Ben leaned into my side and put his free arm around me. “It’s badass, right? They only started doing it a few years ago. But if there’s lightning, everyone gets evacuated off the stage and the beach.”
“They do that for the whole festival since we’re on the beach,” Roscoe said behind us.
Ben turned, his arm coming off my shoulder for a second before he turned back and pulled me close again.
I fought against the smile tugging at my lips. Nice to know I wasn’t the only one annoyed by our chaperone’s presence. I turned back to the empty stage in front of me. “How do they get on it? And all that equipment. Each act has their own instruments, right?”
“Yeah. They pull those floating piers over there to the stage and tie them on.” Ben gestured with his beer to the pier about a hundred yards from the stage. “And after everything’s in place, they pull it back, so it doesn’t spoil the aesthetic.”
“Wow.”
Roscoe scoffed. “It’s a pain in the ass for the roadies. Can you image carrying all that shit over an unstable surface? And if you step wrong, you’re dropping thousands of dollars of equipment in salt water. Ridiculous.”
“Seriously, man?” Ben turned again and shook his head. Some kind of silent conversation took place because, while nothing else was said, I was pretty sure I heard Roscoe walk a few steps away.
I cleared my throat. “Do you know who’s on stage next?”
“Exempty,” Ben answered.
I tried and failed to muffle my groan.
Ben laughed. “You’re not a fan I take it?”
“I mean, I don’t mind some metal bands. The Tin Gods are amazing. But Exempty is…notmy favorite.”
“Why do you think they’re the first act on this stage on day one? They’re no one’s favorite.” Ben laughed lightly. “So do you want to watch them anyways or wander around and wait for the next act on the beach stage?”
I was pretty sure I heard Roscoe mutter something about the VIP section.
We wouldnotbe doing that. Or I wouldn’t anyway. Ben could go to the VIP area if he wanted, but I knew if there was one place here I’d be guaranteed to run into the step-monsters it would be there.
“Oh!” I spun to face Ben. “Where’s merch? I really need to get a festival t-shirt at least. I should probably get one for Gwen too.”
Roscoe made some gasping, groaning sound behind me.
I bit my lip. “Is that a problem? I could always go over to merch and meet up with you guys later at the beach stage? You know what? Let’s do that. I’ll meet you guys in—”
Ben cut me off with a wave of his hand. “Not happening. I literally just found you. I’m not letting you out of my sight again. Next thing I’d know some douche who doesn’t need a chaperone would swoop in and scoop you up. Not happening.”
I don’t know why I found that so endearing, but I did. I smiled and ducked my head at the exasperation in his voice and the glare he’d no doubt sent to Roscoe.
“So, merch?”
I nodded decisively. “Merch.”
I giggled as I let him pull me through the heaving masses again.
When we reached the merch area, I almost whimpered at the size of the line stretching out in front of the white tent. It snaked for forever. There were so many people. This was going to take hours. “Maybe we should go back and listen to Exempty. This is insane.”
“Only for people who don’t have one of these.” Ben tapped at the lanyard hanging just below my boobs, and my heart stuttered. I almost didn’t hear what he said next. My pulse was pounding in my ears. “We get to go to the special line over there. Come on.”
Then he pulled me in a different direction before I even registered his words. My body moved on its own. I was too busy trying to get my racing heartbeat under control.
Ben maneuvered Roscoe in the line in front of us and crouched down slightly to kinda hide behind him. That was weird. Was he really so recognizable? I guess people standing in line had a lot of time to people watch, unlike when we stood in the crowd at the stage.
“If this is too chancy for you, we can always—” I broke off because it was my turn to duck as I saw Daphne standing in line about four people in front of us with her whole entourage of high school harpies. Bree and Tamsin had taken almost the same amount of joy bullying me in school that Daphne had at home.
I didn’t want to be anywhere near them. And I really didn’t want Ben near them either. I could only imagine the embarrassing scene they’d make about him. Hell, they probably knew exactly who he was.
