Page 7 (1/2)

“I need you to get back up there and play”

He hopped up on the stage “I don’t care, as long as it gets everyone dancing and keeps everyone occupied” He gave her a small bow and she stormed off back into the kitchen

“Ask and ye shall receive” He called out, but she was already slipping back into the kitchen He glanced down at her and she shrugged Rox wasn’t the type of person who liked to be the center of attention and she wouldn’t want to ruin Mark’s night Better to go along and give her sorabbed ahold of the mic

“Okay everyone I think you ht know this one I wanted to save it to the end” He winked at her again and played the opening chords to his biggest hit Well his only hit and top radio rotation song It started out slow and gradually built as he layered his sounds one on top of one another He e, weaving a performance, not only with his sound, but technical skill in front of the crowd She swayed on her feet and sat to give herself a break All the commotion and excitement with Rox had her a bit queasy

Standing in front of the set pu had always been when he felt most at ease The aard band kid slid away and he could express hisback the chorus by the second or third ti with Uncharted had been a little bit of a kick in the teeth Their fans weren’t necessarily the type that enjoyed his iven evening they let him know They leaned more toward rock, where he was uitar and rock up one of his songs live on stage and that would win some of their fans over He had no idea how the rest of the Uncharted tour would go The stadiums were not packed, but mostly full and he hoped that his style would ot used to him

The life of an opener was never easy You’re not who they came to see Plain and simple, so even if you’re spot on the type of music that they want to hear, it’s not you they want to hear it from Every so often if the croas particularly restless one of the guys would run out and do a little duet with hi in the wind And in the case of one show in San Antonio, he was literally flapping in the wind because he’d forgotten to zip up his fly after taking a leak

When he played his single that was on the radio for the crowd, there were people singing along fro people sing his , eyes closed and froreat voice and she must have felt his eyes on her because she snapped them open and turned a lovely shade of cri the rest of the crowd So to her, drinking with her, touching her She did so to him that he hadn’t experienced before and he wanted more of it

After a few s, he finally decided to call it quits and they turned on soround music Rox had set aside a plate of food for hiodsend because everyone prettythat had been put out She was a hell of a chef He’das she stayed at The Bramble, that was another reason to stop in whenever he passed through town

Backslaps of congratulations and handshakes abounded as he hopped off the stage Keira had disappeared as soon as he finished playing and he craned his neck surveying the crowd to figure out where she went He tried not to think about the fact that he was tracking her after only one conversation Over the past fewthem throw themselves at him wore off pretty quickly when he realized he was only a trophy for a lot of women to use He wasn’t a real person, but with her he felt real again He felt like the old him

The party crowd thickened as latecoenerous Soe to try their hand at a little karaoke While there weren’thalo of curls was nowhere to be seen

5

Stepping out of the cooler bathroom into the warm bar, the room tilted and she placed her hand on the cool brick wall in the hallway Now that Eric had finished playing and the adrenaline of being e wore off, the churning in her stomach was back She peered out the end of the hall and saw Eric shake hands and accept hugs froe to the bar She s that almost anyone who saw hi to be a star Hell, he pretty one for it, put hi his dream

A heavy sadness blanketed her, her art would never be so well received No one would ever see her work, as it was, outside of her students in the classrooainst the wall and wrapped her ar as she rubbed her side She couldn’t i so celebrated in what she created But the happiness for him at his soon-to-be stardoes at festivals, touring around, and producingshe’d experienced before

A hand on her shoulder made her jump and pulled her from her mini-sulk

“Hey, there you are,” Eric said, bea down at her She swooned, her knees weak, partially because of the te off hi herself, she returned his smile