red hot | grayson dolan

nine

GRAYSON

I can feel the aggressive thumping of my heart against my chest. As the four of us rush off the stage, and Landon throws his guitar pick into the crowd, we are instructed to go straight to our car. We have a cab waiting for us behind the building.

Due to the high demand, and large crowd of people, they can't risk having us hang around backstage. It's only night one of the three Whisky A Go Go shows, and that was electrifying. My lungs feel like they're going to collapse inside my chest.

"That was insane!" Ethan screams while placing his hands on my shoulders.

"I can't believe that crowd. They had amazing energy." Landon agrees while exhaling a deep breath.

"And that's just night one. Can you imagine tomorrow night? Or Sunday night?" Austin shakes his head in disbelief.

The security guards are tossing water bottles our way as they rush us down the back hallway. Once we head outside, a group of girls are already waiting for us.

"Oh my god! Austin!" One of them yells.

"Ethan, you rocked tonight!" Another girl screams.

"Landon! Over here!" We hear in the distance. The chants are getting overwhelming.

"Grayson, can you sign my shirt?!"

A black sharpie gets handed to me, so I quickly walk over to the girl and scribble my signature onto the center of her white tank top.

"Thanks for coming to the show." I say with a wide smile.

"Of course." She stutters while staring at me.

"Get home safely, guys." Landon waves after stopping to talk to one of the fans.

"See you all tomorrow." Austin winks before being ushered into the taxi.

I slide into the backseat and get squished between Austin and Landon. Ethan already hopped into the passenger seat before we could debate over it. Once the driver pulls us away from the curb, I let out a breath.

"That was fucking epic!" Ethan throws his fist up and turns to face us. "Did you see how many groupies there were?"

"We're well known with the female population, it's a good thing." Austin pulls a pack of cigarettes out of his pocket and places one into his mouth.

"That was chaotic." I finally speak, glancing at Landon.

"I could definitely get used to it." Austin says while lighting his cigarette.

"After these three shows, we need to book well-known bars. We can obviously draw in a crowd." Landon says while glancing out the window.

"I've been thinking of lyrics to a new song." Austin says, which surprises me. Landon and I usually write most of the music.

"We'll have a band meeting tomorrow." I announce and sit back in the seat.

"Yeah, it's party time now." Ethan says from the front of the car.

"It's supposed to be a small gathering." I clench my jaw.

"It is, we just invited a few girls over." Austin states while blowing smoke out of his mouth.

"Define a few." Landon scoffs.

"I don't know, a few." Austin helplessly shrugs.

I cross my arms over my chest and think back to Avery in the crowd tonight. She looked amazing in her blue outfit, it was very different from the polka dot dress. I hope she decides to stop by my apartment tonight. My mind always goes to her at the most random times.