by Erin Noelle
A handful of different bands took the stage throughout the evening, changing out every half hour or so, each one offering a distinct sound, but all of them incredibly talented. I loved the mix of popular covers and songs I’d never heard before. Not knowing what to expect next, I kept my ears open and alert, drinking in the lyrics and melodies. Though studying art was my first passion, music was a close second. If art was what emotions looked like, then music was what they sounded like. The perfect complement to each other, music and art allowed people to express themselves in ways where the spoken or written word was simply not enough. They both fascinated me.
“So what do you think of Adrian? He’s pretty cute, right?” Lindsey leaned over and whispered in my ear during one of the music breaks. Michael and a couple of his friends — including Adrian, the only single guy with our group who’d coincidentally sat down next to me when we’d gotten there — had gotten up on a beer run a few minutes prior, leaving the two of us somewhat out of earshot of the others.
Scoffing, I shook my head at her. “You had this whole thing set up, didn’t you? An attempt to get me laid or something?”
“Of course I did, and of course it is,” she hissed, fighting a losing battle to the wicked grin bending up the corners of her mouth. “He thinks you’re hot. I can tell he totally wants to fuck you. And don’t worry, we know him. It’s cool. He’s not like a weirdo or anything. Single. No kids with crazy baby-mama-drama. Makes a good paycheck. STD free.”
My eyebrows rose, not sure whether or not to believe her. “And you know this how?”
“He’s one of Michael’s coaches,” she laughed. “They have to take physicals before each semester. Michael would’ve told me if he’d failed.”
Chuckling, I shook my head. “Oh, good Lord, next you’re gonna give me his IQ and credit score.”
I should’ve known Lindsey would think the best way for me to move on from my life with Jonah would be to screw him out of my system. Unfortunately, I knew firsthand that approach didn’t work so well; I just hadn’t divulged that information to her quite yet. The months following the breakup were not a time I was particularly proud of. A lot of soul-searching in clubs and frat houses left me even more lost than I was to begin with. Thankfully, it didn’t take me (too) long to figure out that bent over a sofa or flat on my back with my legs in the air wasn’t where I’d find any answers.
“I don’t have either of those,” she dead-panned, pausing to take a drink from her frosty mug, “but I saw his dick once when we all went skinny-dipping, and I promise you won’t be disappointed. Boy is packing some heat in those jeans. At least six or seven inches soft.”
A bubble of laughter hiccupped out of me as my hand flew to cover my wide-open mouth. My eyes cut away from her as I felt my cheeks burn with embarrassment, but as soon as they did, my gaze locked with the guy who had just stepped up on the stage.
And suddenly, my entire body was ablaze. But it had nothing to do with Adrian or his six-inch-soft heat.
Imaginary lightning crackled overhead in the cloudless, star-dusted sky as we stared at each other. Intense is too mild a word to describe the electric charge that buzzed inside of me as tiny needles pricked my skin from head to toe. His dark, daunting eyes were intimidating… intoxicating.
My attention fell to his mouth as his tongue swiped across his bottom lip, and instinctively, I mimicked the action. His sharp gaze followed the subtle movement and I swallowed hard, unable to tear my eyes away from him.
Everything about him was gritty… raw. His black-brown hair was more rebellious than unkempt, looking like it hadn’t seen a brush in days, maybe weeks. A dark shadow of stubble clung to the strong angles of his jaw, and I wondered how rough it would feel rubbing against the sensitive skin of my inner thighs. Broad shoulders stretched the threads of his plain gray t-shirt, while worn, tattered jeans hung low on his hips. A guitar rested in his hands like he was born with it there.
Simple. Unassuming. Effortless. His brand of understatement overwhelmed me.
