I considered saying something mean in return, but there was more truth to her statement than I wanted to admit. It took a full ten minutes of walking, me mostly being dragged by Loretta because even though she was wearing two-inch heels, her desire to see the band was greater than mine. I stayed behind to watch the way her ass wiggled in her dress as she walked.
By the time we reached the stage the band was standing on it. They were all woman, and each had their hair dyed an unnatural color. I peeked at Loretta and raised a brow. Her blue strands made more sense. Every person on the stage had an instrument in front of them except the lead singer who screamed into a microphone as she tapped her foot beside the stand.
A crowd of people gathered at the bottom of the stage trampling over the grass as their bodies wove between one another.
Loretta tugged me that way as if she planned to race into the foray, but I held her back. “It resembles a mosh pit down there.”
She nodded enthusiastically and stared back at me. “I know. They’re so great. Let’s go.” And then there was no stopping her, not that I tried very hard.
I let the woman who perplexed me in so many ways with her blue hair, piercings, and short sundress lead me into what would surely be my doom. And I smiled.
Pierce sent me to look after the band and guarantee they had no problems on or off the stage. Rather than follow through on my agreement I worried Loretta would cause the most trouble. The bandmates left the restaurant last night after only a pitcher of beer and picked up zero women before they headed to the hotel. Loretta drank and sang until the wee hours of the morning. Her brother and his band mates were safely tucked into bed by the time she entered a drinking contest with herself.
I stopped at the top of the hill, not wanting to go any further, and Loretta slipped free of my grasp. She wandered down a few more steps and then turned back. “Aren’t you coming?”
“It’s a splendid view from here,” I said hoping she’d come back and look. The view was spectacular. Far enough away from the crowds, but with an angled vision to see the entire stage.
She stomped back up the hill and latched on to my hand, yanking me with her. “You need to be immersed in the music so you can feel it in your body.” Her words held such conviction it was easy to see she believed it herself.
“They’re quite loud. I’m sure we can immerse from here.”
There was no winning against her. Once Loretta set her mind to something, she didn’t stop. The woman pulled me along until we reached the edge of the group of fans gathered in front of the stage—the same area where her brother would play later in the evening. However, the all-woman metal band had a drastically different beat.
I’d classify her brother’s band,Scorpion’s House,as an upbeat pop and rock boy band even though I heard them complain about the cataloging on the plane. It seemed they if you wrote your own music and played your own instruments, you were a band and not a boy band. Others in the industry didn’t see the need to clarify the subtle difference between them and their counterparts. From how heated the conversation grew, it seemed parts were up for debate.
Loretta dropped my hand at the edge of the crowd and I reached for her, instinctively knowing what she planned to do. I missed, and she slipped into the mass of bodies. As I expected the tiny female caused more issues than her brother and his rock band. I needed to keep an eye on her, which required me to enter the bulge of human bodies as well.
The stage area was outside in the middle of a field where the breeze whipped around us, but as soon as I passed the first two bodies, sweltering heat prickled my skin. The bodies were too close together for the scorching air to escape, and sweat formed on my brow almost instantly.
“Are you sure about this?” I had to yell into Loretta’s ear, but my hesitation didn’t stop her.
Bodies swayed against one another as if they weren’t even trying to keep tempo with the music. They lost all attempts to stay in rhythm as people crashed into other bodies. Couples gyrated against their partners as if they were in a bedroom alone and not in a crowded mosh pit of sex.
“I really don’t think this is a good idea,” I yelled as Loretta turned and her eyes met mine. She inched up to me and swayed her hips. They were fucking magnificent hips. She moved to the music, graceful like she was the only person in the crowd. It reminded me of how she sang, her body becoming one with notes in the song. A bead of sweat dripped down my arm and I smiled at her, no longer upset with the sweltering temps.
The surrounding people slowly disappeared from my line of vision until we were the only two people left in the world. Loretta stepped closer and then swayed away as if she planned to leave me. I reached out to stop her, but it wasn’t needed.
The sultry woman and her blue hair turned, giving me her back and inched closer to my chest. I held my breath waiting for our first touch, but a blonde with a shirt so tight she practically popped out of it at the top, slipped between us before I could wrap my hands around Loretta and claim her.
Sensing the new obstruction Loretta froze before turning, and with just one outstretched finger pushed the interloper away. “He’s taken,” she said.
I almost smiled but instead bit my bottom lip to hide my amusement. Loretta glanced at me and her expression turned to a frown. “Unless you want her,” she said sounding like a question she hadn’t thought plausible.
Because it wasn’t.
I twisted so I couldn’t even see the woman in question. “Blue, I’m staring at what I want,” I said in a huge admission but one that needed to be voiced.
It was wrong of me and would probably somehow end up getting me in trouble, but in that moment, it became horribly apparent the only person I wanted to be around was Loretta. I didn’t care if she called me an asshole every day for the rest of my life. She could make fun of my clothing and whatever else she wanted. As long as I got to hear her voice, I’d let her say anything.
It wasn’t like me.
Women didn’t turn me into a melodramatic emotional man. At least not any woman I’d met until then. Since meeting Loretta, everything changed.
Loretta smiled, and it was so bright she could outshine the sun. She stood next to me and wrapped her hands around my neck inviting me to dance with her. “There’s only one problem, blue.”
She tilted her head way back to look at me, our height difference prominent even in her heels. “What’s that?”
“You will not believe this, but I can’t dance.” There was every bit of chance that she believed me when I said it. I didn’t exactly portray the dancing type.
