He took another second to finish his bottle, let out a belch that was almost louder than the crowd, then stood up. “Patience, dude. The pipes have to be primed.”
I had to raise an eyebrow at that. Griffin sang backup, true, but he didn’t do that much singing. He was facing the bar and raising his fists in the air like Rocky, so I left him to it and made my way to the stairs. The volume increased with every step I took toward the stage. Matt was prepping the equipment. I clapped his shoulder, then made my way to my microphone. Grabbing the stand, I pulled it up to my mouth. “This thing on?” I murmured in an intentionally low voice.
The corresponding screams were so loud my ears started ringing. Smiling, I scanned the fans starting to crowd around the stage. Kiera and Denny were still at the table, but they both had ear-to-ear grins. “How the fuck are you, Seattle?”
The girls closest to me started jumping and hollering in response. From the side of the room, I could see Griffin taking his damn sweet time getting to the stage. Frowning, I said into the microphone, “We seem to be down a D-Bag. If any of you can play bass, please feel free to hop up here and join me.”
About a half dozen girls wasted no time in scrambling onstage with me. Sam was on them in an instant, pulling them back into the crowd. It made me laugh, but Sam shot me more than one irritated glance. Griffin did too. He ran onto the stage so fast you’d think a naked girl was up here. Grabbing his bass, he looked my way and shouted, “Bite me, asshole.”
Matt and Evan laughed with me as Griffin hurried to get himself ready. Giving him time, I addressed the crowd again. “Sorry about that. Looks like we’re all here after all.” Kiera and Denny were laughing, along with a good section of the back of the bar. The girls closest were still shrieking their heads off, oblivious to the humor. “Any requests?” I asked them.
“You!” A couple people shouted that, and from different sections of the room. I scanned the bar, but I couldn’t tell who’d said it.
Laughing, I responded with, “Maybe later. If you’re real nice.” Whistles and catcalls followed that remark, and I wondered if anyone would try to take me up on the offer. I looked back at Evan, and he gave me a thumbs-up. Everyone was ready. Twisting back to the bar, I said into the microphone, “We’ve got newbies here tonight, so how about an old one?”
Without looking, I pointed back at Evan, cuing him to start the song. He tapped it out, then started the intro. Matt came in a few beats later. Biting my lip, I kept time by swaying my body while I waited for my turn. Griffin came in a half beat behind me, and then we really took off.
I loved starting off with this song, because I got to curse in the chorus. Not only was it fun, but it loosened up the crowd, made them go nuts—not that this crowd had a problem with that; they were used to us here, and were always ready for a good time. It helped in new bars though. Watching Kiera’s reaction to it was outstanding.
“You knocked me down, you fucked me up. I’m holding still, waiting for you to do it again. Call me crazy, but I can’t get enough.”
She was gaping when she first heard the line, then she was laughing, then she buried her head in Denny’s shoulder. Her being entertained by one of my songs gave me a weird sense of satisfaction. It was a perfect way to start the night.
We played quite a few songs after that, the crowd laughing, screaming, and dancing, wholeheartedly enjoying themselves. Denny and Kiera spent most of the time on the fringes of the crowd, dancing along to the music together. When I grabbed my guitar and slowed the set down with a mellower song, they started slow dancing. It gave me a huge smile to see Denny so happy. He looked satisfied, like everything in his life was just the way he wanted it. Seeing him that way, my mood started mirroring his. All of us living together was going to be great—almost like a family of sorts.
They were softly kissing with their arms tight around each other, a picture of perfect peace. Kiera laid her head on Denny’s shoulder. Her head was facing toward me, and I gave her a warm, friendly smile. Then I winked at her, ’cause I just couldn’t resist making her blush. She was clearly surprised by my friendly move, and I laughed and looked away. Some of the fans right in front of me started fanning themselves like I was making them overheat. That made me laugh too.
We played one more fast song, a fan favorite, to close out the night. Knowing it was the end, some of the girls started screaming for an encore; they did that sometimes, which seemed weird to me. We were here every weekend. If they really wanted more, they knew where to find us.
