I don’t remember telling my feet to move, but before I knew it, I was behind the heavy black curtain, listening to the muffled sounds going on around me. Instead of performing acoustically, Baird talked me into performing with a band. Some of the guys from the headlining act surprisingly agreed to play my backup. They all smiled at me, giving me thumbs up as I took my spot behind the microphone.
I grabbed onto it with both hands and closed my eyes, concentrating on anything other than the thudding of my heart against my chest. I could feel the sweat rolling down the side of my forehead, but I didn’t dare move my hands to wipe it away. I vaguely heard my name being introduced, and some light applause as I felt a gentle gust of wind against my face from the curtain being moved. I kept my eyes firmly shut as the beat of my first song started. I took a deep breath and let it out infinitely slow, counting down until my first lyric came up and then it felt like my whole body was on fire as the words flowed effortlessly from my tongue.
I started my short set with “Smooth Criminal.” Even in this Texas crowd, I knew the tune would be appreciated, and everyone seemed to be instantly impressed with my selection. It had taken me a while, but I had changed the arrangement around. I upped the tempo so that the song was a little more rock and roll and paired nicely with my fiery alto voice. I finally opened my eyes about halfway through the song and instead of scanning the room for fear of lighting my nerves up again, I looked straight down to find Vic. She was dancing like a mad woman, and I couldn’t help but smile.
By the time the last note rang out, I felt incredible. I would always remember the way it felt to be in that moment. Completely alive with no one to hold me back or hide me away. The yelling and applause brought me back to the now, and as I scanned the crowd, I couldn’t believe how many people were smiling and clapping for me!
I smiled and did a little bow as the notes of the next song started up.
I began singing one of my all-time favorite songs by Heart. My mother would kill me if she knew that I listened to them, let alone sang every single word to “All I Wanna Do Is Make Love To You.” It was a no brainer when I picked my set list because I knew I could pull it off. Vic had always told me that I sounded like a mash-up of Joan Jett, Amy Lee, and Carrie Underwood, whatever that meant. I just hoped the audience was agreeing with her while I rolled into the chorus.
I felt a little braver as I scanned the crowd while singing my heart out, with every pair of eyes glued to me until I came upon those stormy gray eyes. The static in the air around me crackled, and my brain seemed to short out. Avery was making his way up front without taking his eyes off me. Luckily, I knew the words by heart and didn’t miss a beat, but the way his eyes pierced right through me distracted me from everything else going on in the room. His body moved through the sea of people just to get closer to me, and that gave me a whole other reason to feel nervous. I heard Vic’s catcall as her favorite part of the number approached, and I thanked my lucky stars for it as I closed my eyes and sang the next part of the song with all the power and emotion I could.
Nearing the end, I opened my eyes long enough to lock them with my sexy stranger again and it sent my stomach into knots. I had a brand new understanding for all of the songs and books that I’d buried myself under all these years. I forced myself to look away from him long enough to finish out the track.
The cheers that roared through the bar startled me; I let out a laugh as I took in the happy crowd.
“Thank you so much!” I spoke into the mic, hoping they couldn’t tell that my voice was shaky with happy tears.
My last song started up and I crushed it. It wasn’t a classic like the others, but was one I loved, and I knew I could sing it without a problem. “Waiting,” by Michael Tolcher wasn’t mainstream, but it fired up something deep within my soul. My own voice rang through the speakers and rattled when I hit certain notes, the feeling was incomparable to anything else.
When my final note echoed through the room, I thought my heart would explode. I smiled and let out a laugh of relief and gratitude as I did another small bow. Quickly, I made my way off of the stage. The guys in the band called out ‘great job’ to me as I took the steps two at a time and found myself pressed against the cold concrete wall again.
