by Tania Sparks
“Well band boy, don’t you look like a sexy rock star!” I laugh.
“You think I look sexy Angel?” he smirks as I dig him in the ribs. Ash releases me briefly so he can turn around and grab himself a beer from the table. Turning back to me he puts his arm around my waist and smiles warmly.
A striking girl slinks up to the other side of him as she flicks her long blonde hair over her shoulder. She stands so close to him that it makes me uncomfortable. She’s wearing a red dress that hugs all her curves and is so short it barely covers her ass and is so low that her boobs are almost spilling out. She glares at me then completely ignoring me, turns back to Ash. “Hi baby.” she purrs. She leans in and whispers in his ear, making sure I can still hear what she’s saying, “You looking for some company after your show?” What the fuck! can she not see me standing here?!
I try to move away from Ash but he holds me tighter, pulling me to his side. Ash gives her a panty-dropping smile, glances quickly at me then turns to her and says, “No sweetheart, I already have some company tonight.”
“I don’t mind sharing.” she says, looking me up and down.
Ash chuckles, “No thanks darlin, I have all I can handle right here.” Ash grins looking at me.
“Oh well, your loss, maybe next time.” she chirps and promptly moves off to her next target.
“Oh my gosh Ash!” I exclaim slapping him on his shoulder shaking my head. “That’s just so, so …...” I don’t know what to say. Ash finds my reaction amusing. Such temptation, so many girls ready, willing and able to do god knows what.
Ash squeezes me around my waist and strokes my cheek gently with the back of his hand. “Don’t worry about it Angel. I’m not interested in any of those skanks.” I shake my head in disbelief and hold Ash close as I consider if he would have taken her up on her offer if I hadn’t been here.
The door to the room opens and Pete the security guard stands just inside the doorway. “Okay girls and guys, everyone out – band only in here now. Fifteen to show time guys.” He gestures out the door and everyone starts to leave.
I don’t know what to do, where am I supposed to go? I let go of Ash and say to him uncertainly, “I guess I’ll see you later?”
“What do you mean?” He looks at me with a puzzled look on his face.
“I have to leave, he said band only.” I shrug.
“Don’t be silly Angel, he didn’t mean you, just all the groupies and hangers-on.”
“Oh…are you sure it’s okay if I stay?” I whisper.
“Fuck yeah it is Angel, you’re with me, I’m not letting you out of my sight. Besides, you looking like that...” he leans back and eyes me suggestively, “Some fucker will try and steel you from under my nose.”
I shake my head and chuckle to myself. The room starts to empty out. I notice that some of the guys are escorting girls towards the door. “See you later baby.” Hansen growls to a pretty red head as he leads her towards and out of the door. Scott is at the bar and is pouring a row of shots. Cody’s walking towards Scott. Nikki’s standing by the door with his tongue down the throat of a petite brunette, his hands are under her top caressing her and their bodies are entwined. He lets her go and slaps her on the ass as he gently pushes her out the door, “Nice to meet you beautiful.” She disappears down the corridor giggling.
Nikki wonders over to me and Ash. He looks at me and I feel like he’s undressing me with his eyes, he says, “Shit girl, you look so damn fucking hot. Let me know if you get sick of dipshit and want to know what a real man feels like.” He gestures to his crotch crudely while pumping his hips back and forth with a massive grin on his face.
Ash punches Nikki on the shoulder and scowls, “I told you to back the fuck off Nikki!”
“Don’t get your fucking panties in a knot Ash. I’m just letting the pretty lady know I’m available. You know, putting my name on the list to make sure I get my turn.”
I shriek “I’m not a bloody bag of M&Ms to be shared around!”
Ash scowls at Nikki. “Angel’s not a damn groupie Nikki, leave her alone, she’s mine. You’re not getting anywhere near her – ever!”
“Not like you to be so selfish Ash.” Nikki shrugs “Wouldn’t be the first time we’ve shared.” Nikki sulks off to join Scott, Hansen and Cody at the bar.
