My husband is hot, I agree with every woman - and man - who says it. The sex appeal grows when he’s on stage. His shirt is sweaty, sticking to his body. I know from experience that the people in the front row can see the outline of his muscles and his six-pack. They can also see the faint outline of my name tattooed on his chest. It’s not a small tattoo either. Jojo is spread across his chest in large letters with swirls all around it. He’s proud of that tattoo. Hell, I am too. Every woman that has been with him knows my name.
But he loses a lot of sex appeal to me when I see him on stage with a cigarette hanging from his fingers. I know he smoked for a while, years ago, but he quit when Quinn was born. At least, I thought he did. Maybe I’ve been blinded by love all this time and didn’t realize he still smoked. If that’s the case, I’m stupid.
I move closer, pushing my way through the crowd. I want to be up front. I want him to see me. He needs to know I’m here. The jostling between bodies makes me nauseated, but I’m determined. I’m almost there when a female voice starts singing. The people around me calm down and start swaying.
The singer stands next to Liam, angling her body so his arm is pressed against her chest. He doesn’t move it. Instead, he looks at her as he strums his guitar. After a few lines, he’s singing, but he’s not looking at the crowd, he’s looking at her. I glance over at Jimmy and Harrison and they’re both lost in the music.
Liam lets go of his guitar and it hangs there, slightly behind him. He’s moving with her around stage, exchanging lyrics that call for love and sex. She sings about falling love, and he sings about just needing sex. When he returns to his mic stand he pulls his shirt up a little, flashing his stomach to the crowd, much to their delight. I’ve never seen him like this. He doesn’t perform like this when he’s at Ralph’s or even the café. I’m not sure I like him a whole lot right now.
As soon as the song ends, the crowd parts and I’m able to work my way up front. He’s never going to see me because he’s too busy music fucking his stage partner so I turn my focus to Jimmy. I stand near him, calling his name every time he gets close. When he finally sees me, his eyes go wide. I grimace knowing he knows Liam has fucked up.
Jimmy moves toward the center where Liam and his musical conquest are and he nods in my general direction. Liam scans the crowd, and it’s evident when he finds me. I wiggle my fingers and flip him off.
They say before you die your life flashes before your eyes. I don’t know if that’s true or not, and it’s not my intention to find out anytime soon. What I do, however, know is true is that your life does flash before your eyes when you make eye contact with your very angry wife who is flipping you the bird. For my wife, that means business. It’s a rare occasion that she’ll say or do something mean spirited, but after tonight I fear that: One, I’ll be dead. Two, I’ll be packing my bags, which means I’ll want to be dead. Or three, she’ll cut off my dick. Of those options, I’ll gladly take three.
I know I wasn’t doing anything wrong, but I’m sure that’s not how it looked to her. She’s seeing another woman on stage, touching me and singing some explicit lyrics – lyrics that I’ve returned in kind - and her mind has started swimming. Right now, I’m the guy who can’t catch a fucking break and am about to give it all up and live a quiet life in Beaumont. Hopefully, I’ll still have a wife, but in the event I don’t, I’ll have my boys.
I’m trying to figure out in my head why Josie’s here. It’s not that I don’t want her here, but the last I knew Noah had a game and she needed to be there for the both of us. I signal to the stagehand to come out. When he does I point at Josie and tell him to take her to the green room. As far as I’m concerned, our set is over. The remaining songs are duets with Layla and right now those can’t happen. It’s going to piss Trixie off, but I’m doing this for free. When I say I’m done, I’m done.
“I’m cutting it short,” I say to Harrison and Jimmy as we walk off the stage. When Harrison looks at me questioningly, Jimmy tells him Josie is here. Harrison gets it. If Katelyn suddenly showed up, or even Jenna, we’d stop. As soon as the crowd realizes we’re done, the boos start, followed by chants of ‘Encore!’ Normally, we’d come back out, but tonight will be different. I have a fuck load of damage control to do and I’m not exactly sober enough to do it.
I’m such a coward that I let Harrison and Jimmy walk in first. They greet Josie excitedly and she tells them the show was good, from what she saw. Why couldn’t she have been here an hour ago before we went on stage? As soon as they move out of the way, I pull her into my arms and get lost in her perfume. I’m holding her tight and have my nose buried in her hair, but it doesn’t escape my notice that her arms are slack at her side. This isn’t good.
“I’m happy you’re here.”
“Are you?” she asks in a harsh tone.
I pull back and cup her cheeks, rubbing the pad of my thumbs along her cheekbones. “Yes, I am. You have no idea.” I lean down to kiss her, but I’m interrupted by the door slamming against the wall.