I spent the next hour and a half wasting time at the bar, getting reacquainted with the three wisest men known to mankind- Johnnie, Jim, and Jack. Levi was a master at making the three of them get along. In his effort to impress, he chose a special blend of Jack that left a honey aftertaste that lingered on my tongue. The mix of the burning sweetness made the three of them go down so much smoother.

It was by far the best drink on the menu tonight.

My fear burdened head had been terrorizing me since I sat down on the wobbly stool. I kept turning back towards the door to watch the entrance to make sure Riley didn't sneak in without me knowing. Once she got here, she would have every guy in the bar's attention the second she walked through the door.  I needed to let them know right away that she was off-limits. With the show going on, I wouldn't have the ability to chase her around tonight to fight anyone who tried to make a pass at her. She would be on her own and I that idea made me physically ill.

I wondered if the anyone would notice if I brought her on stage with me. She was small and wouldn't take up much space. I could hide her behind one of the amps. JD would be thanking me for doing it since she wouldn't be out in the middle of the crowd, surrounded by horny men. No one could ogle her perfectly curvy body if they couldn't see her.

A few random people trickled in from the small hallway, but none of them were the sexy little blond I had been losing my mind over. I let out a long string of curses and turned to the bar to wave Levi down for a refill. He walked over immediately and grabbed a clean, full-sized glass from behind the counter. Levi was well aware of my expert drinking skill level and knew a regular shot wouldn't be enough for me.

"You a little anxious tonight? You seem more wound up than normal." Levi commented as he poured the liquor bottles into the glass using both hands.

"You could say that." I drummed on the bar in anticipation as I watched him fill the glass up. My mouth felt extremely dry and I was in desperate need to quench my thirst.

Levi placed the two bottles back down behind the bar and grabbed the third one to top off the drink. As soon as the liquid began flowing, the smell of honey rose up to tempt me. Levi slid the glass in front of me after the third wheel was added into the mix and nodded at it with a smile.

"Thanks." I waved him off and picked up the glass. I downed the drink so quickly that I didn't even taste it.

I swiveled my body back around to watch the entrance again with a frown on my face. More people were walking in, but none of them were who I was looking for.

Where the hell was Riley? It was getting late and she should have been here by now. I was so fucking irritated with her.

My phone was still silent in my pocket. I pulled it out to make sure it was turned on and the ringer was turned up so I had a chance to hear it over the bar noise. I glared at the screen when no notifications popped up. I even opened my messages to see if I accidentally shot down a text saying she was running late.

There was nothing.

What was she doing that was more important than being here with me? Was she with some other guy right now?

I hated the silence. It was making me even more paranoid than I was naturally.

I glanced at the clock before pushing my phone back into my pocket. The band was scheduled to play in a little over an hour and a half. I needed Riley to hurry up and get here so I could start thinking straight and focus on playing. The only way that would happen was if I could blow off a little steam with her before the show. We could sneak off to my car or the bathroom for a dirty little rendezvous. It really didn't matter where we went as long as it happened soon.

Being with Riley before the show was the only thing that would get me through the night and we were running out of time.

"You good?" Levi asked, circling me like a vulture. The bar was still not very full yet and he was bored. I must have looked even more desperate than I imagined if he kept trying to pull a conversation from me.

I fiddled with my eyebrow rings and stared at the door again. If I pretended like I didn't hear Levi, he would probably just go away and move on to the next pathetic soul looking for an ear to spill all their juicy gossip to.

"Earth to Ezra? Are you still in there? Do I need to cut you off?" Levi chuckled, not catching the hint when I didn't answer him right away.

"No, I'm good. I'm just waiting for someone. " I turned around and pushed the drink glass back to him to signal for another one.

"You get stood up?" Levi asked as he pulled the bottles back out and mimicked his movements from earlier.

I bit back my urge to smash a bottle over Levi's head for planting the seed of doubt deeper. I had been attempting to purge that same thought train since I sat down at the bar to drink myself stupid. Every conversation I had about Riley from the last forty-eight hours started replaying. Each thought raced around and twisted like a cyclone as it tore its path of destruction through me.

I still hadn't figured out exactly what I was doing with Riley, but my insecurities over what she wanted our situation to be made my stomach churn sour. It was just all too maddening to handle. I couldn't cope with the heaviness and unease much longer. The worst part was the only thing that would soothe me was the same thing that was making me crazy.

"I take it that silence means yes." Levi looked sympathetically at me. The pitiful look he was giving me made me even angrier. I wanted to hit someone or break something to let it out.