“Earth to Belle. Come in, Belle.” Lindsey waved her hand up and down in front of my face, breaking the connection, and I jumped back, startled by her sudden movement. Laughing, she lifted her napkin up to the corner of my mouth and pretended to wipe. “He’s definitely drool-worthy, I’ll give you that, but I think you may be setting the bar a little high for your first night out, sweetie. Let’s stick with Adrian. Remember him? He’s a sure thing. Definitely not a loser, and the big cock is a bonus.” She smiled then raised her eyes up over my shoulder. “Oh look, they’re coming back now!”
Jumping up from her chair, Lindsey rushed over to help her husband carry some of the drinks overflowing in his hands to the table. Before she came back, Adrian, who was definitely a solid eight on the Belle-sex-appeal scale, returned to his spot on my left and handed me a Heineken, throwing in his most charming smile.
Only I felt nothing except the cool December wind gusting across the patio.
And the burning stare of the guy on the stage.
“Thank you.” I graciously accepted the glass while attempting to inconspicuously inch in the opposite direction.
Unable to go another second without peering back up at the mysterious guy, I found him in the exact place he was before, but this time openly scowling. Shit! He thinks I’m here with Adrian! I need to do something.
Setting the beer on the table in front of me, I politely excused myself to the ladies’ room, in desperate need of a few minutes alone to collect myself. Unsure what in the hell was happening to me, I wove my way through the other patrons, keeping my gaze on the ground in front of me until I no longer saw a sea of legs and feet surrounding me.
Once I was away from the crowd, in a narrow clearing between the bar and the patio, I tilted my head up to the sky with my eyes closed and inhaled the deepest breath my lungs would allow, counting to ten before I blew it out.
He walked up when I was at four.
“You shouldn’t be over here,” a gruff, masculine voice rasped from behind me. I had no doubt it was him.
I grinned but didn’t turn around. Knowing he followed me spiked my confidence and my sass level. “Why not?” I prodded.
“‘Cause I can’t very well sing to you if you’re way the hell over here,” he grunted, as if the answer should’ve been obvious.
My heart fluttered against my ribcage. Don’t embarrass yourself, Belle.
“Sing to me? I didn’t realize you were here just to sing to me,” I asked, trying my best to keep my voice cool, calm, and steady, though I’m sure I failed miserably as I squeaked out the last word.
He moved closer, stopping directly behind me as he bent down, moved my hair aside, and whispered in my ear, “Thought I made that clear.”
“Oh?” I said, breathless, my chest heaving at his heady words and nearness.
“Mm hmm,” he mumbled against my neck, impossibly closer, his chest almost flush with my back. He skimmed his nose along the column of my neck, inhaling deeply. “I know you saw the look. I also know how you felt when you saw it. And I thought you made yourself pretty damn clear too.” His warm, minty breath drifted over the side of my neck, leaving a wake of tingles from my hairline to my collarbone. “Was I wrong? You here with pretty boy over there?”
Desire pooled between my legs as his words dripped across my skin. Everything about him captivated me. “No, not here with anyone, just a girlfriend,” I rushed out, silently cursing my overzealous mouth.
“After I get done singing to you, I’m stealing you for the rest of the night. Don’t give a shit who you’re with, let them know. Ain’t no better way to start a new year than with someone as fucking beautiful as you next to me.” His mouth skimmed over the shell of my ear. The touch was feather-light, yet so powerful I trembled everywhere. “When the clock strikes midnight tonight, I want to be tasting those sweet lips you’ve been teasing me with,” he trailed off with another whisper-soft graze, causing another tremble. “Or maybe sooner…”
Afraid if I turned around I would have torn all his clothes off and had my wicked way with him right there in the grass, I nodded and cleared my throat. “If you can find me when you’re done, I just may let you.”
Then, I walked away.
Lindsey didn’t need to worry any longer. My juice was freshly squeezed as of ten seconds ago.
“WHERE IN THE fuck have you been?” Ashlynn growled at me, as I climbed the steps back up onto the stage. “I’ve had to set up everything myself, and Uncle Marcus is bitchin’ that we’re late getting started.”
