“Why the hell did I say that?” Trey’s question was rhetorical, because he knew why he’d said it. He’d said whatever he needed to say to get the guy off his back. Survival was in his blood. “Even if Dom wasn’t standing right there, I shouldn’t have said it.”
“This is why secret relationships never work out,” Danielle said. “Sooner or later you have to confirm or deny, and your instinct is to protect yourself.”
“My instinct should be to protect Dom, too. Shit.” He kicked at one of the van’s wheels. “I suck.”
“So go find him and apologize.”
“Bad idea.”
“Why?”
He stared. “Did you see the look on his face? He’s pissed. He’ll probably let Lincoln beat me up for the fun of it.”
“You think?”
“I don’t know.” Lincoln had seemed momentarily furious, and then bottled it up fast. Dominic had to have told Lincoln about them for Lincoln to step in and try to make things normal as quickly as he had. And he’d gone off with Dominic without asking any questions about the sudden drop in temperature around them.
“Well, as Dominic’s best friend, I say Lincoln has every right to punch you in the face over this.” Danielle knuckled his shoulder. “However, as your best friend, I reserve the right to intervene on your behalf.”
“I don’t deserve it. Dom’s only ever been amazing, and I shit all over him today.”
“And shit washes off, Coop. Look at me.” She physically turned him so he had to face her. “Give him time to be pissed, then apologize. Grovel. Make it up to him. Do whatever you need to do to make this right, even if it means losing the band. But only if you think he’s worth it.”
“Heisworth it.” Trey didn’t have to think about that one. He’d known Dominic for a month, but time didn’t matter, because they’d connected on another level. A personal level that didn’t care about time or physical constraints, because theykneweach other. They complemented each other, and Trey would fight for that.
He wasn’t even twenty-one years old, but Trey knew that the connection he had with Dominic was rare. He couldn’t lose it over one bad decision.
Trey palmed his cell and started typing:I’m so sorry. So so so so sorry. Didn’t mean it. He frustrated me and I wanted him to back off. Tell me how to fix this. Please.
He stared at his phone for so long that Danielle took it from him and turned the screen off.
“Come on,” she said. “He’ll answer when he’s ready.”
“I guess.”
Unless he’d totally blown it.
The last of the afternoon melted into evening, and Trey’s text went unanswered. He tried to eat dinner with his bandmates, but his stomach was knotted up so tightly he barely managed a few French fries. Nerves over the eight o’clock announcements and nerves over Dominic’s continued silence. The final performance ended at six thirty, which gave the judges time to deliberate on the two categories. Upbeat music was piped over the speakers, keeping the anxious crowd going.
At seven, everyone who had performed was supposed to head to the backstage area so the winners and runners-up could go onstage when called. Trey spent most of his downtime scanning the crowd for Dominic. Every head of black hair orflash of golden skin was him—except it never was. Bobby and Andy probably chalked his craziness up to anxiety over winning tonight. At one point Tyson, Benji, and Joshua passed by and wished them luck, and Trey’s crew did the same. Trey resisted asking where Dominic was.
No one mentioned the run-in with Voyeur Guy.
Tension hovered over everyone like a thundercloud, anticipation buzzing like lightning. Trey kind of wanted to throw up.
At quarter to eight, he texted Dominic again:Good luck. I hope you guys win. Sincerely. I’m sorry I hurt you. I mean it.
A moment later, a reply came through:Leave him alone. —Linc
Hope of fixing this before the end of the festival shattered, leaving an ache in Trey’s chest. He’d fucked up the best thing he’d ever had outside of Fading Daze. He didn’t deserve to win tonight. Anyone else did. Not him.
Except winning wasn’t only about him. It was about Bobby and Danielle and Andy, and about their dreams, too.
The canned music faded out, and an uproar from the crowd told him that Anthony Kross was taking the stage. He launched into one of his best-known hits to rev the audience up even more.
Trey wanted to climb out of his own skin.
“Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, and everyone in between,” Anthony said, “welcome to our final night of Unbound!”
