3. I’m With The Band
THREE
i’m with the band
Dahlia
The long stretch of offensive sterile hallway is a far cry from the colorful chaos of the pit, as the security guard leads us through the labyrinth of closed doors and tour posters.
We walk in a half-hearted line and I can hear Daphne huffing behind me, surely pissed we’re in this dank hallway rather than chanting the chorus to “Maneater.” At least we were nearing the end of their set.
“Murder hallway,” she mumbles as a light above us flickers. It feels as if any second a masked killer could jump out and pick us off like we’re the leads in an eighties slasher film.
“Agreed.” I nod.
Wes and his friend take long strides in front of us, Drunk Guy is hanging on by a thread—aka he’s smashing into the wall at this very moment.
“Alright, since he’s visibly intoxicated”—the short security guard points to the source of this mess—“and has insulted me no less than three times on the walk back here, I’m going to assume he’s the instigator,” he says, sighing.
“Look, I have shit to do after this gig, so if it’s all the same to you guys, let’s drop this and go our separate ways.
” Stan, evident from his frayed name patch, seems to understand our predicament.
“You”—Drunk Guy barely looks up as he turns a sickly green color making us all grimace—“get the hell to the med room down the hall. They’ll make sure you get home. Lucky the mountain of paperwork isn’t worth banning your ass.”
Drunk Guy blessedly waddles down the hallway before the Terminator-shaped security guard has to instruct him to actually turn the knob to open the door. Returning his focus to Wes, he lectures him on knowing better in a familiar way.
“My bad, Stanley. You know we love you.” Wes grips his shoulder and Stan softens.
“Be good, ya hooligans.” He nods at Wes and his friend before turning to leave.
In the light, I get a much better look at Wes’ friend.
He is equally tall and broad, but with lighter, maybe green eyes.
His blond hair feathers out of his camouflage hat and dark brown cowboy boots complete his look.
He’s staring at Daphne like he’s trying his hand at pyrokinesis.
A confused look passes Wes’ features before he realizes.
“This silent giant is my cousin, Jasper. Jasper, this is Dahlia and Daphne.”
Jasper nods before looking anywhere other than at me and Daphne. Ookay.
“I’m sure the greenroom is still open and they’ll be offstage soon. Y’all can meet Jade too, she’s super sweet.” Wes motions to the end of the hall.
My eyes nearly bulge out of my head and Daphne’s choking mirrors my own shock. “Jade? Jade as in Jade of Fata Morgana? As in the concert we are currently at? How in the hell do you know Jade?” Daphne’s vibrating with glee as she inundates the two men with questions.
“Jade is a family friend. We grew up with her—knew her when she was only a little menace, and now she’s the singer in my favorite fucking band.” Wes beams with pride. His friend, Jasper, has yet to say actual words, speaking only in nods and grunts.
“Lead the way, cowboy.” Daphne gestures at Jasper in a mock bow and he huffs before walking away.
“Daph, do not harass the nice cowboy before we even get a chance to meet Jade.”
“Nice, my ass. He’s a caveman.”
The door to the greenroom is cracked open and the inside glimmers with rockstar vibes.
Or what I assume to be rockstar vibes—a big, plush couch, table full of sandwiches and cheeses, and every beverage known to man.
“Make yourself comfortable. I’m sure they’ll be in soon. ” Jasper’s tone is full of sarcasm.
Blissfully unaware of his ire, Daphne pushes past. “Don’t mind if I do.”
Wes is sitting in the middle of the sprawling couch, arms across the back and legs spread in that manly way that would piss me off on an airplane, but makes me want to crawl to him right now. I mentally chastise the horny demon in my mind and sit beside him.
“I’m really sorry about all that. Thank you for helping us though. It means a lot.”
“No apology necessary. He was a disrespectful dick. I did what anyone would’ve done to a guy getting aggressive with a lovely little lady.”
I’m lost in his gaze and my brain is pounding the alarm. Danger, danger. His flirting and my poetic mental description of his soulful brown eyes is a problem, considering a romantic relationship would be hazardous to my health at this point.
“It was kind anyway. Hopefully it didn’t ruin your night?” I hedge. While I don’t think he’s a douchebag, stranger things have happened.
“Not in the slightest. We’ve seen Fata a ton, and again, I was just doing what needed to be done to keep you safe.”
I’m blushing at his words when the door bursts open and Fata Morgana pours into the room in all their rockstar glory.
“What’s this shit about a fight in the crowd, you guys? Starting brawls and coming in here to ransack my sandwiches, the nerve,” Jade says, grinning.
I fight the nerves begging to be unleashed.
She is so tall and devastatingly gorgeous, the kind of woman Daphne and I would gladly joke to be stepped on by.
Her long black hair is tinged blue in a half-up half-down style.