Grinning like a fool, I didn’t pay her any mind. I couldn’t even count the times she’d left me to fend for myself either during set-up or take-down while she flirted with some random guy that she’d end up making out with later that night. I loved my sister like no other — that twintuition shit was no joke — but I didn’t always love the way she acted. And I wasn’t about to let her bust my balls.
“I saw someone I needed to talk to. I’m ready now,” I dismissed her, grabbing my electric guitar from the stand and slipping the strap over my neck.
“Who was it? It couldn’t have waited?” She sneered and glanced out over at the pack of scantily-dressed females surrounding the stage. “I’m sure your rabid groupies will all still be waiting for you when we finish.” Lowering her voice to a barely audible mumble, she added, “Shameless wenches.”
“You know I have no interest in any of that shit,” I grumbled under my breath, my annoyance with her steadily increasing. “Now, drop it and get back behind the drums. But don’t forget those ‘shameless wenches’ will be paying our bills here shortly. Don’t bite the hand, sister dearest.”
Thankfully, she listened and took her place on the stool, tipping her chin at me when she was ready to go, still glowering at me. I stepped up to the microphone and smiled out into the good-sized crowd, my eyes searching for the sexy little pixie who I already couldn’t wait to get back to.
“Happy New Year’s Eve, folks. Is everybody having a great time out here tonight?” I called out once I found her back in the same seat as before, and then paused as I waited for the cheers, hooting, and hollering that followed.
I couldn’t fucking look away from her. She was like no one I had ever seen before. Long, shiny, straight brown hair framed the porcelain skin of her oval face. Big, dark brown doe eyes pierced through me, almost as if she could see straight to my soul. Her tiny button nose turned up just slightly, and her mouth… oh, God, that fucking mouth. When she had wet those pouty pink lips with her tongue earlier, my cock had jerked as the image of her licking the length of my shaft flashed in my mind.
Even while sitting in the chair, I could tell she was petite, but I’d had no idea how small until I’d followed her over to the clearing. Standing a couple inches over six foot myself, she had to be at least a foot shorter than me, but despite her tiny stature, she was all fucking woman with the way those tight, ripped-up jeans hugged the sweet curve of her ass and how her full, creamy tits threatened to pop out the top of her nearly see-through shirt. I was forced to stuff my hands in the pockets of my jeans just to keep from reaching out and touching her.
Never before had I thought these things about anyone. Sure, I was a straight seventeen-year-old dude who got turned on just as often as the next guy. But I was careful who I got involved with. The handful of girls that I’d fooled around with, I knew well, and more importantly, they knew what to expect from me. I wasn’t in the market for a girlfriend, or any kind of relationship for that matter, and I wasn’t willing to cross that line where an attachment would form. I didn’t need anything to distract me from my music as I got ready for the tour that was only five months away. The tour where my career — my dreams — would likely either be made or destroyed.
But never before had anyone captivated me the way she did with a single penetrating look, stirring a deep-rooted desire that made me want to do things I’d never done. Things I would never forget. I was struck… captured.
And I didn’t know her name. All that brave, big-man talking I’d done back there, and I didn’t even fucking get her name. Brilliant, Everett, real fuckin’ brilliant.
“Woot! That’s what we like to hear! Happy New Year, Empty’s!” my sister’s voice boomed through the speakers, jolting me from the daze I’d fallen in, starting the introduction I was supposed to be doing. I jerked my neck to the side to face her, and she shot me a what-the-fuck-is-your-problem look then kept talking into the microphone positioned near her drums. “I’m Ashlynn, and this dipshit in front of me who’s suddenly gone mute is my twin brother Everett, and together we’re Singed Wings… or as our mom likes to call us — double fuckin’ trouble.”
As the crowd laughed, I took advantage of the few seconds to get my shit together. I had a show to play, and I wanted it to be my best. ‘Cause she was there. I wanted… no, I needed to impress her. It was this animalistic force inside of me, like the male peacock showing off all his colorful, eye-catching feathers to attract his mate.
