Page 24 of Midnight Dissonance

Because a band had to tour. A band had to play. And there was a part of him that wanted to be selfish. He’d just found the woman fate had ascribed to him. The last thing he wanted to do was send her on the road away from him.

Then again, he wasn’t even sure he liked her—but he fucking wanted her more than he had another woman in a long time. And it was because of those two kisses.

Because they’d lit his soul on fire.

He ordered a soda instead of his customary beer. Since he’d never gotten high before, the last thing he would do was mix the two.

Their set started off with a bang. And he found himself enraptured. Lexi owned the crowd with her stunning voice, her ability to jam on her guitar, and the way her body moved on stage.

He’d never seen a more beautiful woman. She came alive on stage.

As the night progressed, he found himself grinning ear to ear. He even joined the crowd, dancing around like it was his last night on Earth and he wanted to make it amazing.

That was his first hint that he was high.

The second came when he was dancing around, and he noticed his entire body had gone loose. But he couldn’t take his eyes off her. So, he stood amid the dancing, writhing crowd, wondering how soon he’d be able to get her into his bed.

Throughout the set, Lexi kept a close watch on Josh. And she felt awful. The guy was tripping balls in the audience. Anyone who looked at him could tell he was high.

After the last song, when their set was over, she asked the guys. “Hey, do you mind if I skip out on breakdown? I need to go look after my friend.”

Robbie asked with a smirk, “Is he the reason you’ve been in a funk lately?”

“I haven’t been in a funk.”

Her bandmates stared with expectant looks that called her ten times a fool for denying it. She tossed her hands up in the air. “Fine. He’s the reason I’ve been so crazy. Happy now. Can I go take care of him, or do you need me to help with teardown?”

They glanced at each other with cheesy grins.

“Isn’t he a little old for you?” Nate asked, scratching his chin.

“Never knew you had a daddy fetish.” Robbie chuckled.

“Me-ow, he’s a hottie. Are you sure he doesn’t play for the other team? I could use a sugar daddy.” Cliff asked, his gaze roving over Josh with blatant interest.

“First, age is just a number, and if it’s right, it doesn’t mean a lick of difference. I don’t have a daddy fetish. And I’m one hundred percent sure that man is grade A hetero. And even if he wasn’t, I wouldn’t share him with you.” She sucked in a ragged breath, amazed with herself for staking her claim that way, and watched her bandmates’ brows rise.

“Go on. We got this.” Cliff waved her off with nods from Robbie and Nate. Fuckers were grinning ear to ear.

“Thank you.” She stored her guitar in its case, then carried it down the stairs and went searching for Josh.

She didn’t have to go far. He stood by the stage, hands shoved into his pockets, with a dopey grin on his face that did wonders for him. He was a gorgeous man. When he smiled like that, warmth beaming out of him brighter than the sun, her ovaries made kissy noises at him.

And it left her wondering, had she been too quick to dismiss him at the club that night?

Lexi had issues with men because of Travis. He hadn’t been remotely faithful. And when she’d called him on it, he had acted like it was her fault. Because she would rather practice with her band than go out with him.

But she would never be the stay-at-home girlfriend who waited by the phone for her beau to call. She was out making things happen. Music was what made her get out of bed in the morning. It’s what drove her. And she yearned for the band to hit it big. They had the talent and the drive to succeed in the music industry.

“Hey, lass, has anyone ever told you that you're fecking sexy up on that stage? And that every man here was imagining what you’d be like in bed. Me included.”

Heat curled in her belly at his admission. It wasn’t fair that he was high and she wasn’t. It gave her an unfair advantage over him. Cause if she really wanted to mess with him in this state, she could.

But she wasn’t going to, because she felt bad enough about getting him high. “Why don’t I get you home?”

“And then we’ll talk. You promised.” His Irish lilt was thicker than normal. And she had to lean in and listen closely to what he said.

“I did. And I’ll keep my promise. Did you drive?”

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