I can feel him before I see him, and I know that sounds weird but it’s true. An electric, warm, tingly feeling comes over me whenever he is near. I turn to my left and there he is to the side of the stage, handing a guitar to someone, but his eyes are on me. He approaches our table like a panther. Slow, confident, taking in Amy and Michael before his eyes land on me and stay there. He looks fucking amazing in faded blue jeans, black biker boots, a white button-down shirt that is hanging open displaying his drool-worthy abs, and a black leather vest. As he gets closer, I can see he has that damn smoky kohl eyeliner smudged beneath his eyes, making his green eyes appear even greener.

He greets Lukas first with a fist bump and then kisses Ivy on the cheek. She looks absolutely petrified of him.

He turns his attention to us.

“I’m glad you guys could make it. You gonna introduce me to your friends, baby?” He rests his hand on my shoulder as he stands next to our table. Oh, fuck. He’s not going to play nice.

I force myself to speak as casually as I can. “This is my best friend, Amy, and this is my boyfriend, Michael.” Storm shakes their hands politely, but I catch him eyeing Michael.

“Hey, man, thanks so much for inviting us. I’ve been a fan since the early days,” Michael says, totally oblivious that Storm’s hand is now on the back of my neck.

Storm nods. “No problem.”

Michael continues. “And thanks for taking care of my girl. Sorry if she drove ya crazy.”

“Yeah, she really did drive me crazy,” Storm answers, giving my neck a gentle squeeze.

“Can I get your autograph? And a picture?” Amy squeals. I should have known she wouldn’t be able to keep her shit together for long.

Storm laughs. “Sure thing, honey.” He signs the back of her checkbook and then she thrusts her cell phone at me.

“Take our picture, Ev.”

I roll my eyes and snap a few photos with their arms around each other. I try not to seethe. “Happy now?” I ask.

She grabs the phone. “No. Now you stand next to Storm and I’ll take your picture.”

Clever girl. Now I will have a picture of Storm and I together.

Storm pulls me into an embrace and we smile at the camera while Amy taps away at the screen. Michael isn’t even paying attention. He’s now deep in a conversation with Lukas and Ivy.

“Okay, that’s enough,” I say. Before I can get away, Storm leans down and whispers against my ear, “You look beautiful. I want to drag you backstage.”

My heart twirls as I break away from him and take my seat, just in time to see Juggsy, the girl with the huge boobs, come up and link her arm in his. She’s wearing a bright pink V-neck sweater that barely covers her girls, and Michael’s eyes immediately leave his convo with Lukas, practically diving into her cleavage.

She completely ignores us and pulls on Storm’s arm. “Ash wants you backstage.”

“Tell him I’ll be there in a minute.”

Juggsy isn’t happy. “He said I should come get you. Now.”

“I’m talking to my friends. Go tell him I’ll be there in a sec.” Juggsy eyes Amy and me like a wicked bitch and then stomps off, boobs bouncing.

“She’s lovely,” Amy says.

Storm smirks at her. “Yeah, she kind of helps us stay organized.”

“They have day planners for that. Cell phone apps, too.” Amy replies, pinning him with her eyes.

I kick Amy under the table.

Storm nods, giving her his famous grin. “Yup.” He diverts his eyes to me. “I gotta go... You guys enjoy the show.” He smiles at me and walks away.

I feel sick. I didn’t know Juggsy was a sort of a permanent fixture. I wonder if he’s sleeping with her. I wonder if the black bra in his truck is hers.

“Holy shit, Ev, that man is fiiiine. Those fucking eyes,” she whispers loudly at me. “Why are you not letting him jump your ass, like, right now?”

“Amy, control yourself. Michael is right next to you,” I say through clenched teeth. “And it looks like he already has someone to jump on, in case you didn’t notice.”

“Come on, Ev, you’re not jealous of that slut, are you? He clearly wasn’t interested. He had his eyes riveted to you the entire time he was here.”

“Yeah, and what about when I’m not around? She must be around all the time.”

“Stop it, Ev. Don’t be a jealous freak. You stake your territory and show that bitch he’s yours.”

“He’s not mine, Amy.”

She leans closer. “He fucking wants to be! You have to make up your mind, or you’re right, he will go to someone like that. Someone like him isn’t going to wait around forever. Don’t leave him available for Miss Skanks-a-lot!”

