Blush (9 page)

“How much time do we have, Damian? I need to
go rub one out before we go out there,“ Xander mutters, eyes glued
to the stage, serious as a heart attack. I'd laugh, but I might
have to do the same.

Damian chuckles. “Fuck, dude. I can't blame
you but no time. Next song is when you're joining in.“

“Damn it,“ Xander mutters, adjusting
himself.

“Good Christ. Did you see that?“ Kennedy
asks.

I nod. Yeah, I sure as hell did see Lucy
rubbing up on Meggie from behind, then reaching around to finger
the strings. I look at Damian who is as transfixed as the rest of
us.

“Did they practice that?“

He shakes his head.

Damn. Hot. As. Fuck. It's my turn to adjust
myself.

“So Portland, what'd you think? Did we give
you what you came to see? What you wanted? What you needed?“ Lucy
asks the crowd. With each question the roar gets louder.

“Well, we've got a little more for you,“ Sera
yells into the mic. “And we've got some friends who are going to
join us for this one.“

“That's our cue,“ I say aloud.

“Hell fucking yeah,“ Xander shouts, tapping
his sticks.

We make our way on stage and there's no way I
can stop the smile pulling at my lips. There's my woman—my wife.
Waiting for us to join her. I shake my head as a roadie hands me my
mic.

The crowd goes nuts as I reach Lucy and pull
her in for a kiss, wrapping my arm around her shoulders. Ben smacks
Sera's ass, Ethan fist bumps Jace, and Kennedy hip bumps Meggie.
Xander and Trace slap sticks and X makes his way to his drum set.
Both fit on this stage, which is fucking kick ass.

“How the fuck you doing out there, Portland?“
I yell. “What'd you think of Blush? Pretty fucking bad ass if you
ask me.“ Roar. “You guys kicked some serious ass. I'm not sure
we're going to be able to measure up.“

“For fucking real,“ Ben chimes in.

“Dude,“ Kennedy adds.

“Hell,“ Ethan remarks.

“I'm still hard back here!“ Xander shouts and
the crowd goes wild.

Lucy just laughs.

“For real, Luce. We got cameras that can zoom
in on this.“ Xander stands up. “Zoom in on this shit right here,“
he says pointing to his dick. The crowd goes wild when they see his
hard-on in his pants.

“Well, look what we inspired!“ Lucy says with
a fist pump! “Hmm,“ she adds and reaches down and touches my very
hard cock. She raises her brows. “Looks like Xander's not the only
one who's hard. My husband has a very impressive erection.“ She
licks her lips and I groan.

“Woman. Why are you so set on torturing
me?“

“It's not torture if I intend on relieving
you of your ailment after the show.“

I grunt. “That's not helping me now,“ I say,
adjusting myself again and Portland goes crazy.

“Dude,“ Ethan chimes in. “We put up with this
shit all the time.“

“True story,“ Sera adds.

The crowd only roars louder.

“Well, what do you say we kick the BFD tour
off right?“ Xander yells. “Because the Blush-Falling Down tour is a
Big. Fucking. Deal.“

“Hell yeah!“ We all murmur our agreement.

“We've got a little song we want to sing for
you,“ Kennedy tells the crowd.

Meggie leans in to where they're sharing a
mic. “From what I've seen, there is nothing ‘little' at all on this
stage.“

“Again, true story,“ Sera says.

Lucy just laughs and I pull her in for a kiss
to her forehead.

“Are you ready, Portland? What?“ she yells.
“I still can't hear you!“

I nod to Trace and Xander and we start
singing
Falling Down
. It seems like yesterday we wrote this
song in the tattoo parlor. Looking at Lucy's side and shoulder, her
tats are sexy as hell. She wants more, of course, but she's going
to wait for Harley. I think she might be a little sweet on the big
guy. She calls him her teddy bear and Harley eats that shit up like
it's candy. Who can blame him?

And here she is, my wife, rubbing up on my
leg. Shit.

I scream out the next line and she joins in
on the next. Lucy looks to me and says, “It looks to me like they
know this song! Let's see if they know the chorus!“

We start singing to help them out, then hold
up our mics and the crowd sings the words perfectly. Fuck yeah.