"She'll be here," I answered in a low growl and took another gulp of the drink that Levi handed me. He opened his mouth to comment but was interrupted by an actual paying customer who wanted something.

I sat at the bar by myself for a little bit, wallowing in my own misery when Mark stumbled his way over to chat me up. He climbed on the stool beside me and helped me guzzle down a few more drinks than I had initially planned. Blacking out tonight was not an option like last night. I needed to keep some of my cognitive abilities to function on stage even though I had to admit I was beginning to loosen up as the haze overtook me.

Mark invaded my pity party and helped provide a distraction for me like only he could. Levi kept the drinks flowing like a magician. Before I even realized it, I was so far gone that I even found myself laughing once at one of Mark's stupid jokes. I couldn't stop it from spewing out.

I had officially lost control of myself.

Mark's words morphed into gibberish as his eyes glazed over. His speech slurred and slowed to match mine. We were both shitfaced and ready to take over the world with our music.

World domination— one shitty song at a time.

JD and Aiden managed to avoid us. They both were hanging out on the opposite side of Bannon's and were talking to groups of random people who strolled by. JD was trying to talk up our band like always. I didn't even need to be there to know exactly what he was up to. It was his standard pregame sales pitch. Sell the band to everyone who looked important in case anyone came out to scout out the band. It was the classic tactic used when trying to hit it big in the industry. Schmooze your way to epic fame and greatness.

JD was good at it too. It was too bad our band sucked or it might actually work one day. He should consider a job change. I could envision him growing an old man gut and selling cars.

While JD was wrapped up in his conversation, Aiden couldn't have cared less about what was happening around him. He was hellbent on giving me scathing looks from across the room. As soon as he emerged from the bathroom with his disinfected phone, I could feel his hatred flowing into me like he had hooked an IV drip filled with it directly in my veins.

It was hard to believe that at one point we were almost friends before Riley walked in and turned everything upside down.

Now I couldn't even stand to stare at the fuck stain.

"Hey Ezra, I think your girl is here," Levi whispered to me as he slid the next glass over.

A smile crept over my face as I looked down and threw the glass back so it didn't go to waste. It was time to find a polite way to ditch Mark so I could get my dick wet before the show. It was already growing just from the thoughts of Riley. It would be raging and impossible to hide as soon as I laid eyes on her.

I got up off the stool and spun around to see Mia's skanky ass walking towards me with a few of her friends in tow. My dick went limp and my balls complained when I realized Levi wasn't talking about Riley.

He must have thought I was talking about Mia since he had seen us together before.

Fucking hell.

"Hey Ez, baby. It's been a long time." Mia smiled and strolled over in front of me. She placed her arms around me to try to rub up against my body. My arms stayed limp at my sides for a second too long as my brain slowly registered what she was doing.

"Why are you here?" I snapped, pushing her off me as I looked around the room to make sure Riley wasn't watching the interaction from some dark corner. My little spitfire almost knocked this girl's head off the last time she crossed paths with her and that was even before we hooked up.

"I stopped by your work today and the girl working told me you were playing here tonight. So, I thought I'd come out and show you a little support." Mia flirtatiously giggled as she fisted her grabby hands in my shirt and latched back onto me.

Mia buried her head against my chest and rocked from side to side on her feet. She hummed against me and ran her hands down my sides, trying to get me going. It wasn't going to work. She wasn't even close to making me feel the same way that Riley could.

Mia was too stoned to notice I wasn't into it. She and her friends must have been blazing it up in the car on the way to Bannon's. I could smell the pungent, earthy scent under whatever cheap perfume she had used to try to mask it.

I shoved her away from me again. She stumbled back and fell into the spot between Mark's legs. He had turned his body around on the stool and was lazily leaning his back against the bar.

"Hey, Mia." Mark gave a toothy grin as he peered over her shoulder to catch a glimpse of her scantily clad body.

"Marky." She smiled and leaned back to give him a small peck on the cheek.

The look on Mark's face was pure bliss. It was like he had just won the lottery as she lingered against him. I knew from experience that Mia's skills were nothing to be excited over, but Mark was clueless.

That gave me an idea.

The three girls and Mark began some irritating chatter back and forth, but I had no idea what they were going on about. I was too busy formulating a game plan to use Mia's presence tonight in my favor.

What better way was there to distract Mark than shoving some easy pussy his way? It would make it easier to slip off with Riley with fewer eyes watching us.

I smiled as I watched Mark wrap his arm around Mia's bare stomach. This would be so easy.

I was a fucking genius.