Page 18 of The Devil's Tattoo
“Zoe,” I said abruptly, snapping out of it and almost falling down the stairs. My back was to the stage, and I hoped the light was hiding the massive blush that had crept overmyface.
“Yeah, I know.” He hid a small smile, signaling itdidn’t.
I was kind of surprised he knew my name, but considering the band had asked for us to tour with them, he probably did. “I would like to say I know your name, but I don’t.”Totallie.
He laughed at my bluntness and said, “I’mWill.”
“Nice to meet you.” Boldly, I looked him up and down, and he smiled in a way that would have melted the knickers off any groupie in a ten meterradius.
He took my hand and shook it even though I didn’t offer it to him. If this were one of those soppy romance novels, I would have thought he was trying to find an excuse to touch me, but it wasn’t, and the whole thing was probably just weird. It still didn’t stop the sparks that flew up my arm as his handclutchedmine.
Behind him, I caught Simone giving me a vigorous thumbs up from where she was setting up the merchandise table. When he realized I was looking at something over his shoulder, he dropped my hand and glanced back. She turned around quickly, pretending to tape a shirt tothewall.
I bit my bottom lip and began to back away awkwardly. Will looked back at me, a confused expression on his face, and I couldn’t help but feel stupid. The last thing I wanted was for him to work out I had an unobtainable crush on him. Rejection on day one of the tour would be painful, and I would have to live with it for five weeksstraight.
“See you around,” I stuttered and pretty much fled thescene.
See you around?See you around?It was like one of those teen movies where the popular boy deigned to speak to the unpopular, slightly geeky girl, and all hell brokeloose.
It was strange how one tiny encounter with Will Strickland made me crash back down to earth. Like all the work I’d done in the last few months had been nothing but a facade. I was awkward and shy again. I hoped when the lights went down, and I stood on that stage later, that the new Zoe would come back out with avengeance.
* * *
For the restof the night, I managed with quite some skill to avoid Will like the plague. I stood side of stage and talked with the guys from the support band and to the venue staff, monopolizing their knowledge. It was amazing how far I’d come, even to me. Before Dee conned me into joining the band, I wouldn’t have been confident enough in myself to even approach anyone, let alone talktothem.
Standing at the side of stage also afforded a good glimpse of the crowd that had amassed. I hadn’t really focused on ticket sales, but Chris told me that it was a sellout. That meant almost eight hundred people had crammed inside the venue and would see us play. And bloody hell, did we play. We got such an overwhelming response it picked up my moodsignificantly.
Glancing to the side of the stage mid set, I was surprised to see Pete and Will watching us, and when they saw me looking, Pete smiled, and Will gave me a little wave. All I could do was grimace and look away as we went intoanothersong.
Don’t get sucked in, Zoe. Don’t getsuckedin.
When we finished, I exited off the opposite side to them and began to put away the gear as the changeover began. As our stuff came in, we packed it away into their hard cases ready for tomorrow. We had to be up early for a flight to Brisbane, and everything had to be secure and readytogo.
After the gig, the bar stayed open. A few stragglers and the rest of the bands hung around talking to fans and each other. Not really into that scene, I helped Simone clear the merchandise table and pack the remains of ourstuffaway.
“You guys killed it tonight,” she said, bright and happy. “We made a bunch off merchandise, too. Almost everything I broughtisgone.”
“Really?” I asked, surprised. “That’sawesome.”
“There’ll be like fifty hot-looking guys out there with Devil’s Tattoo T-shirtstomorrow.”
“Ha.” Ilaughed.
“Oh, hey,” Simone exclaimed when a guy stepped behind the table. “This is Dean, The Stabs’ manager and merch tablebitch.”
“Hey,” he exclaimed with a grin and held out his hand. “Zoe,right?”
“Yeah,” I said, taking his hand and shaking it. Appropriately, he wore a Stabs shirt and scuffed jeans, and he sported a full beard that made him look a little rough around theedges.
“You guys were fantastic,” he said. “You gave the boys a run for their money, I tell ya. A girl like you playin’ rock like that?” He let out a slowwhistle.
My default response was toblush.
“She doesn’t see it,” Simonetoldhim.
“Rule number one of owning that stage, Zoe, is to work everything you’ve got. A girl like you in a boys club like this is dy-na-mite.”
I laughed and scratched my head. “Okay. Advice noted.” I pointed to the boxes of T-shirts. “Do you need help withthese?”
