Chapter 7 Hazel
Hazel
He was the farthest back on the stage, sitting and partially hidden behind his instrument display, but I could tell he was tall and freakishly handsome.
What was it about a backward baseball cap and tattoos that made a man so much more attractive?
The drummer’s thick arms and neck were covered in tattoos, and I was dying to see how many he had and how far they stretched under his fitted gray T-shirt.
“The sign! The sign!” Skylar urged me with a nudge.
I blinked my gaze away from the drummer and noticed the lead singer sauntering over to our side of the stage with a black rose in hand. He sang to the audience like he was seducing everyone he made eye contact with.
Giggling, I handed Skylar the sign and glanced at the interpreter for lyric reference.
Between the vibrations of the music, the intimate lyrics, and the hum of liquor warming my veins, I couldn’t stop the giant grin spreading across my face.
The three of us danced to the steady rhythm that I could feel deep in my chest, waving our hands in the air. It was the most fun I’d had in years.
Sure, I didn’t have a husband anymore. I didn’t have my own place or, much less, money to afford one in LA at the current moment. I didn’t have a clue where my life was headed next. But I had them, Skylar and Genesis. And tonight, that was everything I needed.
The lead singer squeezed his eyes shut, the veins bulging in his neck as he stopped and sang right in front of us.
I laughed as I watched Genesis, who was losing her goddamn mind.
Skylar held the sign higher, shaking it, and the singer’s eyes finally landed on it, scanning the words. With a crooked smile, he finished singing, got the attention of someone backstage, and pointed down at the three of us.
My heart jolted up into my throat as my eyes flitted between my friends and the team of security hurrying toward us.
There was no way we were getting to go up onstage with them. Right? RIGHT?
I figured a simple wave, shout-out, or—at most—maybe a song dedication. Those all seemed wildly lucky to receive, but this … I couldn’t fathom.
I stayed in denial until security came to the barrier in front of us, gesturing with their arms to come forward.
“No freaking way!” Skylar reiterated my thoughts out loud, eyes bulging.
They reached for her first, helping her over, then Genesis, and then me, fighting back a few extra attendees who wanted to join in the process.
Genesis rose up onto her toes and shouted at one of the men, gesturing to me in a way that I was sure had something to do with my hearing. The man nodded in understanding and rushed the three of us up the set of stairs on the side of the stage.
Genesis sheepishly strode to the middle first, blushing and bouncing. Though the moment the man with the microphone held his arms open to her, she lost it, wrapping her arms around his middle like she never wanted to let go.
Skylar wasn’t far behind, holding the sign at her side with one hand and waving to the crowd with the other. I knew she struggled with confidence, especially in front of large groups of people, so I was inwardly applauding her and how she was doing it with such ease.
The lights were blinding, and I fought the urge to shield my eyes from them as I walked onstage last, taking Skylar’s outstretched hand when I met her side.
“Well, well, well. You ladies look absolutely fantastic!”
Skylar propped the sign under her arm so she could quickly translate what the singer was saying for me since he wasn’t close enough for me to read his lips well. The interpreter wasn’t in view for me anymore, so Skylar was the next best thing.
“I couldn’t help but notice your sign,” the tall, dark-haired man continued, tilting his chin down at Genesis. “What’s your name, sweetheart?”
“Genesis!”
“Now, you must be the bride-to-be—is that right?”
She nodded, showing off her giant emerald ring with a wiggle of her hand.
The crowd lifted their hands in the air for her, cheering.
“Congrats, congrats! How exciting!” He smiled, resting his arm on the top of her shoulders. “So, when’s the big day?”
“October 2!” Genesis replied.
“Ah, just a few months away! I hope A Quiet Peril gets an invite,” he said.
Genesis lit up as she looked at him before nodding with enthusiasm.
His chest shook with laughter. “All right, good. Now that that’s settled, who have you got with you this evening?”
Genesis beamed with pride. “My best friends, Skylar and Hazel!”
His eye flitted over to the two of us, quickly noticing Skylar signing for me.
It was a split second where he registered that I was hard of hearing, but he didn’t stop to talk slower or ask me anything about it.
He didn’t bring any attention to the matter at all, and that made my next breath release a little bit slower.
“Hi, ladies. How’s it going?” The singer flashed a cocky grin.
Skylar and I both simultaneously waved at him nervously, making the dimples in his cheeks pinch deeper.
“I’m Liam. On behalf of Lexie, Danny, and Tic, we are very thankful for you being here and for bringing this ball-of-sunshine bride-to-be to our attention.” After he finished pointing to each band member, he patted Genesis on the head.
I craned my neck back, wanting to catch a better glimpse of the drummer, Tic.
Being the only one onstage who didn’t have their attention on the massive crowd or Liam, Tic found my stare immediately. He grinned and nodded once at me, twirling his drumsticks between his fingers in waiting.
Butterflies soared to life in the pit of my stomach.
I should’ve smiled back, given him a little wave or nod, but instead, my factory default to when a hot man acknowledged me was apparently none of those things.
Nope. My body wanted to carry me offstage, to bolt to the nearest exit, but I luckily kept what little composure I had left and managed to look above him at the stage lights as if I had seen something fascinating up in the rafters before snapping my head straight back around.
Smooth, Hazel. Real smooth.
