by Finn, Thia
“Let’s hit the ladies’ room before we head outside, girls.” Peri and Krissy headed off in the opposite direction of the patio.
When Peri came out of the stall, Chandler was washing her hands. “So, Chan, what do you think about the guys now that you’ve been around them in a different situation? Pretty hot, aren’t they?”
“Yeah, I guess.” Chandler didn’t want to say what she truly thought out loud yet.
“Girl, you ‘guess’? These guys are the epitome of hot rockers.” Peri laughed at Chandler’s face when she said it.
“Yeah, I suppose they are. I’m not really used to hanging out with guys, so my knowledge base isn’t overflowing with anyone to compare them to.”
“Well, if they stared at you anymore tonight, I think they would all have every freckle on your skin memorized! They obviously have noticed you.”
“No, I really don’t think so, Peri. They are just being polite.”
“Polite, really? That’s what you think they are doing? That’s more commonly called eye-fucking, Chan. If you only knew the way their minds’ worked, you would be blushing right now.” Krissy laughed a little and pulled open the door. “You’ll figure it out, sooner or later.”
When the girls returned to the table, Peri told the group, “Hey, we should order some food. With all this beer I’ll have to take a cab home, so we might as well eat something before I pay for my ride home.”
“Why can’t that douche you call ‘a boyfriend’ come get you?” Gunner questioned her. The band members had never thought much of Sawyer because of the way he treated Peri. He was never around, even when she needed him.
“Yeah, he should want to be here with you. Who lets a gorgeous girl like you hang out alone at a bar on Friday night, anyway?” Ryan added as he wrapped his arms around Krissy again.
“That douche has a name, and you know it.” Peri tempered flared, and Chandler decided right then she did not want to get on her bad side. “Sawyer’s actually helping Cash with some things tonight for your dumb asses!” Peri stood up and flounced off angrily to the bar to order appetizers for them.
“Do y’all say those kinds of thing to her to make her mad, or do you really not like her boyfriend?” Chandler asked them all.
Everyone looked at her as though they still didn’t know if they could trust her with private family information.
KeeMac finally spoke up. “He’s OK. He just doesn’t treat her with much respect. He doesn’t take care of her like he should. Peri’s great. She does everything for everyone, and we love her for helping us out all the time. He shouldn’t leave her alone so much to fend for herself like he does.”
“Maybe that’s what she’s used to, though, and she likes it that way.” Chandler tried to defend Peri’s situation.
“Yeah, maybe, but I don’t think so.” He pulled the chair beside him out, gesturing for Chandler to sit down next to him. Chandler looked at it, and then at him, not knowing what to make of the action when he didn’t take his hands off the back of the chair. “You can sit down, Chandler. I’m not going to bite you or anything.”
“Give him time, Chandler,” Carter said with a wink. “His biting teeth only come out on a full moon.” Then he howled like a wolf. Everyone around the table, Chandler included, laughed.
While waiting on the appetizers to arrive, the group talked like any other bunch of friends on a Friday night. This was a foreign concept for Chandler but she liked the way they all seemed to enjoy each other’s company, and that they included her in the banter. After a short time, though, she started thinking of all the things she needed to do at home and stood looking for her purse.
KeeMac looked up from his beer. “You’re leaving already? Sounds like everyone else is just getting started. Why don’t you hang out here awhile longer? You really shouldn’t go by yourself.” He seemed like he was eager for her to stay but her exhaustion kept her from contributing to the conversation. She was looking forward to going home to her quiet house, and finally having some time alone to process everything that had happened today.
“It’s OK. Since I’m leaving on short notice I have a lot of things to deal with before I can leave.” She said it with such a heavy sigh that KeeMac was sure whatever she had to “deal with” wasn’t something she was looking forward to. The demands of this sort of lifestyle were hard on people, and not everyone could handle it. He suddenly realized he didn’t know anything about her except that she had mad skills on the keyboard. This girl intrigued him. He wasn’t sure that had ever happened before.
