We played for nearly two exhilarating hours, ending with two encores. After we finally left the stage, watching from behind the curtain, I kept my eye on my wild-haired blonde crush. She and her friend skipped out toward the front of the club with the crowd when it dissipated. They talked animatedly with a group of people who were filming them with their phones. Her mass of hair cascaded around her face when she gestured with an exaggerated rock horn sign and rolled her eyes at the camera. I was fully smitten, a sensation I’d never experienced. Wanting her made me feel brave.
She was so incredibly beautiful, like a butterfly made of all the colors in the world. Yet she wasn’t showy at all. Her demeanor was, well . . . settled. Grounded. She seemed genuine and comfortable in her skin, unlike the women who usually threw themselves at me. Unlike me, truth be told.
My heart raced when she glanced back toward the stage where the band was starting to pack up our gear and sign autographs. For the first time in my entire complicated life, things were simple. She was meant for me. No matter what my insecurities were, I wouldn’t risk not seeing her again.
“Ty, you remember Fiona.” Zane interrupted my thoughts. He had his arm around the dark-haired, pixie-like daughter of Gus Reynolds, the owner of The Mission. “Fiona Reynolds, this is Tyson Rainier.”
“Hey,” I said absently to the girl I’d met at Zane’s house a couple of times. I wasn’t really paying attention since I was so intently watching the blonde beauty from afar.
Fiona struggled halfheartedly to unwind herself from Zane. “Nice to see you again, Tyson. Will I settle up with you?”
“You’re breaking my heart, Fee.” Zane reached for her hand to pull her to the office. “You’ll settle up with me!”
Jace shook his head, his tattooed arm lazily draped around Cassie, a pretty redhead who always wore a low-cut top and too much makeup. She looked at him adoringly, but he arched his eyebrow disinterestedly and stared out into the crowd where I had been fixated. “Who was that girl you were singing to?”
“Um, I dunno, but I want to go talk to her before she leaves.” I tried to sound nonchalant.
Connor lurked behind us, huge, muscled and menacing, his penetrating glare directed at me. “My dude, for the love of God, please be chill.”
“It’s a lost cause, Connor.” Jace untangled himself from Cassie. “But if Ty is going make a move on a pretty girl, I’m not standing in his way.”
“Fuck you.” I flipped him off. “I’m not that bad.”
“Uh, yeah you are,” Connor deadpanned. Jace’s sister Jen, who Connor had been dating for years guffawed at his comment.
As we gained bigger audiences in Seattle, women and men pursued us relentlessly, which made me uncomfortable. Not because they were interested, that part was flattering. More like, as my bandmates all knew, I had less-than-zero game when it came to romance. Hence, the backstory of how they originally chose our band name. A joke on me, which was true. And funny.
The truth was, I’d indulged in an easy hookup once or twice to take the edge off, especially if I’d had a few beers. But no matter how humbling it was to have the attention, for many reasons I lived by my own strict principles that were not necessarily befitting a rising rock star. One of which was that I didn’t hit on random women. Ever.
Until now, it seemed. Fueled on endorphins from the life-changing show, I was determined to embrace my fate. There was something about the little blonde beauty, almost like we were both meant to meet in this place at the same time. My heart was thundering in my chest when I approached her and the friend, both of their eyes went wide with surprise as I neared. Once I was close enough, it took all my willpower to resist burying my nose in the crook of my crush’s neck to breathe in her delicious scent of flowers and oranges.
Of course, Jace had called it. When I attempted to talk to her, I sounded like a cheesy asshole and I nearly aborted the operation completely. Thank God, Connor had kept an eye on me, saw me struggling, and texted me at exactly the right time. I was able to make up an excuse to calm my nerves and regroup. It had been such an epic night, when I charged into the Uber like a bull in a china shop, I was determined to get a date with the beautiful Zoey.
As we headed to her house, my confidence and adrenaline evaporated. I had no idea what the fuck I was doing. Covering up my self-loathing by grinning and feigning confidence, I couldn’t help but wonder if she still thought I was a typical arrogant dickhead musician trying to get into her pants for the night. Fuck. I vowed never to act that way, and I had no idea how to change her perception. So I did nothing.
“I will literally be killed if I miss curfew again, and killed and dismembered if I bring a guy they have never met home at midnight.” Zoey’s sweet voice reminded me where I was.
“Uh, um, well, I hadn’t thought that far. I sort of panicked when I saw that you were leaving without me getting your deets.” I could not control my own word vomit.
“You panicked?” Her eyebrows
