Then again, ifeveryoneelse is seeing the situation in a certain way, it’s probably time I stop being defensive and start considering whether or not they have a point.
“Hey, I’m just fucking with you,” Riot says, shoving his locs over his shoulder. “I know shit is complicated between the two of you for more reasons than any of us know. I care about both of you. I’m tired of seeing you guys hurting.”
“Me too,” I admit. “I’m planning to talk to him after the show. If he doesn’t run from me again…”
“Follow his ass,” Creed says, chuckling. “I mean that literally. Chase him down if he tries to dip.”
If that’s what it takes… I’m not against it.
I nod, making poor Candice sigh.
Glancing over my shoulder, I say a quick, “Sorry. I forgot I wasn’t supposed to move.”
“We’re serious,” Riot says. “Call us. We’ll hold him down for you, if it comes to it.”
Well, here’s hoping it doesn’t come to that, but I’ve got my mind made up, and like everyone I’ve ever known likes to point out, I’m determined when I need to be.
The stage lights are blistering tonight, but the ambiance is on fire. The crowd is hyped, and the guys are on point. It’s freezing outside, but the stadium must have turned on the heat. That, or all the bodies are doing their thing.
I grab the bottle of water the roadie offers me between songs.
Riot and Creed do their jobs, taking over for a minute to amp up the crowd. They love to take off their shirts before our last set or during our last song.
By the time I make it back to center stage, even Ravvi and Damian are getting in on the action.
I’m a little too entranced by the way they play to the crowd, pointing and smiling. Not to mention watching Ravvi’s muscles flex as he tosses an arm around Damian’s shoulder.
Ravvi’s shoulders, arms, and neck are covered in dark tattoos, but he also has these sexy galaxy and star patterns that wrap around both hips. They extend from his lower back, all the way over both hip bones, and disappear into his waistband.
The overwhelming urge to learn how low they go washes over me from nowhere. I put all my focus into getting my guitar on to keep from doing something ridiculous like tackling him on stage in front of a couple thousand people.
Chapter Twelve
Ravvi
The adrenaline rush that comes from rocking out on stage is like nothing I’ve ever experienced.
Truth be told, I love nights like this.
Damian is in his element. He’s on the violin for this song, and he shreds it. The sharp tones echo around the stadium, and the audience watches with rapt fascination.
It’s like this when my mom plays too. Everyone holds their breath, lost to the experience of watching a true musician at work. Not to downplay any of our talent. We’re also talented musicians, but there’s something about watching a prodigy when they’re in the zone. It’s almost like the music flows through them from some higher power or level of consciousness.
Hell, I don’t know how to explain it.
There is something more to this world beyond what our human eyes can see. I know that with every fiber of my being.
I have almost no memories of the time before I was adopted. The only one that really stuck with me was Bryan, and I think that’s because he hung around for years after I went to live in Colorado.
He disappeared before I was ten, but he was one of the voices I trusted first. He got most things right, especially the partsabout Cove. He told me I would meet a blonde-haired, blue-eyed girl, and that she would become my entire world.
The one thing I remember most from my time in the orphanage was how lonely it was.
Before Lyric scooped me up, I can’t remember a time of being truly loved. Hell, I can’t even remember being held.
But I do have the vaguest memories of Bryan coaching me how to play the piano and the letter names for all the keys.
All of that would likely have been lost as I aged, but it’s what I told my parents, and they reminded me enough over the years that I held on to slivers of those memories.
