the stage as possible. It takes me a few minutes to make it to the bar, and when I do, I yell, gaining the bartender’s attention, then ask him for my order. When he disappears to fill it, I look to the stage and watch my brother do what he does best.
“Where the fuck have you been?” I turn at that question and find Maggie smiling at me.
“Work.” I smile back, moving across the space to give her a hug.
“Well, I’ve missed seeing your face.” She lets me go and smiles once more, letting me know she’s not mad, that we’re good. “You look amazing.”
“Thanks.” I tuck my hair behind my ear, swaying slightly.
“It’s so funny you’re here tonight, because Adam is here too,” she tells me, and my heart sinks. “He should be here any second. He was just upstairs helping me with my computer.”
“Maggie—” I start to tell her that I’m not interested in meeting her friend, but she looks over my shoulder and waves someone over.
“Adam, I want you to meet Dakota,” she shouts before she spins me around without giving me a choice, and I latch onto the person in front of me so I don’t drunkenly fall on my face.
“It’s nice to meet you too.” He laughs, and I look up at him. Oh, God, Jamie was right! He looks like my ex—or at least his smile does.
“Sorry.” I pull out of his hold and stick out my hand. “Dakota.”
“Adam.” He takes my hand, holding it tight while looking into my eyes. “It’s nice to finally meet you.”
“You too.” I pull my hand away when someone whistles, startling me, and I wipe my palm down the front of my jeans. “Sorry about the whole date thing,” I blurt, and he chuckles.
“It’s okay. Maybe we can meet for coffee or a drink sometime.”
“You’re both here now and there is a bar a few feet away,” Maggie chimes in, and I swear I could kill her.
“I…” I look over at the bar and see my drinks are ready. “I wish I could hang and talk, but I’m here with a friend of mine from work. I’m sorry.”
“That’s all right. I’ll get your number from Maggie and we can set something up.”
“Yeah, totally,” I lie, just wanting to get away. “It was nice meeting you.”
“You too, Dakota.” He takes my hand and brings it to his lips, making me cringe.
“Okay, well, I’ll see you.” I discreetly wipe the back of my hand on my jeans then lean over and hug Maggie, who looks like she just did Cupid’s job for him and is going to steal his title. “I’ll talk to you soon.”
“You will,” she agrees, giving me a tight squeeze.
When she lets me go, I walk to the bar and pick up my drinks, leaving some cash, then head back to Samantha, wondering what the hell I will do if Adam calls. I mean, if I weren’t drunk right now, I’d probably be freaking out, but the alcohol in my system is making me a little less worried about what might happen. With a sigh, I take a sip of my drink then shove back through the crowd.
I see Samantha searching for me over the sea of people, and as soon as I’m close, she yells, “I was just going to come search for you.”
“Sorry, I ran into Maggie who owns this place and the guy I was supposed to go out with the night I met Braxton,” I shout back.
She starts to choke on her drink, and I pound her on her back. “What? How did that go?”
“Maggie tried to get me to hang out with him tonight. I got out of it, but he said he would get my number from Maggie and call sometime.”
“What are you going to do when he calls?” she asks, her eyes wide with concern.
“Tell him I’m seeing someone. I’m not going out with him, but I was on the spot and didn’t want to hurt his ego.”
“Girl, I need some of your man mojo.” She laughs, taking a sip of her drink.
“I don’t think you do.” I look at the stage where Lozz is playing the guitar.
“Oh no, no way. I would never date a guy like him,” she says, shaking her head frantically.
“Okay, I’m going to try not to be offended by that statement. But I will tell you that Lozz is like family to me and he’s a good man.”
“Oh, God.” She looks horrified. “I just mean that I don’t think I could handle this.” She motions around us. “The women, the attention. He seems nice, but I have trust issues when it comes to men, and this… all of this would be too much for me.”
My face softens. “I can understand that.” I wrap my arm around her shoulders. “Men really do fuck us up.”
“Yeah, they do, but hopefully a good one will un-fuck us.”
“Hopefully.” I laugh.
“Dakota.” My eyes widen when my name is called, not from the crowd but from the stage. I look at my brother, my face getting red as he motions for me to come up to him, and I shake my head. “Come on, sis.”
I’m going to kill you, I mouth, walking to the stairs and climbing them slowly. When I reach him, he hands me the bottle of Jack.
“A little liquid encouragement,” he says, and the crowd cheers and laughs. I put the bottle to my lips and fight the burn as I swallow. “Now, not many people know my sister can sing. I tried to get her to join my band, but instead, she went to college.” He chuckles when the crowd boos. “Come on. Getting an education is important. Anyway, my sister and I didn’t have it easy growing up, but we always had each other, and that’s all we needed. This is a song we wrote together one night when we needed the power of music to get us through. So I think it’s only right that she performs this one with me.” He looks over at me. “Are you ready?”