Page 53 of Fake Rocks
“What are they about? Can you give me an insight into how they came to you so quickly?” Joel asked.
“Let’s say I had some inspiration.” Saff’s gaze didn’t leave my face. “Now are you ready to hear this stuff, or what?” She dropped the butt of the joint to the floor and ground it out with one of her spike heels, before leaving the room, her dress coat billowing out behind her.
It was a relatively short, punchy set just shy of forty-five minutes long.
For those forty-five minutes, I was totally spellbound.
The Saff who prowled around the stage was like nothing I’d seen.
She was self-assured, powerful and all kinds of sexy. She used her mic like a weapon, growling into it, before her voice went soaring into another range. Even though I’d seen her perform at the pub a few weeks ago, this was a whole different level of execution. The way she poured all her energy into slinking around the other members of the band, dropping into a squat to emphasise certain parts of the song, rising up again, her body taut and stretched to its limit.
I couldn’t take my eyes off her.
I couldn’t wait to take her home and fuck her.
“This is our second to last song tonight,” Saff announced, her voice cracking slightly, its husky undertones already turning me on. She spun around to look directly at me. “And I had some pretty strong inspiration for it.”
It was easily their softest song of the night, almost a ballad. I hung on every word Saff sang, listening to the lyrics. It was as if the rest of the audience disappeared and it was only her and I in the room.
Saviour. Surprise. Salvation.
Shit, she had written a song for me.
She’d alluded to it in the chat with Joel. I had never been anyone’s inspiration before. And yet, here was a gorgeous, sexy woman harmonising about me.
If I’d been able to go up on that stage and drag her off with me, I would have done it in an instant.
As the music drew to a close, she blew a kiss in my direction before whirling around to the sounds of their best known song to finish the set.
My heart was in my mouth. I needed to take a breath. The crowd around me sang loudly and danced and waved as the finale hit its crescendo, jostling me from side to side.
Saff took a final bow. She thanked everyone for coming along and promising there would be more live shows soon to the sounds of loud cheers, then left the stage.
I elbowed my way out the back to the room we’d talked to Joel in.
The band were there, slapping each other on the back and congratulating each other on a job well done. I hung back, letting them do their thing, until Saff spotted me.
“Tris! Over here!” She stood in front of me, slick with sweat from the efforts she’d put into her performance. “I need some air, come outside with me?”
Right then, I’d have followed her wherever she wanted to go.
When we got outside, there were a few people milling about in front of the venue, mostly waiting for taxis or pickups. Some of them called out to Saff to say how much they’d enjoyed the gig. She thanked them as she lit a cigarette, smiling happily.
I was immensely proud of her.
She had worked so hard to make it happen in such a short space of time.
“You’re incredible,” I breathed, moving in towards her.
Saff struck a pose and rolled her eyes. “Obviously, darling.” She gestured to herself with her cigarette. “With me as a front woman, did you expect anything less?”
“Never.”
I closed the space between us, leaning down for a kiss, breathing in the mixture of her scents, perfume, smoke and the exertion she had put in.
“I always knew you were pretty amazing, but tonight was something else.” Holding her face in my hands, I looked into her chocolate brown eyes. “You, me, us, everything about this is real.” The lines between real and fake had blurred a long time ago and right now, all I felt for Saff was a surge of emotion. “Saff, I love you.”
She wound her hand into my hair, burying her face into the crook of my neck. “And I love you too,” she whispered breathily. “I don’t care who knows about how we came to be together, I want to tell everyone, Rosie, Darren, the gossips…”
