Surrendering (Surrender 1)

is beats, but it could be because of his nerves. The rest of them seem solid and I like their sound. They’ve given me a few ideas. What do you think?”

“I think they’re okay. Not nearly as good as Sayge, but they have some catchy songs.”

“Let’s head backstage.”

I hand the girls their passes and we move to the backstage area. When we get in, I see a fenced off area with a sign that says Reserved for Sayge written on it. Each of the bands has the same set-up. We walk back and find the rest of our friends sitting around drinking beer. There are a few girls I’ve never seen before trying to get Blake, Nate, and Cooper’s attention. Abbi is sitting on Jimi’s lap and rolls her eyes at them.

“We did some shopping today too.” Ella says when she sees my shopping bags. She winks at me and nods her head toward Declan. All my girlfriends have a secret mission today, to help me with my present for Declan. I found the idea online and I have a deadline to finish it by Monday.

I grab two beers and head towards Declan. One of the groupies is trying to talk to him and he keeps looking at me for help. I land in his lap and hand him his drink, kissing him quickly. She gives me a dirty look and walks away.

“What took you so long? She asked if she could run her hands through my hair. I was trying to be polite, but she wouldn’t take the hint.”

“She wanted to run her hands through your hair? That’s a strange request.”

“Not the strangest I’ve heard, but gross.”

I lean down to his ear, “You’ve never told me you think it’s gross.”

“Baby, that’s because nothing is gross with you.” He starts to kiss me, but Charlie interrupts with choking sounds.

“Something in your throat, Charlie?” I ask her.

“Yeah, vomit. Can you two please stop the PDA for a while? It’s a little disgusting.” She shoots back, but she’s smiling.

The opening band finishes and walks off the stage to the meet and greet area. That’s our group’s clue to get ready. I hug the other guys, but give Declan a deep kiss before he leaves. “Good luck.”

He squeezes my ass and nips my lip before he joins the others. The rest of us crowd around the side-stage to watch the show. The audience has thickened and there are now hundreds of people in the dance pit, mostly females screaming at the top of their lungs. Each member of Sayge has a solo during the performance and Blake’s draws the biggest response. Their song list is nothing like when they play at The Steamroom. This is what they’ve been working on all week. Even though it’s December, Declan’s sweating. He runs his hands through his hair which makes it stick out; it’s a very sexy look for him. It reminds me of when he gets out of the shower. My stomach rolls and my insides quiver. The look on my face gives me away and Kendall starts laughing next to me.

“Are you thinking about sex?”

“Not really, no.” I whisper back.

“What are you thinking about then?”

“Not that’s it any of your business, but I was thinking about how sexy Declan’s hair looks when it is mussed up like that. Then I thought about how he looks when he gets out of the shower which led me to thoughts of-”

“Stop!” She interrupts me. “No more. I can’t take it. Now I’m going to be thinking the same thing and that’s just not right.”

“But Ken, what an image.”

“He is pretty fine.”

We dance on the side stage throughout the whole show; I didn’t want to miss any of it. All the other girls came and went, but Kendall stayed with me. After playing one encore song, Sayge finishes and comes off the stage. Declan heads straight to me and hands his guitar to Kendall. He scoops me up and crashes his mouth to mine. I kiss him back with the same intensity. His shirt is soaked, but I don’t care at all. He puts me down and I’m finally able to talk.

“Y’all were amazing! Seriously, it was the best ever. You looked like a natural and you didn’t seem nervous at all.”

“Thanks, I wasn’t nervous anymore. Once we got here today, I relaxed. We were ready for this; it felt great.”

Jay comes up to Declan and reminds him that he needs to head straight to the meet and greet area to sign autographs. The whole band walks over together and I stand back to watch. I feel nauseous as girls throw themselves at Declan. I’m somewhat used to it, but this is on a much larger scale than at The Steamroom. I watch as several pieces of paper are shoved in each of their pockets throughout the signing. They finish up the last few signatures and I am relieved. I’m glad that it’s over. Sayge then heads over to talk to the bloggers.

Watching the bloggers is actually really interesting. Declan and Cooper do most of the talking. The questions are pretty standard:

How did you meet and form Sayge?

How long have you been together?

Where are you from and where do you play?