I did it. I had finally done it! I couldn’t catch my breath for a second as the level of emotion I had suppressed finally hit the surface, and then my laughter and panting turned into sobs. I knew this was it for me. After I was done with high school my parents had plans for me, and those plans didn’t include me going to the college of my choice. No, I was going to be sent away on a Mission to start a church somewhere. Denying the inevitable would only make it worse. There had been no discussion and I knew there wouldn’t be; it was just what was expected. My life had never been my own, but on that stage I got to hold a tiny piece of it. They couldn’t take tonight away from me. Embracing the side of myself that I had been hiding from everyone but Victoria had been such an amazing feeling. I let out a deep cathartic laugh as my sobs finally calmed. I wiped my face and pushed my hair back as I heard the band start their set. Smiling to myself, I opened the backstage door and headed out onto the floor to find my friend, and instead, ran smack into that black-shirt covered chest.
The next minute played out like one of those really cheesy, slow-motion scenes out of a romance movie. We bumped into one another and our eyes slowly rose until they met and fastened on to the other’s; the electricity between us firing off, instantaneous and out of our control. Before I knew what was happening, both of his strong hands had a tender, but firm hold on my face, his fingers sinking into my soft, brown curls on either side of my head as he pulled me in for a kiss that I would remember for the rest of my life.
My eyes fluttered shut as soon as I felt his lips touch mine. Avery faintly tasted of something sweet, and the only thought my brain could grasp onto was more. I leaned into him asking for just that.
I can’t explain how incredible the kiss was. It was rough and gentle, innocent and fiery, all wrapped up into a memory that would be forever scorched into my mind. I felt his fingertips gently brush over my cheeks as our kiss deepened, his other hand came down, tracing a blazing path slowly down my neck, and when he grazed my collarbone, I gasped, accidentally interrupting our moment. Suffice it to say, my body’s reaction had been as much of a surprise as the kiss itself. His hand swept his shaggy hair back, and then fell to his side as a sheepish grin took over his face.
“I guess it’s my turn to apologize. I just had to do that before you told me you were either way too young for me, have a boyfriend, or secretly had an FBI agent sent here to lure me in and kill me.”
My flushed cheeks rose to my eyes as I smiled and laughed loudly.
“Yeah, um, well, nope. I’m legal. No boyfriend and your life is safe, for now.”
He bit his bottom lip in that irresistible way again and laughed, “Good to know. Very good to know,” he murmured slowly and so articulately that I felt my body responding to the low, husky tone of his voice just as it had to his kiss. My cheeks felt hot all over again and I looked to the floor to try to hide it, brushing some hair behind my ear as I admired his boots.
I felt his warm breath on my neck before I heard his voice beside my ear. The goose bumps ran wild all over my body as his words filled my heart.
“You were incredible up there.”
I lifted my head and leaned slightly to my side to look at him. “Really?” I asked, my voice coming out as a whisper was out of my control. I blamed the kiss for my brain cells not functioning properly. As he raised an eyebrow, he asked.
“Are you kidding me? I felt like a complete douche when I realized that I had put my foot in my mouth when I made that comment about you making our ears bleed. I could not have been more wrong. How long have you been performing?”
“Um, just tonight.”
He looked confused, “What?”
“Tonight was my first time on stage. As in, ever,” I said with a nerv
ous laugh. God, why was I suddenly nervous?
His confused look morphed into a genuine, shocked smile, “Seriously? Chase, you were incredible up there! Jesse would outright call bullshit on you though, because you don’t sound like a new performer at all. Your voice is insane!”
I couldn’t deny the butterfly feeling I got when my name left his lips, but when I heard him talking about Jesse, it was as if someone had ripped the tiny wings right off, and the fluttering came to a crashing halt.
Just outright ask him, my head urged as I pressured the question from the odd sick feeling in the pit of my stomach.
“So, is Jesse your girlfriend?” I asked. The words were meant to come out firmly, to show him that I wasn’t about to have any more of his cheating lips on me, but instead they came out meekly.
Disappointment was harder to hide than I anticipated.
