"Have you noticed that it hasn't been hot lately?" Jude asked as he opened the windows. "We haven't had the air con on in ages."

"I love the way you say 'air con,'" Momoko said, going up on tiptoe to plant a kiss on Jude's mouth. "Everyone else in this house says 'A/C.'"

"What other words of mine do you love?" Jude asked, grabbing Momoko by the waist so she couldn't leave.

"Hmm." Momoko considered. "'Sat-nav'? Everyone else says 'GPS.' And how about 'wanker' instead of 'dick'? I do love 'wanker.'"

Her words made Jude laugh. "And I'm so happy you do," he assured her, kissing her more slowly and thoroughly than she had a moment before.

Momoko jumped into his arms, wrapping her legs around his slim hips, making him stagger a little since he wasn't expecting it. He kept his balance, however, and managed to get to the chair and sat with Momoko in his lap. 

"Mmm, mm," he moaned happily, hands roaming to her round bottom, then up and around to her front. "Not that I mind sharing you?" he murmured into her throat. "But sometimes it's nice when it's just the two of us, don't you reckon?"

"Yeah, I 'reckon,'" Momoko responded with a soft laugh as she nodded, resting her forehead against his and tracing his features with her fingertips. "Too bad it's not going to last long. The others are going to be back any minute so we can rehearse, you know?"

"I know," Jude responded, thrusting his hips up into her in frustration.

"Tell you what," Momoko said, eyes sparkling. "How about if tonight, after everyone goes to bed, I pop by your bedroom for a sleepover?" She pushed Jude back into the chair so she was sitting up over him, hands pressing down on his lean chest.

"Yeah? Sounds ace!" Jude beamed up at her, grasping her hips and  grinding pleasurably into her.

"Ace," Momoko repeated. "Another word of yours that's pretty cool, my darling Jude." She smiled down at him, taking a deep breath.

"Ah, love, you do fair take my breath away," Jude breathed, reaching up to cup her face.

"Love," Momoko murmured, nodding. "That one's my favorite, I think." She leaned down to kiss him, moving gently, continuing to nod.

The front door opened and the other boys came in, boisterously noisy, laughing, grocery bags in their hands, and Jude and Momoko sat up, their moment over.

"Sorry to interrupt you lovebirds," Sully said with a smile, "BoB is mere weeks away, and we need to be performance ready on, what did we decide? Twenty-eight songs? And we have a gig tonight?" The band had gotten very relaxed about the shows that they had to perform locally, almost sanguine in their approach.

"Yup," Momoko answered, climbing off Jude's lap. "I've gargled and warmed up and everything, I'm all ready to go."

"Help us put this stuff away, and let's get going, then," Tommy suggested, gesturing to the bags on the counter. 

"I've yet to shower," Jude said, heading toward the yellow bathroom.

So the other four got the groceries put away while Jude showered and all gathered in the rehearsal area to work on their music. 

About an hour into the rehearsal, Momoko turned to the guys and said, "You know, I know we're supposed to be working and everything, but I just wanted to tell you guys that I've never had so much fun in my life." She smiled the smile that melted their hearts. "So thank. you. For taking a chance and hiring me and everything. Meeting you and being in this band has changed my life."

Sully, who was closest, pulled her in to plant a kiss on her forehead. "The feeling's mutual, Peaches. But you talk like it's over, like it's ending or something. Battle of the Bands is like the beginning, don't you know that? It will be our biggest gig, and hopefully we'll get signed, and we'll be off, right?"

Momoko looked down, then looked back up at him, and nodded. "Right," she said. "Right." She'd just talked to her family the night before, and the only topic was law school. Yes, she'd written her essays, yes she'd gotten all of her letters of rec, yes she'd met all of her deadlines, and yes, she'd applied early decision to Yale. 

Momoko had fought her parents hard on that last one, simply because if she didn't apply early decision, none of the acceptances would come until March, and she could put off making her own decision until then. Early decision meant the acceptance could come as early as December.

And Momoko didn't want to decide anything in December.

"Okay, guys, I'm on vocal rest and actual rest for the remainder of the day, okay?" Momoko said, looking around. "I want to be fresh for the show tonight. I'll be in my room. Someone come and get me if I'm not out of there and in the shower by 4:30, please?"

"You got it, Peaches," Tommy said, setting an alarm on his AppleWatch.

🎸 🎸 🎸 🎸🎸 🎸

The venue was huge. Momoko felt like a true rock star. She couldn't even really see the edges of the crowd, it was so massive.

Wow.

It was still technically a club, though, in that there was a bar and no seats or anything, just tables around the edges. their first real concert would be the Battle of the Bands at the end of the month, on Halloween.

