AllFreeNovel
Share Us
And it was fucking awesome.
“Grim!” I’d hired him to run the backstage area tonight and he came over the moment she spoke his name.
“What do you need, Devyn?” he asked politely.
“Can you escort Mr. Hanks out and make sure he doesn’t come backstage again?”
“Oh, come on!” Larry threw up his hands, his gaze swinging to me, as if I might help him out. “We’ve been friends since college. I was just having a little fun.”
“You’re not funny. You never were.”
“Come on, let’s go, buddy.” Grim motioned with his head.
Larry hesitated, as if he might protest, but rolled his eyes as he headed for the exit. “This isn’t the last time you’ll see me, Devyn.”
“Asshole,” she murmured.
“That was fun,” I said lightly. “I have a feeling there’s a lot more to that story.”
“There is, but it’s none of anyone’s business. If you’ll excuse me, I need to use the restroom before we play.”
With that, she turned and hurried in the opposite direction.
“What the hell was all that?” Tommy whispered.
“I don’t know,” I said slowly. “But I really want to find out.”
* * *
There was no time to think about the fact that Devyn and Larry had dated as we got ready to go on stage. Normally, we were a well-oiled machine before a show, and while rehearsals had gone smoothly, there was a distinct nervousness in the air. I always went on stage last, but tonight we were switching things up so we could officially introduce Devyn.
And she was pacing.
Instead of her eight-string, she’d been using a regular four-string bass during rehearsals for this show. This was a smaller stage and nowhere near the production we’d have in Europe, so we were all keeping it simple, but my gut told me she was intentionally holding back. An eight-string would give her more range, often producing a chorus effect, affording her the opportunity to show off how talented she was. I’d meant to mention it but figured she had enough pressure for this first show and I didn’t need to add any more.
“Two minutes,” Ross Laken, our tour manager, said in my earpiece.
The lights went out and the crowd started to chant.
“Knight-Knight-Knight-Knight!”
I never got tired of hearing them use my name, even though I hadn’t done that on purpose. Carter had actually come up with the band’s name because he’d thought it sounded cool, and it stuck. When fans started shortening it during shows, no one seemed to mind, and now it was a thing at almost every show.
“Knight-Knight-Knight-Knight!”
I bounced on my toes, warming up.
Tommy was air drumming, rolling his neck back and forth to get loose.
Kellan swung his guitar a full three hundred sixty degrees, letting the strap carry it up and over. He always did it three times before every show. We weren’t overly superstitious, but we were definitely set in our ways.
Z picked up his guitar and looked at me, a smile quirking up one side of his mouth.
“You ready?” he mouthed.
I gave him a thumb’s up.
Both of us turned to Devyn, whose eyes were closed as she played something we couldn’t hear on her bass. She looked cool and aloof, a hundred percent rock and roll, wearing all black except for deep purple Doc Martens. She had a long leather trench coat on over her jeans and ripped up T-shirt, her hair down and falling over her face, as if she were trying to hide it. In this case, it worked like a charm, adding another layer of mystery to someone who was already shrouded in it.
