"Let me introduce you guys to some very important people to me: my band."
Hunter rattled about nonsense on the stage while Beth watched from behind the curtain. So far, everything had gone smoothly. The microphones all worked, there was plenty of water to go around, the sealant they'd used on the stage to make it look shiny hadn't been too slippery for the sweat-drenched band members. She'd even managed to figure out the ropes in the back! She smiled to her herself as she heard the voice of a worker through her headpiece.
"Beth, you there?"
Benny, the sound man she'd met earlier when they'd been checking the mics, called to her through the tiny earpiece Ned had given her.
"Yeah, Ben, what's up?"
"It's Benny. Not Ben. Anyway, where are you? We're waiting for you to drop the screen!"
Bethany gasped. How had she forgotten! No wonder Hunter was still talking to the crowd! Dang it, dang it, DANG it! She chastised herself, rushing towards the back. Where was Darryl? He was supposed to be in charge of the ropes! He'd been doing this longer than she had; he should know how it worked!
When she reached the line of ropes in the back and spotted Darryl lounging with a bottle of water in his hand, she glared at him.
"Darryl!" she spit, rushing over to pull the rope down herself. "Why didn't you pull the rope?"
Darryl shrugged. "You didn't give me the signal."
Bethany wanted to scream. How dare he? She was new to this! He was supposed to be helping her, not loafing around!
She tied off the rope in the proper position, and sighed in relief when she heard the music pick up on the stage.
"You better not let that happen again, Darryl. You know when you're supposed to drop the ropes, so do it! Unless I tell you not to, you do as you are used to doing, okay? You got that?"
Darryl shrugged again, and put on a lecherous smile. "Sure, thing, Mama. Whatever you want."
Bethany rolled her eyes and began to storm away, but she was caught around the waist by a strong, brown arm. "Darryl, what are you doing?" She wrestled with him, wanting to scream, but knowing she had to be quiet for the sake of the show that was going on.
"How about you and me go out tonight after the show, eh, girl? Wouldn't that be nice?"
She continued to struggle. "No, Darryl, it would NOT be nice!" Finally she broke loose, and she had to straighten her earpiece and her clothes. God, this guy was a creep! She would have to stay away from him! "I won't go out with you. Not ever, Darryl. Just do your job and leave me alone."
Darryl shrugged, but winked before she turned and went back to her place by the stage.
Ugh, she thought, I'm going to need a really long shower tonight. She sighed. It would be interesting, this first night living with a bunch of guys. Sleeping on a moving bus. Sleeping with him around. How weird was that going to be?
"Beth, come to the sound room, I need to ask you something," Benny said through the mic.
And just like that, her moment of thought was lost.
***************************************************************************************
"She rolled in from the west in a summer sun dress, hotter than the heat in July," he sang, trying to keep up with the music. He smiled and sang, his earpiece vibrating with every note. God, he loved the feeling of being on stage.
Something was different about it tonight, though, and he couldn't put his finger on what it was. It wasn't the crowd; if anything, the crowd was bigger and more enthusiastic than ever! It wasn't the set; Bethany had done a great job of getting everything in order. She was doing better on her first day than Brett had done in his whole career here!
So what was it? Was it the new guitar he was using, or the fact that the piano had lost one of its keys (thankfully not one they needed)? No, it couldn't be those things. Those things couldn't account for the absolutely blissful feeling he was getting right now, even more so than usual.
His eyes slid to the side and caught Bethany standing there with her clipboard, jotting down notes and shaking her head. Her pale pink dress clung to her skin, and the shade was so perfect for her that it was hard not to notice. Her eyes were chocolate brown and twinkling when she'd looked at him this morning, and her hair...
"With her wind-blown hair, it just wasn't fair: the way she was blowing my mind."
Where had she come from? Why had Ned just hired her like that? He could see she was very good at the job, but still. With no interview, no trial period, nothing? She was a mystery, that was for sure.
He looked back at the crowd, being careful not to stare. She was very beautiful, though, Bethany was. And from what he'd seen this afternoon, she was funny and charming as well. The boys had all seemed to like her well enough.
The only problem was that Bethany had barely looked at him all day. He didn't know what he'd done to offend her, or if she had some kind of problem with him, but he found himself wondering if there was a way he could fix it.
He looked back over and saw that she was no longer where he'd last seen her. Oh well, he thought, playing out the end of the song and jumping up and down with the last chords, I'll see plenty of her in the days to come.
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Secret Love (Hunter Hayes Fanfiction)
Romance"I'm falling for someone who isn't falling for me." "I know exactly how you feel," he answered, leaning down and hugging her tightly. "Do you?" She hugged him back, willing him to know just how much she cared for him. He chuckled. "Yeah, I do." H...
