Limbo

ASHLEY:

March, 2013

Standing behind the curtain, I scan the crowd that has started to gather in front of the stage. It looks like we're gonna have a packed house tonight, and I've already seen several prospective "post-show companions", but I think I'm gonna look around a bit more before I make a decision.

"Scoping out the talent, I see," Yanni's voice says from behind me. "I guess you've lucked out on this tour, being the only single guy. Now you don't have to worry about anybody else going for whichever girl you want to take back to the bus."

"True, and since they all have their chicks here tonight, it should also cut down on the chances of said girl going after one of them," I agree.

Turning toward him, I see Andy and Juliet coming across the stage, with Jinxx and his new girlfriend, Alice, not far behind. There's no sign of CC, Jake, and their girls, so I'm hazarding a guess that they've decided to get in some "personal time" before the show.

Andy comes up beside me, and peeks through the gap in the curtain. "So, which one have you picked? The freakishly overinflated blonde with the Spice Girl shoes, or the brunette with the blue streaks who's doing her best to have a wardrobe malfunction?"

"I haven't made up my mind yet," I inform him. "There's still almost an hour before the lights go down, so there may be some late arrivals."

Jinxx rolls his eyes at me as he and Alice approach, and he opens his mouth to say something. But before he can, my phone goes off, and I pull it out, to see that I've just gotten a text from our merch guy, Jesse. I bring up the message, and see:

"Dude, get over here ASA=Fuckin'-P! There's something you're definitely going to want to see!"

I look curiously at the others, but everyone shakes their head or shrugs, looking confused. "Not a clue, man," Yanni informs me. "Haven't been over there for the last half-hour or so."

"Well, I guess I should go see what he thinks is so important, then," I decide, and start toward the merch stand, with everyone else following close behind. When we get there, I see Jesse standing at the end of one of the tables, looking rather intently toward the doors that lead to the restrooms. I move up beside him, and inquire, "Okay, what's the big deal, dude?"

He turns to look at me, and replies, "A couple of girls stopped and bought shirts a few minutes ago, and I guarantee that one of them will definitely get your attention.They went into the ladies right after they paid for the shirts, and they haven't come out yet"

We all turn our attention to the doors, and just a few seconds later, an attractive brunette steps out, in one of our shirts, and Jinxx says, "Yeah, she's cute, but I don't see anything really unique about her, Jess."

"No, that's the friend, the one I'm talking about hasn't come out yet."

As he says this, the brunette sticks her head back into the ladies room and yells, "C'mon, Rach! Hurry up, everybody's gonna think we got lost!" She steps back from the door, and someone else walks out. And when she does, I know why Jesse called me.

This is, without question, one of the most beautiful women I've ever set eyes on, I can already feel myself starting to get hard. She's fairly tall, maybe five-eight or so, wearing steel-capped black leather cowboy boots, faded Daisy Dukes, and a BVB tank over an amazing body: incredible rack, slender waist running down into a perfect ass, and, to quote Steven Tyler, "more legs than a bucket of chicken". And this is topped off with a gorgeous, full-lipped, high-cheekboned, heart shaped face, under a waterfall of wavy, pale-red hair, almost the color of rose gold, that spills down her back and stops just above the swell of her ass. Oh yeah, I've definitely made up my mind now.

I walk toward the girls, veering in the redhead's direction as I get closer, which seems to puzzle her a bit. "Hey there, I'm Ashley," I say, offering her a smile. "What's your name?"

She raises her head to look at me,and I see that her eyes are an unusual amber-gold color, framed with long, thick lashes."Yeah, I know who you are," she responds. "I'm Rachel, and this is Mandy."

"Well, it's very nice to meet you, ladies," I say. "Tell me, Mandy, would you mind terribly if I borrowed your friend for a bit after the show, to get a bit better acquainted? Assuming that she's willing, of course."

"Hey, you're tossing that line of inquiry at the wrong fish, dude!" Mandy retorts. "Totally not my decision."

I turn my attention back to Rachel, and softly ask her, "Well, what do you say? I'll be honest and tell you that you are one of the most gorgeous women I've ever seen, and I'd really like to have the chance to get to know you better. So is there any chance that you might consider accepting a backstage pass, and maybe coming back to the bus to hang out for awhile later?"

She doesn't answer for several seconds, and almost seems to be studying me, before she gives me a small smile and holds up her hand, where I see the one thing I didn't notice before; a thin gold band on her left ring finger. Fuck! The hottest chick I've seen in months, and she has to be married!

"I guess I should be flattered, since I know that you guys basically have your pick of women, but I don't think my husband would be too enthused if I ditched him to party on your tour bus," she tells me. "So thank you for the compliment, but no thank you to your offer."

As she finishes, two guys and a younger girl walk up to join us. The girl resembles Mandy, so I'm guessing they're sisters, or maybe cousins, and a rather muscular Native American guy drapes an arm over Mandy's shoulders. The other guy, who is about my height, with shoulder length sandy-brown hair, slips his arm around Rachel's waist, and I feel my face start flaming. "Hey, I'm sorry, I didn't notice the ring," I inform them. "I didn't mean to offend anybody, I just..." I give up and let my sentence just trail off, because I'm not sure what else I can say without looking like a bigger idiot than I already do.

Surprisingly, he grins at me, and says, "No hard feelings, man. She is gorgeous, and I guess I can't fault you for asking, since you're not being a dick about it, and you know how to take no for an answer. It's not like either of them have a neon sign that says 'Taken' blinking over their heads."

Andy, Jinxx, and the others have moved closer, probably because they were expecting things to get ugly, and they decide to introduce themselves and the girls, presumably to break up the tension. Rachel's husband introduces himself as Sawyer, and Mandy's boyfriend and sister as Ed and Paige. He then gives us sort of a questioning look, and says, "Under the circumstances, this might be sort of weird, but could I ask you guys a favor? Is there a chance we could get a picture with you? This show is actually Rachel's birthday gift, and it'd be cool if we could have something to remember it with."

"Oh, today is your birthday?" Alice asks Rachel.

"Yesterday, actually," she replies. "But it's close enough for this to be a great gift."

"Which birthday, if you don't mind us asking?" Andy chimes in.

"It's her twentieth," Sawyer answers.

Then Yanni jumps into the conversation and says, "Hey guys, Jon just sent me a text. The opening band goes on in fifteen minutes, so if you wanna do pictures, you need to get on it, so they can get to their seats, and you guys can get backstage before somebody figures out that you're out here. Frankly, I'm surprised we haven't already been swarmed."

So the three of us pose for a few quick pictures with the group, then they thank us and head into the arena to find their seats, while we start making our way back to the dressing room.

Jinxx claps me on the shoulder and says, "Sorry that didn't work out for you, bro. I guess you'll have to come up with a backup plan now."

"Right now, I'm just gonna worry about the show," I tell him. "After that, I don't know. I don't want to sound like a total jerk, but right now going to the bus with somebody else just kind of seems like settling for Boone's Farm when you had your heart set on champagne."

As we walk into the room, she flashes through my mind again, and it becomes painfully obvious that I'm gonna have to pick someone up at the meet and greet. But no matter who I take back to my bunk tonight,I know I'll be picturing Rachel.

NOTE: I know there's not a lot of action in this chapter, but it leads into one of the major events of the book, so the next chapter will be MUCH more exciting, I promise. After today, I'll most likely be doing new chapters on Saturdays, so I'll see y'all this weekend, I hope!

Notes