“If music is the god you pray to—”
The horde loses their minds.
“—then get on your fucking knees.”
And they scream the words with him like it’s their dying wish.
Reed laughs into the mic and puts his earpiece back in. “Yeah, let’s fucking go.”
That’s my cue.
The song starts up. I’m lost in the beat, the vibrations, the absolute euphoria…
And yet, I’m searching for that sign again in the hopes she’ll one day be the one holding it.
Because I need to see her face.
I need to know who’s following me, texting me, watching me sleep, taking my photo, and stalking my every move.
And I need to know who saved my fucking life that night.
CHAPTER THREE
GEMMA
“That was fuckingepic,”Bonnie is saying as they hit the dressing room. She shakes Zeb’s shoulders, then circles the room, excitedly strumming her hands on the counter and the walls, even pushing over a few chairs. “Fucking—holy shit!”
“Holy shit!” Reed exclaims, matching her energy and spinning her when she jumps into his arms.
“Goddamn madhouse,” Mads agrees.
“Insane,” Zeb adds.
Every adjective doesn’t feel like enough to describe what I just witnessed.
I lean against the door frame and cross my arms over my chest, watching them celebrate what was certainly an epic performance. God, my body hurts. When James said I’d be chasing Reed Matthews, I don’t think I realized he meantactuallychasing him, let alone having to pick his ass up out of the crowd and carry him to safety. I knew he was a maniac onstage. I’ve seen them perform countless times.
Even so, being the person responsible for him is completely different when you’re in the moment.
My ears are still ringing from the noise.
The high-alert adrenaline is only starting to fade now that we’re backstage. Still, the hair on the back of my neck is standing, eyes still scanning for anything that might come up outside the safety of this room where they’re cooling down.
The band jumped into the walk between the stage and barrier after the show to sign autographs. The entire ordeal might have been uneventful, except that watching Bonnie is never ordinary for me. Even now… seeing Reed spin her around, the light in her bright, blue eyes when she makes faces and laughs with her friends… it’s almost overwhelming. A lump forms in my throat. A weight sits on my chest.
Being so close to her after all these years of following her in the shadows has me even more enamored with her than before.
I’m a goner for this woman.
And the fact that she picked up the poster I’d left in the audience and has it folded on the counter right now? I’m debating whether this is a dream. She took that poster as if she was waiting for it. I don’t think my heart has ever fluttered as much as in that moment, even if it surprised me that she didn’t mention it to anyone upon seeing it in the audience. I had expected to hear over the radio to keep an eye out, yet the call never came.
“—I don’t think I’m ever going to forget this fucking beast over here hauling Reed out of the pit like that,” I hear Zeb saying.
The sentence grabs my attention. I drag my gaze away from Bonnie to look at Zeb, who’s smirking at me as if he can see how focused I am on her.
The corner of my lip quirks when he holds his hand up for a high-five, and I quietly oblige.
“That was sick,” he adds. “Fucking good call.”
