Chapter Five Bennett
CHAPTER FIVE: BENNETT
W ith my guitar slung over my shoulder, I swaggered onto the stage. As the crowd erupted into whistles and cheers, adrenaline thrummed through me. It was the same rush I got when I took the ice for a hockey game. Regardless of the other highs I’d chased, I’d found nothing could compare.
By the same token, nothing nurtured my trauma quite like being on the ice or the stage. All the jagged, broken parts somehow managed to fit together when I had a stick or a guitar in my hand. With all my baggage, I was grateful I had not one, but two coping mechanisms.
Since I was in my senior year, I knew my time on the ice was fading. While I could always skate, it wasn’t the same as playing the game. Nothing could ever take the place of being in the rink.
“Well, howdy! How y’all doin’ tonight?” I crowed into the microphone.
“We love you Bennett!” a woman screeched.
“Thank ya, honey. I love you back.” Throwing a glance over my shoulder, “Don’t we boys?”
“Hell yeah!” they shouted in unison.
I then started strumming the open chords of an oldie but a goodie, Ho, Hey , by the Lumineers. “So, I know y’all know this one, so I want you to sing and clap along with me. All right?”
Shouts and shrieks of approval echoed back at me. Grinning, I said, “Well, all right then, let’s do it!”
As the boys chimed in with the ho’s and the heys, I leaned into the microphone. “ I’ve been tryin’ to do it right. I’ve been livin’ a lonely life ,” I sang.
For the last two years, I’d been spending my off-season time as the house singer at The Dive. Or I guess I should say as part of the house band, The Sticks. I’d coined the name obviously for hockey as well as the backwoods where I was from.
After accepting a hockey scholarship to Southeastern, I never imagined I’d be singing folk rock outside of the town in Georgia where I grew up. It never ceased to amaze me how much the crowd dug the bluegrass twang I’d been raised on.
Of course, it went without saying that no one expected a guy with an accent like mine to be a hockey player. I’d stumbled into playing on a whim in middle school. Anything to get me out of the house and away from my dad’s church. Somehow it clicked, and I started rising the ranks ahead of kids who had been playing since mite level.
When Southeastern surprisingly came calling, they didn’t have to ask twice. Although I hated the cold, I would’ve taken any offer that got me the hell out of my hometown.
As thoughts of home ricocheted through me, my chest clenched. While I tried focusing on the lyrics I was singing and the chords I was strumming, it was no use. The phone call with my sister right before I took the stage was haunting me.
After running late from hockey practice, I’d just changed out of my hockey warm-ups into my usual stage outfit of holey jeans, a T-shirt, and a backward Braves baseball cap when my phone rang.
Since my bassist was banging on the door to get me onstage, I shouldn’t have answered the phone. But I couldn’t do my baby sister that way. Of course, my heart sank when Hannah’s sniffles echoed on the line. Sucking in a panicked breath, I demanded, “What’s wrong, Hannie-BooBoo?”
It took a few seconds for her to get it out. “BB, Dad’s not letting me come to see you for Fall Break!”
As anger replaced my anxiety, I slammed my fist down on the dressing table. I didn’t feel any physical pain. Instead, I could only focus on the emotional turmoil within. “That fucking bastard!” I growled.
I don’t know why I was surprised. My story was a clichéd tale as old as time in the religious backwoods where I was raised. It had been almost six years since my father had thrown me out of the house at seventeen and disowned me all because he caught me in bed with a guy.
Three months earlier, he’d only given me a stern talk when he walked in on me and a girl. Fornicating, as he called it, was a sin. But fornicating with a guy? That was an abomination, and as the pastor of one of the largest non-denominational churches in our area, he couldn’t have an abomination living in his house. The bastard had conversion camp materials in his church office for fuck’s sake.
But he hadn’t stopped at just throwing me out. He’d forbidden my mother and younger sisters to see me. For years, we snuck around behind his back using burner phones. He’d finally eased up in the last year or so after my mom threatened to leave him if he wouldn’t let her talk to me.
Even though I’d told Hannah I would pay for her plane ticket, she had been babysitting non-stop to fly up to spend her school’s fall break with me. I’d planned to take her road-tripping to see Boston and Cambridge. She was going to write a travel journal for a project for one of her classes.
And as usual, my fucking father was ruining everything.
As she continued to sob, I crooned into the phone, “Shh, it’s okay Hannie-BooBoo.”