For tonight’s show, she’s rocking platinum blonde eyebrows, a sharp contrast to the dark metal piercing shining through her eyebrow.
“Hi guys, so good to see you.” She bends down to hug Wes before slinging an arm around Jasper in a side hug.
Jasper rolls his eyes, but returns the hug regardless. “That would be Wes’ fault, playing knight in shining armor.” He untangles himself from Jade’s lithe arms before heading to talk with the bassist by the drinks table.
Like a nymph, Daphne appears, fully heart-eyed over Jade. Wes introduces us, “This is Dahlia and Daphne, our new friends.”
“Wes was standing up for my girl Dahlia. Some sweaty man-child in the crowd grabbed her. I’m glad he got his shit rocked.”
Jade looks between me and Wesley before looping an arm through Daphne’s. “Did you see all the snacks? It’s a dream right?” Jade shares a conspiratorial smirk with Wes as she pulls Daphne behind her. Daphne looks back at me and mouths oh my god, before bounding along excitedly.
Alone with Wes again, it hits me I know nothing outside of this man’s name.
“So, Wes. Do you live nearby or are you visiting? Or travel with the band?” I cringe at my awkward barrage of questions, but Wes seems to take it in stride.
“Nah, we live a bit further north. Maybe an hour, hour and a half depending on traffic. We stay up on Jasper’s family farm and orchard. The commute here isn’t bad, so I try to make it down for as many shows as I can.”
This surprises me, but I guess farms and cowboys aren’t exclusive to the south. Regardless of his lack of southern accent, his country boy charm is endearing.
“So, a cowboy then?”
He thinks it over. “I guess you could say that, but I wouldn’t.
More like a farm bitch? Maybe an apple aficionado?
” The corners of his eyes crinkle with his laughter.
“Jasper and I grew up there. His sister, Amber, was best friends with Jade growing up, so we were all inseparable for a while.” His use of was best friends has me curious, but I don’t pry.
We fall into easy conversation about our favorite concerts and Wes and I actually have a lot of the same favorite bands.
I’m envious when he shares he crowd-surfed at Canadian Carnage, a festival I’ve been dying to get to.
When he tells me how the crowd dropped him on his ass, I nearly spray water out of my nose.
“Ready to go?” Jasper speaks, kicking at Wes’ boot. “Long day tomorrow, and I’m ready to hit the sack.”
Bummed my night is ending, I stand and move to leave when Wes stops me. “Do you two have a ride home?”
“Yeah, we’re not too far from here, and the subway station is a few blocks from our apartment.”
“We’ll take you home.” Wes’ tone leaves no room for disagreement as he stands, towering over me.
He offers a hand and pulls me up off the couch.
Jasper glares in Daphne’s direction before telling Jade to be safe.
Daphne eyes him like he’s being weird, and to be fair he definitely is. Maybe he’s shy?
“Tell Amber I said hi,” Jade calls out, busying herself with a plate of strawberries.
“You could tell her yourself, you know,” Jasper calls back.
Wesley shakes his head and takes my hand in his, pulling me out the door with him. His tattooed hands feel rough and calloused against mine, ink decorating each finger. He quickly lets go and offers me a kind smile. I miss the contact and am grateful for it to be gone.
The barren parking lot is illuminated by a full moon, showing just how long we hung out for.
A blacked out pickup truck sits alone in a spot, rendering a laugh from Daphne.
“Who’s little dick is this compensating for?
” Jasper rounds the hood before slamming the driver’s side door as he gets in. “Guess that would be his.”
“You know, when you’re a whole lot of man, you need more space to spread out.” My body heats and I shoot daggers at Daphne, since he very clearly heard us. “To be fair, her defense of the air humping was a good one.” He winks and opens the back door for Daphne and I to pile in.
On the drive over, Wes tells us about his cowboy escapades, though he says cowboy with a sarcastic tone, making me giggle. Jasper mumbles something about Wes being a wannabe motherfucker, but Wes waves him off.
When we pull up to our building, like the gentleman he is, Wes hops out and opens the door for us. Daphne slides out first and I stop short when Wes leans into the backseat.
“It was really nice hanging out with you guys tonight. If you’re ever in need of a concert buddy, I’d be happy to oblige.
” Again with his lopsided grin. The last thing I need is this hunk of a man annihilating my self-imposed relationship boycott, so I shake my head to rid myself of the thoughts of where else I’d like to see his grin.
“I had so much fun too. We should meet up again, I’m always down to go to shows.” I pull my phone out of my pocket and open a new text thread for him to send me his number. He sends himself the black heart emoji, before handing it back and moving to let me out of the truck.
“Nice meeting you too, Daphne.”
She gives him an animated wave in return before yelling, “Goodbye, Jasper!”
Wes and I give each other a side hug before we say our goodbyes, and I’m quite excited about the prospect of a new friend.