Strung Tight (The Road To Rocktoberfest #1) - Ann Lister Page 0,20

the club was a much smaller venue, the crew had to scale down our setup quite a bit to fit less of a performing area. The Apex was unique in the sense that the stage had a ten-foot catwalk that jutted out into the audience from center stage. We wanted to make sure everyone other than Mike—since he’d be stationary on his drum platform, had a chance to use that focal spot of the stage at some point during the night, but since I was responsible for the main vocals in the band, that spot would be occupied mainly by me. That was both exciting and intimidating as fuck.

On Wednesday, we played our set several times back to back, and the segues between songs were becoming nice and smooth. Skully and his team had done a remarkable job of recreating the stage at the Apex for us right here in Black Ice's rehearsal studio, complete with overhead lighting. When we took a break late in the day, the roadies stepped in to practice doing their part with our equipment. Skully actually timed his guys to make sure they could break it all down quickly enough to satisfy the management at the Apex. I watched them work like ants climbing over everything to dismantle the rigging. Dallas was in there with the other roadies doing his part with the stage gear, and I was mesmerized by his cat-like movements. It gave me a new appreciation for what he did to make my job so much easier. The way his body moved in tight jeans and his muscles flexed in a body-hugging t-shirt had my complete attention, which made no sense at all, but I honestly couldn’t pull my gaze away.

I was strung so tight after rehearsal on the last day before the Apex show even though everything seemed to be falling into place for us. Between watching Dallas work and how that made me feel to the stress of finalizing details of our performance, I was bouncing on my heels with nervous energy. We finished late with our last task being the most important: checking that all our instruments and personal gear were tagged and sorted before the crew loaded up the truck heading to the show tomorrow. Most of our equipment was new, courtesy of Dagger, and I wanted to make sure we utilized them. Loading the cases onto the wheeled carts made this all feel so damn real. This time tomorrow night, we’d be on stage doing a gig at the Apex Theater.

I’d just snapped the lid closed on one of my guitar cases when Dallas jogged across the room toward me with a big grin on his face. “You look like a dude who is about to crack open and spew anxiety all over the floor,” Dallas teased.

“Fuck you.” I laughed. “I'm not that nervous—at least not yet. Wait until you see me tomorrow night.” Then I wondered if he'd be at the show at all. “Will you be there?”

“I wouldn't miss that gig for anything in the world,” Dallas said, and a smile spread across his face that made his eyes sparkle.

I'd been so focused on work this week that we hadn't had a chance to hang out much, and I missed it—I missed him—and that was an odd feeling for me. I had lots of guy friends and even shared an apartment with Mike, but being with Dallas felt entirely different now. It felt heavier like it held a higher significance or something. I wasn't sure I was ready to call it anything or label it because I wouldn't even know how to do that. It was just a unique connection I'd developed with another person who also happened to be a dude. Very much like a friend but … closer. We could sit for long periods of time entirely silent and somehow understand where the other's head was at in that moment, and those kisses we shared were the hottest I'd ever experienced, and I wanted more.

Jesus, I needed to stop thinking about this thing with Dallas. I had a critical show tomorrow night—one that had the potential to set the future of my band on a path toward stardom if we were lucky and nailed our performance. I couldn’t allow myself to be distracted by Dallas, even though he was the one person I was always thinking about spending time with right now.

I watched Dallas's carefree movements as he chatted animatedly with me while