Bunny
1 Year Later
Crowds of people piled into Captain’s. Dave shouted at people from the bar to stop pushing. Standing on my chair, I looked over at the bar and saw Marlowe and Naomi mixing drinks and serving them to customers with ease. Sitting back down, Dexter placed his hand on my thigh and smiled. She was okay. He was helping me remember that. I didn’t need to be at her side 24/7. She was right there, and I had Dex right here anyway. I squeezed his hand in mine as the crowd began to settle down.
Stevie crouched down in front of us on the stage. “Guys, we will be on air in 30 seconds. I’ll give you a countdown.” We all nodded in understanding as Stevie made the quick announcement to the crowd for silence and began counting down. “We are live from Captain’s in Downtown Middleton with our very own Solace!” The room cheered. “Thank you so much for catching up with us before you guys play tonight. We are sostoked to have you all back at Thrash Fest this year. And on the official lineup. Talk to us a bit about how you all got here.”
Dexter sat closest to Stevie and picked up his mic. “We’re just four guys who grew up together and love music. One day we thought that maybe we could do it too and started practicing like crazy when we realized we loved it.”
“Well, I know we are all dying to hear you all play at Thrash this weekend. Tickets are still available at approved sellers. You can call the station or visit the website for the locations.” He plugged the ticket sales so smoothly, it almost went unnoticed. “But everyone here at Captain’s is ready to hear you tonight!” There was a loud roar in the bar again. “Give it up for Solace!”
Stevie gave the signal that we were off air and walked back over to us, giving a thumbs up. As we walked off stage to start setting up the rest of our equipment, Stevie announced to the crowd that we would be on in about 10 minutes.
As soon as I reached backstage, I was hit with a tight hug from Marlowe. She squeezed my waist tight and lifted me off the ground slightly. “Whoa, groupie!” I heard Dexter laugh from where his bass sat on its stand. “What was that for?” She shrugged and pushed up on her tiptoes to place a chaste kiss on my lips. Before she could release me, I pulled her in close to me and kissed her properly. She sagged in my arms as I dipped the tip of my tongue in her mouth.
“Okay, okay.” Dexter wrapped his wide arms around us and ushered us over to a corner. “Save it for later. You’re killing me.”
Marlowe bit my bottom lip as she backed out from the kiss. Looking over at Dexter, she reached her hand up behind his neck and whispered, “I’ll kill you both later.” She planted a perfect kiss on Dexter’s lip and walked between the two of us, winking over her shoulder as she walked away with her hands in her pockets. Her baggy low-rise camo pants showed just a hint of neon purple lacy underwear at the top.
“Sometimes I think she might actually kill us.” My voice was restrained as I tried not to completely lose my shit over how perfect she was.
“Yeah, me too.” Dexter kissed my cheek and walked over to grab his bass.
Marlowe adjusted the mic on my stand. She and I were the only ones who knew exactly how I preferred it. Myself and the guys stood just off stage as the lights went down and the crowd cheered. Marlowe jumped down the two steps off the stage and walked by us. As she walked by, she squeezed mine and Dexter’s arms. A love pinch, as she called them, for good luck.
As soon as I stepped on the stage and the lights came up, everything fell into place. The music came naturally. Lyrics flowed without having to think about them. The crowded bar loved every second of it. They sang along to the covers. Some even sang along to our original songs, which was a huge ego boost.
I caught Dexter staring at me multiple times and threw him a middle finger. He looked away, laughing every time.
Toward the end of the show, bright orange hair caught my attention in the crowd, and I sang to Marlowe. Only Marlowe.
When the show ended and the bar cleared out, we stayed to help Marlowe and Naomi with their closing duties behind the bar. The other staff that Dave had now handled the bar floor and the other side of the space.
Dave walked up behind Dexter and me, throwing his arms around our necks. “Proud of you, kids.” He was pretending to cry as he patted our shoulders.
“Bro, you act like you’re some old man. You’re 10 years older than us.” I shoved his arm off me while everyone else laughed.
“I just feel like you guys started here and now look at you.” He walked behind the bar, pouring shots of something intoplastic cups. “On the house.” He said, gesturing for everyone to pick up a cup.
Reaching out, everyone grabbed one and downed the liquor. We all made disgusted faces.
Naomi gagged. “Fuck Dave, did you just give us Everclear?”
“Yeah…” he sighed and walked away.
“Oh, my god.” She said, immediately filling her cup with something from the soda gun. Marlowe held hers out too while we all just started laughing.
Once Marlowe finished her drink, she looked around the group. “You all still coming over?”
“Of course,” Naomi said, collecting our cups and tossing them in the trash. Rich stood and grabbed the bag, taking it out toward the back door.
“I just have to run home first, then I’ll be there,” Chris said, pulling his keys from his pocket.
Standing, Dexter placed his hand on the small of my back, and we walked to where Marlowe stood on the side of the bar. “Ready?” Looking down at her, I smiled.
She nodded and led the way out to the back door. “See you guys there,” Marlowe said to Naomi as we left.
On the drive home, I lay in the back seat while Dexter drove and Marlowe rode shotgun. I could smell the cigarette smoke and craved my own but was too lazy to sit up and light one. I decided to wait until we reached our destination.
