He nods and shoves his hands in his pockets. “Good.”
He wanders out a few feet in front of me, closer to the stage and leans on one of the metal supports for a better vantage point.
“How you doing, babe?” Andrew settles his hands on my shoulders.
I tip my head back and smile at him. “Not too bad. Are you nervous about your set?”
He holds his hand straight out in front of him, parallel to the floor. “Steady as a motherfuckin’ rock.”
“What are you doing with your hand on my son’s woman?” Stump’s rumbling voice holds a world of threat.
Andrew jerks his hands away, holding both up in the air. “Chaser asked me to look out for Mallory tonight.”
“Looking doesn’t involve touching,” Stump warns. He sweeps his icy glare over me as well.
“I’m fine, Stump.”
He grunts in response.
Somehow, I don’t think it’s me he was worried about.
Chapter Fourteen
Chaser
Maybe I’m too old for it but, there’s a small part of me eager to impress my dad tonight. The crowd alone should be impressive. I almost can’t look out at the sea of sweaty, happy faces without a dizzying wave of euphoria washing over me.
Pity we’re at the end of the tour. The combination of a vocal coach and replacing heroin with sex has given Jacob a polished edge to his performance that I haven’t seen in a long time. His steady voice leads us through each song without strain.
When it’s time for my solo, Jacob flashes me a thumb’s up before walking off stage. Buzzing from the energy of the crowd, I call up the notes from the song I’ve been calling “Salvation” in my head since Mallory and I worked on it the last time we were home. It’s a slower, gentler melody and at first, I fear it might lose the crowd but when I sneak a glance, they seem transfixed. I continue, embellishing and expanding, eventually morphing the notes into another song, a riff I often play to warm up, and on and on.
Alvin’s thump, thump, thump, pulls me out of the solo. A system we agreed on in case I get too carried away. Something to pull me back without jarring me. I turn and thank him with a quick salute, and he lifts his chin.
“Holy fuck!” Jacob shouts into his mic. “Did someone get that on video? That has to be Chaser’s best solo yet. He must love you guys! Saved that one just for you, Union, New York!”
The crowd screams their appreciation. I duck my head and laugh.
Thinking ‘Candy Jar’ is our next song, I strum the first few notes.
Instead of waiting for his cue, Jacob runs off stage again and returns, dragging Mallory behind him.
Our eyes meet. She laughs and shrugs, letting me know she’s fine. I’m really over the whole ‘Candy Jar’ dance routine. But it’s the last night of the tour so I guess we should go out with a blast.
“Hey, hey!” Jacob waves his arms in the air.
My fingers slow.
“Welcome our ‘Candy Jar’ girl to the stage!” Jacob holds one of Mallory’s hands up in the air. “Every night she’s with us, she’s busy watching her man play. You’d think she’d get tired of Chaser. I mean, I’m tired of him by now. But nope.”
The crowd laughs.
I flip him off. “Tired of you too, bro,” I say into my mic.
“Nah, you love me. I’ve grown on all of ya!”
“Like a fungus,” Alvin agrees.
Laughing at their antics, Mallory takes a few steps back. Jacob pulls her forward again. “So you guys all know the story of how Chaser and Mallory met when we filmed the video for ‘Candy Jar’, right?”
A good portion of the audience screams back some version of yes. Up front, an obnoxious group of guys who’ve been knocking into people the whole show, slap each other. One of them cups his hands around his mouth and shouts, “Slut!”
“Fuck you, dude.” Jacob points to the security guard. “Get him out of here.”
“Come say that to my face later, motherfucker,” I growl into the mic.
“That guy’s a dick. Anyway,” Jacob continues. “What you don’t know is that Mallory’s also our, Queen. Of. The. Road!”
He holds up his hands, waiting for us to start the song.
Okay, so I guess we’re playing ‘Queen of the Road’ now. Thanks for the head’s up, dick.
I motion for Darren to bring me my slide. Don’t know what the fuck he’s doing but he’s not going to have it in my