“Take it away, Fish Tacoooo!” Dax shouts.
I return to Fish to find his eyes already on me.
I nod, letting him know he’s got this. As I’m well aware, Fish has never performed lead vocals in his band before. I don’t even think he’s sung privately to anyone, really, other than Dax, Colin, and me. Maybe his mom?
But when the cue for the first verse rolls around again, Fish goes for it. His eyes on me, he leans into his microphone and opens his mouth—and then gifts the world with his sweet, pure, honest singing voice:
Fireflies
You got me feelin’ ‘em
Never before or since
All my life
Been chasing butterflies
And in just one night
One perfect night . . .
Girl, you made butterflies
Your bitch
Oh, Fireflies
Oh, In your eyes . . .
[Hear Fish perform “Fireflies” here]
Of course, the audience sing-shouts that last line of the verse—“You made butterflies your bitch!”—in unison with Fish. Because, duh. It’s one of the most famous lyrics in the world. Instantly recognizable by anyone who’s heard a lick of popular music in the past few years. Of course, Fish’s voice is nothing like Dax’s, but it’s every bit as lovely and compelling, in its own way. And this crowd is definitely sending Fish their love and appreciation for his unique talents.
As the crowd explodes, Fish points jubilantly at me in the front row, his face ablaze, like he’s telling the arena I’m the ‘hot girlfriend’ Dax mentioned. I’m the girl who gave Fish fireflies the night he met me. I’m the girl who made butterflies her bitch.
Georgie grips my arm and points at the jumbotron. And when I look to where she’s indicating, I see my face on the screen, broadcast to the arena as big as a school bus.
“Holy fuck!” I shout at the top of my lungs, and the arena instantly explodes even more, apparently fully capable of reading lips. I cover my blushing face with my hands, feeling dizzy, which only provokes the crowd to react even more enthusiastically. I guess a girl who shouts “Holy fuck!” after being serenaded, and then covers her blushing face, is entertaining? Because, damn, this crowd is going absolutely bonkers.
Thankfully, when I come out from behind my hands, the screen is once again filled with the image of our fearless heartthrob, Dax, as he launches into singing the melodic, sing-along chorus of “Fireflies.” The melody that’s now ingrained into the world’s collective consciousness.
But even after the song has moved on from that once-in-a-lifetime, magical moment for me—I can’t believe my boyfriend just sang one of my favorite songs to me, in front of tens of thousands of people!—I know the moment will live on inside my heart and soul for the rest of my life.
After “Fireflies,” the guys perform two additional hits. Until, finally, Dax says, “This will be our last song tonight, guys.”
“Booo!” the crowd yells, making all three Goats, and their couple of supporting musicians in the back, laugh uproariously.
Dax says, “Thank you for supporting such a great cause. Big shout-out to my wife, Violet Morgan, for her hard work on this event. Also, Reed Rivers, the head of our label, and his team. Let’s hear it for all of them, guys.”
The crowd applauds uproariously.
Dax smiles at his wife in the front row and blows her a kiss, before returning to the crowd and saying, “Let’s finish this party right! Let’s go back to the beginning!”
Well, we all know what that means, so, of course, we in the audience lose our collective minds. The band begins playing their debut smash. “People Like Us.” The song that started it all, with a music video that went batshit viral across the world. And, of course, the entire arena sings along enthusiastically with every word. Because, at this point, the words to this smash hit song are part of the world’s gray matter.
But while everyone around me is almost certainly glued to Dax during this epic song, I can’t take my eyes off Matthew Fishberger. That man is a smoke show every time he plays any musical instrument—but especially on a big stage under a canopy of colored lights and strobes, while being cheered by the masses. I love watching Fish’s lips moving as he sings his harmonies. I love watching his hips moving, especially now that I’ve felt them grinding into me, as we made out in that greenroom. And I love, love, love watching his tattooed forearms flexing as he expertly fingers his strings . . . and imagining those very same fingers expertly touching me.
The first chorus of “People Like Us” comes to an end, and the band plays the short instrumental riff that segues into the second verse. And that’s when Fish leans into his microphone and says something I never saw coming, despite what happened earlier with “Fireflies.”
“Hey, Daxy!” Fish shouts brightly. “Would you mind terribly if I take the second verse, just this once, brother?”