“Yeah, sorry. We didn’t mean to monopolize your time. Of course you have stuff to do. It’s easy to forget that you had your own life before we met you this morning. I’m sure you want to spend time with your boyfriend. How’s he going to handle your being gone for the next few months?”
“Yeah, boyfriend. Sure. Ha!” she half-snorted at his comment. KeeMac paused mid-drink, and looked at her over the top of his beer bottle her reassessing how much she’d had to drink.
“What, problems with the boyfriend? That’s no good right before you hit the road.”
Chandler just smirked at him, and shook her head at his question. He seemed so certain she had a boyfriend, and she couldn’t help wondering what made him so sure that she did. Or was that his way of asking if she was seeing anyone? She suddenly felt awkward just admitting that wasn’t the case, afraid they would all realize just how pathetic she was.
“Dude, quit grilling the girl and just drink your beer. She’s none of your business. Give her a break, dickhead,” Ryan chimed in from the other end of the table, drawing the attention and some smirks from the rest of the group. “Just tell him to fuck off, Chan.”
“It’s OK, Ryan. Thanks, though. I was just saying that it’s been a long day for me but I suppose I can stay a little longer.”
“That’s great because you can’t leave yet, baby girl! The party is just getting started! You’re our guest of honor! And I haven’t even had my dance yet,” Gunner said as he stood up unsteadily and wrapped his arms around her like they were going to ballroom dance.
“Yeah, right. She wants none of that. Only dancing that pervert does is the horizontal mambo,” Carter mumbles loud enough for everyone else at the table to hear except Chandler and her would-be dance partner, and everyone erupted in laughter. Peri jumped up and stumbled to rescue her from Gunner’s roving clutches just as he started to slowly lean forward into Chandler’s personal space with his eyes closed, lips pursed in an exaggerated pucker.
“Get your filthy paws off her, Drummer Boy. We can’t have you freaking her out before we get her on the bus!” Peri play-kicked at him as he reached for Chandler and Peri both, zombie-like arms outstretched, eyes half-open and twinkling with a glimmer of mischief as he stuck his tongue out at them both and flicked it up and down in a lusty, perverse fashion. Both girls clutched at one another like they were in a B-movie horror flick and squealed in mock-terror at the sight of Gunner, the zombie-pervert, stalked toward them.
“Ladies, there’s plenty of Gunner for both of you! Come here and let me show you what you’re missin’!” The girls were trapped, arms wrapped around each other, heads thrown back in a fit of hysterics, their hips pressed to the edge of the table in between KeeMac and Gunner’s chair, effectively blocking their escape route on either side. When the zombie-drummer reached them he began dry-humping them both and they slid along the edge of the table trying to escape his grasp as the mass of bodies suddenly slumped into KeeMac’s lap, Chandler underneath, in what had become a humping zombie dogpile.
Chandler twisted trying to pull herself to safety and turned a glorious shade of red when she looked up to discover that she was in KeeMac’s lap. She was still in the midst of a riotous laugh when he grabbed her arms and she saw his mouth was moving but she can’t figure out what he’s saying until she followed his eyes when they shifted down into his lap where her ass was pressed up tightly against him. Gunner’s gyrations kept thrusting her into him r
epeatedly, and she suddenly realized something beneath her ass was twitching. When she looked back up at KeeMac, his eyes had dilated and he let out a low groan as he grabbed her hip and pulled her further into him.
Chandler’s breathing caught in her throat at the feeling of his powerful grasp on her and her heart lurched into overdrive. Her eyes went wide as she stared back at him. A second later, Chandler was pulled to her feet, Gunner and Peri having extracted themselves from the heap. Stunned, she looked to the others as the residual laughs faded and she tried to re-orient herself. When she turned back to casually play-off a glance at KeeMac, he had turned in his chair, legs tucked back under the table and he was playing on his phone. He didn’t look at her or acknowledge that he just had a pile of people pressed down on him, though he did seem to be breathing a bit heavily.
