Smitten

The audience cheers, fully realizing they’re once again going to witness something no other 22 Goats audience has ever seen.

Dax doesn’t hesitate. “Hell yeah!”

Fish says, “It is a charity show, after all.” He looks at the crowd. “Okay with you, guys? My hot girlfriend once told me this song was her favorite off our first album. She said, ‘There’s nothing like your first love.’” His eyes shift to me. “And now I can tell you, for a fact, that’s absolutely true.”

My heart stops. Without even thinking about it, or worrying that I’m saying it first, I mouth, I love you. And, without missing a beat, Fish smiles broadly upon receipt of my message and mouths the words right back to me.

“Go, Fish Tacoooo!” Dax shouts as the vocal cue approaches.

And Fish doesn’t hesitate. Right on cue, he leans into his mic, this time with full rock star swagger, his eyes glued to mine, and belts out the famous words, with accompaniment from the entire arena:

All my life

Been looking low and high

Aching to find

The ones to call my tribe

But now I know

People like us, baby

There’s no group

People like us

There’s only two

We’re a tribe of two, baby

It’s just me and you

Starting now

It’s you and me

Against the world

‘Cause ‘people like us’

There’s only me and you

I clutch my heart as my boyfriend, my beloved, my best friend, my lover-to-be, sings to me. I’ve heard this song probably twenty billion times by now. But never like this. Never when the man I adore with all my heart, the man I love and trust and respect, sings it to me in front of tens of thousands of singing, screaming, adoring fans. From what Fish has told me, Dax wrote this song, all on his own, without any input from Fish or Colin, other than their instrumental parts. But in this moment, Matthew Fishberger wrote this song to Alessandra Tennison.

As Fish finishes singing, the jumbotron once again finds my face. But this time, when my image lights up the arena, I don’t cover my face. I don’t hide. I don’t flinch. I don’t even blush. Nope, I stare at my beloved, hoping my eyes are conveying my unwavering, unconditional adoration and love for him. We belong together, Matthew and me. We’re a tribe of two. Just like this amazing song says. People like us? There’s only Matthew and me.

Twenty-Four

Fish

A burst of laughter rises up from the other side of our long dinner table, a surefire sign that Davey from Watch Party just told everyone around him a dirty joke. He does that quite frequently. And, somehow, he never misses, unlike me. But this restaurant is too noisy, and our table too long, for me to know for certain if Davey caused that burst of laughter.

We’re at a pricey restaurant in Midtown, enjoying a loud, booze-filled, post-concert dinner party that’s hosted by Reed. I’m sitting next to my hot girlfriend, of course. Holding her hand. Lightly stroking her thigh underneath the table. Occasionally, looking into her big blue eyes. Feeling the need to touch and look at her beautiful face constantly, despite the people and distractions around us.

Georgina and Reed are seated next to Ally, on her right. From there, it’s Maddy, Keane, Aloha, Zander, Dax, and Violet. Colin and his longtime girlfriend, Kiera, are bringing up the rear of this train, so to speak, but neither of them looks happy tonight, so we’re all sort of ignoring them.

“Hey, Ally,” Reed says, turning away from the intense conversation he’s been having with Maddy. “Change of plans for your video tomorrow. I didn’t know Maddy was bringing Keane to the shoot to help her. But now that I know he’ll be there, I think we’d be missing a golden opportunity not to give him a starring role in the video. Keane says he’s up for anything—”

“Yup.”

“So Maddy and I just now put our heads together and came up with an entire storyline for him.”

“Oh, wow, that’s exciting,” Alessandra says, squeezing my hand fiercely. “Thank you, Keane.”

“Happy to do it. It sounds like a blast.”

Alessandra looks at Georgina, and then at me, her face bursting with unadulterated excitement. And I don’t blame her. Keane’s a star on the rise these days, thanks to his popular Netflix show. And he’s definitely easy on the eyes, too. To put it mildly. So having him featured in Alessandra’s debut music video will almost certainly give the song huge buzz.

“Now, don’t feel any stress about tomorrow,” Reed says soothingly. Apparently, he’s well aware of his young starlet’s penchant for flailing or wanting to barf when she feels stressed or anxious. “From your end of things, Ally, you’ll still mostly be doing what we talked about, okay? You’ll still mostly be performing onstage at the coffeehouse.”

Alessandra’s body stiffens. “Mostly?”

But Reed is a pro. He calmly says, “Yes. Maddy and I have come up with two storylines. A love triangle involving Keane. Also, a cute little love story involving you and Fish.” Reed looks at me. “If you’re game, that is, Fish Taco.”