Strung Tight (The Road To Rocktoberfest #1) - Ann Lister Page 0,30

around my neck and then turned me to face our stage set up.

“The setlist is taped to the monitor on the floor to the right of your mic-stand base,” Dagger said and pointed. “See it there at the edge of the stage?”

I nodded and blew out a breath.

“One minute,” the manager wearing a headset stated and quieted us down.

We heard our introduction come through the PA system, and then the audience let loose a roaring cheer that made me flinch. Dagger grabbed me again and got my attention.

“You’ve got this,” he said, holding eye contact with me. “Make this audience your bitch!”

Mike started to beat out our intro while we stood there behind the curtain, and then Dagger raised his arm. “First chord!” Dagger yelled, then he patted my back and gave me a gentle shove in the direction of my mic stand. “Take your positions!”

We’d rehearsed our set to already be playing when the curtains were pulled open, revealing the band as a round of pyro fired off from the pots set up at the edge of the stage. They weren’t real fireworks, just something sparkly and designed to get people’s attention. It worked. When those curtains opened, everyone was already on their feet jumping and clapping as if they’d seen us perform dozens of times. Truth was, they were witnessing history being made as I belted out the first verse of lyrics.

I see fire burning through the roof.

Let’s burn the mother down.

Ash and soot rain all around us.

Burn it to the ground.

Why’d you light the match, baby.

When there’s no one to put out the flames.

Why’d you bring gasoline, baby.

You’re gonna have to own this and take the blame.

Dousing sparks is like chasing dreams.

It’s hard to win the game.

You change the rules and keep on running.

I’d rather chase the flames.

The heart-pounding beat that drove this song kept the crowd jumping in place with their hands clapping above their heads. As we’d planned during our numerous rehearsals, we slid right into our second song, which was also heavily laden with guitar riffs and thumping drum beats that I knew the audience was feeling inside their chests. It was powerful, and I found myself relaxing a bit and feeding off the energy of the crowd.

I tried not to look too deep into the back of the room and kept my attention drawn to just the first few rows. It seemed less intimidating that way to see just a few dozen people versus the couple of thousand this theater held when filled to capacity like it was tonight. I saw a few of our followers in the front, along with some family members belonging to Mike, Potts, and Dix. None from my own family were here, but I didn’t expect them to be because I hadn’t bothered to invite them. They couldn’t understand or accept my dream of being a musician, so I saw no reason to let them see my achievements being realized on stage. It was as simple as that.

Halfway through our second song, I got brave enough to glance around some more and noticed Dallas hiding in the shadows behind the curtains where he was leaning up against a stack of crates. Tight jeans and a white tank top displayed how muscled and compact he was, and damn, he looked so appealing. His smile was enormous and lit up his whole face. The nod of approval he gave me was worth more than I could possibly articulate, and I grinned back at him, suddenly feeling so full of my capabilities.

I felt like Goliath as I ripped through another searing run of notes and straddled my mic stand all because Dallas believed in me—even though I didn’t see it in myself before the show. I was too busy hugging the toilet bowl to realize just how good and unified my band had become over these last months. I wasn’t just proving something to myself with this show, I was also laying it all on the stage for Dallas. I wanted him to be proud of me, and I wasn’t ready to dissect the reasons behind that or look at it too closely. He’d be the first person to tell me to be in this moment and allow myself to feel what was going on around me, and that’s what I was doing all the way to the last note of the final song of our encore. I was truly living the dream I’d always had for myself. After tonight, it