“N-No it’s n-not!” she cried.
At the pounding fist on the door, I clamped my eyes shut. Although I wanted to tell Warren to go fuck himself, I knew I had to go. It wasn’t just about letting my bandmates down. I had a contractual obligation, and the last thing I wanted was to piss off my boss.
“Listen, I gotta call you back, okay? They’re calling me to get on stage.”
My comment made Hannah wail louder. “I wanted to see you perform.”
I snorted to try and lighten the mood. “Like you’ve never heard me sing before.”
“Not like that.”
“You couldn’t have even if Dad had allowed you to come, Hannie-BooBoo. You’re not twenty-one.”
My response made her cry even harder. “I promise I’ll make this right. We will see each other. Okay?”
A few seconds passed. “Okay.”
“I love you.”
“I love you, too, BB. So, so much.”
The feel of my fingers picking the chords while the lyrics echoed from my mouth caused all the pain from Hannah’s phone call to evaporate. At that moment, the audience fed my immense hunger for love and acceptance. Just like the crowd filling the stands of a hockey arena did.
The only good thing about the phone call with Hannah and running late was what happened next. As I broke into a rendition of Chris Stapleton’s Tennessee Whiskey , I thought about the angel I’d run into in the hallway.
I’d been rushing to the stage when she’d come barreling out of the bathroom. It wasn’t every day I collided with something soft and incredibly sweet smelling. Just one look at the goddess with flaming red hair and I was a fucking goner.
And that was saying something considering it had been at least a year or two since a girl had turned my head. But man, this one sure as hell did. Maybe it was because she wasn’t a girl–she was a woman . A more mature woman than I was used to coming in contact with at school. She had incredible curves and skin so fair it was almost translucent. While I didn’t like my men pale, I sure as hell did my women. I don’t know what made it so sexy to me.
Despite the brief moment we’d shared, I couldn’t help thinking about her. Maybe it was because it hadn’t been just one side since she’d flirted back. Maybe she was out there right now listening to me sing and thinking about our moment.
After performing two songs Alex had written, we did another Lumineers cover with Ophelia . I continued trying to search the crowd for my redheaded goddess. But with the intensity of the stage lights, I couldn’t make her out.
And then during Little Lion Man , I finally spotted her. She and her date were exiting the dance floor to head back to a booth in the back. From behind, her date reminded me a lot of my roommate and teammate, Grayson. He’d mentioned bringing a date here tonight.
Unease pricked over me at the thought my redhead was with him. Not that he wasn’t a hell of a great guy who treated women with respect. It was more the fact that I wanted her for myself.
My eyes continued tracking her. When she slid across the booth’s bench, my fingers screeched the wrong note at the sight of who she was with.
Once again, the universe loved to fuck with me.
Theo Novak had been my teammate and roommate since freshman year. Like Grayson, he was also my best friend. In some ways, we were closer than we were with Grayson.
He was also the one guy I wanted that I could never have.
Theo was completely hetero. While he might bang chicks with Grayson as part of a hockey superstition they had, there was no way in hell his stick was crossing with another dude’s. Although that fact was very evident, somehow I couldn’t seem to get that message across to my heart.
Fuck me.
And now the one person to truly stoke my interest in a long time was tied up with him. But not just him The fact they were sitting with Grayson told me she must be their latest superstition threesome.
As I watched Theo lean over and whisper something in her ear, my chest clenched in double agony. With the last chords of the song playing, I turned my back to them. I then traded out my guitar for a banjo while being outfitted with a wireless mic.
While my dad had insisted I learn the guitar so I could play in the church band, my grandpa, the only decent man I’d been raised with, was the one who taught me the banjo.
As I began picking the opening of Wagon Wheel , I started down the stage steps. Working the crowd had always been a part of the song. It included picking a random girl and dancing with her during the chorus.
For this performance, I had a specific woman in mind.
Taking the path that wound away from the crowd, I headed straight for their booth. When I reached their table, the redhead’s eyes popped wide at the sight of me while Gray and Theo grinned and clapped.
After handing off my banjo to Grayson, I took my redhead’s hand. “What’s your name, darlin’?”
“Vivian,” she replied breathlessly.
“Can I have this dance?”
While the crowd went wild, Vivian glanced over at the guys who nodded enthusiastically. She squealed as I tugged her out of the booth. After spinning her around, I drew her back to where her ass was flush against my front.
