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“It’s okay, Merry, they’ve got it handled,” I spoke with more confidence than I felt.
“I’m with you, Mara, sometimes you just want to cut a bitch!” Junie was nodding, her perfect lips pressed tightly together.
I laughed; I couldn’t help it. With those two at my back, combined with Bex’s narrowed eyes laser-centered on Sarah’s back, how could I not?
The song ended. Sarah whipped her guitar around to hang down her back and launched herself at Barrett, bringing her mouth to his and the smile fell off mine.
I sucked in a deep breath through my nose and turned my face away from the sight on stage.
I felt a broad, warm hand, at my back, one that had been there since I was fifteen.
“Steady, sweetheart, there’s not much he can do in his position right now,” Zale murmured.
I looked back in time to see Barrett jerk his head to the side and wrap a strong, muscled arm around Sarah’s back, holding her so close his biceps flexed, his guitar the only thing between them.
Oh, God! Bile rose in my throat, and I turned away from the sight just as Barrett’s rumbling voice came over the mic, sharp with his anger.
“You’ll have to excuse us, folks. We’re all a bit emotional,” I turned to see he still held her tight, keeping her back to the crowd, and she had looped her arms around his neck, but his eyes were on me, “this is Sarah’s last performance with Drivetrain. I know you’ll join us in wishing her luck with her future endeavors.”
Sarah’s arms dropped from around his neck with his words and she tipped her head back to look up into his face. He released her abruptly without looking at her and stepped back to the mic.
“As ever, the last songs of the evening are for Willa, my angel.”
I expected something slow and sweet as usual, but my man was wound up and after a quick word with Lenny and Lucky, who also ignored Sarah, they broke into The Black Crowes ‘Hard to Handle’ then finished off with Pearl Jam’s ‘Present Tense’. His voice, as usual, both soothed and aroused me.
Before the echo of the closing notes faded, Barrett was across the stage, and jumping down to the floor. The crowd parted in response to his energy. I watched his progress as if from afar, dragging my eyes up his body until I met his eyes and he locked on, his anger palpable.
Our little group opened allowing him through and he didn’t stop even when he got to me, just wrapped me up in his arms and kept going, heading for the other side of the bar. I swept the faces of my loved ones briefly from over his shoulder. Every single one of them had their eyes on us. Rhys’s mouth still tight with his anger, Zale’s face cold and impassive, Bex, Junie, and Mara stood staring with their mouths hanging open.
I started to laugh and looped my arms around his neck. He stiffened and took a few more steps bringing us to a semi-secluded spot near the kitchen. He set me down and looked down into my face, the furrows in his forehead deep, his eyes snapping.
“I’m so fucking sorry, angel. I should have gotten rid of her sooner.”
I lay my palm on the side of his bearded cheek. “You made quite an exit, Viking,” I began to laugh in earnest then. “I mean, you just literally swooped in and carried me off!”
His face relaxed marginally, and he pulled me gently into his arms. After a moment, when I still couldn’t stop laughing, he joined me, his big body shaking against mine. I locked my arms behind his back and leaned back to look up at him.
“Don’t get me wrong, Viking, I did not like that, but we’re good, okay?”
It was odd, but with her little play there, and the stress she’d been causing him over the past several performances, I no longer had any doubt that I was better for him than she was. It’s not that I thought I was the best he could do, but between the two of us, he was far better off with me.
He nodded, but his worry was still evident on his face.
“Do we need to disinfect your lips?” I teased.
He pressed his lips together in a firm line. “She missed, curly. If she hadn’t, I think I would have thrown her, I swear to God, I was that fucking angry.”
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen you this mad,” I mused, stroking his face, soothing him like only I had the privilege to do.
“Not much gets me mad, but anything that might come between you and I tops a very short list.”
Sarah, at that moment slithered up behind him, her face pale. “Barrett? I’m sorry. I just got carried away.”
His face regained the hardness I’d only just managed to wipe away. He barely flicked her a glance over his shoulder. “You’re finished.”
“See you never, Sarah.”
I whipped my head around to look over Barrett’s other shoulder to find both Lucky and Lenny, hands on hips, faces hard. She turned to face them, her mouth open, but Lenny cut her off. Anger coiled tight in his expression, his angular face ruddy, his full lips tight.
