The Surprise (Single in Seattle 0.50)

“Let’s kill this,” Willy says, and we all bump fists.

“Before you go out,” Ralph, our manager, says as he marches into the room, “I have some good news. Get packed up, boys, because you’re going on a six-month tour with Radiohead. You leave right after Christmas.”

He leaves again, his phone pressed to his ear, and we all just stare at each other.

“That’s it?” I ask. “No contract to look over, no discussion?”

“It’s Radiohead,” Lex says. “Are you seriously thinking about turning that down?”

“No, it just seems so…informal.”

“We’ll have to talk about it,” Willy says.

“Ralph’s a moron,” Steve adds. “We’ll hammer out the details later. Focus, guys.”

“Right.” I nod and take a drink of water. “Let’s do this.”

The bar is packed, and even though it’s a small venue, it’s loud, and the crowd’s energy is amazing.

I love to perform, and there’s nothing better than when those in attendance sing along.

Better yet is when I look down at Josie and see she’s singing every word, clearly very proud and happy to be here.

It’s a hell of a night.

When we get to the last song, I sit on a stool, just me and my guitar, and start strumming.

The crowd goes wild. Having this song hit the radio has been incredible.

But there’s only one woman I’m interested in right now, and she’s smiling at me like I’m her prince charming.

When I finish the song, I offer Josie my hand, bring her up onto the stage, and kiss the hell out of her. As the crowd goes wild, we all walk off.

“You were all fantastic,” Josie says. “Where’s Maddie?”

“Here I am,” Maddie says as she hurries through the door. “Good show, guys.”

“They’re calling for an encore,” Lex says. “Let’s go give them one. Brax, let’s do that song we wrote a few months ago. Back in Time.”

“Yeah, let’s try it out on them,” Willy agrees.

“Go give them what they want,” Josie says. “We’ll be here.”

“Let’s do it.” I kiss my girl and then hurry back out onto the stage with the guys to thunderous applause. “You want some more?”

“YES!”

I nod at the others as I drop my guitar strap over my head and start to strum.

“One, two, three, four.”

It’s an upbeat song, heavy on bass and drums, and by the time we’re done, the crowd goes wild.

“Let’s keep going,” Lex yells out.

We play for the next hour. Maddie and Josie return to their seats, and we weave in covers of other bands’ songs that the crowd knows by heart, along with some original stuff of ours that no one’s heard yet.

It’s one of the best performances of my life, and I’m so fucking grateful that Josie’s here to see it.

By the time we’re finished, after nearly a three-hour set, all of us are ready to drop.

I’ve pretty much lost my voice.

“Totally worth it,” Willy says. “You were a maniac tonight.”

“He was a rock star tonight,” Josie amends with a proud smile. “You all were. Good job, boys.”

“Fuck, yeah,” Lex says and twirls one of his drumsticks in his fingers.

There’s just nothing like this.

CHAPTER 8

~JOSIE~

“Ah, look at that,” Brax growls in my ear.

I was in the middle of packing for my overnight trip with Maddie when Brax sat on the side of my bed, pulled me onto his lap, spread my legs wide on either side of his knees, and then pointed us toward my closet mirror.

The lower half of my body is completely exposed, spread wide for him. The top is covered by one of his old T-shirts.

I’ve managed to commandeer at least half of his collection as my new sleep shirts.

That’s when I sleep with anything on—which isn’t often these days.

“Look how wet you are for me,” he says and kisses my neck as his gaze moves up and down my reflection in the glass. “Look at how pink and swollen you are. Are you sore?”

“No,” I whisper, completely hypnotized by watching what he’s doing to me. We’ve always had an adventurous sex life, but this is new.

And damn sexy.

He tugs the shirt up over my head and glides his hand over my breasts while the other goes back to driving me out of my mind down there.

“It’s like playing a guitar,” he murmurs. “When I strum you like this…”

I moan as the muscles of my core instinctively tighten.

“You make that sound. But if I pluck right here…”

I gasp and let out a little squeak, and Brax grins at me in the glass.

“You do that. What if we do this? Keep your eyes open and watch, sweetheart.”

I didn’t even realize I’d closed my eyes. I lick my lips and avidly watch as the very tips of his two middle fingers disappear inside me.

“Jesus, yes.”

“I get words with that, huh? Okay, what about…?”

He presses the heel of his hand against my clit, and I jerk, crying out, “Brax! Holy shit, Brax.”