I spoke into the microphone, and they quieted to hear me. “Thank you for coming out tonight.” I waited for the brief burst of screams to diminish, then raised a finger. “I want to take a second to introduce you all to my new roommates.” Not able to resist the temptation to make Kiera’s face fill with color, I pointed at her and Denny. She looked like she wanted to either kill me or melt into the floor. Maybe both. Denny moving to her side was probably the only thing keeping her upright. And in the bar.
“Ladies, the tall, dark, and handsome one would be Denny. Don’t get too attached though, that hottie beside him would be his girlfriend, Kiera.” Kiera hid her face in Denny’s shoulder, mortified. Wondering if she’d convince Denny to move out before the morning, I playfully told the crowd, “Now, you’ll all be happy to know that Kiera is joining the happy little family here at Pete’s, starting Monday night.”
Kiera peeked up and glared at me with a delightful set of evil eyes and bright red cheeks. If I were close enough, I’d probably get a firm smack too. I laughed at the look on her face. Too bad she was too far away…and I had a microphone. No matter how hard she glared at me, she couldn’t stop me from teasing her.
Getting to the point of my speech, I told the crowd, “I want you all to be nice to her.” I turned my eyes to Griffin, who was mentally having his way with Kiera. “Especially you, Griffin.”
Griffin turned to me and gave me an Oh, yeah smile. I shook my head at him, told the crowd good night, then sat down on the stage to rest for a bit. It got hot under the lights. The girls below me didn’t seem to care that I was sweaty. They hopped up on the stage to be near me. Since the set was over with, Sam let them approach me.
One handed me a beer, which I gratefully accepted. Another started playing with my hair, sending shivers down my spine. I loved the feeling of fingers against my scalp. One aggressive girl made herself quite comfortable on my lap. Laughing, I let her. “You’re sweaty,” she said with a giggle, then she leaned in to lick a bead off my neck. I’ll admit, it turned me on, and I was in such a good mood, I welcomed the affection.
I looked over at Denny and Kiera; they both looked exhausted. I doubted we’d be doing any more roommate bonding tonight. They were probably just going to go home and crash. As I watched, Kiera yawned, confirming my suspicions. Denny said something to her, then turned my direction. Spotting me in the clump of women near the stage, he lifted his hand in a wave. I raised my beer in goodbye. Yeah, I’d hang out with them later. I was enjoying a pretty good performance buzz right now, and I kind of wanted to keep it going.
The girl on my lap was working her way toward my ear. My cock was quickly hardening, and by the way she squirmed her hips, I knew she knew it. When she got to my ear, she whispered, “I think you’re enjoying this.”
I gave her a smooth smile. “A gorgeous woman licking my neck? What’s not to enjoy?”
She bit her lip as I took a swig of my beer. “Want to get out of here?” she asked, a grin full of promise on her lips.
I considered that as I swallowed the beer in my mouth. Did I want to leave with her? Denny and Kiera were on their way home, my band was currently hooking up with friends or fans and heading out, I was feeling amazing from an awesome show, and I wasn’t the least bit tired. Why the hell not spend the evening wrapped around a woman? And besides, it felt nice having her in my arms.
“Sure. What did you have in mind?” I was pretty sure I knew what she wanted, but it was always good to double check. I wouldn’t want to assume and look like an asshole.
“I have an apartment on Capitol Hill,” she said, and giggled again.
“Sounds great,” I told her. Wrapping my hands around the girl’s hips, I eased her onto the floor. She played with a long strand of pitch-black hair while she waited for me to join her. I carefully extracted myself from the group of girls around me, making them groan, whine, and toss nasty insults at my date. She didn’t say anything, just gave them a vindictive smile. “Play nice, ladies,” I told all of them before hopping down to join her.
She wrapped her arms around my waist the minute she was able to. I put my arm around her shoulder and started leading her toward the doors. The crowds were thinner now than before the show, but the bar was still pretty full, and women reached out to stroke me as I weaved us toward the exit.
I led the girl to my car and opened the door for her. She slid in and moved all the way over to my side on the bench seat. When I sat down behind the steering wheel, there was hardly enough room for me. Her hand was instantly on my inner thigh, her mouth once again on my neck. Her tongue flicked against the vein in my throat and I suppressed a groan. This was going to be a long car ride if she kept this up. “Where to?” I asked.