Page 40 of Three Times the Wilder Days

“Give me thirty. Anybody need anything?”

“Just you, baby. Just you,” she whispered, and my dick instantly grew harder than it already was. The woman had that much of an effect on me.

“Is that a wicked promise?” I whispered back.

“That’s a guarantee,” she said, then she laughed.

“Just get your sorry ass over here. We’ll wait,” Dustin said into the phone. Apparently, he’d been standing there as well. It was like some crazy group phone call.

“Save me a bagel and all the stuff for the top,” I told him.

“I’ll try, but you know what animals everybody can be in the morning.”

“Yeah, I do. That’s why I’m asking for a favor.”

“Fine. It’ll be waiting for you. Just fucking get here,” Cody said.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah…” I disconnected.

Exactly thirty-three minutes later, after downing at least three cups of Emily’s tea, which I liked better than coffee… who knew… I pulled into Dirty Coyote’s parking lot. It was still a mess, with branches and paper and mud everywhere, but the crew, along with Tammy and Jimmy, were making headway.

As soon as I opened the front door of the dance hall, our music surrounded me, and I had to admit, I loved hearing it live. There was something about performing live that made me happy. Each time we did a song live, something magical happened to our lyrics and our music. It was as if it took on a life of its own. When I walked in closer and saw Emily up on the stage with our other two backup singers, Roy and Clark, two good-ole-boys from Nashville, I was so excited to see her that once again my cock responded.

“What the fuck?” I mumbled to myself. This was crazy. All I could think about was her mouth on my cock last night, and I’d go hard without wanting to; the memory was that powerful. Seeing her up on the stage, surrounded by my band, well, it was more than I could handle this early in the morning.

Plus, she looked and sounded great. Her blond hair fell loose around her shoulders, and she wore black jeans, white cowgirl boots, and a long white top. A true knockout, if there ever was one.

They were singing Putin’ Off Forever.

When the song ended, I clapped and whistled. “That sounded amazing!”

“Yeah, well, it would sound even more amazing if you were up here with us,” Dustin said, using his mic.

“Only after some food. I’m starving.”

“There’s still a bunch left in the kitchen. Help yourself, then get on back here,” Cody ordered. “We have a lot to do.”

“Sounds as if you’ve already done it,” I told him. “You look good up there, Emily. Does this mean you’ll be joining us for sure?”

She leaned in closer to her mic. “We’ll see how it goes tonight. I’m fine now, but I have no idea how I’ll feel once there’s an audience in front of me. I might freeze.”

“I have a feeling just the opposite will happen. It’ll be a rush of excitement. It’s almost magical. But I get it,” I told her and before I could even run back and grab a bagel, they started up our last hit, One More Beer, the one song where I had a solo, so instead, I jumped up on the stage and performed the song, giving it that little bit of magic I hoped Emily would feel. When I glanced back at her and saw the smile on her face as she looked up from the card she’d been holding with the lyrics, I knew she felt it too.

Once you felt the high that performing gave you, there was no turning back. Not even for someone as skeptical as Emily. I had a strong feeling we had her, and nothing would change that.

Emily 12

“Are you fucking crazy?” Natalie yelled, while standing in my doorway.

“What are you doing here? Shouldn’t you be on a plane heading off to your honeymoon?” I stood there in shock. Like those people who watch a tragic world event unfold and are frozen in place.

At least I could speak, but other than that, I held onto my door, as if that could stop her from barging in.

“I don’t have any time for you. I have to get dressed. We go on in less than an hour.”

“You’re not really going through with this insane idea, are you?” She walked right in, turned, stuck her hands on her hips, and kept ranting.

Before I shut the door, I spotted their Mercedes parked out front with not only Bernard in the car, but Natalie’s parents as well. “So, you’ve all missed your flights? What happened? Is the airport closed? Did your airline ban you for being too angry? And I was so hopeful this time.”

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