Free Wheels of Steel, Book 3 by Pepper Pace Page B

nails done, get her hair professionally styled and shop until she dropped. She and Becca were best friend’s but friend’s only. Becca was straight and had two boyfriends to prove it.
     
     
    Robin accepted the joint and after taking two puffs returned it to Becca who then walked it over to Tracy, placing it between her lips as the girl continued to play.
     
     
    “What are we going to play tonight?” Becca asked.
     
     
    “Fuck if I know.” Robin responded. They only had an hour long set but they didn’t like playing the same things week after week. They had a small following…which basically amounted to some people from school, and whoever Becca was having sex with.
     
     
    They spent too much time discussing random things instead of working up a set so before they knew it, it was time to get to the club. Tracy drove them in her mini cooper and they headed to the lower level ‘backstage area’ while open mic finished up. They usually got there early enough so that they could have a good laugh at the performers. It was a very good thing that the backstage area was in the lower level because the girl’s marijuana induced laughter was loud and often times obnoxious.
     
     
    They had fun together and laughed easily but when it was time to perform they got into Orange Crush mode and became very serious. The spotlight was on them and Robin headed for the stool that had the mic in front of it.
     
     
    “What are we going to do, girls?” Tracey asked as they got into position.
     
     
    “A Hard Rain?” Becca Suggested.
     
     
    Robin shook her head. “Nah. I still don’t have all of the lyrics down.”
     
     
    “Gives You Hell?”
     
     
    Tracy scowled. “As a starter? No way.”
     
     
    “Well come on bitches!” Becca exclaimed and several members of the audience chuckled.
     
     
    Robin looked over at them shrugging. “Summertime?”
     
     
    “Yeah,” Becca responded while beginning to strum out the opening notes of the Janis Joplin song. Robin turned to the audience but didn’t see them, just heard the melody and felt the words begin to leave her mouth. She could sound like Janis Joplin if she wanted to, but she opted to turn it into more of a soulful rendition then a bluesy one. The best thing about Orange Crush is that no one got uptight when she did things like that. When the song ended the crowd went nuts! It was always good when the crowd went nuts on the first song! Amateur night had evidently gotten them primed for some good singing.
     
     
    Becca gave her the raised eyebrow, meaning that this version of the song was going into their play set. After that they did tunes by Lady Gaga, Keri Hillson and Robin was in the middle of Katy Perry’s Firework; her mind so into the song that she didn’t realize that she was moving across the stage with her head thrown back, wailing out the lyrics at the top of her lungs, the crowd stomping and singing along with her.
     
     
    And that is when her eyes glimpsed something that caused her to squint past the spotlight that was shining on her and out to the crowd. Her body suddenly went ice cold. No one probably had any idea that she was in a total state of shock in that second that she saw Jason Hamilton. The words continued to flow from her mouth, the crowd continued to sing along with her, but her brain was in suspended animation.
     
     
    Jason was watching her performance from across the room where he, Belinda and Peter sat at one of the small tables. Robin couldn’t take her eyes from them, especially from Jason. His hair was different. At some point he had cut it and it had grown back, not quite reaching his shoulders but still long and unruly. He had let his sideburns grow out until they met with the slight bit of facial hair that seemed more like he’d neglected shaving one day instead of one week. He was wearing a sweater but his muscles filled it out even more than she remembered…
     
     
    The words stopped coming from her mouth and she