18 Wishes

I groan, looking over at my best friend. "Remind me why I have to go to this stupid concert?" "It's not stupid. It's my favourite band, and you know Papa would never let me go without you there to protect his little Nashina." She rolls her eyes but I know she loves her Papa more than anything. I sigh, knowing there's no way out of it. "Fine, but you owe me." We pull into the concert venue and find a parking spot. We walk through the growing crowd to the entrance of the amphitheater. "I'm going to look around, you go ahead to the seats." Nash nods, letting me do my thing. I walk around, looking at the different booths that were selling merch. Next thing I know I'm walking into something tall and solid. I look up and see a drop dead gorgeous man. "Shit... I'm so sorry." The man gives me a charming smile, taking another drag off his cigarette. "Oh no, I was standing in the way. I guess I make a better wall than a doorway." I can't help but chuckle, "You could say that about everyone though. Seriously, I am sorry. I'm just lucky it was a person and not a pole... which has obviously never happened." He laughs and I swear my stomach does a flip. "It's okay. Honestly. I love your hair by the way. Very punk rock." He blows the smoke away from us, but I've been jonesing so I'm not exactly relieved. Either way his words cause me to blush. "Thanks. My family swears I change it every week. I don't, but they can live in their own little fantasy world. I just see it as a way to express myself that's more changing than tattoos." I can see some of his and they're sexy as hell. He leans back against the wall, crossing his arms across his chest. He takes another drag, "Do you have any tattoos?" I turn around, dropping my jean jacket enough so he can see the mandala on my shoulder and the hint of another at the base of my neck that disappears under my dress. "I have others but you'll have to buy me dinner first." He laughs again, making it hard not to laugh with him. "What about you?" He pulls down the collar of his shirt, showing off a spider web tattoo on his neck that stops just under his jaw. "I also have a sleeve on my right arm and the beginning of one on my left. I have others but I usually require a few shots in my system before I start showing people those." "That's it? That's easy! At least I'm making you work for it by buying me dinner." He shrugs, "What can I say? I'm easy to please." "I guess that's not a bad thing. Better than my last boyfriend, that's for damn sure." I can't believe I just told him that. He chuckles, "I never caught your name." "Sydney. What's yours?" "Johnny Studs." He holds his cigarette in his mouth so he can hold his hand out to me. I take it, "That is the most... rock and roll name ever." I can't help but laugh. "Do you mind?" I hold my hand out hoping he'll finally share. He chuckles, obliging. "If it makes you feel any better, my real name is far from rock and roll." I grin, taking it from him and taking a drag. "Oh man. Thanks. My best friend who I came with doesn't like it when I smoke. She wouldn't even let me bring my pack." I hand the cigarette back to him but not before he reaches into his coat pocket to pull out his pack. He holds it out to me, "Here. There's only a few left in there." "I couldn't take the rest of yours. What kind of person would that make me?" "Then take half. My manager has been on me for years to quit." I bite my lip, giving in and taking half. "Then why haven't you?" He shrugs, "My job has stresses that smoking helps alleviate." "I can understand that." Suddenly a door I didn't see before opens up and a guy pops his head out around the door. "Bro. There you are. We've gotta go." He suddenly sees me and steps between Johnny and I. "Hi there beautiful. I'm Cade." I can't help but laugh at his attempt to flirt. "Hi. I'm Sydney." I see Johnny roll his eyes. "Cade for the love of God, put your d**k back in your pants." I cover my mouth to keep from laughing as Johnny shoves him back behind the door. "Bye Sydney!" I let out the laugh as he disappears, Johnny now standing behind the door. "Well it was nice to meet you." I can't help the smile that takes over my face. "Agreed." "Sydney! There you are!" Nash comes running up. "The show's going to start soon!" "Okay! One minute." I pull a dollar out of my pocket and grab the pen that's behind Johnny's ear, writing my phone number on the edge. I hand both back to him. "For the cigs." I smile at him one last time before following Nash to our seats. The crowd has gotten huge and they're all loud as we wait for the band to take the stage. They only have to wait a short time before the lights go out and the screaming hits a new decibel. The band walks on stage and I almost hit the floor. "Thank you Los Angeles! I'm Johnny Studs and this is 18 Wishes!"