The Prince of Punk Rock (15 page)

 
Angel looked back at the lyrics written on his
notepad.
 
He sang the entire song out
loud with the new melody.
 
It was
romantic and passionate.
 
It was
good.
 
If this was done right, maybe with
just an acoustic guitar and the lights dimmed down and full of emotion, it
could be really great.
 
This could be the
song that brought back the record label executives.

Angel sang the song in the studio,
with only Tommy on the acoustic guitar.
 
He didn’t want to look at Tommy when he sang.
 
He thought it would be too passionate and he
wanted to save that raw emotion for when he performed it in front of a
crowd.
 
Instead, he sang directly to
Jessi.

She gazed back into his eyes and
never looked away.
 
She hung on every
word and melted a little more with each verse.
 
When the song ended, she wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged
him.
 
When she looked back at him, she
had tears in her eyes.

“Look at you!
 
What happened to my hardcore rock and roll
princess?
 
Are you going soft on me?”

She just smiled at him for a long
time.
 
“That was beautiful.”

For a second, he thought she was
going to kiss him.
 
Now, if he could get
that same reaction when he sang it to Tommy at their next show, everything
would be perfect.

Chapter Fifteen

Jessi set up an elaborate
merchandise display at the next gig, showcasing the new clothing that she
designed.
 
She was able to get her hands
on some old mannequin forms, perks from working at a fashion house, and she
dressed them in the different tops she had for sale.

Angel let her design them herself,
as long as she didn’t change his logo.
 
The logo was the band’s name written across a manhole cover. She hated
it at first, but when he explained that the manhole cover symbolized the
underground music scene, she thought it was perfect.
 
She left the original logo with the white
graphic on a black shirt intact.
 
She
added a second variation where the band’s name was printed in red lettering across
a silver manhole cover.
 
On the back, she
added the words “Kick Ass Old Skool Punk Rock”, written in the same red
lettering.

She was especially proud of the top
she was wearing because she sewed it herself.
 
She deconstructed a men’s T-shirt with the red lettering and transformed
it into a corset-styled top.
 
She added
metal studs around the manhole cover and a red ribbon laced up the back.
 
It was eye-catching and stood out among the
unadorned tanks and tees.

She was meticulous about the merch
table and took a long time to make sure everything was perfect.
 
She stood back and admired the display.
 
Everything looked amazing.
 
She was proud of the designs she
created.
 
Tommy always told her she
should start her own clothing line, and, secretly, it was her dream, but she
didn’t have time.
 
The band was her main
priority.
 
Anything else would have to
wait.

Tommy and Angel carried in the rest
of the boxes of shirts from the car and set them down on the other end of the
table.
 
She couldn’t hear what they were
saying to each other, but she didn’t need to.
 
The affinity and affection they shared when they looked at each other
said everything.
 
She was beginning to
enjoy watching them together, and smiled softly.
 
Her thoughts turned to the bedroom.
 
Visions of Tommy and Angel entangled
together, while she was in bed with them, was something she could wrap her legs
around.
 
It got a little too graphic to
be fantasizing about at The Quadrangle and she pushed the arousing thoughts
from her head.

Tommy and Angel were admiring the
new shirts.
 
They held them up to each
other’s chest to see how they would look on one another.
 
Tommy tucked the shirt into Angel’s waistband
and accidentally tickled him.
 
Angel
giggled.
 
They silently stared at each
other for a few seconds, and then they took the shirts and walked toward the
back room together.

Jessi had given a great deal of
thought to the conversation she had with Angel last week, and she was at peace
with the idea of Angel becoming part of their lives.
 
He was already part of their lives, anyway.
 
If she was going to
share Tommy with anyone, Angel was probably the only person she could envision
it with.

She often
wondered how many men Tommy was with before he met her.
 
He had plenty of girlfriends.
 
He was a football player
and
he was in
a band.
 
When they first started dating
they constantly ran into his old girlfriends.
 
The mystery about old boyfriends would
probably remain an unsolved, though, because Tommy never talked about it, and
she would never push him.
 
It really
didn’t matter, anyway.

