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“Green Day.”
Ash and I yelled out, and the three of us stood up so we could hop around and hug. We must have been loud enough to alert Mom because she bounded down the stairs in no time, wine in her glass sloshing around, wearing a bewildered expression.
“¿Qué diablos está pasando?”Mom shrieked with a worried hand trembling at her throat.
I ran to Mom in excitement and lifted her off her feet, then I launched her in the air and spun her around, making the wine in her glass splash on my shirt, but I didn’t give a damn. When I set her down, all three of us bombarded her in a group hug, which had her yelling profanities in Spanish.
“Mom!” I kissed her right cheek, then her left. “We’re playing a show in Richmond and we get to open forGreen Day!”
Her attitude perked up immediately. She joined us in jumping up and down, forgetting about the glass in her hands. Green Day was one of her favorites of all time, which was a large reason I’d been exposed to their music from a young age. Mom had gone to one of their big concerts in 1994, and she’d wanted to see them again ever since.
“Can I come?” she squealed.
Mom hadn’t been able to attend one of our shows yet, even though she’d seen the videos and heard all our songs. Just the other day, she’d commented on how badly she wanted to come see us perform and that she’d force Dad to come, too, even though he wasn’t a fan of crowds.
I looked at Sean with Mom’s question in my eyes.
“Of course, Mrs. Dawson. The owners were super chill and told us we could bring a few people with us, so long as it didn’t exceed ten.”
Mom squealed again and hugged me tightly. We had caught Dad’s attention, too, because I heard his heavy footsteps on the stairs not long after.
Before I opened my mouth to tell Dad the news, Mom rushed up to him. “Drew and the band are going to open forGreen Day!Green Day!” She repeated the name like she couldn’t believe it. I couldn’t believe it myself.
Dad looked at her with adoration in his eyes as he caressed her cheek with his fingertips. He kissed the top of her head, looked at me, and said, “I guess that means we’re going to a concert.” Dad winked at me. They were so supportive, but I still felt the need to show them what I was capable of, and knowing they’d be at the show had my stomach somersaulting.
Mom and Dad disappeared upstairs and came back moments later with a cold bottle of unopened champagne and plastic flutes.
“To April Renegade!” Dad said as he popped the bottle open.
We lifted our plastic flutes and cheered. Tears welled in Mom’s eyes as she patted all of us, even Sean, on the back.
The champagnefrom our little impromptu celebration gave me a warm, tingly buzz. I’d never had champagne before, and I liked how the bubbles fizzed on my tongue with each sip I’d taken.
All I wanted as soon as the celebration began was to lean over to Ash and smother him in a kiss. He was so handsome, especially when the alcohol heated his face and left the apples of his fair cheeks a rosy pink.Without him, I don’t know if I would’ve joined a band or formed my own. There was a good chance I may have stayed in college without a plan or any inspiration to find one.
The excitement from the evening had me riled up. Instead of trying to sleep, I swiped through photos on our band's Facebook page. We’d recently hired Emma to do some professional photos for us as well as some live shots from a few shows.
I was fortunate to have an ex-girlfriend who was willing to be in my life. It had taken a few months, but eventually, we started to see movies together again. We occasionally grabbed coffee or lunch and were back to texting each other most days. After my shower, I texted her the news about The Antidote and invited her to the show—not to be our photographer, but to attend for fun. Despite the late hour, she texted me back almost immediately and let me know that she would be there.
I had just finished looking at the photos, mainly to look at the gorgeous snapshots Emma had taken of Ash on stage, when a light knock sounded at my door.
I sat up and said, “Come in.”
My heart thundered in anticipation before Ash had opened the door. When we realized there was no use in keeping our hands to ourselves, and that we didn’twantto keep to ourselves, Ash got into the habit of sneaking away from his room to visit me most nights, but they’d come less and less in the past few months.
We took turns with who was top and who was bottom, who gave the orders and who obeyed. It turned out we both loved to dominate as much as we enjoyed being on the receiving end. Ash fucked me for the first time a few weeks after I took his v-card. After that, all sense of self-control flew out the window.
Ash sat down on the bed next to me. He smelled fresh, and I knew he must have recently gotten out of the shower because of the strong aroma of his deodorant and body wash in the air around us.
“Hey,” I said softly. I pulled him into my lap so that we were chest to chest.
“Hi.” Ash leaned in and kissed me tenderly.
Though the gesture was mostly innocent and sweet, I was already growing hard underneath him. He felt it, too, because he parted from my lips with a low chuckle.
Ash ran his hands down my bare chest, and I wondered if he could feel how intense my heart thundered in my chest. I tugged playfully at his tank top, and he pulled it up and over his head wordlessly. Both of us wore only our boxers, and that riled me up even more, especially when he got off me, lifted the covers, and slid into bed.
We laid down and I rubbed my nose over his cheek. Sure, I’d missed the amount of sexy time we’d had before our schedules picked up, but I missed having him next to me in my bed more.
