Trace whales on the drums, showing off his natural skill. It’s mesmerizing watching his sticks fly around. When he’s done, he stands and spins his sticks around his fingers like they’re extensions.
“Dope!” Lana shouts.
I just let out a scream. There are no words to measure that level of talent—all of them. As Lucian introduces Kael, then Justin, the crowd goes even wilder. As I watch him, I realize he’s in his element. This is what he was born to do. What he was made for. I almost want to forgive him for the way he left since I understand the reason, the need, the thrill. But almost isn’t happening today.
The move on to play another song, and we dance it out. Song after song after song. God, he sounds good. So sexy and tempting. Watching him move across the stage, engaging the fans, rolling his hips, stomping to the beat, even a little headbanging, it’s turning me on. I’m so excited and, I’ll admit, wet. He always could arouse me with just a look or a few words.
The rasp in his voice, the tone. If I were to try to compare him to someone in the industry, I’d have to say his voice is on par with Adam Gontier previously from Three Days Grace and now leading Saint Asonia, maybe mixed with John Cooper, who’s the lead singer for Skillet. He’s definitely a combination.
It’s only when he starts the next song that I look to the stage and see him staring right at me. The fucker. It’s the Dear Jane song.
Lana and I stop dancing. I cross my arms over my chest and cock out a hip. Yeah, I’m pissed. I’m annoyed that he’d think that’s an appropriate song to play right now. Like, what the fuck?
His brows bunch, and he frowns. I roll my eyes and scoff.
“Did he really think you’d fall all over yourself when he plays the song he left behind along with you?” Lana seethes.
“Apparently.”
“He has no idea what works for the ladies.”
I laugh. “Only in bed.” He definitely knows his way around a bed.
I flip him off, with both hands, and Lana does the same.
I mouth to him, “Fuck you and your fucking Dear Jane song!”
He flinches back in surprise and stops singing. He motions for the band to stop.
He laughs nervously, rubbing the back of his neck. “I wrote this song before our very first tour. I wrote it for a special woman who’s actually in the audience today. No, no, I’m not going to point her out. But I just found out from her flipping me the bird she’s not a fan of this song. She thinks it’s a Dear Jane song when it’s anything but. It’s supposed to be a song to tell her there’s no forgetting her. She’s my air as the first word states.”
I roll my eyes.
“Fuck you and your shitty song you wrote thirteen years ago!”
People around us look at Lana, and I groan. She couldn’t just keep quiet. Nope, now we’ve got everyone looking our way. I tug on her sleeve. “Stop!”
She glares at me. “No. He’s not going to romanticize this bullshit.” Then she yells again. “I’d believe she was your air if you’d tried reaching out to her once in the last thirteen years—oh, other than through your agent and PR!!”
Her face is red. I give her my water. “Calm down. Dear God in Heaven, this is not how I imagined this going.”
“I did contact her. Every letter was marked Return to Sender. She changed her number. Then she moved multiple times until I couldn’t find her anymore. I tried,” he tells the entire crowd.
I rest my forehead on Lana’s arm. “Stop, please. Let’s just go.”
“Oh, hell no. You’re going to do the fuck and chuck tonight. It’s going to kill him a little inside, and he’s going to go crazy when he’s unable to find where you live,” she laughs.
“Let’s lose our VIP passes,” I mutter after the band starts another song. Every few seconds, he moves his attention to the fans—where it should be, and during one of those episodes, we give our VIP passes to the dudes behind us. It’s a bribe. They saw our names and were going to provide Lucian with all the information. Now, we don’t have to worry about that. They’re wearing the passes.
“Oh shit,” Lana groans, then points to the side.
Security is coming our way.
“Oh, fuck me.”
“Exactly,” Lana says with a wiggle of her brows.
My smile slowly makes itself known. “For as embarrassing as that was, things appear to be working out in my favor.”
“Indeed they do,” she agrees. “Now, let’s go get your rockstar-slash-bedmate for the night.”
Lucian
We walk off stage, and Justin’s all grins. “Dude, Aria’s here.”
I nod. “I saw her. I also saw her flip me off.”
“Multiple times,” Meggie adds. “What’d you do to her?”
I look at Meg. “Why do I have to be the one who did something?”
“Uh, because she gave you the finger so many times. We don’t do that unless we’ve been done wrong,” Megs replies.
“I think she took something the wrong way.”
“No shit,” Trace says.
“I think I’d take that song the wrong way too. Were you trying to be all so-long-I-gotta-move-on-here’s-a-song-see-ya?” Meg asks.
“Hell, no!”
Meggie shrugs. “That’s what I got out of that song. If I’d known it was something you wrote to a chick, I’d have told you exactly what she’d think of it.”
“It didn’t help that they had a weekend-long fuckfest before we left,” Kael informs everyone.
I sigh.
“You did not,” Meggie scolds.
“It’s not like that,” I defend.
“It sounds just like that,” Trace rebuts.
“It wasn’t,” I bite out.
Justin shrugs and raises his brows. “I can see how she’d think that, especially with the song. And then to go and record it and it hits number one for months? You’re lucky she didn’t track you down and cut off your dick.”
Meggie nods. “I’d have cut it off, julienned that fucker, and made you eat it.”
Trace smirks, and Kael chuckles.
“Harsh,” Justin replies, hands holding the family jewels.
“Imagine how she felt if that’s what she was thinking,” Kael interjects. “Harsh would be called for if that’s true.”
“Looks like someone’s got some explaining to do,” Justin points out.
“Hopefully, he’ll live through it,” Meggie adds.
Right. Hopefully, she won’t murder me on sight. Or maim me.
“Here she comes,” Gage tells me as he stands next to his brother.
“Holy fuckballs, she’s a looker. You messed up so bad,” Meggie notifies me.
“There wasn’t a choice.”
Meggie snorts. “There’s always a choice.”
Justin whistles, and Aria smirks. “Still a pervert.”
“Some things never change,” he replies.
“Lies!” Kael puts in. “He’s gotten worse.”
“Now that,” Aria points at Justin, “That I believe.”