Suddenly, Ty sprang from his chair and pumped himself up like an athlete by shadow boxing, running in place, and spinning one way and then the other. With the final push, he jumped up and down about twenty times, shook out his hair, and looked over at me sheepishly.
“Ummm, sorry. I kind of geek out when I get ready to go onstage.” Ty threw me a lopsided grin.
“Well, geek-boy, I think you’re fucking hot.” I held out his tea to him from where I stood across the room, leaning against the wall.
“Oh yeah?” Ty stalked over, taking my face in his hands to angle my head for a soft kiss before cocooning me against his chest, his head on top of mine.
The door banged open and Zane burst into the room. “Jesus, my brother! We’re so late, we gotta go.”
“Yeah, well I’m here and ready. Where were you?” Ty looked up nonchalantly, taking a sip of tea.
“Let’s just say I got stuck in the crowd.” Zane waggled his eyebrows and took a bite of a strawberry from the fruit tray.
“Where are Jace and Connor?”
“They sent me to get you, they went right up to the stage. So, let’s do this.” Zane dashed into the bathroom where we could hear him taking care of business.
Ty laughed and rolled his eyes, nonplussed.
“Come up with us, Z.” Zane emerged and reached in his back pocket to put another All-Access Band laminate around my neck. “We’re going out on stage right; all of the execs and actors are on stage left. We can set you up by my guitar tech, so you can watch the show with our crew.”
I was touched he’d thought of my well-being when I’d left my pass at the hotel. Clearly, I was out of my element navigating these professional concert productions. Following Zane and clutching tightly to Ty’s hand, I made my way back to the stage, past a bunch of the crew where Jace and Connor were waiting. Looking out at the sea of ten-thousand fans at this private concert, it was actually an intimate setting for the band who regularly played festivals holding hundreds of thousands of followers. The entire theater was chanting “L-T-Z” and posters professing their love for the band and each of the guys dotted the crowd.
“Spike, this is Ty’s girlfriend Zoey. She’s going to hang by you, it’s her first show in a long time so be cool,” Zane introduced me to his tech.
“Nice to meet you, gorgeous.” Spike, was at least three-hundred-pounds, rocking a hipster beard, a plaid shirt, overalls, and yellow crocs. He pulled me in for a bear hug.
“Hey!” Ty jokingly lunged at the big lug.
“I’m stealing her.” Spike slapped Ty’s arm. “Get your ass on the stage.”
The energy in the venue was so electric, I couldn’t help but get caught up in the excitement to see my sexy rock god perform. After the guys did their quick pre-show huddle, Jace broke away and ran out behind his kit followed by Connor and then Zane. When the band took the stage, the crowd lost their minds. Ty kept his arm around my shoulders and watched with me from the shadows as Jace started tapping out the beat to Rise. My heart swelled, remembering that I’d been there when they were creating the song in Carter’s practice space.
Connor picked up the bassline and Zane’s talented fingers picked his way through the complicated intro. Watching the crowd sway, scream, and chant in unison was so incredibly powerful, all of that positive energy for my guy and his band brothers. They deserved the accolades. Using a secret cue, Zane nodded over to Ty to signal it was time to take the stage.
Before he moved, Ty bent down to kiss the side of my face and whispered, “I love you more than anything. You’re my favorite person.”
I felt like the luckiest girl in the world when Ty ran out to the front of the stage. The lights swept all around the venue and crisscrossed in a brilliant pattern of blue, green, and purple, hitting each of the guys but camouflaging Ty. When he reached his microphone, the entire theater went black and a single blue spotlight hit the exact spot Ty was standing on as he held out the opening note for longer than was humanly possible. Utter silence descended on the venue for approximately one second, which was followed by unabashed crowd ecstasy when the lights danced in a pattern that matched the beat.
It was so easy to get lost in the music. Jace’s relentless rhythm was punctuated by pulsing moonbeam-like lights illuminating his entire body. Zane’s extraordinary virtuoso finger work was so far beyond what I remembered, his boyish smile was joyful as he worked the frets. The boom and thump of the bass was Connor’s way of keeping the heart of the band beating, his brooding stare was unforgiving as he took the crowd head-on.
But nothing could match Ty, astonishing in his domination as an entertainer. Whether it was witty banter during a song, his whirling dervish moves through hard-driving beats, subtle flirting with the crowd, his sex-on-wheels command of the audience, or the flat-out mastery of his vocals, he belonged on stage. He was absolute magic.
What melted my heart was that every few minutes, even if it was just for a moment, Ty looked to the sidelines for me, for which I rewarded him with an air kiss or wink. I was so enraptured and riveted that I didn’t notice that someone had joined me.
“Good show.” Sienna towered over me in a black-and-white-patterned jumpsuit, five-inch black Louboutin heels, her dark hair slicked back in a tight ponytail.
“Back in the clubs they were amazing, but now—they’re unbelievable,” I agreed, trying to engage and be friendly.
We both looked out as Pokey, Ty’s guitar tech, handed him his Gibson Montana Hummingbird. He took a few strums, smiled, and addressed the crowd. The spotlight zeroed in.
“We’ve only played this once,
