“I’m just excited to be out with you instead of cooped up in the dressing room.”
He takes my hand again as we hike up a gentle slope to reach the small dirt path curving to the right. “What do you usually do after your show?”
“Chill in my dressing room. Sometimes Dawson invites us to hang out on one of his buses.” I lower my voice because you just never know when big ears are listening. “Thundersmoke kinda keeps to themselves. We never really see them unless they’re onstage.”
“That’s…weird.”
I shrug. It had seemed odd at first, but I haven’t given it much thought lately.
We come to an eight-foot high chain-link fence and stop. Farther down, there’s a gate and Rooster leads us toward it. One flash of our passes and the guard lets us through. We hit a sidewalk that leads to a semi-circle of tents selling everything from thirteen-dollar cans of beer to cotton candy.
“You sure you’re not hungry?” he asks.
“Nope.”
To our right, a couple of booths are set up selling merchandise for the bands. Dawson’s is obviously the biggest and busiest tent. But mine has a longer line than I expected stretched in front.
Rooster squeezes my hand. “Think they sell a Shelby Morgan T-shirt big enough to fit me?”
I giggle at the thought of him in one of the pale pink T-shirts. “Probably not. Maybe I’ll have some input on the next batch and they won’t be girly pink.” I point to the flamingos on my shirt. “I want to design one with a flamingo in cowgirl boots.”
He throws his head back and laughs. “Cute. Maybe it should have a little guitar too.”
“I like it.” And I really like how he embraces my idea instead of mocking it like other people have.
He pulls out his phone again and sends a quick text. A few seconds later, he searches the lawn where the “seats” are made up of blankets and chairs people brought from home. Greg said the inside tickets sold out the first day they went on sale. Lawn seats were still available until a week ago, and now I see why. Every available square inch of grass is claimed by someone or something.
“They’re to the left.” Rooster points.
Even though the lawn’s crowded, somehow the bikers have managed to maintain a wide swath of grass between them and everyone else.
Rooster presses his finger to his lips as we creep closer. Murphy laughs when he spots our approach but that doesn’t provide Jigsaw with enough warning before Rooster jumps on his back, tackling him to the grass.
“Motherfucker!” Jigsaw shouts, pushing Rooster off him.
Rooster rolls to the side, laughing. “That was too easy.”
Heidi shakes her head as she approaches me. “Are you supposed to be out here?” she whispers.
I shrug. No one seems to be paying me any mind. “So far, so good.”
“You were great.”
“Thanks.”
Trinity joins us and gives me a big hug. Her husband, Wrath, nods at me.
Heidi reintroduces me to her brother, Teller, and his fiancée, Charlotte. Rooster points out everyone else. Sparky gives me a bleary-eyed smile when I lean down to hug him.
“Best concert I’ve ever been to,” he whispers in my ear.
“Aw, thanks.”
Everyone’s so careful not to say my name, I wonder if Rooster warned them ahead of time not to blow my cover.
Trinity takes Rooster aside for a few quick words. He nods and glances at me, then calls Heidi over.
Teller taps the cooler next to him. “You want anything?”
“I’m good.”
Rooster takes my hand again. “We need to get you ready.”
“We’ll walk with you,” Murphy says. “We’re going back to our seats anyway.”
“I see how it is. Too good for us,” Ravage calls out.
Ignoring them, Murphy takes Heidi’s hand and leads her up the hill to the sidewalk.
“You’re coming to the clubhouse later, right?” Heidi asks Rooster.
“Yeah. Trinity said we can take Z’s old room.”
Heidi wrinkles her nose. “Well, if you want to stay at our place, you’re more than welcome. Either way, we’ll catch up while the guys are in church,” Heidi promises. “Hope and Lilly are excited to see you again too.”
My heart kicks up. While I haven’t wanted to acknowledge it, I’ve been homesick. Remembering how welcoming the ol’ ladies of Rooster’s club were last time leaves a warm feeling in my chest. I’m looking forward to seeing everyone tomorrow.
First, I have to survive this duet with Dawson Roads.
Chapter Eleven
Rooster
Taking a video of my girl singing a duet of what’s apparently a ‘let’s fuck all night’