Chandler was puzzled, and her head was definitely spinning. Did she imagine what just happened: the feel of that virile man grabbing her and breathing her in? Did she imagine that hungry look in his eyes? She must have been. It must have been the alcohol. She never drinks this much on an empty stomach or after such a long, stressful day. Her imagination must have been playing lustful tricks on her. What would a man like Keeton MacDonald want with me anyway?
She excused herself to the restroom and found a flushed face confronting her in the mirror. You’re acting like an idiot tween fangirl, Chandler. It was nothing. Calm down.
She exited the restroom a few minutes later, feeling refreshed and a bit calmer to find everyone at the table filled with food and fresh drinks. “Chan! Come get something to eat. These nachos are killer.” She accepted Peri’s invitation and took a seat between her and Carter, thankful that all signs of the zombie-humper vanquished. This group was definitely not afraid to cut loose and have a good time, as was further evidenced by the new glass of Pinot waiting for her. She eyed it warily then reached for a quesadilla wedge. The food went down smoothly and filled her belly.
After she downed a few nachos and some other greasy bar grub she felt much more stable and clear-headed, and so utterly drained. She did sip at her last glass of wine and listened quietly to the conversation going on around the table. Occasionally, someone would come into the bar that knew one of the guys and stopped by to say ‘hi’. One was a girl that knew Carter, and Chandler was pretty sure he only introduced the girl to her to try and make the girl jealous, or to let her know she was probably one of many. Chandler realized it for the sober look into what lay ahead for life on tour with these guys. She’d heard other girls say it before, “Guys will be guys.” But seeing it firsthand? Chandler wasn’t sure how to feel about it. This was virgin territory for her, in more ways than one.
By the time eleven o’clock rolled around Chandler was yawning despite her best efforts to fight it. She pulled herself up from the table, her buzz now a mere hum, and went to the bar to ask the bartender to call a cab. When she got back to the table, she decided she better stay standing or she might fall asleep before the cab arrived. The guys had gone back to playing pool with some other patrons. It seemed the novelty of her presence had worn off, which was fine with her because that meant she could just quietly slip out the door, get in her cab and go home to her now sorely missed bed.
She gathered her purse and guitar case, looked around to wave goodnight to Peri, and found Keeton watching her closely from the far corner of the room. She smiled lightly to him and gave a slight wave goodbye, and was shocked when he held up a finger, asking her to wait. She actually turned and looked around the place. Did he really mean her? She turned back to the pool table and watched the tall, well-muscled frontman shake hands and laugh with the others around the table. Was he saying goodbye to everyone? Why? Did he need help getting a cab? She watched as he talked easily with a few of the guys she didn’t know, nodding a few times and gesturing toward where she stood waiting. She watched as they glanced up at her and nodded, continued briefly with their conversations and fist bumps and light-hearted chuckles, before KeeMac turned and walked to where she was standing.
“I take it you’re heading out?” he asked, his tone low and serious.
“Yeah, I’m dead on my feet. I had the bartender order a cab for me. I’m not far, just on the East side, near 8th Street and Navasota. I’ll be fine.”
“Great. We can share a cab then. If you don’t mind, of course. I live about a block from there. And you really shouldn’t be out by yourself at night. Peri and Sawyer live in Hyde Park with all the rich fuckers.” He assumed she was unfamiliar with the area.
“You don’t have to leave just because I am. I can take a cab by myself.” Chandler didn’t want him to have to cut his time short with the guys on account of her.
“No, it’s OK. We have a long two days ahead of us what with rehearsing and shit. I should go on home, too.” The rest of the group decided they would head out as well when he reminded them what they were staring at for the next two days.
KeeMac took her guitar case from her, despite her protests that she could carry her own equipment, and escorted her outside into the warm night air. They only had a few minutes to wait before the cab arrived, and then he held the door to the cab open for Chandler and slid in after her. She looked back at the bar as a few of their group were leaving and a thought occurred to her. She lifted her hand to wave goodnight but they didn’t see her in the cab with KeeMac. “I’m really sorry the whole band has to give up their last weekend at home to work with me.”
