I feign ignorance and ask, “What was what?”
Now she rolls her eyes and gives me a little shove before strolling into the kitchen. There she grabs an order that’s ready and breezes past me out toward the few tables set up near the bar. “Making a move on that pretty lady?”
And here it is…
“No,” I say a little too quickly.
Dina chuckles. “Liar.”
“Brat.” Why I continue to follow her while she teases me has me shaking my head. I turn and start to walk toward the stage where my band mates are setting up.
“Hey!”
I turn back toward her.
“She looked like she wouldn’t mind your moves.” Dina winks and saunters off, making the rounds to her patrons.
I chuckle and shake my head again, striding away. I jog up the stairs to the stage where my group is moving equipment and opening cases for the instruments. Jerald’s got rock music blaring on the bar’s sound system until we’re ready to go. While I play guitar, piano, and sing, Rafe’s our drummer and will sing on an occasional song, Holly’s on bass guitar and also sings, andWillie plays guitar and the saxophone. We’ve been performing together for about seven years, mostly throughout Florida, but we’ve had the fortune to make appearances at out-of-state events with some major headliners. There’s even a few of our records out on the market. Well, not physical records because everything seems to be digital nowadays.
We’re an eclectic group, playing a mix of 70s-90s Rock from the Eagles to the Foo Fighters, as well as our own original music. Some would argue whether a few choices are actually categorized as rock, like Robbie Dupree or Melissa Etheridge, but hey, we play what we like.
I’ve been playing music in one form or another since I was twelve while floating from job to job. I even did four years in the Army when I hit what I thought was a dead end in life at age twenty-five. I scoff at the memory, having realized years later my problems then were nothing compared to what I had yet to experience. And I’ve experienced a lot.
While trying to make a go at my music, I also worked in construction, personal protection, and various other occupations before this group came together and clicked almost perfectly from the start. I help out Dina and Jerald more often than not when the band isn’t traveling; especially during the summer, the bar’s peak season, of course. And I certainly won’t complain about it. We play here at least two weekends a month, and it gives me time to be around the only family I have left in this world.
“Hey, man, good of you to show up.” Rafe laughs. “Thought you might ditch us after hooking up with that hot momma.”
I groan with mock annoyance as I help him move his drum cases. “Not you too.”
“Oh, me too,” he teases, causing Holly and Willie to laugh. “We all saw you up on that stage. Hell, the whole place did. Not that you’d notice. You only had eyes for that fresh piece—”
“That’s enough.” I ignore more of their banter as I open my own guitar case and start hooking it up, ready to test and tune. Holly slides close and nudges my shoulder. She’s nearly as tall as me with rich mocha skin and like a million tiny braids hanging from her head down to her shapely ass. Her caramel eyes shine as she gives me her mega-watt smile.
“Hey, stud, you know how he is,” she says, referring to Rafe. “Nothing wrong with you taking an interest in a pretty lady.”
I chuckle. “You been comparing notes with Dina?”
“No. Why?”
“Never mind.” After plugging in my guitar, I adjust my amp and strum a few riffs. Rafe and Willie start testing out their instruments, and by the sounds we’re all emitting, you’d never know we sound damn good together.
“So, you gonna make your move? Buy her a drink? Ask her out?”
I halt my movements and stare at my friend. And yes, friend is all she’s ever been. While I think she’s a gorgeous woman and a terrific person, I love her like a sister. She’s sure acting like one when she feels the need to stir me up about what took place on stage earlier.
“Holly, I don’t even know the woman. Didn’t get her name. Didn’t get her number. For all I know she’s married. Or otherwise taken. Or split for the night, and I’ll never see her again.”
“I wouldn’t worry about that, stud.”
Holly chuckles and nods toward the bar. I follow her line of sight and see a group of women gathered at a table near the opposite end of the bar, away from the kitchen. Lucky number seven is sitting there, still in my t-shirt. Although she has it gathered in a knot at her side, so it looks less like a dress and more like just an oversized shirt. I view her profile as she’s facing her friends, talking and smiling. They all raise whatever they’redrinking, knock glasses, and tip ‘em back. When they finally come up for air, they’re all laughing, and damn, even from my distance, I can see the change in her face, the pure joy in her smile.
“She’s contagious,” Holly says.
“Huh?” I turn to her, confused.
“Never seen you smile bigger.” She winks and steps away, tuning her guitar.
I shake my head and can’t help but chuckle. Returning my attention to my guitar, I still manage a few covert glances to the mysterious hot momma. Yeah, I gotta get her name just so I can stop referring to her as that.
