See Her (Turn it Up #1)

Chapter 15

15

MAYZIE

H oly. Fucking. Shit.

I am so pumped and blown away by what I’m seeing. I’m mesmerized as I watch Jack go back and forth between working the hell out of an electric guitar and slinging the acoustic back on for a different sound.Turn it Up has so much energy, and they’re so charismatic with the crowd.You can tell how much fun they’re having up there, and it’s contagious. Chris bangs on his drum set with such self–confidence and vigor while adding his own crazy flavor to it. Josh is multitalented, playing back–up guitar and pausing once in a while to play a hook on the keyboard.Matt maintains his reserved demeanor as he plucks out a backbone to all the songs on his bass, but there’s something different about him.You can almost see an air of intensity residing just beneath the surface.He doesn’t hesitate to go head–to–head with Jack as they shred their guitars and nod their heads along with the music they’re making.Jack moves his hips to each side as he sings with such passion into the mic, and I find myself getting turned on anytime he sings something that’s nonverbal, like the “ahhs” and the “mmm’s.”And oh shit, the way he swings his guitar around so that it dangles behind him before grabbing the mic with both hands, singing into it lik e he’s desperate to get the feeling in his words across the room… kill me .The crowd enjoys their original songs, as well as covers of old favorites by people like Tom Petty, Train, and the Chili Peppers.I fucking love it.

Annie and I are having a blast at our table. I don’t feel the need to join the mob up near the stage. I know Jack can tell how crazy I am about all this from back here.Besides, I feel like I have the best view. Jack occasionally shoots me a wink and it turns me to goo.

Just like I let loose in the dance studio, Jack seems to do the same on stage. He lets each song dictate which emotions he unleashes that he would normally keep bottled up. I can see from here that it’s like a release for him, and the very realization warms my blood. My skin joins in too, feeling like champagne bubbles are dancing up my spine to the back of my neck.

I notice a few girls that are front and center as he belts out lyrics from down deep in his soul, in fact, I pick out the two girls that were here to flirt with him that one night. But when Jack looks back up from his guitar, his gaze travels straight across the crowd, past all the girls to find me. Those dark blues giving me bedroom vibes – along with his husky voice – make so many different parts of me squeeze together. But more than anything, I’m enamored with the charisma he projects; that all of them do as a band. They have a gift for making the audience feel what they want them to feel, from the powerful notes to the delivery of the lyrics. I’ve always loved rock music, but never have I felt so moved.

“Mayzie,” Annie’s voice low in my ear penetrates my inner elation just enough to pull me a little closer to the real world. Reluctantly taking my eyes off the stage so I can focus on her voice over the roar of the speakers, I lean in for her to continue. “Eric is here,” she breaks to me, and one or two hackles try to rise but I quickly tamp them down. Eric was a guy that really did a number on me last year when my self-esteem still hadn’t reached its full potential. My time with him is not something I’m proud of. I felt validated by being wanted by him. All it took was a few sweet spoken words and I gave it right up, thinking that was what I had to do to keep it going. I was faced with the cold hard truth however when he got up and got dressed only moments later. Since then, whenever he’s seen me, he’s tried to pull his shit again.

“Don’t even look around. Don’t let him ruin this for you,” Annie calmly instructs. “I just don’t want you to be taken by surprise,” she explains, and she’s right. I’ve worked too hard on myself, repairing the damage he caused.

“Don’t worry, I’m your bulldog,” she concludes, assuring me that if I cross paths with the douchebag tonight, she’ll run interference. I give a small nod, appreciating her sentiment, and also follow directions to not let it hinder a damn thing about seeing Jack rock out with his band tonight.

Jack

After our set, I made quick work of breaking down the stage with the guys, hoping to leave here with Mayzie without making her wait too long.

I’ve just finished loading in the last amp and a box of cables into my flatbed before drawing the cover down across it all. There were reports of a storm headed in sometime tonight, and I can already feel it in the air.

I return through The Cedar’s back entrance and head towards the bar to collect her. When I find her finishing off a beer with Annie, I take hold of her hand, and just as she turns to face me with that smile I love, I hear some dude’s voice call out from just behind her.

“Heyyyy…” the guy with the white polo shirt, brown eyes, and dark spiked hair slurs from a few feet away, his dilated pupils t rying to focus on my girl. “Well, look who it is…” he meanders a little closer as a couple of frat boy-looking clones hang back and take in the scene. Clearly, they see Mayzie’s hand wrapped in mine, and he doesn’t.

“Mayzie!” he calls out to her. Mayzie rolls her eyes in disgust. “Fuck,” she mutters, as she refuses to turn and acknowledge him, but she’s also looking everywhere but at me. Whoever this is, she’s embarrassed to know him.This is interesting.