As I slid my arm around her waist, I winked at Grayson and Theo. While Gray hooted, Theo narrowed his eyes suspiciously at me.
With my arms wrapped around Vivian, I began to sway her delicious curves against me. “ So rock me, mama, like a wagon wheel. Rock me mama any way you feel ,” I crooned into her ear to which she giggled nervously. I could tell she did not like attention or being in front of a crowd.
At first, she was stiff, but then as the song continued, she began to loosen up. When my breath warmed against her neck, she shuddered in my arms. I glanced up just in time to see Theo’s eyes glittering with lust, which sent a jolt right through me.
As the song came to an end, I spun her out and then back against me, but this time she was facing me. “Thanks for the dance, darlin’.”
Pink tinged her cheeks at my compliment. “You’re welcome,” she replied in a breathy whisper.
After kissing her cheek, I then turned my attention to the crowd. “And thank you so much. Now give us ten, and we’ll be right back!”
With hearty applause and catcalls echoing around us, I led Vivian the small distance back over to Theo and Grayson. As she fanned her cheeks, she plopped back down on the booth bench.
Leaning over her, I said, “I’m glad I got the chance to get your name.”
“Do you two know each other?” Theo asked.
A nervous laugh bubbled from Vivian’s lips while I grinned. “I had the pleasure of runnin’ into her before the show.”
Theo threw his arm around the booth behind Vivian. “You didn’t tell us that.”
While Vivian opened her mouth, I said, “We weren’t formally introduced.” I then filled the guys in on what had happened before the show.
“What are the odds I would literally run into your roommate?” Vivian mused.
“Sounds like fate, huh,” Grayson replied.
“More like a pretty lady not watchin’ where she was goin’,” I countered with a grin.
Vivian laughed. “Yep, I’m guilty of that one.”
With a shark-like smile, Theo said, “Can you blame her? She was obviously in a hurry to get back to us.”
Of course, she was. Why would she want to be hanging around with me when she had not one but two men wanting to fuck her senseless.
“Jesus, save us from your ego,” I joked as I snatched Theo’s drink. After throwing back a sip, I scowled at the glass.“What pretentious bullshit is this?”
“It's Stella Artois. And I can’t help it that you don’t have good taste,” Theo replied.
Since I knew I should go ahead and rip off the Vivian bandaid quickly, I wagged my brows. “While I’d say that imported beer is for those with prick taste, I’m sure you would argue that I have a big taste for those.”
Shaking his head regretfully, Grayson said, “Dude, you do have the worst taste in men.”
As my eyes locked with Theo’s, I replied, “Tell me about it.”
He quickly looked away. When I dared to glance at Vivian, she stared somewhat incredulously at me. I could almost see the wheels turning in her head. If I were gay, how could we have possibly had the connection in the hallway?
“You’re gay?” she blurted. The moment the question left her lips, she grimaced. “Sorry. That was rude of me to ask that.”
I laughed. “No. It’s fine.”
As a red flush crept down her neck, Vivian held up her hands. “It’s not any of my business.”
“Well, I kinda made it your business by talkin’ about it in front of you, didn’t I?” I countered.
She gave me an appreciative smile. “I suppose.”
“For the record, I’m bi, which means that given the chance, I would fuck a beautiful woman like you.”
“Oh,” Vivian replied breathlessly.
“Hey now, back off our girl,” Grayson said.
With a wink, I added, “Get it right, Gray. She’s a woman.”
“Then back off our woman.” Grinning at Theo, he said, “Right, man?”
Theo took his beer back. “Right.”
“Fine. For now, I will.” I then grabbed my banjo from Grayson. “I wish I could stay and chat, but my adorin’ fans are waitin’ on me.”
As she extended her hand to me, Vivian said, “It was nice meeting you, Bennett.”
“It sure was nice meetin’ you too, pretty woman,” I drawled before kissing her hand.
Vivian rewarded me with a breathtaking smile–one that dinged me right in the chest. Just as I turned to go, Vivian stopped me dead. “I hope to see you again.”
Don’t do it, B. Don’t be a fucking glutton for punishment with her the same way you are with Theo . Just pretend you didn’t hear her and walk away.
Despite my better judgment, I turned back to Vivian. And with Theo’s possessive stare boring into me, I replied, “So do I.”
And then I finally walked away.