Page 98 of He's The Reason Why

With a start, he realized nobody appeared to recognize him.

Blake was just an anonymous face in the darkness. Just one of the crowd here to see someone else.

He wasn’t sure how he felt about that.

He’d never gone to a big concert before. The most he’d ever seen in person was a nightclub band. He didn’t like crowds, especially if anyone recognized him. It inevitably led to a mob scene and disappointment on social media afterward if he didn’t saythe right thing or do the right thing. It was a lot easier to be the cool guy in front of a camera, where he could control the sound bites. Being in front of live human beings was a totally different game.

Piper, though, appeared to thrive on this. Her eyes lit up whenever she talked about what she called intimate little shows. Her fans clearly adored her. Rabid didn’t even begin to describe them.

The band came out in a teasing trickle. First, the drummer slipped behind his instrument almost without anyone noticing until the beat started up.

The crowd went nuts.

They waved signs, shirts, posters. They screamed Piper’s name over and over until it was a frenzy of sound that threatened to bust his eardrums.

“Piper! Piper! Piper!”

“Bellamy! Bellamy! Bellamy!”

A man with long, curly, dark hair and tattoo sleeves up both arms came out fist-pumping the air and shouting to encourage more enthusiasm from the already worked-up crowd.

They ate it up.

He ran his fingers down the length of the keyboard, greeted the drummer, then started playing low notes that went along with the beat. He played a few trills, which revved up the crowd even more.

Two women sauntered onto the stage. One had spiked blonde hair with pink tips, a black mini-dress, and red thigh-high boots. The other had long red hair and wore jeans and a black T-shirt with the word Bellamy in sequins across her chest.

They waved, and the crowd lost their minds.

He’d never felt anything like this. The anticipation was palpable. The need for something just out of reach filled his head with noise and made his heart race. It was like sex, without the sex. IfPiper didn’t come out soon, there was going to be a riot, and possibly a collective orgasm.

The women fist-bumped each other, then split to either side of the stage, where they picked up guitars and started playing.

The beat kept going, sure to drive everyone’s heart rate up and up. A recognizable intro to a song came together as the guitar joined the keyboards.

“We love you, Piper!”

He didn’t recognize the melody yet, but the crowd sure did.

Jeanette said something to him, but he couldn’t hear her over the din.

“What?”

She pointed and screamed.

Six thousand other people did the same thing as Piper Bellamy finally strode out onto the stage.

She wore a skin-tight, black-sequined, one-piece jumpsuit that turned every curve and angle into a sparkling fantasy. Her hair billowed around her like a dark cloud. There was something sparkly in it that caught the light every time she moved. Her bright-red lipstick accentuated her full, luscious lips and was like an arrow pointing to exactly where he wanted to put his mouth.

If she didn’t start singing soon, he was going to lose it along with the crowd.

She had a microphone in one hand, but she didn’t turn it on. Instead, she beamed at the crowd, one hand over her heart, as she gave each section a wave and a bow.

The fans closest to the stage were crying. He’d never understood that reaction until now. Not that he wanted to cry. No. The pressure building inside him had nothing to do with tears.

Seeing her in that outfit, owning the stage like that, was the hottest thing he’d ever witnessed in his entire life.

The energy and excitement in the air were palpable thingsthat wound around his heart and made it beat so fast he could feel his pulse throbbing.

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