“So where are you from?” Melanie asked.
Madison was glad that Melanie had switched the direction of their conversation to small talk. She’d wanted her weekend with Adam to help her forget about her problems, not add more of them. And as far as problems went, Lindsey’s condition was a whopper. With cheese.
And extra bacon.
Chapter Six
Adam closed his eyes briefly as the full brightness of the stage lights hit him in the face. The crowd roared as his fingers raced along steel guitar strings. There were only two places he knew he belonged—on stage with his four faithful friends and in Madison’s arms.
When the intricate guitar work of the intro segued into the more repetitive riff of the first verse¸ Adam glanced to where Madison stood in the wings. Even though she was watching the performance, he couldn’t help but notice her preoccupation. He knew she had a lot on her mind, but he hoped she’d let it go for a while and enjoy herself. He had every intention of having a blast tonight—both during the concert and afterward. If he couldn’t capture her attention with his guitar playing, he was sure he could find a way to keep her distracted from real life when they were alone in his hotel room. But until then, he’d do his damnedest to put a smile on her face.
When the first song ended and while Jacob waited for the crowd to quiet enough so he could start his typical banal greetings, Adam dashed offstage, took Madison’s hand, twirled her around until she giggled, patted her on the butt, and then raced back to stand next to Jacob.
“It’s a little known fact that Adam started as a blues guitarist,” Jacob said into his mic, his eyes concealed by his trademark shades.
Actually, Adam’s beginnings in blues had once been a little-known fact. But seeing as Jacob shared the same fact every time they toured the South, it was now a rather well-known fact. Especially in New Orleans.
“It’s true,” Adam said, playing a string of notes that sounded more metal than blues. The entire reason he’d given up and switched to metal was because every genre he attempted sounded metal under his fingers. “I was never very good at it, though.”
“He even tried country for a while,” Owen said.
“Well, I am from Texas,” Adam reminded him, playing a country riff that also sounded very metal. He laughed at his lack of skill. “Apparently from the metal part of Texas.”
The crowd really got behind this idea, cheering for their preferred genre of music.
“Cuff’s better at country than I am,” Adam teased Kellen, who promptly played the intro to a well-known banjo tune.
Adam mimicked the notes and, as expected, the backwoods banjo music sounded like incredibly distorted, loud and heavy guitar when he played it. “I’m sorry,” Adam said with a grin. “No matter how hard I try, I can’t seem to play anything but metal.”
The audience cheered, not minding his lack of range.
“Then you’ve come to the right stage,” Jacob said, and he lifted his hand to signal Gabe to start the opening drum progression of the next song.
Adam entered the song with a rapid string of notes, carrying the final in the series with a loud wail. Jacob caught on to Adam’s enthusiasm, hamming it up for the crowd with even more gusto than usual. Kellen seemed more concerned with playing every note perfectly—probably because he was trying to impress his composer guest—but it was Owen who was behaving completely out of character. Usually the life of the party, he kept to the back of the stage and played his bass lines with an air of glumness. It wasn’t as if bass riffs were ever particularly cheerful, but if Owen kept playing them like that, they’d all be suicidal by the end of the evening.
Adam snuck up behind him and did his best impression of twerking to rub the strings of his guitar against Owen’s wireless receiver and produce a hideous cacophony. From the front, Adam was sure it looked like he was dry humping his bassist’s ass, but it was worth the hilarity that ensued as Owen stumbled forward several steps in absolute shock and then burst out laughing when he saw who was assaulting him.
“Are you high?” he asked, and then his face fell when he seemed to think he’d discovered the truth.
“On life!” Adam shouted and climbed up on the platform supporting Gabe’s drum kit so he could clang a symbol with his guitar stock.
“I don’t know what’s in the water down here,” Jacob said at the end of the song, “but it apparently makes Adam feel real good.”
Adam pointed at Madison, who was gaping at him from her position at the side of the stage, and then hopped off the drum platform to join Jacob.
“I do feel good,” Adam said. “How do you all feel tonight?” he asked the audience.
They cheered enthusiastically.
“Well, I for one,” Jacob said, “am feeling a little twisted.”
Which was Adam’s cue to start the intro to one of their most popular songs. He briefly wondered if he’d ever write anything as good as “Twisted” in the future or if he’d peaked early and his career was all downhill from here. He shoved the thought aside as he gave his all to the fret board. He’d worry about the future later. Or never. Never sounded like a better plan.
When the stadium lights went up after the encore, Adam tossed his guitar to a waiting roadie and headed directly for Madison. After stealing a lingering kiss, he scooped her off her feet and tossed her over his shoulder, one hand under her skirt and resting securely on her bare thigh. He spun on his heel and trotted down the steps.
“You’re crazy!” she accused with a laugh as he carried her down a corridor toward the exit.
“Oh no, gust of wind,” he said, flipping her skirt up. Not high enough for anyone to see she wasn’t wearing panties, but still she slapped a hand over her butt, laughing and squirming on his shoulder.
“Stop it! Have you lost your mind?” she asked.
Quite possibly. He had an entire weekend free to enjoy Madison’s company, and he wasn’t going to allow stupid crap like responsibility and worry and reality put a damper on his enthusiasm.
As the rest of the band were heading out of town for the weekend, Adam was doubly glad he’d rented the motorcycle for personal use. That way he didn’t have to wait for the rest of the guys to get their shit together. He was more than eager to get Madison back to the hotel and spend time together. He had plenty of teasing in store, but he also just liked to be around her. She made him happy to be alive. He couldn’t say that about any other person on the planet.