Horse
“Dammit, Janet! If you keep messin’ with the barn door on that strobe, it’ll fall off.” My crew was still high above the stage securing lights, and it was my fault we were running late. I couldn’t get my mind right. We should have finished the strobes forty-five minutes ago. We were behind with the autoyoke lights and there was no way we would be done before the sound check. “Stew,” I hollered after my assistant production manager. Stew was a good guy, a jack of all trades with a dry wit who I could always count on to manage the details and pick up the slack. He appeared at my shoulder. “Would you stay on top of these guys while I go check on the sound crew?”
“Got it, boss.”
I patted him on the shoulder and turned to head out, but I noticed I’d forgotten to tape down an extension cord that I’d plugged into an amp earlier. Truth was, I was working with scrambled brains ever since that pretty little groupie rushed my stage. When I first saw her, I was dumbstruck. She was a vision of perfection in her white tank top and worn blue jeans. I was drawn to her from across the arena like a missile seeking a target. She looked like a fitness model—strong and sexy. Even the slope of her shoulders made my pulse race. Her muscles were long and athletic, but not tough. Pilates was my guess, but who knew. When I got close enough to really see her, my heart sank like a brick because she was younger than I thought… like too young for me. She couldn’t be more than twenty, twenty-three at most. My rock-hard erection did not get the message that a girl this young was not an appropriate match for thirty-one-year-old me. She was too young and too innocent for the things I imagined doing with her.
I knew I acted like an ass, but normally I would have had a groupie detained for trespassing. That look in her big brown eyes caught me off guard. Someone that sexy and irreverent hadn’t learned that there are downsides to taking risks. Most of the people in the music industry thought that they could act with reckless abandon and failed to recognize the consequences of their behavior. They bought into the rock and roll lifestyle of sex, drugs, and debauchery, what I refer to as “the life.” Those things come at a cost. People who lived to get lit burned bright, and then they burned out. My take on partying didn’t win me a lot of friends, but I wasn’t here for them.
Tape in place and trying to stay on task, I crossed the stage, heading back toward the lighting board, and passed the different musicians in the opener’s band. They were setting up and tuning their instruments. The drummer gave me a little wave and I smiled back. I wasn’t familiar with the guy, but I think he was riding on my bus. We’d switched up the opening act for this leg of the tour and I was actually looking forward to meeting the singer because I knew she was a close friend of Kat’s, our star.
I’d known Kat for eight years. I met her when my buddy, Josh, helped me get a job on Blake Shelton’s tour and she was his opener, so we got close. Not romantically, but I had a special place in my heart for her. She was a ray of light during a very dark time in my life. I owed her a debt that I happily repaid by ensuring that every one of her shows went off without a hitch. So, no matter what, any friend of Kat’s was a friend of mine, especially if she was going to be on my stage.
As if I didn’t have enough on my plate, the young beauty from earlier reappeared on the stage. “Fuck a duck,” I muttered to myself. I couldn’t believe the moxie of this girl. “You’ve got some set of balls on you, missy,” I yelled with mild exasperation. “I don’t know who you think you are, but this is a closed stage.”
She popped her hand on her hip and spat annoyance at me. “Well, then where in the H-E-double-hockey sticks am I supposed to go for sound check?”
Oh shit. I staggered to say, “Wait… are you Sarah Morgan?”
She nodded, indignation all over her face.
I must have turned red as a rooster as a tidal wave of embarrassment flooded my brain. Well, fuck me sideways and call me Suzy. Just as I was about to speak, a woman’s voice shot across the stage.
“Kick, you look perfect up there!” Kat yelled as she and her guy, Bill, entered.
“Hey, sis, are you ready to blow the doors off this place?” Bill said with a grin.
Kat crossed the stage and wrapped her arms around Sarah, squeezing her tightly. Then she turned to me with a smile and said, “Horse, this is my soon-to-be sister-in-law, Sarah.”
I stood there flabbergasted, it was news to me that Bill and Kat were getting married. For the record, I’d never seen Kat as content as she was with Bill, so I felt mighty happy for her. Apparently, it was news to Sarah too. She dropped all pretense of professionalism and squealed. She looked to Bill for confirmation and then back to Kat. “Is it true?”
Kat nodded.
“Oh my God!” She ran a few feet and jumped into her brother’s arms. “I am so happy you finally got your garbage sorted!” She was adorable.
He laughed. Then as quickly as she’d run to Bill, she was running back to Kat. “We’re finally gonna be sisters,” she yelped, pulling Kat into her arms.
Instantaneously, I was mired in the realization that I was equal parts an absolute dick and had a huge hard-on for the girl who was basically Kat’s kid sister.