I stare at Ash with a questioning look on my face. “What the fuck Ash?”
“Just ignore him Angel, he talks a pile of crap. He’s just annoyed that you’re not falling all over him like girls normally do.”
“So…do you and Nikki usually ‘share’ girls?” I gesture with air quotes as I say ‘share’ and glare at him with my arms crossed across my chest.
“Come on Angel.” he chuckles, grabbing my hand and dragging me reluctantly towards the other guys who have all congregated at the bar. I notice that Ash didn’t actually answer my question and I wonder how many times him and Nikki have in fact ‘shared’ girls.
As we reach the guys Scott holds out the shots he’s been pouring and hands one to each of us. He holds up his glass and makes a toast, “To a great fucking show, let’s rock this city until they’re screaming for more!” Everyone slams their glasses together and downs their shots. Scott holds out the bottle of whisky and pours more into everyone’s glasses, most of it misses the glasses and spills on the floor. We all clink our glasses together and yell out “salut” and down our second shot. One more round of shots and the guys all cheer, putting their arms around each other and Scott roars, “Let’s get this fucking show on the road!” They slap each other on the back and we all head out the door and down the corridor.
I can hear the crowd chanting – O-bliv-i-on!, O-bliv-i-on!, O-bliv-i-on!. The guys are pumped and have big grins on their faces as they literally bounce down the corridor towards the stage. Ash holds my hand and almost drags me behind him. It’s great to see him so excited. Passion exudes off him and the atmosphere is electric. I can feel the energy emanated off them. As we get to the steps that lead up to the stage, Ash moves us towards Pete who’s been escorting us. “Look after my Angel Pete, put her backstage, just to the right of me, so I can see her while I’m on stage.”
“No problem Ash.” Pete smiles. “Come with me Eve.” Pete holds out his hand towards me.
Ash gives me a hug and kisses me on the top of my head. “Stay where Pete puts you Angel, you’ll be able to see everything from there and I’ll be able to see you.” He winks at me. “See you in 90 minutes!” he says rocking on the balls of his feet. Ash and they guys are so eager and none of them have stopped smiling since we left the holding room. I get caught up in the energy of the moment and hug Ash tightly giving him a kiss on his lips. The biggest grin covers his face. “I remember how turned on you get when I perform, you see. You won’t be able to resist me.” he smirks.
Cocky bastard! “I wouldn’t bet on it band boy.” I snigger as I let go of him and start to follow Pete around to the other side of the stage. I look back and see the guys being handed their guitars and earpieces, they’re all laughing and giving each other high fives.
The crowd are still chanting as Pete escorts me to my designated spot. It’s going to be a great view, I can see the entire stage. Pete leaves me and I wait anxiously. After only about a minute the lights go out and the stadium falls into pitch black darkness. The crowd starts cheering and whistling. I can see mobile phones glowing and flashing as people hold them above their heads. The noise is ear-shattering and I can feel the rumble as fifteen thousand people stamp their feet in excitement. I hear the sound of an electric guitar reverberating around the stadium and see a very dim spotlight focussing on someone’s feet on the stage only a few feet away from me. The light is so faint I can’t actually see who it is, but I instinctively know it’s Ash. I hear Scott quietly whaling, whoa, whoa, yeah, yeah, whoa. The drums start beating lightly and another faint spotlight aluminates the floor under the drum set. Another guitar and the bass join in gently and more faint spotlights appear on the stage.
>
The next thing I know the stage explodes in a flash of light and colour. The volume of the music is amplified tenfold and I hear Scott scream, “yeah, yeah … yeah, yeah, yeah!” as he jumps down from the raised platform by the drums onto the front centre of the stage as pyrotechnics detonate across the stage. The crowd are yelling and jumping around excitedly. Holy crap! I can’t help myself, I have a massive smile on my face and start dancing around like a freak. Ash looks over at me and winks, quickly turning back to the audience as he darts across the stage, his guitar screeching as they play one of my favourite songs.
