You were born knowing

That were you loved.

You were born knowing

That you were adored.

You were born knowing

That you would be cared for.

And in that moment,

Her dreams came true,

Because…she…was loved by…you.

My voice goes quiet and I wait. The audience blinks at me and then they start to clap. A few women at the front wipe their eyes and someone else proposes marriage.

I pull a felt-tip pen out of my pocket and hold it over the guitar, silently asking the owner with my eyes if he’d like for me to sign it. He pumps his fist and shouts, “Hell yes!” So I sign it with a flourish. I stuff my Sharpie back in my jeans pocket and hand him his guitar.

He tries to hug me, but Jason gets between us. The guitar owner holds up his hands like he’s surrendering to the cops.

Jason leads me off the stage and we walk back to the bar, I can’t stay here now that everyone knows who I am. I’m aware of it, and so is Jason. He’s hyper-aware of it, if the way he’s clutching my arm is any indication. “We need to get out of here,” he says.

And that is when things go ridiculously bad.

Tag

I stand with my foot against the wall and cross my arms in front of my chest. God, she’s beautiful. Music comes out of her mouth and straight from her fingertips into the guitar and it’s like it’s shooting directly from her soul into mine.

She sings of babies. And babies should be laughter and light and goodness, but what I don’t think most people realize is that she’s singing about loss. She’s singing about her own life, and all the things she missed.

My gut clenches at the look on her face.

I left my own son at home with my sister Wren. He’s only a few days old, but Wren wanted to sit and hold him, so she asked me to come and check on Fin at the bar. Honestly, I smell a set-up, but it’s a trap I’d give just about anything to fall into.

Finny signs the guitar with a flourish, and I wait for her to clear the stage.

I see the crowd of people surround them, and I watch Jason as he tries to get between them and her. But he’s only one man.

I guess when you’re a famous rock star this happens, but I never expected it to happen quite so fast. I push my way into the crowd, and Jason sees me and yells, “Get on her other side!”

I nod and shove through the throng. Finny curses as someone grabs the arm of her shirt and rips. I see the flash of her pink bra as the seams render, and my vision goes hazy with rage.

I spin the guy who just tried to strip her down to face me and punch him in the throat. He goes down like a stone, so I step over him and go for another. I take a sudden punch to my own jaw that makes my teeth snap together, and then I see that it’s a woman. I can’t hit a woman.

The club owner and his security are trying to help too, and they push the rest of the crowd back. Fin is on the floor, and I realize that I’m lying on top of her.

“Umm,” she says, “Tag…”

“What?” I can barely get my breath, much less speak.

“You’re kind of squishing me.”

I lift myself up on my elbows and look down at her face. “Sorry.”

Then I realize how we’re lying. Her legs are spread, and I’m resting between them.

“Shit,” I say. “Sorry.” I scramble to get off of her.

She laughs and pulls me back down. “I kind of liked it,” she says with a giggle.

Heat creeps up my face as my dick gets hard. Crap. Didn’t mean for that to happen.

“Well, you do like me,” she says close to my ear. She laughs. “I thought you were immune to me by now.”

I’ll never be immune to this woman. “Stop it.”

She laughs. “I’m not the one pressing his dick into my soft parts, Tag,” she says.

This time, I do scramble to get up. Her eyes linger on my dick. “Impressive,” she murmurs. I hold out a hand to her and she takes it. I pull her up to stand beside me. She’s so tiny that she barely comes up to my shoulder.

I reach over to adjust her shirt, but it’s ripped all the way to her neckline. You can see her bra. I reach over my head and pull my shirt off the way guys do, ruck it up in my fingers, and slip it over her head.

“Thanks,” she says. She lifts the neck of my shirt to her nose and takes a deep breath. “You smell really good.” Suddenly, she looks around. “Where’s Jason?”

She searches frantically until she finds him lying on the floor. She rushes over to him. “What happened?” she cries.

“I think that fucker broke my wrist,” he says as he clutches his arm to his chest. He winces and she sinks down beside him.

“I’m so sorry,” I hear her say.

“It’s not your fault he was an asshole.” He lays his head back against the wall and winces. “I think I need to go to the hospital.”

She nods and helps him get up. “Should I call Norma?”

He nods. “If we don’t, she’ll never let me live it down. I’ll be sleeping on the couch for a month.”

Fin pulls his phone out of his pocket and gives him shit about finally getting to be close to his dick. He growls at her playfully, and ruffles her hair with his good hand.

By the time we get outside, Norma is there waiting at the curb with the car. “I can drive,” Jason says.

“Get in the fucking car, Jason,” Norma says as she holds the door open. She kisses Fin quickly and looks at me like she’s wondering who I am and why I’m shirtless. She jerks a thumb toward me. “He’s hot, Finny,” she says. “Nice catch.”