“All I Have Left!”
“Pink Rainboots!”
“Make a Wish!”
So many titles flew from the crowd, and only one made my stomach churn. “All I Have Left” was a top-fan favorite. It had launched my career. I ignored the urge to glance at Maddox and see his reaction to their calls for the song I’d written about him.
“Thank goodness we’ve got an hour, folks!” I laughed and strummed the notes to “Pink Rainboots,” while the house band behind me joined in.
I sang and the world around me disappeared. I danced and shook my hips to the beat. I’d written “Pink Rainboots” to talk about how the little things in life were what made life fun, like being grateful for comfy sweaters, wool socks, and splashing in puddles wearing pink rainboots. I wanted the song to make people stop with the crazy rush of their day and think about the little things that brought them joy. Seemed silly to some, but science has proven that being grateful every day chemically rewires your brain.
Each song morphed into another as I kept playing. Some songs were dark, and some were about love, while others made you dance. I’d learned how to play to the crowd years ago, and they ate it up like sugar.
When the final song on the list arrived, the crowd chanted, “All I Have Left.” I dared a glance at Maddox, hoping the song wouldn’t hurt him. I closed my eyes and addressed the crowd. The chaos of emotions inside me twisted until the only sound I made were the hums to the start of the heartbreaking lyrics.
“Mmm . . . Hmm . . . Mmm . . .”
Feelings of his loss lingered from the fresh upheaval of memories of the other night. I’d thought he’d left me again, and I realized I hadn’t forgiven him for the past, which wasn’t fair to him. I needed more time to figure my head out. Did I want him in my life permanently? Or would our past keep us separated forever?
“A crown of thorns pricks my head.” My fingers played the strings by heart, pouring my soul into each stroke.
“But that’s not the reason for these tears on my bed. My best friend, my wish with every dandelion blow. Maddie, why’d you leave me all alone?”
I opened my eyes, pleading with the crowd to answer the questions I’d been dying to know for years. Even though I finally knew why, the scar remained with the memories I didn’t know how to release.
“I screamed your name into the starlight. Praying they’d give our story a rewrite. And you never came back. Life feels all wrong. Now all I have left of you is written in this song.”
Singing this song now stripped me down like a chemical peel. Though I didn’t look at Maddox, his gaze burned into my soul. Vulnerable and raw, I wasn’t just singing this song, this insight into our story to the crowd, I sat here singing it to him, too.
We both hurt for our past, and I wasn’t sure we could truly move on from it.
Chapter Twenty- Five
Maddox
When we were younger, we spent most of our time in nature finding peace together. We’d heard when you saw a dandelion ready to spread its seeds into the air, you should pick it and make a wish. The seeds would fly far and take your desires with them, and then they would come true.
I spent two months creating a necklace for her with two dandelion seeds I had saved. The necklace didn’t cost me much, since I had no money, but I’d hoped she liked it. I’d dreamed of being together until we died, then holding hands in whatever afterlife claimed us. Every once in a while, I’d see pictures of her carrying my wishes on against her heart and felt like I could conquer the world.
The world I’d sat upon crumbled into dust with every strum of her guitar.
Hearing her sing the song, seeing her face as the lyrics flowed past the lips I’d tasted shattered me. I didn’t deserve her. Fuck, what the hell was I thinking, coming back into her life and trying to insert myself beside her for eternity? The selfish need to see her and be around her coincided with protecting her. Deep down my intentions narrowed down to one, I wanted another chance at my dreams of having her.
“You can’t have her all to yourself, you know,” a sultry voice purred against my ear. I reached out instinctually, wrapping my fingers around the delicate throat of a deep redheaded woman with green eyes.
“If you want her to live, you’ll let me go.” She rubbed my forearm sensually, and I sneered, my fingers gripped her throat enough to drag a gasp from her struggling lungs.
“Let go,” she whispered, and without a thought my hand released her. I stared at my hand like it didn’t belong to me.
“You are a strong man. Can’t wait to play with you, too.” She took a step back, putting distance between us. “I’m ready to secure my interest.” The woman licked her red lips and winked. Her hourglass body swayed to Hazel’s singing; her movement allured the men working backstage.
“Why?”
“I’ve always like collecting unique things. People with astonishing gifts are quite unique. I like surrounding myself with them.” She dared a step closer, her hand reaching out to run down my torso.
I smacked it away with a growl. She may be beautiful, but I’d still knock her ass out if she touched me.
“What’s stopping me from killing you this instant?”
