If it weren’t for the fact they just sentmy girlto go hookup with some rando, I’d feel bad for them. We’re all ganging up on them, and they do look mildly apologetic.
“Look,” Cami says,waving her hands in the air. “Cara never said she was going man hunting. She was just going to check out the festival. Even if she does, what’s done is done. If any of you try to interfere, she’s going to be pissed.”
“Better pissed, then riddled with more fucking guilt.” Maddox almost looks as pissed as me. Almost.
“I mean it,guys. Leave her alone. She needs to figure out how to live her life again without anyone holding her hand.”Maddox and Ryder huff.Angel just keeps glaring at Josephine,who squirms under his glare.
Dane rakes another hand through his hair. “She’sright,” he says in defeat.
My eyes grow wide.“Are you serious?”
“Let her figure it out, Jake. If Ryder’s right, then either she won’t be able to go through with anything, or she’ll regret it.”
“And I’m just supposed to sit back and watch the girl that I’ve wanted for the last five years get it on with another guy.”
“One, you won’t be watching. Two, you’ve watched her have boyfriends for those five years.”
“Remember what I told you,” Angel looks at me with sympathy.
“I do,” I swallow hard. “Doesn’t mean I have to like it.”
“No, you don’t.” He nods.
“Come on. We’ve got a stage to get to,” Maddox tells us with a jerk of his head.
“Just because I said you’re right doesn’t mean I’m done with you,” Dane whispers to Cami.
“You either, Ethel,” Angel tells Josephine.
“Jake,” Cami calls out as I step out of the bus. I turn to see her standing on the top step. “I am sorry.”
I wave her off like it’s no big deal. Like the thought of Cara being touched by another man, especially after I’m the one who slammed the brakes last night, doesn’t feel like a knife in my heart. “It’s fine, Cami. It will either work out, or it won’t.”
“I know this doesn’t mean a lot, but I hope you do work out,” she smiles.
I nod and follow the rest of the guys across the lot.We make it to side stage, where Dylan sees us with a wide grin on his face as he belts outsome cover I don’t recognize.
“I’ve got some friends of mine here to help us out on a couple songs,” Dylan says in the microphoneto the cheering crowd. “I’ve known these guys for a while,and it has been a huge honor being on tour with them. Why don’t you guys help me welcome Sons of Sin.”
We get on stage to huge cheering from the crowd that will probably be here tomorrow night for our show.Jacob’s Ladder’s drummer steps back from his kit, bowing at Dane, who can only shake his head. The guy doesn’t see where he’s just as important to the band as the rest. I walk to an amp plugging in my bass while Angeland Ryder do the same with their guitars.
Maddox flips whatever switch it is that is ingrained in him, and his stage persona appears. The guy has more personalities than the guy fromSplit. He banters easily with Dylan. They manage to get the already roaring crowdeven more amped. The cheers and screams are so loud, I wonder how they hear anything Maddox and Dylan are saying.
We start the song with the sounds of Ryder and Wyatt in a guitar battle before Dylan takes the first line of the song. When Maddox comes in, the crowd goes absolutely insane. You’d think we were Led Zepplin out here instead of some band that only came aboutpublicly a couple of years ago.
I close my eyes. I try to let the adrenaline from the crowd take over my mind.Only problem is, it’s not working.
Every time my eyes catch a flash of blond, I wonder if it’s her. I can only be grateful that I can play without a lot of thought. It’s only because Dylan wanted to sing some of our really old stuff. Stuff that we haven’t even recorded. Those songs are part of my muscle memory.
We’ve played two songs and are halfway through the third and final song when I see her.
She’s standing in the crowd, not too close to the stage, but close enough I can see thosedark eyes shine with excitement and pride. I watch as that long blond hair sways back and forth. My eyes rake over those long legs, noticing that the cut-off shorts she is wearing make them seem that much longer.
For the first time since this trip started, she appears light andfree. A combination of guilt and egofills me. Guilt because I know I’m part of the reason she’s been so stressed. Ego becauseI’mpart of the reason she’s so stressed.
Then, some guy walks up to her, and every muscle in my body coils. When he dips his head low,whispering something in her ear, my blood boils. When she nods and begins to follow him out of the crowd, my head nearly explodes.
The song endsat just the right moment. I hope. Because my ass is off that stage, chasing her through the crowd. Not an easy feat, consideringeveryone feels the need to touch me, begging for a picture or autograph, though I’m not sure why. Sons of Sin fans don’t really know me. When they finally hit big, I wasn’t part of the band, but here they are grabbing and groping, and all I want to do is get to the girl.
