Dramatically, Zane strummed the last flamenco note and held his hand up high above his head, pick in hand, and threw it at the audience. He then fluttered his hand all around and stopped, poised on the neck of his guitar. Timing it perfectly, he played the actual intro to the song at the exact same time the lights went black. A single white, hazy light beamed out into the crowd and pulled back revealing the most beautiful light show of 3-D colorful butterflies, which appeared to be fluttering and flying around the entire venue.
Gasping at the beauty of the display, Zoey grabbed my hand and looked at me with wide eyes, and I gave her a sweet kiss before I ran back on stage to sing her song.
Chapter 37
ZOEY
When Ty sang the final notes to Butterfly, I was sad because I never wanted the splendor of the performance to end. It felt like living in a fairy tale, all the butterflies were so delightful fluttering all over the venue, sometimes landing on the guys as they played. The crowd was mesmerized, not only at the amazing light effects but at the emotional performance by the entire band. It was, after all, probably the last time they’d be on stage for at least a year.
When the final notes ended, Ty stepped up to the mic.
“All of us at LTZ thank you so much for coming out tonight. Give a hand to Jace Deveraux on drums!” Jace obliged with a quick drum solo to the delight of the crowd.
“Conner McLoughlin on bass!” Connor thumped his thumb on the strings, popping out a funky beat.
“My brother Zane Rocks on lead guitar!” Zane jumped up and down in place, bopping his head while mimicking the song Eruption by Van Halen to whoops and hollers from the audience.
“I’m Ty but I think it’s finally time for you to officially meet my better half.” Ty looked over at me on the sidelines and held his hand out, and a white spotlight found its way to me and my face was plastered on every screen in the venue. My shocked and embarrassed expression caused the crowd to laugh and then everyone at the venue started cheering.
I shook my head and tried to go back to my seat, but Ty had other plans.
“Don’t let my girl be so shy, do you want to meet Zoey?” Ty smiled at me from the front of the stage and motioned for me to join him as the crowd went bananas.
“Get out there!” Alex had appeared by my side and pushed me forward, toward Ty.
“Fine!” I walked out to Ty, who clasped me to his side and planted a massive kiss right on my lips.
“This is Z, everyone. This is my butterfly, the butterfly.” Ty said proudly.
It made me equally want to crawl under a rock and jump into his arms, neither of which would have been appropriate, so I stood there like an idiot. But a touched idiot.
I waited for the boos as the lights shone in my face, noting you really couldn’t see anyone past the first couple of rows. And then a thunderous round of cheers took over the entire place and kept going. And going.
Laughing, Ty reached down and took my hand as the rest of the band surrounded us and everyone took a bow, taking me with them.
As I ran offstage, Ty took the mic and addressed the audience. “You ready for a few more tunes?”
The audience went ballistic. Jace, by this point, had resumed his position behind the drums and clicked his drumsticks together above his head.
“We feel like jammin’ and playing a few covers from our favorite bands, does that sound alright?” Ty held the mic to the audience to a rousing chorus of approval, Pokey handed him his favorite old beat-up Strat.
For the next hour, the guys showed off their chops by playing everything from rock classics Whole Lotta Love, Sweet Child O’Mine, and Runnin’ with the Devil to a Seattle tribute of Jesus Christ Pose, River of Deceit, Man in the Box, In Bloom, Black, and then Carter joined the guys for a trio of Limelight songs. The entire audience sang along as did all of us on the sidelines. It was seriously the most fun I’d had in such a long time. My mom and dad were over the moon. Alex, Ronni, and I danced until our feet hurt. As the clock neared midnight, the band couldn’t extend the fun anymore and they ended with a throwback Beatles song The End.
“Good night, Los Angeles” Ty saluted the roaring crowd and waved. “See you guys later!”
Beaming at my gorgeous man as he left the stage, it occurred to me that with this performance behind LTZ, we were now, officially, on vacation.
After the show, we all went to the after-party and stayed until the bitter end because my parents were enjoying hobnobbing with all the stars who had been at the show. Ronni and Alex worked the room, seemingly, they became fast friends. Ty and I stayed secluded in a corner and hung out with whoever came by. It was crazy that this room full of A-listers not only knew who I was, but they were enraged at what had happened to me. To us.
When we finally made it home around four a.m. and were alone in our room, I wrapped my arms around Ty’s waist, nestling my head against his neck. Ty rested his chin on my head and enfolded me against his chest.
“What an unreal few days,” I murmured. “I’m a little dazed.”
“Well, we took charge of our own destiny, and now we are free.” Ty pressed a kiss to my temple and tipped my chin up to look at him with his finger.
“We’ve come a long way these past nine months.” I felt
