Page 24 of A Way Out (Rock Star #2)

Maria bit her fist. God, the man was the epitome of sexy. And she was pretty sure he was all hers. They hadn’t had a conversation about it, but he sure as heck was treating her like they were a couple.

They should probably talk about it soon; Holly had told Maria stories about groupies and their willingness to do anything with a hot guitarist—anything at all.

Maria wanted to make sure Oz understood that she wanted all that sexiness to herself.

Holly introduced Oz as the guitarist for Demigoddess Revival, and the crowd screamed almost as loudly as they had when she’d walked onto stage.

He stopped playing long enough to wave and smile, then he tossed his pick into the crowd and tugged another from where he kept them lined up on the neck of his guitar.

While Oz plucked at the strings of his guitar, Holly introduced each of the Demigoddess Revival members in turn, until the entire band was on stage.

Oz changed the rhythm, and the crowd started screaming anew; apparently, they knew whatever song he was playing.

Holly laughed, Lacey flung her arm around her new sister-in-law, and together, the women sang into one mic while the band played a song called “This is It.” It was Panic Station’s first hit, which explained why the crowd went nuts.

The last chords of the song faded away, and Holly waved as she left the stage. Demigoddess Revival rocked into one of their own songs. Maria was utterly fascinated by their performance. Specifically Oz’s.

He prowled around that stage like he’d been doing this his whole life. Like this wasn’t the first time they’d sold out a venue outside of LA.

He took center stage; everything went black except the single spotlight on him. The rest of the band slipped away, for water, to wipe the sweat from their brows, to take a quick break.

It was time for the guitar solo.

She had no idea what he was playing, but it was beautiful.

Melodic, bluesy, yet full of energy. Mesmerizing, and that was even before he glanced over and held her eyes.

Emotions played across his face like he was physically tied to this song.

For a moment there, his eyelids fluttered rapidly, like he was holding back tears, and Maria felt her own eyes well.

The man was spectacular.

Movement caught her eye. Travis and Sam both step onto the stage and make their way to the drum kit, without a spotlight to let the audience know what was happening. It was all part of the plan, as was the way the drum kit had been set up, so that both men could play at the same time.

Oz’s guitar carried that last note on and on and on, and Maria held her breath, until the slap of a stick against a drum broke the tension and Oz lifted both arms, accepting the praise the fans rained on him.

After Sam and Travis did their own solo—er, duo—the rest of the band, as well as the members of Panic Station, all rushed onto the stage, and together they hammered out “Drum Me Away,” another Panic Station hit.

When that song faded away, the bands began bantering back and forth, teasing about releasing new music, joking about going on the road together—the deafening roar of the crowd suggested they loved the idea—and right on cue, the screen behind Travis’s drum kit lit up with a picture from last night’s double wedding.

It was a shot of both bands, with Holly and Lacey in the middle in their wedding dresses.

Parker thrummed the opening chords of “Why Can’t We Be.”

Everybody loved a good rock ballad, and this one was ten levels above whatever these fans may have been expecting.

Holly moved out of the way so Parker could share the mic with Lacey. While Oz and Lacey normally sang the duets, their producer had convinced them that Parker should sing this one.

The guy was right.

Parker and Lacey sang beautifully together, and all the emotion they must have felt while in the early days of their relationship poured out in that song, in the lyrics, in the heaviness of the bass, in the way they stared at each other as they sang.

Lacey’s eyes filled with tears. Maria swiped at her cheek, unsurprised when her finger came away wet.

Such a beautiful song.

Lacey carried the last note far longer than Maria would have thought possible, and with the spotlight still trained on them, Parker threw his arm around her neck and pulled her close, their lips crashing together like there weren’t 3,000 people all watching their make out session.

Bonus that the slideshow on the screen was still showing snapshots of their wedding. The kiss had not been part of the plan, but Maria would suggest they do it as part of their set moving forward. She could practically see the band’s bank account growing as fans scrambled to download this song.

They should release it tomorrow instead of waiting until Tuesday.

Or maybe even tonight, at midnight. Keep the momentum going.

It would be a nice touch, since they were playing this venue again tomorrow night—and that show, too, was now sold out.

Holly and Sam wouldn’t be there, as they were heading to their honeymoon in the morning, but the rest of Panic Station had agreed to hang out for one more night, and Maria knew they’d rock it as hard as they were tonight.

It didn’t occur to her until the wee hours of the morning, as she was about to drift off in Oz’s arms, sated, happier than she could ever recall feeling, that she hadn’t reached out to Vic like she’d promised.

Tomorrow. She’d call him tomorrow.