Page 103 of Hard Rock Heat
The thee of us stared at each other, unsure how to proceed. I made the first move, taking a careful step toward Dad. He held his arm out. I stepped against the bed, leaning into his side. He wrapped his arm around my waist. Hope came up and put an arm around me, pulling me into a side hug, while taking Dad's hand and squeezing tight. I laid my head on my sister's shoulder and took my dad's other hand in mine, completing thecircle.
From now on things would be different. Things would bebetter.
My sister and I might finally have our fatherback.
Chapter Thirty-Three
After leaving the hospital,we made it back to the venue with just enough time for Damon and Ian to change into their rock star best. Cherry Lips was already on stage, but their set was going to be ending soon, and our guys were upnext.
"Can't you just go on like this?" I asked, gesturing to their jeans and t-shirts.
Hope looked scandalized. "Have you ever evenseena Darkest Daysconcert?"
"Um. That would be ano."
"It's all about the leather pants and eyeliner," shesaid.
I almost snorted. How cliché wasthat?
But Hope was serious. She got out her cell phone and made a few calls. The moment we showed up behind the impromptu stage that had been constructed in the stadium, a flurry of assistants surrounded Damon and Ian, ushering them awayquickly.
I surveyed the stadium. The crowds seemed to be milling together peacefully. Hundreds of people had already arrived and set up their sleeping bags in nice, uniform rows on one side of the field. They were ringed by booths manned by the community groups, food and entertainment vendors and our various sponsors. The other side of the field was dedicated to the concert stage and pit, which was quickly filling withfans.
I looked around for Katherine and saw her speaking with a group of techguys.
"Hey Kat, you doing okay?" I calledout.
She threw me a thumbs up and a nod. I returnedit.
No emergencies. Nocrises.
I couldn't help the grin spreading from ear to ear. Somehow we'd actually managed to pull thisoff.
"What's got you looking so happy?" Damon's voice said from behindme.
I turned around and immediately stopped with a jerk. My mouth poppedopen.
Damon was handsome enough when he was dressed casually, short sleeves shirts showing off his muscled arms, and green eyes sparkling with mischief. I hadn't thought he could get much moreattractive.
But Damon in leather pants, black mesh and eyeliner was almost more than I could take. The thin black smudges around his eyes turned them a brilliant, hypnotizing green. The leather molded to every thigh muscle. The black mesh allowed his chiseled abs to showthrough.
I let out a small, embarrassingnoise.
Damon smirked. "Are you fangirling over me?" he said. "Has Faith Briars turned into agroupie?"
I swallowed hard. He leaned in for a kiss. I parted my lips, wetting them. His eyes flicked over my shoulder. He pulled away abruptly and nodded behindme.
"I think your boss is backstage," he said. "Pretty sure you don't want her to see us suckingface."
He was giving up a make-out session because he knew I wouldn't want to look unprofessional in front of my boss. That was the kind of oddly thoughtful thing I'd become to associate withDamon.
"You're on!" a voice calledbackstage.
"Gotta go, sweetness." Damon threw me a wink. "Try to breathe. I don't want you passing out onme."
"Uh-huh," I saiddumbly.
When I finally recovered from a Damon-induced stupor, I saw dozens of others standing backstage, just behind the curtain. They were waiting for the performance to start, mostly crew and event volunteers. Everyone seemed to be anticipating Darkest Days with bated breath. They certainly did have areputation.
