Toni pressed her face into his shoulder. He could feel the trembling of her body behind him. “It’s okay,” he said, though she probably couldn’t hear him through the earplugs.
The stage shuddered as Steve banged out the intro of “Ovation” and his glowing blue platform began to rise at the rear of the stage. As the drum kit slowly rose into view, the crowd erupted into cheers that shook the arena. Logan patted Toni’s hip to remind her that they were next and tugged a guitar pick from the tape stuck to his stock. His fingers found his strings automatically. He started playing on his cue—filling the drum progression with the low tones of the bass intro—and braced his feet for the jolt he knew was coming as a door above him slid open and the platform he and Toni were standing on began the slow ascent to the stage. After the initial lurch, the ride was smooth and steady. Toni’s death grip on his arm loosened when she seemed to realize he needed that arm to play. To Logan’s right, Reagan’s platform was rising from the floor as well. The crowd watched in hushed awe.
Still beneath the stage, Max chanted the beginning of the song, his voice deep and raw with an edge unique to Exodus End.
Rise from the ashes.
Rise above it all.
There’s a sea of fists before you.
Demanding one final call.
It’s not over yet.
Though the curtain went down.
They want more.
More!
Stand before them.
Give it your all.
They own you.
What!
Own you.
It’s your ovation.
No!
Their ovation.
Give it to them.
Give it to them.
Give it to them nowwwwwwwwww.
The crowd sang along with Max, as did Logan. He couldn’t help but rock his body to the beat. Music lived inside him, and it was during concerts that he let it burst free.
There was a loud bang as flames and sparks announced Max’s platform shooting him out of the floor like a cannon. He leaped onto the stage and landed with what Logan had started referring to as the “cool stick-it landing.” Not as graceful as a gymnast’s, but a thousand times more metal. From his crouch, Max slowly rose to his full height, lifting his arm in the air to rouse the crowd as he carried the final note of the intro.
Dare’s rise to the stage was announced by the wail of his guitar. The crowd erupted once more as the powerhouse that was Darren Mills made his first appearance.
“Gets better every night, guys,” Mad Dog said into the feed. He sounded strangely emotional about the fact. “Logan, move forward, the crowd can’t see you back there.”
Like anyone came to an Exodus End show to see him. But Logan obeyed, glancing over his shoulder to make sure Toni had found a safe place. She was standing next to the drum kit, staring up at the flailing arms of Steve Aimes with her mouth hanging open. Yeah, dude was wicked fast, but no need to gawk.
Logan squelched the annoying pangs of jealousy twisting his gut and headed to the front of the stage for a little fun. He especially liked toying with Reagan because the woman was sexy as sin and every dude in the arena had a boner over her. Logan was sure they were all picturing themselves as him—leaning up against her back while holding his bass guitar at a ninety degree angle from his crotch and playing it suggestively. Or maybe they were stroking something other than a guitar neck.
Logan laughed when Reagan pretended to slap his face for being vulgar, before she got down and dirty with her own guitar. The male fans in the audience obviously appreciated her efforts to entertain them. Their fans had always been excitable, but they were really giving the security guards a run for their money these days in their heated attempts to get onstage. It had to be the addition of Reagan to their mix. Logan wondered if they’d keep her even if Max was able to go back to playing guitar. The band hadn’t discussed the possibility yet. Max was still a bit sensitive about the topic.
When the song ended, the crowd cheered their enthusiasm, and Max waited for them to calm down before greeting them. “How are we feeling tonight, Oregon?”
If their screams were any indication, they were fueled with almost as much adrenaline as Logan was.
“Who’s the geek?” someone in the front row yelled loud enough to be heard over the waning cheers and through the band’s earpieces.
“Geek?” Max said and turned to look behind him. He smiled when he spotted Toni. “Oh, that’s just Toni. She’s capturing footage for a band videography.”
Logan beamed with pride, but his smile faded when Toni paled, covered her lips with trembling fingertips, and fled the stage. He scowled at Max, having half a mind to give him a black eye to match Dare’s bloody nose.
“Where the fuck do you get off calling her a geek?” Logan yelled.
Max raised an eyebrow at him. “I didn’t call her a geek.”
“Yeah, you did.” Well, he might as well have.
“Why do you care so much, Logan?” Reagan teased from the microphone Dare used to sing harmony.
“Because,” he said, still struggling to bury his sudden rage. “She’s sensitive and gets her feelings hurt easily.”
“Or maybe it’s because you like her,” Reagan egged him on.
“What is this, junior high?” Max grumbled.
“I think he likes her tits,” Dare said with a wry grin.
“If you like tits, check these out,” yelled some male fan standing behind a woman squashed against the barrier fence. He then lifted the woman’s shirt to display her rather impressive rack. The woman struggled to lower her shirt before slapping the shit out of the guy.
“That was uncalled for,” Max said to the guy and shook his head at him. “If she wants to show us her tits, that’s one thing . . .”
Which of course prompted the chesty woman to give them a second eyeful.
“I’ve got something in my pants I want to show Reagan,” a different male fan yelled and grabbed at his crotch.
“Not interested, honey,” Reagan said.
That didn’t deter the guy. “I’d like to put it in your—”
“Hey!” Dare yelled down at the dude. He shifted Reagan’s body behind his back and pointed an angry finger at the fan. “That’s no way to talk to a lady.”
Max sagely segued into the next song before things got really out of hand. Normally Logan would have joined in on the confrontation and tried to escalate it all in good fun, but he was worried about Toni. He hoped she wasn’t too upset over being humiliated. How could anyone mistake her for a geek? Was it her glasses? He didn’t get it. She was perfect. And if he hadn’t had a concert to perform, he would have gone after her and told her exactly that.