Page 35 of Between Never and Forever
She slings the strap over her head, strums the strings once, then finally looks in my direction. I know I’m gaping. Her grin makes my heart pound and my dick harden. Then, she licks her lips and leans in close to the mic.
“How’s everyone doin’ tonight?”
I’m shocked by the way Savannah’s voice transforms through the microphone. She evolves underneath the stage lights. It’s still Savannah, but it’s like I’m experiencing her on an entirely different plane. Sure, she looks hot as hell and twice as sinful, but it’s more than that. She’s magnetic. Her voice is sexy, lilting and raspy with a sharp edge. You canhearthe smirk. You canhearthe mischief. It’s damn near hypnotizing.
I glance around the packed bar and find I’m not the only one who’s felt it.
People who were playing pool before have put up their sticks. Bodies at the bar have turned all the way around so they can face the stage. Even the bartenders are fixated on Sav because no one is bothering them for drinks. The crowd cheers. Someone whistles. Everyone claps. She’s spoken four words and has them wrapped around her finger.
“Now that’s what we like to hear, isn’t it guys?” Savannah drags her eyes off me to glance over her shoulder at Mabel, and Mabel pounds out a quick beat in agreement.
More cheers. More whistles.
“Thank you. We’re Savannah Alt. We’ve got Jonah playing lead guitar over there, Sean on the keyboard, Torren rocking on the bass, Mabel beating on the drums, and my name’s Savannah. Let’s fucking rock.”
Following Sav’s lead, they launch straight into a rendition of a 90’s alternative rock hit, and all I can do is stare. I had no idea she could sing. It’s just as sexy as her speaking voice, but ten times more powerful. She’s not just reciting lyrics. She’sbecomingthem.
Her delicate fingers work the strings on the guitar with practiced ease. A few times, when she’s not singing, she plays a lead guitar riff that absolutely blows me away, and I don’t know where I want to settle my attention. Her fingers playing the instrument, or her mouth crooning the song.
She’s amazing. The whole band is great, but Sav is the star. Sav is the magic.
They go through a handful of covers, each one just as good as the last, when the music fades and Sav turns to speak to Mabel. They exchange a few words, then Sav looks at the guys and nods before turning back to the mic.
“Alright, South Beach, how ‘bout a new twist on an old favorite?”
People go nuts, and for the first time since she started singing, I glance back at the crowded bar. I’m floored.
The place is packed. The number of people in here has doubled since the set started, and everyone, I mean everyone, has their eyes on Savannah. Not the band. Sav. When I swing my attention back to the stage, though, the woman everyone’s eyes are on is looking right at me.
“I have a good friend visiting tonight,” she says slowly into the mic, her impish grin stretching over her face. “Leviticus, told ya the universe wasn’t done with us. This one’s for you.”
She starts to play something on the guitar—some riff that sounds vaguely familiar, but I can’t quite place—before Mabel joins in on the drums. When Torren, Sean, and Jonah start to play, the melody pulls at a memory just out of my reach. I know this song, but I don’t know what it is yet.
Sav glances at me and laughs, then sends me a wink I feel in my gut. When she starts to sing, I can’t stop my smile from taking over my face. It’s “Wagon Wheel” by Old Crow Medicine Show, but they’ve tweaked it. Made it less Americana folk and a little more rock and roll, and it’s good. Really good.
If nothing else solidified it tonight, this does. The way she can take this song and make it something else entirely. The way she can make anything better just by touching it.
Savannah Shaw is going to be the reason this band goes anywhere, and before she finishes the song, I know. I can see it, crisp and clear as if it were playing out in front of me.
This is going to be something. Something big.
Savannah Shaw has always been made for something better than our hometown, but I didn’t realize just what that meant until this moment.
It creates a tight, sinking feeling in my chest, and suddenly I’m back outside my childhood bedroom, listening to her footsteps fade into the darkness.
“What did you think?” Sav asks after her show, her voice mixing with the sound of the ocean breaking on the shore. From her smile, she already knows what I’m going to say.
“You were brilliant,” I say honestly. “Absolutely amazing. When did you learn to play guitar?”
Jonah hands Sav another shot, and she swallows it back quickly, swaying a little on her feet. I’ve been holding the same drink since we got here. At the bar, I nursed the strange whiskey and orange beverage Jonah gave me for the whole set. When we left the bar and came to the beach, he miraculously produced another one for me in a red plastic cup.
I don’t even know where he’s getting the liquor from.
“Busking in Nashville,” Savannah says after wincing through her shot. “That’s how I met Mabes. Me and her were part of this group. Like a little community of misfit delinquents.”
She giggles and turns her head to Mabel, who is currently making out with her girlfriend in the sand. I look away. Mabel introduced me to her, but I don’t remember her name. Some kind of gemstone. Diamond or Crystal or something. The single whiskey drink I’ve had has fogged me up a bit.
“We lived with this guy named Oscar—me and Mabel and probably twelve other kids. The number was always changin’, ya know? Hard to keep runaways in one place. Anyway, Oscar was like fifty, and he had this old house that we all stayed in, and he taught me how to play the guitar so I could busk. Everyone did something different, and that’s how we bought food and paid rent and stuff.”