Luckily for me, I had a guitar in my hand and a microphone in front of my face. I was in my element. I could fuck her through my music before my hands ever touched her. But, God, did I want to touch her. And kiss her. And feel her all around me.
I’m losing my damn mind.
“If you’re a regular here at Empty’s,” I picked up where Ashlynn left off, finding my voice again, “you’ve probably seen us a time or two, and know that we like to mix it up with our original pieces as well as some all-time classic favorites, so feel free to sing along with us anytime you feel the,” I caught my girl’s gaze and smirked, “urge.”
Her cheeks blushed a bright pink and my dick twitched in response. I wanted to see her whole body flush that color as I made her come underneath me. Maybe someone slipped something in my drink earlier?
After taking a quick swig of water from the bottle set out for me, I continued on, “But as we start every set we play, there’s no better song to get us in the partying mood than…”
Instead of finishing the sentence, I broke out into the legendary opening riffs of “Sweet Child O’ Mine” by Guns N’ Roses, and like always, the audience shouted their approval, jumping to their feet and dancing around. Thirty seconds in, Ashlynn joined in with the drums, and I was officially alive.
My heart beat in rhythm with the song, pumping the melody through my veins, until the music consumed me. Became me. On stage, I was a living, breathing arrangement of sounds, working in harmony to produce something exquisite. A high like no other.
I sang every damn word to her. And when I changed the lyrics in the second verse on the fly from “eyes of the bluest skies” to “eyes of the darkest nights,” she blushed again, but this time seductively rolling her bottom lip between her teeth. Fucking hell, she’s trying to drive me crazy.
Closing my eyes during the final guitar solo, I had to break the spell or risk embarrassing myself with a raging hard-on in front of all those people. Maybe I wasn’t quite ready to fuck her with my music… at least not with an audience.
Somehow, I managed to finish the song without incident and transitioned into the next, then Ashlynn and I found our groove and played the best we ever had. Hands down. The energy from the crowd was off-the-charts, and I fucking loved watching my little temptress enjoying herself as she smiled and sang along to the ones she knew — especially when she got up to dance with her girlfriend during our cover of Elvis’s “Mystery Train.”
After we finished the set and packed up our instruments, I didn’t wait around for Ashlynn, or my parents, or any of the other people who wanted to congratulate us on our performance. There was only one person I cared to talk to… and I planned on doing a helluva lot more than talking when I found her. My pulse raced as I searched for her; the anticipation of what would happen when I found her made my stomach roll with nerves.
Naturally, she wasn’t in the seat she’d been in all night; that would’ve been too easy. But I smiled confidently when I saw
her girlfriend and the schmuck who’d been next to her still were. Wherever she was, she was alone. Hopefully waiting for me.
Retracing my steps back over to the area between the pub and the patio where I’d approached her earlier, my shoulders slumped with disappointment when I discovered the grassy patch empty, but just as I went to turn around and head the other way, movement in my peripheral vision caught my attention. A shimmer of blue silk flashed by, disappearing behind the building. Immediately, I pivoted and took off after her, my adrenaline soaring higher with each step I took.
Between the combination of my long strides and knowing the property like the back of my hand, she didn’t have a chance to hide from me. Less than thirty seconds after I spotted her, I caught her from behind, hiding by the back entrance of the bar.
“Gotcha, beautiful,” I whispered, grabbing her hips and lifting her up in the air like she weighed nothing. Because she didn’t.
Her startled shriek soon morphed into a howl of laughter as I lowered her feet back to the ground, turning her to face me in the process.
“Oh, my God, you scared the shit out of me.” Shaking her head, she playfully slapped my chest. “How did you sneak up on me like that? I thought I was well-hidden, Everett.”
“I basically grew up at this bar. My family owns the place, so my sister and I spent a million afternoons chasing each other around out here. You never had a chance.” I grinned wide as I reached out and hooked my fingers through her belt loops then tugged her closer to me. “But you wanted to be found, didn’t you?”
