Swallow

Chapter 1.27:

"There you two are. Are you guys ready to go find a spot?" JD yelled excitedly as I held onto Riley's hands a second longer before reluctantly letting her go.

She walked around my body to stand right in front of me. As much as I enjoyed having her touch me, standing behind her was a better idea because of the skirt. There was a good chance that someone would try to sneak up on her from behind to see what was underneath. I had been to a ton of concerts and had seen it happen way too often.

There was always a strange, blurred line between music, violence, and sex at these events. It was always like the veils between the three lifted for a few hours as everyone let their hidden animalistic urges out.

"Let's go!" Anna made an annoying snort noise that sounded like a dying pig.

Apparently, Anna's inner animal was from a farm. It suited her personality.

"Girls, stay close." JD looked around and furrowed his brow. My eyes followed his around the room. The male-dominated energy permeating the air was impenetrable. There were already too many eyes watching every move the two girls made.

Including the beady ones attached to that asshole who called out to Riley earlier.

What was he doing still watching her? Was he following her?

There was something about that guy that raised the hair on the back of my neck. I shifted over to the side to block his view of her.

JD started migrating to the floor to find a spot for us to watch the concert from. The guys lined up in formation, surrounding the girls like we had rehearsed it beforehand. Anna ended up sandwiched between Mark and JD, which left Aiden crowding Riley at her front. I fell in line behind her and closed the gap quickly so no one could get between us.

Aiden glanced back at me to make sure I was still there. His eyes flickered down to Riley to make sure I was on the same page. I nodded back to let him know I wasn't going to move. Aiden and I might not be on the best terms right now, but we had a common goal.

Keeping Riley safe was more important than our little pissing match.

JD found a decent spot for us to settle, about halfway between the bar and the stage. Riley stepped up a little, which gave Aiden and me the ability to position behind her on both sides. JD pulled Anna in front of him and wrapped his arms around her as Mark boxed her in from the outside.

As the crowd started closing in tighter around us, I started realizing how hard of a task watching Riley was going to be. I could barely move my arms more than a few inches. To top it off, there was also a group of high schoolers in front of us who were high as a kite. They kept spazing out, acting like they had never been stoned before. Riley had to keep inching back towards me so she didn't get hit.

When Camo began walking on stage, the whole audience roared to life, including the little fireball standing in front of me. She bounced on the balls of her feet and looked excited to be here tonight. I smiled down knowing that I was the one able to do this for her.

The bald guy who fronted the band let out a scream directly into the microphone and the whole room flipped the fucking crazy switch. The crowd of guys in front of us began moshing even before the first note was played.

Riley was shoved back into my body and I grabbed the only thing I could get to, which was her elbow. It was enough to keep her on her feet so she didn't get trampled.

Aiden darted from my side and ran over to JD and Mark, who were struggling to keep Anna with them. JD lifted her off her feet to pull her to the opposite side of the bar. Mark and Aiden were pushing at the swirling bodies as they fought to get her out of harm's way.