Page 9 of Ravaged For You

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Well, as it turns out, we are not the only ones to have the idea of meeting the members of Ravaged and hopefully have them instantly fall in love with us. Judging from who’s waiting outside at the back of the arena, half the audience tonight seems to have the exact same plan in their heads.

We have to fight through the crowds of screaming teenage girls and their bored fathers to even get close to reaching the front of the imposing metal barriers that separate the horde from the arena exit.

I’m in my mid-twenties and super introverted. I shouldn’t be doing this.

“Great,” I say sarcastically when we manage to squeeze to the front. “What now?”

Marie nods in the direction of a giant black bus, undeterred by the increase in her estimated competition for the hearts of the rockstars. “That’s their tour bus,” she says like a wise old sage.

The bus windows are tinted. You can’t see anything inside.

What are we doing here?

Surrounding the parked bus are half a dozen black vehicles with big men in dark suits standing guard. Very imposing.

“Wow, they have enough security to form a small army,” I remark.

“Guess that’s the condition of being the biggest band in the world,” Marie replies.

We continue to watch as a line of very attractive women of my age stroll out from backstage. They all look very… aroused and talkative.

Damn. They’re all so very hot.

Marie and I instantly know what they’re doing and who they are.

One word. Groupies.

“Maybe one of the boys won’t instantly fall in love with me tonight, after all,” Marie remarks as we watch the girls board the tour bus one by one with their long slender legs and very full chests; much more slender and much more full than either Marie or mine.

“Typical boy band behavior,” I say. “They’re rockstars. This is what they do. Of course, they’re going to have a whole selection of groupies to choose from every night. This is the life they lead.”

Marie sighs, dejected. “Yeah.”

“They merely have to glimpse in a direction and there will be a hundred squealing women throwing their panties at them.”

Although I’m mocking them, I’m also a tiny bit jealous. It’s been some time since I’ve been intimate with someone. I’m not the best at dating or making myself available for guys. I’m just so damn awkward and clumsy and shy that I don’t think any guy I’m vaguely interested in will look at me that way. If they notice me at all.

And then, from around us, there’s a torrent of screaming. It can mean only one thing. I glance over to the door to the arena and, sure enough, the members of Ravaged suddenly appear.

Even though they’re no longer on stage under the lights, they still look otherworldly. Like, they shouldn’t be real. They all grin and wave at their adoring, screaming audience. Lapping up the attention.

They swagger with all the confidence in the world. Axel is, by far, the worse. Two gorgeous girls are on either side of him, his arms wrapped around their waists. He gives a cheeky wink to the waiting crowd as he struts by. He’s so cocky and yet so handsome that it’s irritating. No one should be gifted all that. I know I was fawning over him a minute ago by the stage, but he’s just so conceited that it’s hard not to find him so frustrating when he comes out with multiple girls dangling from his hands like the world owes him something.

These boys walk through life so easily with a smirk on their faces. It makes me wonder if they’ve ever heard no or experienced any kind of pushback. They live like kings with all the riches of the world.

Oh, well. They’re talented rockstars. What should I expect? It’s wrong of me to sit back and judge. A waste of my time.

We’ve seen what we came to see.

“Come on, let’s go home,” I say to Marie. “This is too much for me. Especially him.”

I’m pointing at Axel Stoll.

4

MADDIE