The drummer, Dane, was hand in hand with his wife, Fallon, and I totally melted on the spot. Their story was one for the ages, and I couldn’t help but be completely infatuated with them and how much they loved each other. Fallon Dunbar and Dane Pearson ranked up there on my celebrity couple list as high as Hugh Jackman and Deborra-Lee Furness—they were just couples you rooted for to beat theodds.
I was so stoked to be working an event where I would finally get to see The Hysterics live for the first time. It was a damn dream cometrue.
“I hope they playThe Lifespan of a Firefly,” Sean whispered as we both watched them walk only a few feet away fromus.
“No way!” I punched him in theshoulder.
Taking a step back, he gave me a bewildered look. “What the hell?” he asked while rubbing the spot I’d justhit.
“How did I not know you’re a fan too?” I started to let a little of my crazy loose as I bounced inplace.
Sean gave me a small crooked grin. “I’ve been following them since that concert where Dane broke his hand on that douche Kenneth Rhodes’ face and Fallon had to play forhim.”
I squealed a little. “That was freaking epic! I remember reading about that on Raging Underground’s site the nextmorning.”
“Yeah, I was actually there that night. Gavin had a game in Chicago and the night after, we went to that show. It was pretty incredible. Fallon is a seriously talented drummer, and I couldn’t believe she outed herself likethat.”
I bit the inside of my cheek to try to stop the goofy grin that was taking over my entireface.
“What?” Seanasked.
“You’re just something else, Whistler. I’m really glad we’repartners.”
He gently tapped me on the shoulder, almost like he was going to hug me, but then changed his mind. “I’m glad we’re friends.” His broad chest puffed out as he sucked in a deep breath. “Now, enough of this sappy bestie shit. We have a job todo.”
* * *
Most of ournight was spent keeping drunken concertgoers from becoming a drunk and disorderly mob. It was an exasperating job, to say the least, but I hadn’t had so much fun working in a while. Right after Three Ugly Guys played their encore, The Hysterics took the stage, opening with Sean’s and my favorite song. I swayed to the music as I sang every word of the chorus tomyself.
It’s a dull kind of pain that just sits in my heart and weighs medown
And you’re the only one who can fixit
It burns and erupts at the worsttimes
Stinging old wounds that have already been lickedclean
Right when headway is made, the darkness crashesagain
Closing in on mystarlight
Little flicks of magic extinguished one byone
The firefly’s lifespan gets tested over andover
Thankfully, she is inked into existencefor alleternity
As the songcame to an end, someone crashed right into me, tumbling down at my feet. As he clambered to stand, I spun around on my heels. Suddenly, I was face to chest with the same guy from the bar and the mall—Vinnie.
“We have to stop meeting like this—and lookie there, you actually are a lady cop, prettiest one I have ever seen. Definitely no man hands there.” Vinnie’s words slurred together as he rambled, and I could see Sean going into defensivemode.
“How much have you had to drink tonight, sir?” Sean’s chest puffed out and I could tell he was about to get in Vinnie’sface.
Vinnie threw his hands in the air as I stepped between them. “Sean, this is Vinnie. He was one of the guys in the fight the other night at the bar, and then Myla and I ran into him at the mall a few dayslater.”
Sean growled in my ear. “You can’t let punks like this think we’re their friends when they act like fuckingruffians.”
“Ruffians? What has your panties in a twist, Whistler?” Sean getting so flustered over us running into this guy was completely out of character. Usually, he was the first one to jump in with a witty comment or perfect littlejab.