“Eat, Kabs.” She sat back down, reaching for her own plate.
He didn’t move.
“I’m going to fix it, Bug.” His voice was low but certain, cutting through the quiet. “All of it. Starting with us.”
Her hand trembled around her burger. God. He said it so easily. Like he meant it.
Like he believed he could. Like he would reorder their lives to make it work for them, to make everything happen for them…But if he could, he would have already.
“Eat,” she said again, before he could see any of her thoughts play out on her face. She took a big bite, swallowed hard, and forced the rest of her words down with it.
Because if she said anything now, anything at all, she wouldn’t be able to hold the line she’d just drawn for herself in her mind.
CHAPTER 41
KABIR
Kabir stoodin the wings as the young band, the ones opening for them tonight, played their hearts out. The air around him vibrated with energy, his and that of the others. His own band was buzzing beside him, adrenaline humming beneath their skin, the kind that made your skin feel too tight for your body.
But Kabir couldn’t feel any of it. His entire focus was on the hand in his. He tightened his grip on Tani’s fingers and squeezed. Once. Twice. Thrice.
Her fingers fluttered in his palm but then she squeezed back. Once. Twice. Thrice.
His heart nearly split open, joy spilling out of it and making it feel like it would explode out of his chest. He didn’t know what was coming in the future but whatever it was, he was ready.
The opening band hit their final chord, wrapping up their set and the next announcement boomed across the stadium. The crowd roared at the sound of their band’s name, the noise, an ocean rising to swallow them whole.
And then it was time.
He let go of her reluctantly, every cell in his body screaming at the loss of her warmth. He took one step toward the entrance and stopped, looking back.
Tani grabbed his shirt, fisted it and yanked him back. Her mouth crashed onto his.
Kabir froze for a single, stunned heartbeat. Then he was kissing her back, desperate, graceless, pouring every unspoken word and buried feeling into her. Love, longing, apology, devotion, every piece of himself he’d failed to give her in daylight, he gave to her in the shadows.
The kiss stole the air from his lungs and the world narrowed to the taste of her, the grip of her hands, the thundering of his pulse.
Catcalls and wolf whistles rose behind them, Ayaan, Malik, the rest of the band even the assistants revelling in the drama.
Tani pulled back slowly, her breath trembling against his cheek. Her lips were swollen, her eyes blazing with something fierce and fragile.
Kabir brushed his thumb over her mouth, smiling softly. “See you on the other side, Bug,” he murmured.
And then he stepped out. The spotlight hit him like a physical force, white, hot, and blinding. The stadium erupted, screams crashing over him in a tidal wave of sound.
But even as the adulation of the crowd swallowed him whole, his lips still tingled with her kiss and his heart was still in her hands. He glanced toward the wings where she stood, half-hidden in shadow, and winked.
Tani laughed, a soft, tremulous sound he couldn’t hear over the roar of the crowd, but one he felt like a pulse through his soul.
He grabbed the microphone, lifted it to his lips, and crooned, “Hello, Mumbai.”
The stadium exploded. Energy shot through him like lightning. Knowing she was there, watching him, gave him wings.
Kabir sang his heart out. He worked the stage, played to the audience, hyped his bandmates, letting the music blaze through his veins. But every few seconds his gaze drifted to the wings, to her, to the woman whose presence steadied him, electrified him, undid him.
It was impossible not to look. Impossible not to feel.
They finished a set and stepped off the stage to take a break. He took the bottle of water one of the aides handed him, draining it and grabbing another to pour over his head. He wrapped his arm around Tani and drew her close. Over her head, he saw Vik walking over to where they stood.