The lights dim, people take their seats, and a few people yell ‘woo!’ and ‘yeah!’ The curtain rises slowly, there’s fog on the stage, and different colored lights suddenly shine down on each band member. The drummer bangs out a quick intro and they go straight into playing. The song is catchy, a mix of rock and blues, and they sound great, in perfect sync. Asher is not one of those hyper lead singers who run all over the stage. He stands at the mic, leaning to the side a bit, swaying. His voice is deep and melodic, hypnotizing. He’s an emotional singer, putting every part of himself into the song. There’s another guitarist, also very good-looking, and a bass player who has a commanding aura about him. He’s tall and muscular—even more so than Storm, with long jet-black hair and dark skin. He looks like he could be Native American. I know Storm said the band members were his brothers and cousins, but this guy looks completely different from the rest of them. He’s dark, unsmiling, and oozing sensuality.

I finally let my eyes rest on Storm, saving the best for last. Seeing him up on stage, playing his guitar, doing this kind of bounce and stomp with his feet, his hair flying around, grinning out at the audience like a Cheshire cat... There are just no words to describe how I feel. He appears to be the energy of the band. He plays with the audience, walking to the edge of the stage, letting the girls grab his legs. And, boy, were they grabbing. A whole crowd of women had made their way toward the front of the stage to get closer to the band and were screaming. They love the band. They love him.

I feel proud. Jealous. Excited. Scared. I try to imagine myself right now in a relationship with him. Could I do this? Watch women grope at him? Watch him strut around and put on this show for several months out of the year? And where would I be? Here watching? Or home alone, wondering? Worrying? Driving myself crazy?

The song ends and Ash throws his hands up. “Thank you all for coming!”

The crowd screams. Storm meets my eyes. He grins and winks at me. I love when he does that.

Amy elbows me. “Holy fucking shit, Ev. They are amazing. They are all hot as hell, too. Look at that bass player. What I wouldn’t do to be under that for a while! Hot damn!”

Lukas leans over. “That’s Vandal. He’s my brother.” He laughs.

“Is he single?” Amy yells across the table.

“All the time.”

“Don’t get any ideas!” I say to her. That’s the last thing I need right now is her getting involved with Storm’s bandmate and cousin.

The band roars into a second song, this one faster, a little bit of metal. I’ve heard this one on the radio and had no idea who it was. It’s one of those songs I would crank up and drive fast to. At that moment, I realize Storm is something I will never be able to get away from. If I were to ask him to stop contacting me, and boot him from my life, I will still have to hear him on the radio and be reminded of him. Of us. I’d have to wonder what would have happened. Forgetting him would be impossible. Not that I even could, but even attempting to do so. I glance over at the girls at the stage. Any one of those women would want to be with him or any of the guys up there. But they didn’t know these guys. They didn’t know they sat around with their eighty-something-year-old Gram drinking homemade hot cocoa. They didn’t know at home, Asher was quiet and sad. They didn’t know Storm liked to have his hand held. I knew these things.

Lukas gets up from the table and makes his way over to the side of the stage, talks to Juggsy for a moment, then disappears. I turn to Ivy and smile at her. “How long have you been dating?” I ask her.

Her eyes get wide and she actually blushes. “Well, we’re not really dating. Not yet really. I’m, uh, a thirty-six-year-old new divorcee. I met with him to get a tattoo done and we sorta hit it off.” Wow, so he’s a tattoo artist. Nice.

“That’s great!” I say. “He’s really cute.”

“I guess. I don’t know. He’s much younger than I am. He’s only twenty-four. I have an eighteen-year-old daughter who has a crush on him. She loves this band. This is all really new for me. I think I’m too old for this.”

“You don’t look thirty-six,” I tell her, and she really doesn’t. She looks about mid-twenties to me. “And who cares about age? If you’re happy, go for it.”

“Look who’s talking!” Amy pipes up.

Ivy laughs softly and lowers her voice, leaning closer to me. “I heard about you and Storm. Lukas told me.”

“Heard what?” I ask her, afraid to even know.

“About the blizzard, how he fell for you. Don’t worry. I won’t say anything. Lukas told me about it. He wants to see him happy. I think they are kind of close. I’ve only met him one other time. He seems nice.”

“Yes. He is.”

The song ends and Ash grabs the mic off its stand and walks a little closer to the end of the stage.

“So, as you guys know, my brother got stuck in a blizzard a few weeks ago, right? Like trapped in his truck in the woods?”

Oh. Shit.

The crowd screams.

“So this chick he was stuck with had no fucking idea who he was. Can you believe that shit?”

NO! The crowd yells.