Page 8 of Shame Me
My instinct told me otherwise, and my phone screen proved me right.
It was Braden, not Zack.
I debated if I should even answer but, if something had happened and we had to leave now, I didn’t want to miss my ride, no matter how nice this guy felt.
I also hoped Braden wouldn’t register my disappointment that it was him—and I prayed that he wouldn’t get an idea of what I’d been doing based on the sound of my voice.
“Hey, Dani, where are you?”
Anything I said could later be used against me—so I answered cautiously. “Hanging out with a friend. Why?”
His silence grew heavy until he stammered, “Well…maybe you should comehere. We’ve got a cool surprise happening right now, and you really need to be part of it. You’re gonna miss it all if you don’t hurry up.”
“What? I don’t like surprises. Just tell me.”
“You know the headlining band? Fully Automatic? We’re actuallytalkingto those guys right now. It’s pretty cool, and we thought you might want to meet them.”
Of all the things I’d expected Braden to say, that wasn’t one of them. We talked with indie bands, the ones struggling to becomeknown and loved like we were, all the time. We’d performed enough shows in the Denver area that we’d even seen a couple of them more than once, and I could see us becoming friends with lots of these guys. But to actually meet and talk with a famous band, one who’d made it? The things we could learn from them would be priceless.
This was an opportunity I couldn’t miss.
“Yeah, definitely. I’ll be right there.”
Of course, there was the issue of my make-out session. The look in my partner’s eyes said it all, but I needed to make sure he understood that we had to go back.
Just as it had been getting good.
“Danny, I’m really sorry, but I have to go. We’ve, uh—”
His response surprised me. “No, that’s cool.”
This felt too easy, making me wonder if maybe I’d been enjoying our play more than he had. I considered telling him I had a chance to meet the headlining band and then thought better of it, just in case he expected me to bring him along. It wasn’t that I didn’t like him, but I didn’t really know him. Even if I did, my bandmates didn’t, and I was pretty sure they wouldn’t appreciate me bringing a guy I’d just met backstage at a venue. “It sounds like something big is going down backstage and my band needs me there. Thanks for understanding.”
“Yeah. No problem.”
I felt awkward as we completely untangled ourselves and got out of his car. The walk back seemed just as long as our journey to his car had been. At one point, though, he said, “Damn, it’s fucking cold out here.”
Feelings of guilt reverberated in me. “Do you want your jacket back?”
His pause told me he did, no matter what he finally said out loud. “Nah, it’s cool.”
Taking it off, I held it out to him. “No, here.”
We were only half a block away. I could make it. “No, Dani. It’s all right.”
Sighing, I thanked him and picked up the pace a little more, draping it back over my shoulders. I was grateful for the jacket, because my panties were wet and now they felt chilled, reminding me that I must have been more excited to have Danny’s tongue in my mouth than I’d realized during the actual act.
A little kissing and skin touching had aroused me. Although he wasn’t Zack, he was a proverbial port in a storm. A lot of cute guys could be that.
But why weren’t we holding hands now like we had been on the way to his car? Why weren’t we talking, his ruse for getting me out of the venue in the first place?
I could hear the punk band continuing to play as we neared the front doors, and, once inside, I took off Danny’s jacket, thanked him again, and told him I had a good time. He said, “Yeah. Me, too.” But I could sense he was disappointed.
I was too.
Still, he didn’t ask for my number—and I wasn’t going to give itunlesshe asked.
My insides were full of various, conflicting emotions, but I focused on the positive one, that I was about to meet some true rock gods. It took a bit to get through the crowd, especially because Clara’s Dolls ended their set at that moment, and the crowd was pushing against me. Fortunately, the burly guy guarding the backstage area recognized me as one of the members of the first band who’d played, so at least I didn’t have any issues there.
