Crap, I was zoning out. I’ll give her what she wants to hear, and from here on out, no thoughts about my little encounter. Not like I’ll actually ever see him again, anyways.
“Fine. Fine. Fine,” I tease. “I take you seriously. Show me a picture of him.”
Her eyes twinkle at my request, and she hurriedly whips out her phone, fingers dancing across the screen in a frenzy of taps. When she can’t get a signal because of how many people are crashing the Wi-Fi, she puts her phone down in defeat, then narrows her eyes at me. “Hear me out,” Roxy starts. “He’s twenty-five. I know, he’s younger than us. But it’s not that bad, and besides, dating younger men is all the rage these days.They claim to like older women, so my delusions are perfectly justified.”
I lift up my arms in surrender. “Who am I to judge, bestie? We don’t judge. If you want a younger man, I say get yourself a younger man.”
Roxy cackles. “I love when you encourage me and validate my insanity.”
I laugh with her. When I catch my breath, I shout, “Oh my gosh! I totally just remembered—when I went to the bathroom, the bartender’s a younger guy.”
“I’m listening.” Roxy leans forward on her elbows.
“He couldn’t have been a day over twenty-two. Tall, baby-faced, and pretty cute.”
“Just the way I like them,” Roxy purrs.
“He definitely hit on me, and I shot him down. I just need a man with facial hair. What can I say? I love the way it feels,” I snicker.
The lighting changes, interrupting our laughter, and a deep booming voice comes over the loudspeakers.
“Check.”
Roxy and about half of the crowd squeal. The sound check continues, our conversation lost in the building excitement. The venue is full. I glance around, and there’s truly not an empty space. I’m glad Roxy splurged on the entire experience. This is nice.
Suddenly, the lights come up on stage, and an announcer introduces the opening act. I’ve never heard of the band, but then again, I don’t know who Cas is either. I guess I can give them a chance.
I lean over the table. “I’ve never heard of this singer before.”
“Me either,” she replies. “Introduce me to that bartender.”
I roll my eyes. “Not happening. Have you seen how crazy busy it is here? We’ll never make it back to our seats in time, and I refuse to listen to you complain about missing your man.” She opens her mouth to protest, but I stop her. “Nope. You can be mad all you want.”
“I was going to say you’re right. So what now?”
We laugh, then do our best to try and vibe with the music. The atmosphere is contagious. Soon, I’m dancing and squealing with my bestie as the opening act plays song after song after song.
When the opening act finishes their last song, they announce Cas Wilder will be taking the stage next. A few minutes later, the lights go out and the announcer booms through the speaker.He gives a fabulous intro, and then the stage lights come up and chaos erupts.
When the man I can only assume to be Cas appears in the spotlight, the crowd goes wild. These people are full-on feral for him. My jaw drops open as the stage lights wash over a shirtless man in dark jeans and a metallic skull mask that matches the one the man in the hallway was wearing earlier. It can’t be—
My eyes squint, trying to see the drummer and guitarists on stage with him, but they’re all wearing the same mask. Fuck. I can’t think straight. The rockstar is saying something, and everyone’s screaming in response. Moments later, when the crowd calms, he strums a chord on his guitar and starts to play. From the time the first word leaves his mouth until the music stops, I hang on the entire performance. He’s good. Like, really fucking good.
“Wow!” I shout to Roxy, who smiles knowingly. “He’s good.”
“I know,” she replies. “I tried to tell you.”
I nod in defeat, and he begins the next song. I swear it feels like he’s looking right at our table as he sings, but with the mask, it could just be an illusion. Roxy is in heaven, singing and vibing along. I must admit, this is one of the best concerts I’ve ever been to. I kinda wish I’d listened to the songs Roxy sent me before now. I feel out of place not singing along with the crowd.
Mesmerized, I watch him sing, only tearing my eyes away anytime there’s an opportunity for a good look at one of theother masked guys on stage. I lose track of all sense of time, immersed in the experience and energy of the crowd. Suddenly, the lights come up brighter, capturing our attention.
When the crowd falls silent, Cas croons into the microphone, “This is going to be the last song of the night. It’s been amazing, Denver. Thanks so much for selling out my first show of the tour. I want to dedicate this song to this city and a very special someone in the crowd tonight. Bae, I’m so glad you could be here.”
He starts to play, and all I can think about is how much I want to be that special someone. What I’d give to fall asleep listening to this man sing to me. Roxy looks like she might cry, knowing our night is so close to ending. I squeeze her hand in solidarity, a silent admission that this night has been fantastic, and it’s only getting started. The bar is open until last call for the concert guests only.
“I can’t wait for the meet-and-greet,” Roxy squeals, breaking my thought and poking holes in my plans for finding a suitable one-night stand.
That’s right, how could I forget? Her VIP tickets came with an aftershow meet-and-greet and tons of extra swag. My one-night stand quest will have to wait a little longer. I can’t believe I forgot. What if I run into that guy again?