Lucy's grin's a mile wide and she does a
quick spin on her toe, some ballet shit I think. Looked sexy as
hell and I know she did it because she's so happy she can't contain
it. Likely she'll get off stage and cry for a few minutes if I know
my woman. She has such a hard time controlling her emotions when
they fill her up the way her happy is right now. That's her
phrasing, not mine.

I tap a finger to the tip of her nose and she
starts singing the next verse. Before we know it, it's over and
Blush is saying their goodbyes. Their first major show on the BFD
tour was a huge fucking success.

“I'm not sure we can compete with Blush. They
kicked some major ass! What do you think Portland? Do you think we
can give them a run for their money?“ I growl into the mic. They
don't let me down, our fans never do. They growl right back.

“I'm still not sure, but we'll give it a
try.“ Xander starts us off and I'm lost. Lost in the music, lost in
the crowd, lost in the chords, lost in the beat, lost in the
rhythm, and lost in the love of it all. My adrenaline is pumping as
I sing, growl, and sing my soul out for each and every person in
the audience, backstage, and for those who will likely see this on
a bootlegged copy of the show posted on YouTube. Without music, I
wouldn't be me. Without music, I wouldn't be whole.

Without Lucy, I'd be nothing and that's why
I've got a little surprise planned. We're on the last song and the
guys send me a wink. They know what I've got in mind, as do the
members of Blush, Cage, and Damian and they've helped me set it
up.

As I introduce the last song, I put a finger
to my lips and say, “Shhh.“ I hope the crowd catches on and doesn't
give it away. The roadies rush on stage and begin setting up and
that's when we all put a finger to our lips and whisper “Shhh“ into
our mics but keep right on playing.

The song ends and the crowd cheers. I'm
sweaty from the lights and exertion, but now I'm sweating for an
entirely different reason. Hell. Meggie, Jace, and Trace are
standing just off stage and I motion them forward. Sera's in back
distracting Lucy. Hopefully Lucy will cooperate and do what Sera
guides her to do. Knowing my woman, this may not go off as well as
I'd planned.

“Portland, you were one kick ass crowd
tonight! I'd like to do one last song. It's a little different from
our usual stuff. It's one we wrote two nights ago and it's a ballad
and I'd like to invite Blush up here to help us out.“

The crowd cheers and Meggie, Jace, and Trace
join us on stage. I'm sweating bullets. My heart's beating out of
my chest. I feel like I need to throw up. Shit. Still no Sera and
Lucy. I stall waiting for Blush to get set up, Ben starts talking
to the crowd. I take a breath. Sera walks on stage shaking her
head. Fuck.

“Alright, Portland. Looks like I need a
little help from you. It seems Lucy hasn't found her way to the
stage yet. What do you say we call her out?“

Xander stands up, knocks his sticks together
and chants “Lu-cy! Lu-cy! Lu-cy!“ The rest of us join in and it
takes mere seconds for the crowd to join us.

“Louder!“ Xander shouts.

They roar out her name and before long I see
Damian signal to me from off stage. I signal to the lighting techs
who drown us in darkness, except for the candles lit up on the
stage highlighting a trail of rose petals that lead right to me,
where I stand in the middle of a shit-ton of candles set out to the
shape of a heart.

I watch Lucy ask Damian what's going on. He
shrugs, making it seem like he has no idea what's going on. Guess
he's not such a fucker after all. Cage steps up behind Lucy and
covers her eyes with his hand. He says something into her ear and
she laughs. They start heading out onto the stage and the second
the fans see her, they let out a thunderous cheer. Her brows pinch
together but she's still smiling. I know she can see the rose
petals beneath her feet and the candles when her hand flies up to
her heart, then her mouth. She tries to look up but Cage
anticipates her move and moves with her.

“Uh, uh, uh, no peeking there, Luce,“ Kennedy
teases.

Her head tilts to the side and she laughs,
her hand resting against her heart.

When they reach me, I introduce him. “Cage
Nichols, everybody!“

They scream. Cage whispers to Lucy, kisses
her cheek, then removes his hand before he sends out a wave to the
crowd and makes his way off stage.

“What's going on, Jesse?“ she asks, her eyes
wide, her hand at her throat. She's nervous and, hell, so am I.

