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Her camera pointed at every direction at once. She reminds me of Benji that way, always
observing the world through the lens. The eternal observer. The overseer of all things
chaos.
I ve been meaning to retrieve Benji s camera from my father s hovel. That is if it s still
there, if it hasn t been lifted by Jeff the boarder and pawned for cash rolled into a blunt,
gone up in smoke like my brother. Ben mentioned he left it at Pop s somewhere in the
middle closet while hanging out there for a few nights. He also mentioned it might be at
Olivia s, and, if that s the case, it s a lost cause. Olivia will probably want cash for it, but
that s just because she s Olivia. She s a taker in every capacity. It doesn t surprise me
anymore. Or at least it shouldn t.
The lyrics stream out of my mouth on autopilot, but I can t take my eyes off Annie.
She s beautiful on a daily basis but tonight she s a vixen, and my entire body is begging
for one more hit of what we shared earlier this week. She s wearing tiny black cat ears, a
tight black top, and matching jeans, a long furry tail and kitten heels to complete the
look. I can see the whiskers painted on her cheeks from here, and that delicious pink
mouth I want to cover with mine. Annie is no girl, she s all woman, and I m dying to make
her mine, pin her to my wax board with my body. I can t help it. I don t give a shit if her
brothers are in the room. If they re loading their sawed off shotguns while I sing every
song of the night directly to her.
The last set begins as it nears midnight.
The crowd pushes against the stage. Girls wearing not much more than lingerie hop
up next to me, gyrating what their mama s gave them, grinding their hips into my legs.
Where the hell is security? At the very least, the Edwards brothers should pluck them off
with an oversized net. The slutty cop, the sexed-up schoolgirl, and an entire slew of half-
dressed princesses dangle from my limbs.
It s hotter than an inferno up here, and, when the guitar solo hits, I rip off my T-shirt
just to keep from passing out. The room explodes with riotous approval. I swear I can see
Annie blush from here. I ve been working on a song all for her. It s not ready yet, and I
want to get it just right before I belt it out at the Black Bear.
Johanna, the traffic-stopping anaconda climbs the stage and glues herself to the left
side of my body. Try as I might to evict her, she s riding my thigh like a mechanical horse.
I look to Holt and flick a finger in the air for him to get this shit under control before I
have to stop the set and do it myself.
I shoot a glance to Annie, and the joy from her face is drained at the sight. Annie isn t
the jealous type, but I got it out of that French interpreter of hers that it was this girl
right here that sent Annie flying that day she hurt her shoulder. Thank God Annie is fine,
but I don t take lightly to someone hurting my girl. I hop off the stage leaving the blonde
baffled by my move. I make my way through the crowd still wailing into the mike without
missing a beat. I flick my fingers at Annie, and she shakes her head, petrified. I can t help
but laugh a little right through the lyrics.
Come here, Annie. I want to dance with you. I pull her down from her perch, and
she hands her camera to Baya. The song has about a minute left, and I let it wrap up as
an instrumental with Annie swaying softly in my arms. Her eyes lock with mine as I put
the mike to my lips. I love you, babe. I hold up my hand the way she taught me,
shorthand for I love you and smile at, Annie, the most beautiful woman in the room.
The room dissolves in a round of celebratory praise, but fireworks detonate in my
heart because I do believe that was my first public proclamation for the girl who already
holds the title as love of my life.
And then I kiss her. It s an inadvertent F.U. to her brothers on their home turf, but, in
all fairness, this is her home turf, too. I want the entire world to know that I choose Annie
that I love her.
Annie buries her face in my neck a moment before coming up for air.
I love you, too, she mouths.
The DJ takes over as the band packs up. This is usually the part where I pitch in, but I
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