The band plays all of their hits plus a couple of others that I haven’t heard before. The show is fantastic! Every now and then Ash will look over at me and wink or smile. I don’t think I’ve danced and jumped around so much in my life! The guys are all born performers, interacting with the audience and having digs at each other constantly. They’re good, really, really good! They flirt with the crowd and Ash looks so damned sexy I can feel my body getting hot and my panties getting damp. I suddenly come to the realisation that I’m really in trouble here. I have a boyfriend at home for god sake! Well sort of, I’m not sure about exactly where Richard and I stand at the moment. But holy shit, maybe Ash was right. Now I’m seeing him perform again, he might just be irresistible. Crap!
Before I know it, the show is coming to an end. The boys have performed an extra three songs as their encore. Scott’s saying goodnight to the crowd, the guys are all taking a bow at the front of the stage and are waving in appreciation to the audience. A curtain drops down in front of the stage and the stadium lights all turn on.
Ash rushes over to me but stops a couple of feet away. He hands his guitar off to one of the sound techs and raises his arms out to his side. With a massive smile on his face he says, “So Angel, what d’ya think?”
I stand there with a blank look on my face my arms to my side, trying desperately to hold back my excitement. I can’t keep a straight face for long and I crack into the biggest smile, I just can’t control myself. I run towards him and yell, “It was fan-fucking-tastic band boy!” I jump into his arms and wrap my legs around his hips. In the impulse of the moment I crush my mouth to his and kiss the hell out of him! Our tongues are caressing and we’re devouring each other heatedly. I can feel him growing hard in his jeans as I rub myself against him, which turns me on even more. I moan into his mouth and he growls into mine. After a few long minutes we stop kissing and he slides me down his body, still holding me tight. We’re both gasping for breath. Hell, I remember this chemistry, the last time I felt this turned on was seven years ago and I’ve missed it so damned much!
“I guess you like huh!” he smirks.
“Hell yeah – that was amazing Ash!” I reply.
“Holy shit Angel, if I had known all I had to do was perform to have you kiss me like that, I would have done it sooner!” He grabs my hand and we start walking around the back of the stage making our way towards the holding room. As we pass some of the crew a guy holds out a large bottle of water to Ash. He takes it, saying, “Thanks Joe.” He takes off the sipper top and tosses it onto the floor, bringing the bottle up to his mouth he guzzles down the entire contents in almost one gulp. He crushes the bottle and throws that on the floor too.
Ash is obviously still pumped from performing and is dragging me down the corridor so fast I can hardly keep up. He tells me they’re all going to get showered and changed here rather than going back to the hotel. He checks that I brought a change of clothes with me and I tell him that I did. They have a VIP room booked for an after party at a local club and we’re leaving as soon as everyone’s ready to go.
Upon entering the room I notice that the other guys are already here with bottles of beer in their hands. There’s one of their albums playing over the stereo system. We move towards the bar and Ash picks up two bottles of beer, handing one to me. There are a few other people in the room too, but no more than a dozen or so. I notice that Hansen has found his redheaded lady again and is snuggling up in a corner with her. She’s whispering something into his ear and he’s chuckling. Scott and Cody are both chatting with a group of girls and guys, laughing and joking jubilantly. I can’t see Nikki anywhere so I presume he’s jumped in the shower already.
I take the beer from Ash and we head over towards the group of people where Scott and Cody are. “That was a great fucking show.” Scott says to Ash as they high five each other.
“It was bloody amazing.” Ash replies.
“The show was fantastic, you guys are awesome!” I gush enthusiastically as I squeeze Ash even tighter feeling like a silly fan-girl.
Cody agrees, “Ash you were on fire tonight.” Cody looks over to me and says, “Eve, if this is the effect you have on Ash I think we’ll have to keep you around permanently!”
“Too fucking right.” Ash exclaims as he pulls me even closer.
