Page 30 of Bonding the Band

Without a word, they went straight into the opening song, “Heat Beats.” Hendrix was front and center. His blond locks glowed under the spotlight, the black leather clinging to his body making him look ungodly levels of hot. So fucking rude of the universe to make him look like that. The huge screens displaying close-ups focused on those gorgeous blue eyes that had sucked me in when I’d seen them.

I racked my memory for the others. Phineas was on the drums, his sandy brown hair looking carelessly tousled over bright hazel eyes. Thank god for those screens zoomed in on them, or I’d have missed every detail in the chaos. Beckett was on bass, in the same snug black leather as Hendrix, his shaggy brown hair covering the glimpse of honey-brown eyes I’d caughtbefore he focused on his instrument. I definitely didnotget distracted by the cording of his forearm muscles as he navigated the notes. The last was…Arlo? He was on guitar, gliding around the stage like he owned it, his forearms just as distracting as Beckett’s as he launched into a riff.

“You’re staring,” Clover teased lovingly.

How could I not? I was caught in their gravity, frozen in place as everyone around me screamed and waved their arms, demanding attention, while I quietly prayed they wouldn’t notice me. Ineededthem to, but nerves were clawing their way up my throat and had a stranglehold on me.

Arlo’s gaze caught mine, and panicked heat raced through me.

“I’ve got to get out of here!” I shouted in Clover’s direction and pressed my fingers to my lips as a wave of nausea overwhelmed me.

She turned to me, her eyes widening as she realized I was close to hurling. “There’s an exit over there!” she shouted, pointing toward the left of the stage, past many, many partying concertgoers.

“Wait here! I just need some fresh air!”

I didn’t wait for a response. I put my head down and started physically shoving my way out of the room.

My vision tilted, and if not for the sheer volume of people sardined into the small space, I would have tilted over.

The first gasp of cool air as I left the main hall was heavenly. I staggered a few steps and found myself standing in a random, dingy hallway.

Using one hand on the wall for balance, I bowed my head, closed my eyes, and took several deep breaths in an attempt to settle my stomach. I wanted to avoid the embarrassment of hurling in public at all costs.

I was so focused on my breathing, I didn’t hear the commotion coming from the concert behind me.

“Princess?” a smooth, excited voice said behind me.

Whirling around, I was met with an alpha who towered over me. I stared at him, recognition poking me as his features came into focus, one by one. Dark, spiked hair, warm brown eyes bright with delight, and an easy smile that instantly lowered my defenses. Why was he here? He was supposed to be on stage…

Why the fuck was one of the members of Hard Knot Life in a sketchy-ass hallway with me right now?!

A grin slowly spread across Arlo’s face as he took me in. “We’ve been looking for you!”

Chapter 13

Arlo

It washer. There was no doubt about it.

We had just taken to the stage, excited to be back with an American audience, and before we even made it halfway through the first song, I noticed her.

The scent hit me first. It was muted because with so many people crammed into such a small place, dancing, and screaming, naturally the room quickly developed an odor.

Underneath the stench of bad decisions and sweat, though, was something sweet, like rose or lilac. It had my heart pounding. Shaking my head, I convinced myself I must have been hallucinating, because it was the scent I had gotten a noseful of the morning I had woken Hendrix up and he’d had a beta in his bed, but the scent was undoubtedly omega.

Glancing up from my guitar, I noticed Hendrix. His shoulders were tensed up, and he was usually the most relaxed when performing. Had he also caught her scent? I glanced around at my bandmates. Despite the rigid posture, Hendrix looked good. He had color in his face, and his foot movements were quick, less sluggish than before.

It had to be her. She was here, and we couldn’t miss her.

My eyes roamed over the crowd. She had to be near the front if we were able to catch a whiff of her.

Turned out, she was hard to miss.

In a crowd of excited revelers, two women weren’t dancing, the brunette of the pair staring at the other guys with enormous eyes.

It could have been the girl from the footage, but the grainy image was hard to compare to the beauty in the crowd.

Her face was pinched, unhappy. I glanced between my pack mates. Phineas frowned at me, mouthing something that I think waseverything all right?But I couldn’t be sure.

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