Page 20 of Marked By Night

When Kaos shoulder checks Dante out of the way before I can place my arm in his, I burst out laughing. Then they both shrug and move to either side of me in sync. A woman could get used to this.

“I’m so jealous right now,” Ash says with a pout which makes my heart pang for a moment. She’s not used to all the attention being elsewhere, but she doesn’t seem upset. Still, no need to rub it in her face. I extract myself from between the hotties. Barely. I mean I do have some self-control. Sometimes.

“I’m sorry, Ash. Tonight is supposed to be about us. I’ll tell them to get lost.” I am not going to be that friend, the one who bails on their bestie for a guy. Or two guys in this case. No way.

She gives me an incredulous look and leans in closer. “Absolutely not! Have you seen those bodies? Phew, and I bet they’re packing too.”

“We are,” Dante says without missing a beat.

“See? I told ya, babe. I’m not letting you miss out on that.”

Did my best friend help set me up with two of the hottest guys I’ve ever laid eyes on in my life? Fuck yeah she did. I knew I kept her around for a reason.

“After you, ladies.”

Not even a minute after we regain our spot at the front of the crowd, the next band starts playing their setlist. And they’re who we came here for. Wicked Unrest. The hottest metal band around right now. They’ve been in the top five on the charts for weeks now.

I sigh, letting the song flow through me. Nothing can wash away the pain, the anxiety, and the bullshit life likes to throw my way quite like music can. It’s like a balm to my battered and torn soul. Always has been.

The melancholic melody washes over me as I begin to sway, letting out all those negative feelings Tyler stirred in me. It doesn’t matter that there’s sweat dripping down my spine, and my hair is a frizzy mess. It doesn’t matter that we’re standing out in the open, or that there are two dreamy guys watching me as I dance. There are thousands of us out here and it allows me to blend in, giving me a sense of anonymity to let my feelings bleed as I move.

The tempo picks up toward the end and I belt out my favorite part of the song.

“The silence grows as the music fades… A tortured soul you left in your wake; you still haunt me... Shadows spin and weave a scene, leaving a broken-hearted melody. You still haunt me…”

Dante gives me an approving nod and the heat in his eyes is strong enough to light a damn bonfire. He leans in close to whisper against the shell of my ear, “Color me surprised, Angel. Not many know this song.” The huskiness of his voice startles me out of my trance, but I don’t have a chance to respond.

“All right, you crazy motherfuckers!” The lead singer, Brandon Luck, shouts before he takes a long drink out of his water bottle. “I want to experiment with something for this next song. If you’re here with a girl, whether it be a casual fuck or a committed relationship, I want you to grab her and put her on your shoulders!”

A pair of muscular arms lift me into the air so fast I can’t track the movement. My breath whooshes out of me until I’m upright again. When I look down, I find a glorious head of blonde hair, and before I can stop myself, I grip a handful of it. Which in turn makes Dante groan. I quickly drop it making Dante’s shoulders shake with laughter.

Nice, Sadie. Real nice.

Trying to distract myself from the mental image of me riding Dante’s face into oblivion with my hands tangled in his hair, I look over to find Kaos sulking for not getting a hold of me fast enough.

“Why don’t you lift Ash?” I suggest, not wanting my bestie to feel left out even if it makes me growly for some damn reason.

They’re strangers,I remind myself. Little good it does for my vagina though. That cunt has a mind of her own and she’s panting like a bitch in heat. All over Dante’s neck.

When the song ends, Brandon chuckles evilly through the microphone. The sound echoes all around us, bouncing off the trees. “If your girl is still on your shoulders, congratu-fucking-lations.” He smirks, placing his foot on one of the box speakers. “Now, when you get back to wherever it is you’re going, I want you to do this again.”

He pauses for dramatic effect, making sure everyone is hanging on his every word before he continues. “But I want you to shift her to the front and then throw her against a fucking wall. I want you to bury your heads between your girl’s thighs until she’s screaming your goddamn name.”

A chorus of groans meets my ears at the naughty-ness of his words.

“You’re fucking welcome ladies!”

And now I can’t shake that image from my brain.

Half the crowd disperses after his erotic announcement is over. Likely trying to find places to have a quickie. I bet some of them are heading back to the campground to screw in tents, while the others will probably find a nice tree to bang against. As for us, we continue to enjoy the show, but I find myself enjoying the view ofthemmore.

9

Sadie

The next few songs go off without a hitch. That is until Brandon Luck spots Ashley dancing in the crowd and trips over the lyrics he’s singing. He recovers quickly, but his eyes never leave hers. He’s been known to choose one girl from each show to bring back to his tour bus, but I never dreamed it’d be one of us. And it’s usually after the show, not during the middle of it.

When the song ends, he hops down from the stage—much to the security guards’ chagrin—and jumps over the rail. The crowd rushes toward him, reaching out to touch him. One chick even fondles his long black hair, but he barely notices. Like a man truly possessed, Brandon Luck ignores the crowd, shrugging off their advances as he makes his way through the crowd. Ash’s chest rises and falls rapidly as she watches him make his way toward us.

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