“Mayzie!” he shouts again.

“Hey,” she says, sharp and curt, still not turning to face him. My hand closes around hers a little tighter. She’s on edge, and I silently let her know I’ve got her.

“What are you up to the rest of the night?” he asks, taking a step closer.

“Wanna take a stroll down memory lane?”

Oh, hell no .

It’s easy to see how he knows her and what he wants, and I’m itching to get in his face and lay it out for him, but I look to Mayzie first, to see if I even need to.Her expression is one of disgust as she finally glances over her shoulder.

“Fucking get lost, Eric.” That’s my girl .Eric’s cocky smile drops for a second or two before he quickly recovers, putting it back in place. He looks past Mayzie at me, down to our joined hands, then back to me, puffing his chest out.

“Hey, man, you can dial it back,” he says before jutting his chin at Mayzie. “Easiest lay you’ll ever have.”

Fuck .

So much happens in the next two seconds. Mayzie turns her whole body in his direction and shouts, “You’re such an asshole!” while Annie spits, “Fuck off, you’re pathetic!” all while I jump off my stool and step in front of Mayzie, tucking her behind me.

“You and I have got a problem now,” I say to the di pshit. The guy is taller than Mayzie, but I’ve got a few inches on him. “I think you need to apologize to my lady.”

The abrupt reaction of the three of us was enough to make him step back a little, but he once again tries to redeem himself as he holds his hands out like he’s shrugging. “Just telling the truth, man.”

I take two steps towards him, and he’s such a pussy he recoils towards his friends. One of them places a hand on his shoulder, trying to corral him into the crowd of people headed to the door. He shakes the hand off and tries to act like a tough guy, holding his ground. Too late, I’ve already seen how weak he is. I lower my voice to an ominous and threatening tone.

“Well, let me do the same for you, you piece of shit.I work here, and you will not be showing your face in here again.You made a mistake talking to a woman like that, but you made an even bigger one by talking like that about mine .”

Eric’s resolve is weakening with every word I say; I can see it all over his face. He is completely relenting when brute strength in the form of Tyler shows up beside me.

“We got a problem here, Jack?”

“Oh, no. I was just explaining to Eric here that we don’t allow a certain element in this place. You know, the kind that think they need to degrade women to make them feel like they’ve got something going for them?”

“Ah,” Tyler says, reacting like I just told him what time it is.He turns to Eric. “Think you got the message, Country Club? If not, we’re more than happy to spell it out with physical extraction.”

Eric is done. He’s not even trying to act like he’s got a set of balls anymore, and when his clone of a buddy pulls on his shoulder again, he follows like a partially deflated balloon, right out the door.

Tyler goes back to the bar and I turn back to Mayzie. She has one arm wrapped around herself, propping up her other elbow while she runs a hand through her hair, while Annie rubs her arm. Her eyes are blazing, and I can tell she’s a combo of embarrassed and pissed off.

“I’ll go hang with Tyler a minute,” Annie says as I approach.

“You okay?” I ask Mayzie when I make my way in front of her.

“Yeah… just...” She waves her hand in the direction of the door. “That was so embarrassing.”

“You don’t need to feel that way. He was embarrassing himself and it was pathetic.”

She takes a deep breath, letting it out before she speaks again. “Look, when I was younger, I didn’t have a lot of confidence, and I, uh…” she’s flustered, and I can tell she’s freaking out about what I might be thinking of her right now. I have to immediately squash that.

“Hey,” I say, sitting back down on the stool and pulling her towards me so she’s between my knees. “I don’t care.” I clasp my hands together at the small of her back.

“I just want to…” She holds her hands out like she wants to explain. She doesn’t have to; I don’t care about her past. I have my own, for fuck’s sake.All I care about is who she is now,the person that’s with me, that I’m just beginning something amazing with, so I gently cut her off.

“Do you care about my past? Mistakes I’ve made? Do you feel like you need to hear about any of it?”

“No…” she says, uncertain where this is going but following me anyway.

“Or do you care about who I am now , with you?” And then she fucking smiles, and I feel light bursting throughout my whole body. I smile back at her and continue to talk. “Because I only care about the Mayzie that I know, and what we have, and I hope you feel that way too.”

She drops her head back, smiling before looking back to me. “Yeah,” she says, nodding. “That’s how I feel.”

Thank God. She doesn’t realize it, but I’m just as grateful as she is about this agreement that each other’s pasts don’t matter here. All that matters is our today and our tomorrows.

“Good.” I lean in and say the word softly against her lips before giving her a small peck. “Let’s get out of here, then. I’m taking you home.”