Page 74 of Tone Deaf

Dom and Pen reach my side. “What did he say to you?” Dom asks.

“He said he knows me—or us, I’m not sure.”

“Don’t worry, we’ll take care of it and make sure he doesn’t come near the band,” Dom adds.

“They should have better security around the tent where the groups hang out.” Pen frowns. Then they each firmly place a hand against my lower back.

I roll my eyes at their not-so-subtle possessive move.

“It’s time, boys,” Dante announces, clapping their hands. “Are you ready?”

“We are ready,” Danny throws out, high-fiving each of us. His enthusiasm is catching and by the time we get on stage, the fans have caught it too and are screaming and chantingWarrior Black.

We play a mix of some of our earlier songs and some from the current album, and then Danny tells them we have a surprise for them.

We all agreed we’d give our fans at Rocktoberfest a hint of what’s to come, and picked three songs from the new album that’s due out next spring. One of them is the song I wrote at Tobias’s lake house, which I calledThree Times the Love.The second is one Danny and Connor wrote, and the third is one Bobby wrote a while ago calledAddiction.

All three songs end up being smashing successes, and an encore later, we come off the stage, sweat slicked, hungry and, I have to admit, damn horny. Especially after Danny let me sing my song, and I had Pen and Dom’s full attention.

They know the song is for them—they heard it while we were recording it in the studio. But I also explained what the song is about to the audience tonight. So now the world knows about us and our love.

The thunderous exhale of the crowd—their acceptance lifting me higher in this world of music, friends, and the two loves of my life.

As I climb off the stage, I see Raef looking around. Then his attention lands on Lyric, who’s all kinds of red. I don’t know, but I have a feeling the next whirlwind coming at us is already here.

The End