I hear the bathroom door open and Nikki walks out wearing only his half done up jeans and a white towel slung around his neck. He has his arm over the shoulder of a tiny strawberry blonde girl who’s giggling and clinging onto him. She’s wearing a tight short black dress, her hair is wet and it’s obvious she joined Nikki in the shower. I wonder what happened to the brunette from before the show?
Ash leans into me, “Will you be okay here while I go and take a quick shower?” he asks.
“Sure.” I reply, “I’m sure I can look after myself for a few minutes.”
“You can always join me!” he teases.
“Just go and get cleaned up band boy, you’re all sweaty.” I joke, crinkling my nose and pushing him towards the bathroom. Ash grins and heads off to have a shower.
I chat to the group for a few minutes then excuse myself to go and grab another drink. As I walk towards the bar I notice that my bag with my change of clothes is tucked beneath the table. I crouch down to grab it and silently thank Pete for carrying through on his promise to have my bag brought in. I help myself to another beer and as I turn to head back towards the group I notice that Hansen is walking towards me smiling, “Hey Eve.”
“Hi Hansen, great show!”
“Thanks Eve, umm…I just thought I would have a quick chat to you while Ash isn’t here.” He glances towards the bathroom door and then turns back to me solemnly looking straight into my eyes, “Look Eve, don’t hurt him okay. If you’re not serious, don’t let him think you are. You know he never really got over you. If he loses you again I doubt he’ll recover.”
I feel embarrassed, this is a very personal conversation to be having with someone that I don’t know that well. Then I start to get angry, “Hansen, it wasn’t me that broke it off with Ash seven years ago!” I exclaim. “Do you have any idea what I went through when Ash dumped me?”
“Yes, yes I know Eve, he’s told us the whole story.” He says quietly. “I know it was him that broke it off with you, but you do know that he did what he thought was best for you don’t you?” He pauses for a few seconds then sighs. “Just don’t lead him on Eve. He told us that you have a boyfriend back in LA. You clearly need to make a choice here. He’s extremely determined to have you back in his life. But if you hurt him, it’ll wreck him.” Hansen pats me on the shoulder, gives me a quick hug and walks back to the redhead who’s waiting patiently for him.
I look up and see Ash walking towards me with a concerned look on his face. He can obviously see that I’m a bit shaken. “What did Hansen say to you Angel?”
I look at him with guilt etched all over my face. “He was just warning me not to hurt you.” I mumble embarrassingly.
Ash gives me a hug, “Don’t take it personally Angel, these guys are my family, we’re like brothers. Hansen’s just trying to look out for me.”
I hug him and rake my eyes over him. He’s changed into black jeans, black combat boots and a black button down shirt with his sleeves rolled up his forearms and he smells amazing!, “You look really hot band boy.”
He smiles broadly at me, “I’m glad you
approve beautiful.” I lean into him, nuzzling up and putting my arm around him as we walk back to where the others are talking.
As the guys are all engrossed in their conversations, I ask Ash, “Do you think it’s okay if I go and freshen up in the bathroom now?”
“Sure, go for it Angel.” he says waving his arm towards the bathroom. “I can give you a hand if you like?” he smirks as he raises his eyebrows at me.
“No, all good thanks Ash.” I grin as I make my way towards the bathroom with Ash watching me intently.
I walk in and close the door behind me. I look in the mirror and notice that my dancing and jumping around has played havoc with my make-up. I quickly clip my hair up and jump in the shower. The warm water feels nice. After soaping up and rinsing off I get out of the shower, re-apply my make-up and perfume, brush my hair and change into the dress I packed. It’s a dark purple halter neck. It comes to mid-thigh, hugs all my curves and has a very low back that swoops down to the top of my ass. I can’t wear a bra with it, but it looks hot, so it doesn’t bother me too much. I slip on my black strappy heels. I take one last look in the mirror and have to admit that I don’t look too bad.