Momoko took a quick drink of water during Sully's guitar solo, and dried her face with the towel she kept next to the water. 

The crowd roared with approval as Sully's blistering notes rolled through the club, and Momoko capped her water and turned, clapping, ready to take the mic once more. As she turned, the sequined strap of her dress snagged on the ragged edge of raised platform Tommy's drum kit sat on, and it ripped cleanly at the seam, falling down and exposing her bra strap and part of the lacy pink cup, very sexy and daring.

Momoko finished singing the song, holding the dress up with one hand from time to time and making sure that the road crew, who were just off stage, saw her problem, though what they could do about it she had no clue. She hadn't brought an extra outfit or anything; all she had were the clothes she'd worn to the club. Would Bill, Ronnie or Ken know to go to the dressing room and bring her jeans and T-shirt? Apparently they had some sort of plan, because Bill was standing just offstage, holding something dark in his hand.

After the song was over, she dashed offstage, asking, "Did you get my clothes from the dressing room?"

"Couldn't," Bill explained in his deep voice as he yanked her dress off her, his huge hands nearly ripping the dress in half. "Locked during the show for security." He pulled the dark thing, which turned out to be Ken's T-shirt, over her head, and turned her around to send her back onstage. "This was the best we could do." He patted her bottom, giving her a push. "Don't worry, Ken's tall and skinny, it fits you fine. You look real cute," he assured her. "Go on now." 

Momoko smoothed down the shirt, which came to mid-thigh, and bounced back onstage, resolving to do no high kicking. She was wearing black thigh high tights with a garter, as usual, there was a good four inches of overlap, so she should be fine, but still. Once she got out under the lights, she saw that the shirt had an advertisement on it for PETA, which was not a bad thing. She showcased the shirt for the audience, who were clapping and cheering madly, and took a quick bow, and turned to the guys, who were also clapping and hooting their approval.

She rolled her eyes and shook her head. "What a circus," she said to them with a grin. "You ready?"

They all nodded, and Tommy counted off a four count for the next song.

And they rolled right along.

As Momoko sang the next song, however, she saw the by now familiar shape in the crowd, at the edge of her peripheral vision. She flicked her eyes to look, and this time she was sure.

It was him. It was Hunter.

He'd died his hair a rather unpleasant shade of black that was so dark it almost looked blue in the dark lights of the club, but his shoulders had the same slouch, he had that same insouciant walk.

And he was looking right at her, which wasn't unusual, as most of the people in the club were, but he was motionless, not acknowledging the music in any way. He wasn't moving with the rhythm, swaying as she sang, dancing with the person next to him, nothing. He was just standing in the middle of the crowd, eyes locked on her from across the room.

Momoko looked over at Jude and indicated with a brief motion of her chin, and he casually turned to look. She could tell when Jude saw him, she was close enough to see his eyes actually widen. He looked back at Momoko, pupils noticeably wider, and nodded.

When Momoko looked back, Hunter was gone, but she knew, she could just tell, that he was still in the club somewhere.

Sure enough, when she was singing the last number and introducing the members of the band, she saw him again, much closer, staring at her. She could tell that he was, again, blasting something, that he was way off center, and this knowledge chilled her.

I love you, he mouthed at her before he vanished into the crowd, slouching away.

"You okay?" Jude asked as they were headed for their dressing room.

"Oh, I know, talk about a wardrobe malfunction," Tommy crowed, laughing. "Though it wasn't as bad as it could've been, and it was sexy as hell, man!" He hugged Momoko.

"No, not that," Jude corrected as they entered the room and began to change.

"What? What happened?" Dane asked, his shirt halfway off.

Momoko stood still in the middle of the room.

"He was here," she said. "Hunter. I saw him. So did Jude."

Jude nodded. "He's done something strange to his hair, but it was definitely him. We need to call the police."

Momoko spoke up. "No, let's not call them until we get home. If we call them now, we'll have to wait here, and there's no point. I mean, you know he's not here anymore, right?" She shivered. "I want to shower and put on my own clothes and stuff." She looked around. "Please?"

Jude sighed. "Okay. I don't really think it matters."

"Dammit." Momoko was starting to sound angry. "He's really not going to let this go, is he? He's not going to let me go."

"I don't think so," Sully said, shaking his head. "I really don't think so."

"This could really fuck up the band," Momoko said. 

"The band?" Dane's voice was incredulous. "He could really hurt you, Momoko. "What are we going to do?"

"I don't know." Momoko hoped she didn't sound as down as she felt. "I don't know."