Big Girl Rocking in the Sunshine: Big Girl Series Bk3 by Aubrey Rose Page A

Trix was still dismantling their sound equipment as she placed the reflectors across the edge of the stage, out of the way of the band but still close enough to reflect light. She darted a glance down to the audience, and her breath caught in her throat.
    The raised stage here had no curtain; everything was open to the audience. From down in the crowd, Shannon hadn’t realized how vast the audience of people was. Looking out now, though, she saw thousands and thousands of scantily-clad fans swarming across the sand. The ocean was in clear view, too, with the sun reflecting off the waves crashing down on the beach. Shannon snapped a lens hood onto her camera and started shooting. When the crew from Wilder Side came to set up the stage, she continued to take photos, adjusting the reflectors based on how they looked. Julian smiled as she came back down the stairs.
    “You look determined. And professional. And sexy as hell.”
    Shannon simply held up the camera and snapped away.
    “Portrait of a rock star,” she said.
    “Portrait of a man in love,” Julian echoed, and then he was walking up the stairs and onto the stage behind Alex, and the crowd was screaming the band’s name. Shannon’s heart leapt in her chest. In love? Julian had asked her to come to the last stop on their tour to photograph the band, and she knew he liked her, but he had never once mentioned love. Until now. In love? Her blood pumped hard through her veins.
    “Pull yourself together, Shannon,” she said to herself, holding her camera up to her chest. “You have a job to do.”
    Shannon pushed through the crowd, snapping shots from different angles. The sun was beginning to sink down toward the horizon and the light shone dimly onto the band as the music started up. The sound system blared the first guitar intro, and the crowd screamed in unison. Shannon could hear a mob of girls shouting Julian’s name and she smiled. He’s all mine.
    The drum beat pounded in her heart, making her grateful that Julian had given her earplugs to protect her eardrums. It was loud , even on an outside stage. She got a great shot of Alex leaning down to touch the sea of hands reaching out to the stage. Another one of Daniel fiercely playing his bass, concentrating only on the strings. Asher’s hair was flying all over the place while he drummed, but she had fun trying for a close-up shot through his drum kit from the front of the stage. She could feel the music throbbing through her body as she took the photos, and the energy of the crowd pulsed electric in the air.
    She took photos of the fans, too. One of the girls had a Wilder Side tattoo inked on her entire back, the band’s name surrounded by roses and hearts. A group of guys dressed only in skimpy swim trunks posed next to a banner sign reading “I LOVE ALEX WILDER”. Too many girls flashed Shannon for her to keep count; she pretended to take pictures and moved away from them quickly.
    Before the set was done, Shannon got backstage to get some pictures from the back. She climbed the ladder behind the stage and tried to be as unobtrusive as possible. The shots were perfect. You could see the sun setting over the ocean, the audience backlit by the orange and red rays. Alex and Julian were playing together, the ocean visible between their two guitars. Perfect, just perfect.
    Shannon had already gone back around to the crowd to take more sideview pictures when she saw Pat hurrying the band back to their dressing rooms. She squirmed through the waves of fans who were trying to push their way backstage toward the band, worried all the way that her camera would be crushed by the enthused mob. She got past one security guard, but as she made her way toward the building the security people were turning people away.
    “Sorry, emergency,” the guard said. “Can’t let anyone back here.”
    “I’m with the band,” Shannon said, yelling so that the guard could hear her over the roar of the crowd. “What