Thin White Line by J.A. Templeton, Julia Templeton

Sadie. Seeing the guy, she turns to him. “Dude, could you back up a little bit. You’re crowding us.”
    “Shut up, whore.”
    Sadie lifts a brow. “Excuse me, Sasquatch?”
    The girls around us laugh.
    “Nasty bitch,” he replies.
    “You can sling insults at me all night long, but that won’t change the fact that you’re a creepazoid who is breathing down my girlfriend’s back.”
    Brooke quits singing and one by one the band members stop playing.
    “Back off, asshole,” Brooke says into the mic.
    “Whoa…” the crowd seems to say in unison.
    “What the fuck, man,” Sasquatch says, holding his hands up. “I’m just givin’ the ladies my attention. She’s begging for it, flashing her titties for all to see and having her girlfriend slide that lip-gloss on her lips.
    My cheeks burn red. I’ve always hated having any attention directed solely on me. It makes me uncomfortable and now is definitely no exception.
    Deklan jumps off the stage, drumsticks held tight in his fist. “Apologize to the lady.”
    Although Sasquatch is close to six feet tall, Deklan is still a few inches taller than the guy. Sasquatch swallows a little, glances at his buddies, who don’t seem too eager to jump into the fray. “I don’t see any ladies.”
    A girl behind him actually throws her drink on him. “You’re such a prick.”
    I’m grateful for the support.
    Ryder and Curtis set their guitars down and join Deklan. Brooke stays on stage. “Get the fuck out,” she says into the microphone.
    Sasquatch holds his hands up. “Hey, I fell into her by accident.” He looks at me. “I’m sorry.”
    I nod and look at Deklan.
    Deklan glances at me. “Are you okay?”
    I nod once again, my throat too tight to say much of anything. I take a step away from Sasquatch, and immediately Deklan’s hand is on mine and he’s pulling me closer.
    “Get the fuck out,” Brooke says again into the mic and then the crowd joins in with a chorus of, “Get the fuck out.”
    Sasquatch and friends have no choice, but to get out.
    The second the door shuts behind him, the crowd erupts into applause.
    “Come on, boys...we have a set to finish,” Brooke says and I’m relieved she has diverted the attention back to the band, where it should be.
    “He’s a prick. Ignore him,” Deklan says and drops his hand to his side. He reluctantly returns to the drums and I know he’s concerned by how he watches me.
    I nod.
    “You sure you’re okay?” Ryder asks, squeezing my hand.
    “Yeah, I’m good. Thanks.”
    Sadie puts her arm around my shoulders. “Welcome to life as an official groupie. Prepare to put up with this shit every night there’s a concert. You just can’t get away from it.”
    That’s hardly encouraging.
    The set continues and I relax, hoping Sasquatch and buddies don’t return.
    Brooke sings her heart out and manages to avoid Curtis most of the time. She flirts with the audience, though, especially a cute guy that stands by the side of the stage.
    Curtis does his best to flirt as well, but it is far easier for Brooke. I don’t think it helps Curtis’s anger that Brooke’s getting a lot of attention from the males in the audience and the females seem mostly interested in Ryder and Deklan. The game continues on through the rest of the set and it’s pretty obvious by Curtis’s pissed off demeanor that Brooke has definitely won the round.
    “We’ll be back in thirty minutes,” Brooke calls out before stepping off the stage, walking towards us.
    A preppy kid, wearing a bow-tie and thick black glasses taps me on the shoulder. He has a bowl in his hand filled with different colored pills.
    “Drop that hydrocodone,” Sadie tells me.
    When I just stare at her, she slides her hand in my pocket and pulls out the pill and tosses it in the bowl.
    I’m surprised when the majority of the people toss in a pill. Only about five people shake their heads. I would have had every intention of being one of those people...but