His brows creased as he let out a deep laugh, putting his hand over his stomach, “Oh, hell no! Jesse is a guy, and he most definitely is no one’s girlfriend. He’s the bassist in my band back home, and he wouldn’t believe for a second that you hadn’t been born on a stage. Plus, I don’t have a girlfriend.”
Either from the relief of him not having a girlfriend, or the sweetness of his words, something made me want to kiss him again, and for a moment, it felt as if he were a magnet and I couldn’t resist the pull. I leaned back in, my eyes zeroing in on his lip ring, but before our lips met, he spoke so softly that the hair on my arms stood up.
“Let’s get out of here.”
My breath caught as my eyes flew up to his, “And go where?”
Avery gave me that devastating smile of his, and answered, “Anywhere. Do you trust me?”
I know that I should have wanted to reach out and slap him for assuming I would ever leave a bar with a strange man to do god only knows what, but instead I followed the butterflies. They were fluttering so hard inside of me that I thought I might actually have real ones in there.
I bit my lip and nodded before I realized I was even doing it.
Avery took my clammy hand into his and we started across the crowded bar when it suddenly hit me that I was supposed to be finding Victoria.
“Oh! Hold on, I um, I can’t leave without my friend,” I stammered, scanning around for her quickly, trying not to lose my nerve and chicken out.
He turned back to me and smiled, pointing across the bar back to the stage area. I followed the direction of his toned arm and found that my friend was wrapped up in some tall, blonde guy’s arms. I let out a breathy laugh. Figured as much!
I felt him lean down against my neck, “And that boy attached to your friend would be my younger brother, Luke.” My jaw dropped. I spun around to look at him as he chuckled.
My eyes found the two of them again, snuggling and making out on the dance floor as I blushed. I didn’t really want to bother her, but I couldn’t just up and leave! The two of them upped the steamy moment with some added groping, and I made up my mind that I truly didn’t want to go over there. I sighed. She was my ride and place to stay for the night though.
“You can always text or call her. I have to be back here in a couple of hours to pick up my brother and Uncle anyway, so we won’t be gone for long,” he said, as if he were reading my mind.
I made a goofy, unsure face at him and shook my head, “Um, I don’t have a cell phone.”
“You don’t have a phone?”
I blushed, “Nope, not allowed.”
Avery raised an eyebrow to me and then pulled a phone from his pocket. In a second, he had it up to his ear.
“Hey, Luke, yeah, hand the pretty lady the phone. Don’t ask questions, just do it.”
He extended his hand to me, giving me his cell, and I took it warily.
“Uh, hello?”
“Chase?”
“Heyyyyyyy, Vic. Um, I’m going to go out for just a little bit with Avery, but he said he would be back for his brother, you know—your dance partner, in a few. You looked occupied so I hope you don—”
“This is Oreo filling’s BROTHER? Ha! No shit? Wait, you want to go OUT with a guy you just met in a bar? Damn, woman! Well, unlike your folks, I trust your judgment! Just be good, not too good, though— I mean if he kisses like his broth—,” but before she could go on I blushed and cut her off.
“Vic, I’ll be fine. There are tons of shops around here. I promise to stay close by and I’ll be back in a couple of hours. I’ll see you later!” With that I snapped his phone shut and handed it back to him.
I couldn’t believe I was about to do it either, but if I didn’t live a little now, I’d never get the chance. I would never get the chance to meet another Avery.
Looking up through my lashes, I smiled shyly at him, “All right, where to?”
He smiled back and before I could change my mind, he had my hand in his and we were out of the door.
When the cold, November night air washed over me, my mind filled quickly with thoughts of what I was actually doing. Realization hit that I should probably say something to Avery before he tried taking me to the Super 8 Motel down the road.
I roughly cleared my throat, “uh, I uh, I don’t normally do stuff like this. Whatever you thought we would do, uh, I mean, I’m not that kind of girl.”
We paused on the sidewalk briefly, and he gazed down at me. Oh great, I knew he wouldn’t want to just hang out with me. Not that I wouldn’t mind kissing him some more. I just wasn’t sure that I was ready to take it further than that.
