After the first break, Jet grabs the microphone and flashes the crowd a dimpled smile. A sigh sweeps across the basement.
“I’d like to call my brother on stage.” He shields his eyes from the bright spotlight aimed at the stage with one hand and searches the crowd. “Levi, where are you, bro?”
Levi detaches himself from the blonde he’s with and jogs up on the stage. Standing side by side, the resemblance is eerie. Twin dimples on both their cheeks, straight blond hair falling over their eyes.
They do the one-arm hug thing men love, then thump each other’s backs.
“If it weren’t for him, I wouldn’t be here today,” Jet says, ruffling his brother’s hair. “I thank him for pushing me to start this band with Jax, Will, and Fig over there.” He jerks his thumb to the lead singer, guitarist, and the second drummer respectively.
“Want to show them what you got, baby bro?” Jet asks Levi, who shrugs. Then he turns to look at his bandmates and nods, before shoving the microphone in his brother’s hand. He jogs back to the drums and resumes his position. He taps his sticks three times, and the beginning of “Livin’ on a Prayer” by Bon Jovi fills the room.
The two brothers belt out the lyrics, their voices deep and husky in that rocker style that has everyone screaming and goosebumps forming on my arms. It doesn’t take long for the crowd to join in, me included. Soon, we’re all jumping up and down, drunk on the lyrics, hands in the air and heads bouncing. By the time the song ends, I’m sweating and tipsy from the music.
Levi takes a bow and then waves while flashing those dimples to the crowd, before handing the microphone to his brother. He hops off the stage and shoulders through the crowd while accepting high fives. I can’t help but wonder why the hell he isn’t a part of the band. With a voice like that, he could go places.
“That was amazing!” MJ shouts in my ear, and I nod, my throat clogging with emotion.
The band starts playing the next song, and I’m lost once again in the vibrancy thrumming in the air.
When they finally take a break, I take a few seconds to breathe in the cigarette-perfume scented air. I don’t care that my lungs are probably covered in soot from the smoke or my clothes will smell like I slept inside an ashtray.
Being here with my new friends, dancing and singing off-key, for the first time in a long time, I feel happy. I feel like I belong.
Sol shifts restlessly behind me every few minutes, so I turn around, intending to ask him if he’s okay, but he beats me to it when he leans down, his lips brushing the shell of my ear, and asks, “Want to get out of here? I want to show you something.”
“Sure. I need to use the bathroom first, then we can go.”
His hand on my waist squeezes gently before dropping away from my body. I miss it immediately. The warmth, the reassurance of his touch.
Sol says something to Ivan, then gives MJ a side hug before turning to face me. I wave a goodbye to Ivan and MJ. She wiggles her eyebrows playfully, and I remember her words from yesterday at the shop. Heat fills my cheeks.
“Stop it,” I mouth, widening my eyes for emphasis.
She just grins and waves me off, mouthing back, “Enjoy, babe.”
Once again, Sol leads the way through the crowd with me in tow, ducking every now and then to avoid being smacked in the face by a flailing hand. We make it to the small hallway, and he points out the sign for the washrooms.
When I step out of the bathroom, I’m distracted by thoughts of how much I enjoyed the evening and wondering what Sol wants to show me when fingers wrap around my bicep from behind. My body tenses, and my muscles lock in place as my fight or flight response kicks in. I spin around lightning fast while reaching up and grabbing the hand with both of mine. Then, I twist the wrist attached to that hand. A painful groan reaches me as my assaulter’s body doubles forward and my leg thrusts up, landing a swift kick on the stomach or groin. I’m not sure which because I’m too busy trying to disarm whoever it is.
“What the fuck?” a familiar voice grinds out. “Jesus.”
I jump back and stare in horror at the blond-haired boy now bracing himself against the opposite wall, doubled over to the waist.
“Oh my God. Levi?” I step closer cautiously. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t know it was you.”
He lets out a low moan, clutching his lower stomach with his hands.
Not quite the groin area. Thank God.
His head lifts, and he squints at me through the bangs falling over his forehead. “What’s wrong with you?”
“What’s wrong with you?” I shoot back, my worry fading fast. “You should know better than to grab girls that way in a crowded bar’s hallway.”
He props his hands on his hips and attempts to straighten to his full height, but freezes, biting down his bottom lip in pain. I shift my weight from one foot to the other nervously.
“Did I . . . uh . . . you know, are you going to be okay?”
He stares at me with his chin dipped and chuckles or coughs, not sure which. “Well, my balls are cursing you right now, but sure. Yeah.”
Oh. So I did, indeed, hit the groin area. Not the lower stomach. Ouch.
“Grace?”
I spin around and come face-to-face with Sol, a concerned look taking over his features. “What’s going on?” His gaze darts back and forth between Levi and me, then back at Levi. “Are you okay, man? You look like you might pass out.”
Levi points a shaky finger in my direction. “She’s tiny and dangerous, this one. She should come with a warning.” He attempts to smile but ends up grimacing. “I shouldn’t have crept up on you like that. I’m sorry. I just wanted to tell you I have a prospectus of Fredricks and a few other brochures in my car that you might be interested in. Ivan told me you were planning on applying there. Thought I’d check if you wanted me to grab them for you.”
“Oh,” I mutter, feeling even worse. “That’s really nice of you. Maybe you can pass them along to Ivan later, after, um, everything is back to normal? He can give them to me.”
He nods. “Of course.”
“Again, I’m really sorry.”
He waves me off with a hand. “I’ll live.”
“Okay. It was nice meeting you, Levi.”
This time he grins, and I notice how ridiculously cute he is. “It was quite interesting meeting you, Grace.”
Sol’s body stiffens next to me, then he mutters, “Come on, let’s go.” He jerks his chin to Levi. “Later, dude.”
Outside the bar, he pulls me to a stop. Then he leans forward, aligning his body with mine and caging me between the wall and his large frame. He tucks a finger under my chin and tugs it up to meet his gaze.
“I can’t believe you handled Levi like that.”
“In my defense, he grabbed my arm. I didn’t know it was him.”
He flashes a grin down at me. “It’s quite sexy.”
I roll my eyes and laugh. “I told you I can take care of myself.”
“Remind me never to mess with you.” He pulls his hand back, sliding it down the side of my arm, and links our fingers together. He leads us back to where he parked his truck.
As usual, Sol waits until I’m buckled in my seat before heading to the driver’s side and hopping in. Once he drives away from the bar, the silence between us remains. I had fun tonight, and I feel lighter and . . . happy. I’ve missed this, hanging out with friends and chatting about everything and nothing. And now I have something to look forward to. I can’t wait to get my hands on the pamphlet Levi promised to pass along to Ivan.