“Lucy,“ I begin, waiting for the noise to die
down. “There's this song…“

She laughs. I tilt my mic toward her.
“There's always a song.“

“True, true. But this one is different. It's
one we wrote; it's not our usual style; but it's one that delivers
the message loud and clear.“

She says, “Okay,“ but no one can hear her. A
roadie comes up with a pink stool for her to sit on. She raises a
brow and I grab one of her hands, helping her take her seat.

“Ready?“ Ethan asks. I nod.

The music starts, Lucy's smile floats into my
soul, soothing me, making my heart flutter and the words pour out
from deep within.

There have been times
When my words didn't rhyme
There have been seasons
When my life didn't have a reason

Then came you

There have been days
When I walked in a haze
Walking down a dead end street
In crowds I'd feel incomplete

Then came you

Then came you, my love, my heart
Then came you, and I never want to be apart
Then came you, my passion, my soul
Then came you, only you can make me whole

Please stay forever

There've been so many places
And so many forgotten faces
So many meaningless hours
I want them to matter, I want them to be ours

Please stay with me

I see your face and I smile
I touch your skin and I feel you within (my soul)
Let's tackle your fears
I'll wipe your tears

If you stay with me

Stay with me forever
Stay in my life
Stay with me forever
Baby, be my wife

Say you will

Say you can be
Say you want to
Say you will please marry me
Stay with me forever

Marry me, be my wife, be my forever
Only you, always you, forever you.

There she sits. My lovely, gorgeous,
beautiful, soul-ravaging wife, tears streaming down her face. I get
down on one knee and take her hand in mine, her other hand flies up
to her mouth. The crowd gasps and cheers and whistles.

“Baby, don't cry. You know it kills me.“

“I can't help it.“

“I know we're already married, but I'd like
to do this right. You deserve that. You deserve better than me,
better than this, but this is all I've got. This,“ I motion around
us, “and my love, my heart, hell, my soul. They all belong to you.
Will you do me the honor of being my wife? Living with me, loving
me, having babies with me, growing old with me? I'll always take
care of you, love you with all that I am, and I will love you in
this life and beyond. Say yes. Luciana Antonia Russo-Kingston,
please be my wife. Be my forever.“

She doesn't pause. She falls to her knees and
wraps her arms around my neck. Sera runs up with a mic and thrusts
it into Lucy's face. Lucy sniffles then pulls back, cups both of my
cheeks in her hands, looks me straight in the eyes, and without
hesitation tells me, “The honor is mine, Jesse Kingston. I would
love to be your wife, your love, your life, your soul. Then we'll
be on even ground and nothing would make me happier. Everything I
have, everything I am, is yours. Forever and beyond.“

Then I do what any man whose heart is leaping
up into his throat would do, I pull the love of my life close and
kiss her softly, sweetly, telling her without words how fucking
happy I am in this moment. She undoes me. She unravels me. I
couldn't speak if I wanted to. She's my everything and she's my
forever. We're going to do this right. Lucy deserves the proposal,
the white dress, the champagne fountain, and the big-ass cake and
I'm going to make fucking sure she gets just that. Nothing less
than perfect for my wife. Ever.

“I love you, Luciana Russo-Kingston.“

“I love you, Jesse Kingston.“ She giggles and
the crowd goes crazy. I mean crazy. Feet stomping, screaming,
cheering, whistling. Then they start chanting and at first I can't
make out what they're saying but Lucy does. I can tell. Her posture
rigid and stiff, her smile fake as she shakes her head.

“Blush Baby,“ she tells me in my ear. I know
she hates that. She hated it in Vegas and she's hated it every
minute since. She doesn't want to be singled out from the band. She
wants them to be a unit. She meets my gaze head on. “It's time to
look for a Blush Baby.“

Well, that's certainly one way to handle it.
I'd have let it die, but Lucy is Lucy and she tackles shit
hard.

I stand up and hold out a hand for her. I
wrap my arms around her and pull her close, she climbs up my body
and I chuckle. My wife the monkey. That reminds me of the night we
sang
Shock the Monkey
and the crazy drunk sex we had. Fuck,
that was hot. She clings to me and laughs as the crowd continues to
go crazy. Sera hands her her mic.

“One last song, Portland?“

The crowd yells out their affirmation that
they want more, more, more.

I look at the guys who just grin and nod
their heads.

“One more song,“ I agree.