“I know, Amy, and I promise if I ever need someone to be whacked you'll be the first to know.”
This seemed to placate her, and she turned to suck her margarita through a licorice straw.
“Are you sure he's serious about you?” Jessie asked.
Her question annoyed me. She was feeding my fear, and that fucker was already obese. I was sure it was her past directing her thoughts, but she wasn't helping.
Amy cut in before I could respond. “That boy can’t keep his eyes, let alone his hands, off her. He acts like she farts Skittles and shits chocolate.”
“Where the hell do you come up with this stuff?” Ryan asked flicking Amy on the butt with her bar towel.
“What? I’m a poet at heart,” Amy said, shrugging.
“We don’t mean to push you, but we know you’ve been through some shit. We just want you to be happy,” Ryan said, surprising me. Ryan usually avoided any type of relationship advice like it was a non-alcoholic beverage.
“I know, and I love you guys for that. I promise I'll find out what's going on, but please, let me do it at my own pace,” I begged them.
They all appeared to be biting their tongues. After a moment of being locked in a stare-down, they each nodded silently, agreeing to let me do things my way.
Denise took over the conversation, telling us about the new man she was seeing. My shoulders slowly lowered as the attention moved away from me.
Jessie kept shooting me looks when she thought I wasn't paying attention. I ignored her. I could tell she wanted to say more from the way her eyes squinted and her mouth formed a tight line.
When the boys took their break, I rushed over to get them more beers before making my way to my other tables which were rapidly filling up.
Soon after, the band took the stage again. I leaned on the bar, waiting for Kill to call me onstage. The first chords toGotta Have Faithpulsed through the air. My heart beat rapidly as the bar went crazy. Most of the crowd looked expectantly toward me, ready for what they knew would happen next. I smiled at them as I made my way toward the stage.
Kill pulled me onstage like he always did, letting go as soon as my heels were stable. My heart plummeted, wanting him to declare us as a couple in front of everyone. Even with my sour mood, my set was flawless. Kill's magnetism still had us gravitating toward each other. When he introduced the new song we’d been working on, the bar exploded with screams from the fans.
All my worries about Kill, the letters, and everything else melted away in the wake of the positive energy pumping out from the crowd. As the applause died down, I moved to walk offstage. Before I could make it two steps, Kill snatched my hand and yanked me into his body, which was hot from performing. The heat radiating from him permeated my soul. Having no idea what he had planned, I raised my eyebrow at him. His panty-melting grin slowly appeared.
I opened my mouth to ask him what the hell he was doing, but before any words were formed, his lips were sealed to mine. His warm mouth had a slight tang from the beer he’d finished. I kissed him back with everything I had, forgetting everything else around me.
Just as my hands inched up his back under his shirt, he pulled away and shot me a wink. The reality of where we were came crashing back around me, as shouts from the crowd filtered into my hazy brain.
Kill grabbed the microphone while he still held me. "Calm the hell down," he yelled out to the crowd.
The bar settled immediately. They seemed to be enraptured, wanting to know what he would say, and honestly I was among them.
“You all know this beautiful woman here,” he said, kissing me on the cheek as the crowd roared. “I wanted you guys to be the first to know that she has agreed to be mine officially, so hands off,” he shouted, pretending to scowl at the dance floor.
My face burned hot from the cat calls and comments shouted from the crowd. The tension I'd been holding onto faded instantly.
“Sorry ladies,” I said looking out into the sea of people, and catching both sad and evil glares from the girls in the crowd.
“Alright, now get off this stage so I can concentrate and finish this set. I want to get you home and into our bed.”
If I thought my face was red before, it was flaming now. Kill pulled me into him for one more mindblowing kiss before letting me go.
I stumbled offstage, my legs shaking after his announcement and the passion in his last kiss. The cloud I was walking on made it hard to get back to the bar without tripping all over myself.
The supportive people in the crowd gave me hugs, while others voiced their negative opinions loudly as I passed by.
"I can't believe Kill is slumming it with someone like her," was one of the many comments thrown my way. I let all the negativity slide right off me, repelled by my joy.
Ryan reached over the bar to give me a high five. Her enthusiasm made me laugh. “I told you. I'm a romantic at heart,” she explained with a shrug.
Denise ran over and fanned herself dramatically, “That kiss you two had onstage was...”
