Page 96 of Snared

My sister had been a Steelwolf fan for almost as long as I had, and she always tried to come to our New York shows, but her crazy work schedule meant she hadn’t spent too much time with the guys since I’d joined the band. Jax liked flirting with her, but he flirted with everyone. I never took it seriously and neither did Jules.

“Looks like it’s up to me and you to get this started,” Tristan said, shooting me a wink before playing the first note on his bass for our next song.

“Excuse you, MB, stop trying to run the show.” Jax raised his voice to talk over us, but I ignored him and played the intro to “Hard Days” with Tristan. Bash joined in with a laugh. We played the opening sequence on loop twice.

“Fine. I’ll get to you later, Jules,” Jax said.

“No you won’t,” I fired back, but Jax was already singing and ignoring me.

I glanced over to see Jules laughing her ass off and then she was singing along with Jax and the fans.

If I’d put everything into my playing at the start of the show, I amped it up now, knowing my sister was in the wings watching. She’d pushed me to send in my audition demo. She’d encouraged me to go for it and it’d paid off more than I’d ever imagined. Every time I questioned if this was what I should be doing, she threatened to knock me on the head with my sticks.

As soon as we finished our second encore and waved to the crowd, I ran toward my sister.

“You fucking killed it. Killed it,” she said, pulling me into a hug.

I laughed. “Yuck. I’m drenched.”

“I missed you lots, Lots,” she whispered.

I tipped my head back, giving her a glare. She’d been warned not to use any nickname for me in front of Jax. Lotte. Lots. No need to give the man ammo.

“Jules, Jules, Jules,” Jax sang from behind us.

“Go away, Ellie,” I muttered over my shoulder at him.

“Mrs. CH, what have I said about calling me that around others?” he taunted.

“Oh man, she’s gonna skewer you with her sticks,” Tristan said with a chuckle. “Hey, Jules, great to see you.”

“Hi, guys. Killer show, as usual,” my sister said.

“I can’t believe you’re here. How’d you get the time off?” I stepped out of the hug so I didn’t drench her with my stage sweat.

“I made the time,” she said.

My sister was an ER nurse and worked so many hours it made my head spin, but she loved her job.

I faced her again. There was something in her tone, almost concern.

“I’m okay, Jules,” I murmured.

She squeezed my arm. “I know. I wanted to check in on you.”

“And to watch the best band ever,” Jax said, slinging his arm over Jules’s shoulder.

She shrugged out from under him. “You stink.”

“People would kill for me to rub up on them after a show,” Jax said, wiggling his brow.

“Okay, even that’s too much,” Tristan said.

“Eau de Jax. We should bottle it. CH, get on that, would you?” Jax continued.

“Yeah. It’s at the top of my list,” Josh said before turning to me.

And then he brushed his lips across mine. “Great show.”

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