Page 62 of The Final Beat

“Did Ali not tell you?” He grimaced. “It was cancelled.”

That was the only reason I’d stayed at the venue after the short appearance I’d been making at the beginning of each gig. An appearance where I made a ridiculous show of handing over a set of drumsticks to Denny. “You’re joking?” I groaned.

“Sorry, mate. It was with the Mayor and guests but there was an emergency council meeting about a pothole and a funeral car.” He rubbed his hair again and then draped the towel over his shoulder. “Want a lift back?”

“Well, I’m not going to get back any other way, am I?” Shoving my hands into my jeans pockets I followed Ronnie to the door. “I wish I hadn’t bothered to come to be honest.”

Ronnie grinned. “It does seem pointless when you haven’t even watched the gig.”

“It was just a bit difficult,” I confessed.

“I know mate, but that’s it now. Anyway, fancy some food in our room when we get back? Amber just seems to want to eat all the time now, no matter how late it is.”

“Maybe that’s because of the two babies she’s carrying.” I rolled my eyes. “I’m sure you’re not complaining about the extra burgers you’re having to eat.”

Ronnie’s eyes lit up and I knew that I was right. “The thing is,” he said, grinning, “all the extra calories means that I needto increase my exercise and as Amber’s craving for food has coincided with a need for more sex, it’s all good.”

“Come on then, Romeo,” I said with a laugh, “let’s get you back to the hotel for snacks and sex.”

When we got back to the hotel, we were surprised to see everyone had congregated in the bar, including Amber. The only people not there were Belle, Beau, and Simone.

“Hey, babe,” Amber said, smiling widely at Ronnie. “I couldn’t wait until you got back so came down for a bar snack and everyone was here, so I stayed.”

Ronnie leaned in and kissed her full on the lips. “You feel okay?” He ran a hand over her stomach, looking down at it reverently.

“I’m fine, just these two are bloody starving all the time.”

“I’m going up,” Elliot said, slapping me on the back. “It’s almost Lily’s feed time so I can do it and let Belle get more sleep.”

“Okay, mate.” I looked past him to see Destiny at the bar. She was talking to Laura and Ryan, and I wondered how long it would be before Denny joined them. He’d come back with us but had nipped up to his room to change as soon as he’d seen the bar was full of the Warrior Creek crowd. Probably gone to fancy himself up for Destiny.

Elliot said goodnight to everyone, and Ronnie walked Amber to a table near the bar. I followed them but when they started kissing I couldn’t bring myself to sit down. Instead, I went to get us some drinks, standing at the opposite end of the bar to Destiny because she’d made it clear that we were done. Besides,once Denny appeared, I didn’t want to have to listen to them flirting with each other.

As I stood, leaning against the copper bar top, waiting to be served, I felt someone sidle up beside me. At a quick glance I saw that it was one of the road crew. He was a lighting rigger from what I could remember. That was only because I knew Destiny had a run in with him once about him not attending a pre-gig meeting. He said he’d had a migraine, but Destiny knew it was a hangover and wasn’t happy.

“Hey, Joey,” he said, flashing me a smile. “How’s the hand?”

“It’s good, thanks.” I couldn’t for the life of me remember his name. All Destiny had referred to him as was ‘little twat’ when she was telling me about him after I’d given her two orgasms. “All set for the next gig?”

“Yeah, I heard that it was Denny’s last one tonight.” He turned towards the bar and tapped his phone on it. “Is anyone actually serving at this end.”

“Yeah, I think he’s a bit busy.” I pointed to the barman who was changing a bottle of rum on the optics.

“Hey, mate, you going to be much longer?” he yelled.

The barman turned around and smiled apologetically. I held up my hand. “It’s fine, no rush.” I then turned back to little twat. “He’s going as fast as he can. Give him a break.”

He ducked his head and nodded. “Yeah, sorry. You’re right.”

God, Destiny was right, he was a twat because I could bet if I hadn’t been there he’d have still been slinging insults at the barman. He didn’t have the courage of his convictions about his own rudeness.

We stood in silence for a couple of minutes until the barman finally asked me what I’d like. I ordered for myself, Ronnie, and Amber and wondered if I should offer little twat, but decided I wouldn’t because, well, because he was a little twat. As the barman went off to draw a pint of Guinness for Ronnie,the rigger cleared his throat. I knew he was trying to get my attention, but I could be as much of a twat as he was, so I ignored him.

After another throat clear, he nudged me.

“Yeah?”

He looked around and then moved closer. “I was wondering if you fancied something?”

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