“No sweat. We are just damn lucky we found someone on such short notice. Damn, Chandler, not everyone can leave on a two-day notice. We were all impressed with your talent. Actually, I’m pretty sure we all knew after the first song that you knew your shit. You know, if we’d seen you sitting out there in the lobby, you probably wouldn’t have made it to the keyboard. No offense, but we’ve auditioned so many over the past couple of weeks that didn’t know shit about our music, and we were all just burned the hell out on it. One look at you this morning in that librarian thing you had going, and we would have kept on walking out the back.”
“Well, I’m sorry my look didn’t meet up to the band’s standards. But you know nothing about me and that’s not fair.” Chandler was pissed that he would judge her so easily, and she was too tired to even bother trying to conceal it in her voice now. She had proved herself to them today, and he knew it. So, she didn’t really like him bringing it up again.
“Hey, I said don’t take offense. You shocked the hell out of us is what I’m saying. When you jumped right in on cue and played the way you did, we were so fucking happy. Losing Jacoby at the last minute has been hard on all of us. Cash nearly lost his shit right there in the lobby when he got the call from him. We’ve all worked so damn hard to get to this point and then he pussied out on us in the eleventh hour. We’re actually all half-convinced that his bitch of a girlfriend, Janae, got him sick on purpose to keep him from going with us. She’s not one of our biggest supporters. Hell, she’s not a supporter at all. She only comes to our concerts to make sure he’s not looking at all the hot chicks calling out to him.”
“Cash told me the story about what happened. I am sorry. I know this is such an important step for the band.”
“We’ve been lucky so far, and Cash has worked his ass off for us. We hate him most of the time but we know he wants what’s best for the band, and can get us there if we just listen to his bullshit.” He laughed hoarsely at his own comment his head leaned back against the seat. Chandler could tell he was looking in her direction but couldn’t see his face in the shadow. Her face, on the other hand, was occasionally illuminated as light from the streetlamps outside intermittently shot across her face from the back window as she turned to look at him.
“He seems great. Tense, but great. Peri has great things to say about him. Meeting you guys this morning, and getting to play all that amazing music, that was an intense hour-long jam session. It was such a thrill. I was blown away to just have had the chance to audition, KeeMac, really. Then after y’a
ll let me walk out of there, I was sure I messed up the audition. Peri has been really great for my ego, though. She talked me down off a ledge over lunch then we went back to the studio. This afternoon was a whirlwind, unbelievable. The makeover, the shopping spree, and then a few hours tonight—in a real bar—as you so enjoyed pointing out to me, it has been one hell of a day, mentally and physically. This girl is dead.” She looked at him and offered a small smile, trying to keep it light, then let the comfortable silence fall between them for the last few minutes of their drive to her stop.
“This is my house, here on the left,” she told the cab driver, leaning forward to get a better look at the front of her place and then taking a look around. “I should have left some lights on, I guess. I wasn’t expecting to get home this late. My neighborhood seems kind of dark.”
As soon as the cab pulled up to the curb he was out of the car, holding her guitar case and helping her out. Then he saw her in the door before she could assure him she would be fine on her own. “You didn’t need to get out.”
“What would I tell Cash if something happened to you after we finally found you?” he asked over his shoulder as he led the way up the path to her darkened front step.
She was sure he didn’t know how alluring he was whenever he spoke to her. His attitude seemed different now that they were alone. She was glad about that. Chandler looked at him in the dark, the vague silhouette of his chiseled jawline and the broad curve of his muscular shoulders that tapered down to narrowed hips outlined by the neighbor’s dim porch light. She lingered there for a moment, in the dark silence, wondering what was under that t-shirt. She knew there were tattoos up his arms, not full sleeves, but close. Was his chest covered too, or his back? Maybe just a glimpse would satisfy her curiosity, she told herself. Maybe she could get a better look if some of their concert photos were on Google. That was something she could do later when she was alone.
She had to blink hard a few times as she tried to rein in her wayward thoughts before they reached her front porch. She was about to spend a lot of time up-close and in each other’s personal space. She couldn’t afford to be thinking about any of them in that way. They were going to be like a family and her thoughts were not leaning toward familial. Maybe the four glasses of wine were to blame.