Eli shoots me a grin as he wraps his arms around her, lifting her off the ground briefly.I roll my eyes at him, even though I know he’s just being a smartass.
“So, we good to start repainting then?”I ask when he puts Daisy back down, leaving his arm wrapped around her shoulders.
“Yep, sure are,” he says, laughing when I pull Daisy toward me.“You wanna get started?”
We all spend the better part of the day doing what we can to turn Daisy’s shop back to what it was a week ago.Eli and Owen both work on replacing the back door that got damaged when they were trying to put the fire out, while Nate, Kai, Flynn and I all get to work painting.The girls are inside working on the rest of the shop, Sloane painting Daisy a temporary sign until her reordered one arrives.
By the time the sun is getting low in the sky, Kai wanders over to where I am rinsing my brush.“Nearly time, isn’t it?”he asks.
“Yeah,” I say with a nod.
“Go take a shower, dude, we’ve got this,” he says, giving me a nudge.“And take your girl with you.”
With a laugh, I head inside to grab Daisy, the two of us going home to shower and get ready.When I’m dressed, I grab my guitar and Daisy’s hand as I say, “Ready?”
“Yep,” she says with a smile.
Lisa’s bar is packed by the time we get there, every chair and spare inch of space seemingly filled with people who want to see us play again.
“Oh my god, this is so good,” Daisy says, clapping her hands together.
Chuckling, I drop a kiss to the top of her head.“I gotta go set up.You good here?”I ask.
She nods, smiling as she presses up to kiss me.“You’ve got this, Miles.I can’t wait to see you guys play again.”
I lean in, my mouth by her ear as I whisper, “I know, it’s always turned you on, hasn’t it?”Pulling back, I laugh at the look on her face, giving her a wink before I head over to the stage, where the others are already setting up their gear.
“Hey,” I say, stepping up.“You guys good?”
“Yep,” Dean replies as he moves an amp into position.“How’d it go today?”he asks, tipping his chin to where Daisy stands by the bar, Nate, Sage, Alana and Flynn now with her.
“Yeah, all good.Got a lot of stuff done,” I say as Owen, Sloane, Kai and Eli walk in.
“That’s awesome, man,” Dean says, clapping me on the shoulder.
“We ready for this?”Sutton asks, a huge grin on his face that tells me he’s more than ready.
I laugh, shaking my head as Lacey joins us, Jonah hanging by himself on the side of the stage.“I don’t know, are we?”I ask, half-joking, half-serious.
Sutton chuckles, resting his elbow on Dean’s shoulder.“I think I might actually be more nervous about tonight than I was about opening for The Provocation,” he admits.
Lacey scoffs, punching him in the stomach as she says, “Pussy.”
Sutton hooks his other arm around Lacey’s shoulders, pulling her into him.I see Jonah clock the move, but he barely reacts, even as she reaches for my hand at the same time, pulling the four of us into a tight huddle on the stage.
“I just wanna say,” Sutton starts, his smile disappearing as he gets uncharacteristically serious, “that I’m really glad we’re doing this.It fucking sucked when we broke up and well...shit man, I love you guys and I really fucking love this band.”
Lacey, Dean and I all fall silent.I look around at each of them, knowing my feelings mirror Sutton’s, just like I’m sure Lacey and Dean’s do too.Breaking up wasn’t something any of us wanted, and even though I wish we could undo all the shit that happened, I am glad we’ve found our way back to each other.
I open my mouth to tell them that, but before I can speak, Lacey lets out another laugh as she says, “Jesus, total pussy.”
Sutton growls, pulling her close as he presses a kiss to her temple.“Whateves, Lace,” he says affectionately.“I was trying to have a moment.”
She smiles up at him, kissing him on the cheek as she says, “Love you too, Sutton.Love all of you guys,” she adds, turning to look at each of us in turn.“And I want you know that what happened wasn’t anyone’s fault.I think we probably needed it, to be honest, especially me.”
“Lace,” Dean murmurs, as I squeeze her hand in mine.
“No, shut up,” she says, hitting us all with a hard glare.“I know what you’re all thinking, and trust me, I’ve had enough...well, I just know.”
