I shake my head once.
He doesn’t move.
The crowd leans forward. Something in that melody I created excites them.
I can feel it.Something’s happening and they know it.
I turn my back to the audience, breathing hard, fingers flexing around the neck of my guitar.
I am not singing this.
Not tonight. Not after how Maddy played me.
But Keith and Steven see that the beat keeps going.
And then I see him.
Front row. Center. Standing.
Derek Ward. President of Midnight Records.
This is my now or never moment. And for the first time, I realize it would be selfish to not sing Maddie's song. Our life as a band absolutely depends on it.
I take my place behind the mic. The crowd screams my name.
Then I sing. I try not to think of Maddie as I recite the song's lyrics, but it's impossible not to.
I hate that my body remembers something my brain wants to forget.
But the audience reacts to that raw emotion of the song. A universal emotion everyone alive can relate to.
I feed on their energy, letting them push me further into that private space where that song came into being.
Before I'm even halfway through, I already sense this song is the ticket that will make my band's dream come true.
CHAPTER 34
MADDIE
The house is quiet when I wake up. So quiet it takes me a moment to remember where I am.
My childhood room.
My childhood bed. Snorty’s warm little body scrunched up against mine like we’re one.
For a second, I stay still, listening to the steady rhythm of his breathing and the faint sounds of my mother moving around the kitchen.
The world outside this room feels far away. Vegas, Rio, the tabloids, the chaos—it all seems like a fever I slept through.
I pad down the hallway, Snorty following behind me.
Mom stands at the stove, stirring oatmeal.
“Morning, sweetheart,” she says with a tired, but cheerful smile. “I made you oatmeal. The old-fashioned kind that takes forever to make. Bet you haven’t had that in a while.”
“Thanks. You’re right.”
Snorty jumps on the chair beside me. His suprise move earns a laugh from Mom.