Out of the corner of her eye, Jessi
spotted Tommy and Angel returning from the back room.
 
As they got closer, she realized that they
were both wearing the new T-shirts.
 
They
looked adorable.
 
Jessi threw her head
back and laughed.  “You two are the cutest things I’ve ever seen!”

“I thought we should hang around
and model the shirts, since they’re so amazing,” Angel ran his hand over the
graphic on his chest.
 
The shirt was
probably a size too small, and hugged his body – a body that she’s been
thinking about a little too much lately.

While she was busy appreciating how
nice the shirts looked on Angel and Tommy, a small crowd of people gathered
around the merch table to admire the clothing on the mannequins.
 
The designs were a big hit. Girls scooped up
the corset tops faster than she could pull them out of the box.

Kira and Audra, the two young girls
who were Angel’s biggest fans, bought tank tops and asked him to autograph
them.
 
Jessi thought their infatuation
with Angel was amusing.
 
The number of
girls lining up to talk to Tommy was a little intimidating, but he deserved the
attention.

Alyssa, Damien’s wife, finally
arrived to help at the merch table and started pulling shirts out of boxes and
folding them on the table.
 
“Sorry, I’m
late.” She rolled her eyes.
 
“Small
crisis with Damien this morning. Mohawk issues.
 
He was out of hair product.”

Jessi burst out laughing.
 
Tommy with his flowing blond hair, Damien
with his stark blue mohawk, they were worse than women when it came to their
hair.

She stopped Alyssa from arranging
shirts on the table so she could look at the corset top she was wearing.
 
Alyssa was her first model and the first
person to wear a Jessi Blade original corset top featuring Immortal Angel.
 
She examined Alyssa’s top and made her turn
around so she could check the back.
 
It
fit her perfectly.

Jessi had the designer itch
again.
 
She needed to construct her own
garments.
 
The corset tops were just the
beginning.
 
She envisioned a line that
not only endorsed Immortal Angel, but the rock and roll lifestyle.
 
Now all she needed was the time.

Kendall
’s
annoying voice caught Jessi’s attention.
 
She swore she wasn’t going to let that girl make a mess of the merch
table again, but
Kendall
wasn’t headed toward
her.
 
She was making a beeline for
Angel.
 
She kept putting her arms around
him.
 
He was uncomfortable and kept
removing them from around his neck.
 
Angel looked like he was trying to get away from her, but she kept
pawing at him.
 
He finally escaped when
Damien rescued him and pulled him away.

Now
Kendall
was headed toward the merch table.
 
Great.
 
“What’s up with that
girl?” Jessi whispered to Alyssa.

“Not my favorite person. Actually,
she’s my least favorite person. I need a drink.”

Alyssa was gone before Jessi could
stop her.

“I see someone’s been busy.”
 
Kendall
eyed
the new tops and picked one up.

“Hello,
Kendall
.
 
Do you like them?”

“I do.
 
They’re really cool.
 
I’m very interested in all of them.”
 
Kendall
was
making a mess again.
 
As Jessi tried to
keep the table organized and refold the shirts,
Kendall
asked dozens of questions. She wanted to know the name of the vendor, how much
they cost, how many colors they came in, how many were bought.
 
Jessi was getting a headache.

“Thanks for the info. I’ll be back
later.”
 
Kendall
started to walk away, but she still had one of the corset tops tucked under her
arm.

It was practically wedged under her
armpit.
 
Jessi would’ve never noticed it
if the light didn’t hit one of the silver studs and cast a reflection. “Wait,
Kendall
. That’s $20 for the corset top.”

“What top?
 
Oh.”
 
She acted like she just realized it was jammed under her arm.

“Were you trying to steal that from
me?”

“No. I paid for this already.”

“No you didn’t.”
 
Jessi cheeks burned with anger.
 
“Don’t try to put one over on me.
 
I’ve been doing this a long time.
 
I’ve had a lot of people try to talk me into
giving
them a free shirt, but you’re the first person who actually tried to steal
from me.”

“I put the money on the table.
 
Someone else must’ve picked it up.”

“You were the only one here.
 
You were trying to distract me by making a
mess and asking me a million questions.”