“You’re exactly the kind of girl I want you to be,” Avery spoke softly, rubbing the back of my palm with his thumb.
I’m pretty sure my heart melted on the spot.
We walked hand in hand for a few blocks until we came up to a well-lit area filled with shops, a fountain, and a bunch of benches. I thought we were headed to a bench when Avery yanked my hand in a different direction. Outside of one of the stores was an older man sitting on a small stool playing a guitar. His skin was a deep caramel color, worn but smooth, and his hair was a brilliant white. His clothes were slightly tattered but the guitar in his hands was one of the most beautiful things I had ever seen. The deep, cherry-color acoustic guitar sounded heavenly as we stopped next to a small crowd to listen.
I couldn’t help but smile as he finished the last few strums and everyone around clapped,; and a few deposited some change into the open case at his feet. The next few notes started up and my smile widened because I recognized it immediately.
Avery knelt beside the older man, his eyes closed, as his head nodded to the beat of the song and his thumb kept rhythm against his knee. The next thing I heard was the most incredible voice, singing out beside this street musician.
The rich, soulful, baritone voice filled the night air, giving me chills. The raspy edge to it proved there was more rock and roll to him. The fact that he knew the words to “Stand by Me,” well, it was downright adorable—if you can even say that about a pierced, tattooed guy like Avery.
He went back and forth between looking at the guitarist and closing his eyes until the next verse came up. Avery rose to his feet and his eyes met mine as he extended an arm out to me.
I shook my head furiously, determined to avoid humiliating myself next to his unbelievable voice, but as soon as he took my hand I realized I’d never win the fight. Maybe, deep down, part of me already knew that I didn’t want to.
Timidly, I sang out the next part of the song.
I began to feel a little more confident as I reached the end of the verse. The crowd around us was growing slowly, all smiling and snapping along to the beat of the familiar melody.
We sang the next part together and the way our voices blended was unbelievable. Our eyes locked, and without even knowing each other, we knew exactly how to harmonize. During the next guitar interlude, Avery started snapping his fingers and slowly dancing around me, and I couldn’t help but laugh, and to do a little shoulder shuffle against him. I caught a passing glimpse of the blonde Adonis with hi
s hair disheveled and hanging in his face. With a look of pure bliss, his voice wrapped around me. Something blossomed deep within me. It was a feeling as if I wanted to do this every single day for the rest of my life. The thought startled me, but in a good way that made me feel light-headed and slightly dizzy. We laughed and just when I thought we would be finishing the song, he started the first verse all over again.
Avery sank to his knees, took my hand, and the rest of the world disappeared. Singing the very last note, his voice rang out and every last one of my senses lay scattered around me. He stood up while still holding my hand and grabbed the older gentleman’s hand, too. Avery made us all bow as everyone around clapped and threw in a bunch of bills to the growing change pile. He let go of my hand just long enough to shake the hand of the guitarist. Then, reaching into his pocket, he grabbed some cash and put it in the case before slipping a hand along my lower back and escorting me back down the sidewalk.
I couldn’t contain everything that was racing through me; I was happy, terrified, confused, smitten, and completely overtaken by this night. I felt another one of those half-laugh, half-cries escape my throat, and Avery looked down at me.
“Have fun back there?” he asked in a flirty voice.
I stopped dead in my tracks, looked into his eyes, and gave him my most genuine smile. Did he really not understand how incredible that was? I wondered if my eyes gave away everything I was feeling, because I felt as if he could see right through me. It was difficult for me to form the right words.
“You have no idea. That was—you were—it was just—amazing.”
He bit the corner of his lip gently and I thought he was going to say something flirty or witty to lighten the mood, but instead he surprised me again and glanced down at his watch.
“Quick,” he almost shouted at me, startling the crap out of our fading, tender moment, “do you like ice cream?”
I laughed and just gave him a confused look.
Wild Chase Page 2
