Rock Star's Girl (A Hollywood Dating Story #1) - Jennifer Farwell Page 0,9
dimple in one of his cheeks. “Is Ashes of Brooklyn up next?”
She nodded. “I think so.”
“Have you seen them play before?”
“More times than I can remember.”
“So many times, you’re out of reasons to get friends to come with you?” She gave him a questioning look but saw he was teasing her. “I saw you when you came in,” he explained. “It looked like you were alone.”
Realizing he was fishing for a hint about who she was or wasn’t there with, she tried not to smile. “Something like that,” she answered. “My best friend usually comes with me, but she’s out of town. The guys in Ashes of Brooklyn are friends of ours.”
“Well, hang with me. I’m here by myself tonight, too.” She noticed he’d shifted closer to her.
“I thought you said you knew the drummer of the last band? Don’t tell me that was a pickup line.”
“Only if it worked. I do know him, but he’s way too cool to hang out with me. Typical rock star.”
She started to answer, but the sound of a kick drum made her stop. The din of voices lowered to hushed whispers. She pried her gaze away from Cory, realizing she’d missed seeing Jesse, Cole, and the rest of the guys in Ashes of Brooklyn get up on stage.
Jesse looked out into the crowd from where he stood on the side of the stage closest to her, squinting under the bright yellow lights. Emily tried to catch his eye but was either too far away for him to see her, or he’d already spotted her and was avoiding looking her way.
She clapped politely at the end of their opening song, and she saw Cory do the same. On stage, Cole picked up a bottle of water from beside his microphone stand. He took a drink and looked out over the audience.
“How is everyone tonight?” he asked, wiping a bead of sweat from his brow. His question was met with wild screams from a group of girls in front of the stage. “I know you’re all good.” Cole pointed to each of the girls who had answered. “Now how about the rest of you?” He held his microphone out to the crowd and was rewarded with a few more hollers and cheers.
Emily was certain she’d heard this stage dialogue before, word for word. Tuning Cole out, she glanced around the bar, looking for any other familiar faces in the crowd.
Twitters of laughter came from several of the people around her, and she heard the opening notes to the Batman theme song coming from the stage. Without even looking, she knew it was Jesse playing it, attempting to distract the crowd. He was always trying to steal the spotlight.
She turned her head to see if Cory was one of the people laughing at Jesse’s antics. He seemed to be ignoring him, though, and had his eyes focused on Cole. A smile tugged at his lips, and she realized she must have missed what Cole had just said to prompt it.
Cole stopped speaking and took another sip of water. On either side of him, Jesse and Jamie Sloan, the band’s bass player, began singing an a cappella harmony Emily knew well. She was pretty sure they’d performed this song at every show she had been to since the first time she’d watched them take the stage. There had been a time when she had loved this song, and she knew she’d probably enjoyed hearing it as recently as the last show she had gone to. Tonight, though, it seemed as old as Cole’s interaction with the crowd.
Cory leaned over to speak in her ear. “They’re good,” he commented.
“Yeah, Cole’s got a great voice.” She tried to sound enthusiastic. After seeing so many of their shows, she was finding even their stage movements stale and predictable. This could have been any Ashes of Brooklyn show she’d been to over the past four years. Only the venue had changed.
“It’s more than that,” he said, pulling her attention away from what was happening on stage. “He can get an audience going. That’s a big thing.”
The air beside her ear that had been warmed by Cory’s breath while he spoke felt cold when he moved away. He leaned back against the bar again, his fingers tapping on the counter in time to the music. Emily also leaned against the bar, close enough for her shoulder to brush against Cory’s arm.
The last notes of Ashes of Brooklyn’s final song of the night