Page 31 of The Biker's Virgin
“Too bad,” Maddie said. “Get your bike out of the trunk and don’t forget your raincoat, it looks like these showers are going to continue all afternoon.
Olivia dragged her bike out of the trunk, slammed it, and patted the car on top like they did in the movies. Maddie laughed and gave her a wave before reversing out the long laneway.
Olivia could hear the band warming up and ran to the barn, steering her bicycle beside her. Once inside, she tossed her raincoat onto a bale of hay and wound her hair into a loose long braid.
“Hi Liv!” Steve whispered into the microphone.
She waved and ran to pick up the guitar. She plugged it in and felt the excitement she felt every time she heard the feedback of her instrument through the amp. While she was busy messing around with the dials on the amp and setting up her foot petals, she didn’t notice the shadowy figures enter the barn.
“What’s first up?” she asked the guys.
“Touch Me,” Steve spoke into the mic.
“The Doors version?”
“Yeah man,” Steve drawled, putting on his best Jim Morrison. “One, two, one, two, three, four!” he counted in and they were off.
Olivia loved Touch Me, the guitar riff was so much fun. She had practiced it ad nauseum and was great at it. She smiled and sang along with the guys.‘We’re sounding pretty tight today,’she thought to herself.
When they finished, she heard clapping from the back of the barn. The muted light that filtered in through the barnboards made it hard to see who it was, but one silhouette in particular looked very familiar. Her heart jumped a beat. She never would’ve fooled around the way she had if she knew Blaine was watching from the shadows. She felt a lump growing in her throat and was embarrassed by her goofy antics.‘Fuck, I think I even did a kick in there.’She chastised herself.
“You guys done with the straw?” Steve asked into the mic. He loved talking into that damn microphone.
“Too wet!” A low deep voice rang out from the back.
“Did you tarp it?”
“Yes, boss. It’s all set for when the rain stops.”
“If you guys want to stick around for a bit, I can help you with the radishes after this song.”
“Sure, we don’t have anywhere to be, and we’ve got a cooler full of beer in the van.”
“Have at it, man,” Steve said and smiled.
The van. It made sense now. Of course, they wouldn’t have ridden their motorcycles in the rain, but what were they all doing there? There had to be at least 5 bikers seated in the back of the barn. How was she going to play, knowing Blaine was here?
“Let’s do another Doors,” Steve said.
“Riders?” Laurie suggested.
“Very fitting,” Steve said and counted in again.
Olivia was a practiced musician, so she was able to play through her nerves. She played perfectly, but didn’t take any risks, or creative liberties. When the last note rang out Steve raised his eyebrows at her and shook his head. She smiled meekly and took the guitar off.
“I’ll be right back; you guys work on the chord progressions in Freebird.” Steve jumped off the makeshift stage and went to chat with the group of men huddled around the crates in the back.
Olivia held her breath as Blaine approached the stage. She hoped her lip gloss had survived the last hour.
“That was amazing. You are really good,” he said and smiled at her.
God his teeth are perfect,she thought to herself.
“Thanks, I like to play.”Omigod, omigod, omigod, did I just quote Garth from Wayne’s World?!she berated herself.
Blaine smiled and chuckled, “Maybe we can play a little bohemian rhapsody a little later on.”
She was frozen stiff. Her mouth betraying her with its paralysis. Olivia couldn’t think of anything witty to say, or anything at all, in fact, but was saved by Steve.
