Her palm is sweaty, and her spine is ramrod straight. I swear I can see her pulse on her forehead as her brown eyes fill with tears.
“Hey, Shy, baby, you good?” I ask, and she doesn’t move.
Her body is rigid in her seat as she stares at the stage. Three men come to the front, one of them holding a guitar and mic, one on drums, and the last one is on a keyboard with a mic as well.
The lead singer is a large man, with dark hair that reaches his shoulders, he’s covered in tattoos and for some reason he doesn’t look happy to be performing here. His intense gaze searches the crowd before finding our table.
I look between the stage and Shiloh.
What the fuck is going on?
“Shiloh, do you want to leave?” I ask her and she still doesn’t respond.
“What’s going on?” Jonah asks, leaning forward and watching the trance that Shiloh seems to be in.
“Thank you for having us tonight. Omega welfare is extremely important and we’re so glad we could be a part of this fundraiser. As a special thank you for your donations, we’ve decided to play a brand new song for you tonight. It hasn’t been heard before,” the main singer says. He’s staring right at Shiloh. “It’s called Don’t Be Shy,” he says as the music plays.
“We’ve got to get her out of here,” I tell Jonah.
She’s scaring the shit out of me, and he seems to agree completely as the lyrics start. The band isn’t horrible, but I wouldn’t consider them great either.
“Don’t be shy. Go on ahead and cry. You lost the best thing you ever had, life was never that bad. You walked away when we didn’t even want you to stay. Don’t be shy.”
Shiloh’s chest is rising and falling with heavy breaths as a tear slides down her cheek. Don’t be shy? As in Shiloh?
I grab her face and have to use a significant amount of effort to turn her so she looks my way, even as the shitty song plays in the background. She blinks at me and all I see is unsettling sadness and bad memories. I know the feeling so well.
“Are they your exes?” I ask her.
She shuts her eyes, tears rolling down her face with a nod.
“They’re her ex pack. This fucking song is about her,” I say louder than I mean to. Our entire table hears and I watch as Liv’s face goes white.
“I didn’t know. Oh, Shiloh honey, I’m so sorry,” she apologizes, but I’m not sure if Shiloh hears her or not.
Then they belt out the next verse.
“Don’t be shy. Let them know why. Why nothing will ever compare when we’re not there? I wish I could say I miss you, but I don’t even remember kissing you. Don’t be shy.”
“Oh, fuck this,” Cole says, his chair clanging to the floor as he stands up and storms toward the stage.
“Hell yes,” Axel adds, standing up and speed walking to the stage.
“Fuck,” Jonah hisses. “Get her to the apartment,” he tells me and I nod.
I grab Shiloh’s arm, but she doesn’t move easily, watching the absolute shit show that unfolds before us.
Cole jumps on stage, ruining the song as he starts pulling cords out of different speakers.
“Security!” the main singer yells, which just pisses Cole off more. It’s been a minute since I’ve seen my brother’s anger in full force. I wince as my brother pulls his fist back and socks the dude right in the face.
Shiloh gasps next to me, her previously tear-filled eyes going wide with shock. It only gets worse as Axel, who has no clue what’s going on but craves violence, kicks the drum set, ripping a gaping hole in the kick drum.
Jonah is on stage, trying to be the peacekeeper, but the dumbass on the keyboard decides to throw something at his head, which leads to a smashed keyboard and the man fully on his ass.
“For fuck’s sakes,” Grayson says, leaving the table and whistling as loud as he possibly can.
Everyone in attendance is filming the entire thing as Shiloh looks on with absolute horror.