“Let’s make this next one count, guys!” Liam glanced at his band and then gestured to the crowd. “For Genesis, the beautiful bride-to-be!”
A repetitive kick drumbeat rattled me to my core in the next moment. My hand flew to cover my heart as if it would help keep it in place.
I fought the urge to look back at the tatted drummer again now that he clearly had his attention elsewhere, but I couldn’t help but feel like I was wrong in thinking that. It seemed absurd, but … my back heated as if he were staring a hole straight through me.
“All right, Genesis, Skylar, and Hazel,” Liam said, gesturing to the floor in front of us. “Our stage is your stage! Let’s have some fun!”
My eyes were fixed on Skylar signing to me when the drumbeats started coming faster, and my heartbeat soared.
I could see the fans’ mouths move to the lyrics Liam was singing as he continued to strut around the stage.
The whole crowd became one mass mob, bouncing in unison to the rhythm, cell phones held high in the air, hands reaching.
Skylar, Genesis, and I fell into sync, dancing with one another, hands interlocked. The smile on my face grew so wide that my cheeks hurt.
Danny, the guitarist, came up to my side, rocking back and forth with us for a few beats, playing his electric guitar.
The way his fingers moved, picking each string and changing chords at such a fast pace, was mind-boggling.
As he left my side to tend to the fans off to the side of the stage, I noticed the bassist, Lexie, playing on her knees in front of Genesis.
Her tongue peeked out, swiping across her lower lip as she winked up at her.
Genesis playfully flirted back, shimmying her chest down at her and blowing a kiss.
Liam slowly made his way to the center again, holding the microphone to his lips in one hand and offering the other to Skylar before twirling her around.
He held his hand out to me next, politely asking with a slight dip of his head.
I gladly placed my hand in his, preparing to be spun.
What I didn’t prepare for was what came next.
Halfway through my giggly twirl, as the singer lifted my hand over my head, I felt a sharp snap of release across my front. A breeze met my chest, straight through my sheer top.
I froze, grappling with what had happened. Because there was no freaking way …
Time slowed.
Realization set in that my left breast was on display for everyone to see.
My breath caught in my throat, and my heart plummeted to the pit of my stomach as I quickly turned my back on the crowd, shielding myself from the largest titty flash of all time.
Okay, maybe not of all time, but far more people than I’d ever thought would see my tit in my entire lifetime. Or the next.
Shit. What do I do?
Covering myself with one hand, I fumbled for my shortall strap with the other, noticing that the entire clasp had broken off on the bib.
I had known wearing a shirt like this had its risks, but this was the last thing I’d thought would happen. I wasn’t even sure how it had happened.
With Skylar and Genesis not at my side yet, there was a chance no one had seen anything, but it was hard to say for sure with my back to everyone. And I hadn’t mustered up the courage to check.
Movement out of my peripheral vision caught my attention, and I looked up to see the drummer waving one of his sticks at me.
“Come here, come here,” I read on his mouth as he ushered me to his side.
I hurried over to him, tucking myself to the side of his drum set.
He briefly held his hand up, telling me, “Hold on,” and I watched as he thrashed his hands for the final moments of the song. As soon as he was finished, he dropped his drumsticks to the ground and swiftly stood.
My neck had to crane up further than I’d expected to meet his blue eyes. The man had to be well over six feet tall. But that detail quickly faded as he stretched the end of his shirt up and over his head, removing it entirely.
My breathing halted.
Oxygen had left the fucking chat.
My fucking God, the man was unreal to look at.
He fiddled with the fabric and then offered it to me with an outstretched hand so nonchalantly that I almost laughed.
“May I?” The words formed on his lips before he gestured to put the shirt over my head.
I gaped at him, too stunned to move.
“Is this okay?” His gaze rounded with concern as he hovered over me in waiting.
I finally blinked and nodded, stepping toward him. As soon as he managed to get it over me and fixed well past my exposed chest, I let my hands fall and threaded them through the arm holes.
The slightly damp gray shirt fell below the edge of my shortalls like a dress, and I played with the hem nervously.
My eyes climbed back up his tall stature. Blushing, I noticed the shifting muscles in his shoulders and abdomen as his breaths came and went were much faster than my own, despite feeling like I’d just run a marathon since my shortalls had broken.
God, I hoped I wasn’t visibly panting.
I drank up the sight of him, inch by inch, muscle by muscle, ink by ink.
He was edible and beautiful, all at once, like a meal plated so perfectly that you didn’t know if it was better to eat the art or stare at it.
My mouth watered, favoring the first, while my eyes were still siding with the latter.
He looked down at himself and back up at me with confusion, as if he didn’t realize how freaking gorgeous he was.
I wasn’t sure if there was literal drool running down the side of my mouth or maybe it was my unhinged jaw that did it, but his gentle smile eventually lifted into a lopsided, knowing grin.
Fuck, everything he did was so damn yummy.
He reached forward and poked me on the nose and swiftly walked back behind his drum set.
Somehow, that stunned me out of whatever trance I’d been in, and my surroundings returned.
I was still onstage with a headlining band in front of thousands of people. And my breast was now safely hidden behind a rock star’s sweaty T-shirt. Two very bizarre things I’d never thought I’d be able to say when I woke up this morning.