Her hand traces an arc over the back of mine. “Koko’s good. Technically. She hits every note. Her timing is perfect.”
I nod once.
“She doesn’t live the songs, though.”
I glance sideways.
Avonna watches the stage intently. “She’s interpreting. Not embodying. There’s a distance between her and the lyrics. She sings about pain, but she doesn’t seem to feel it.”
I follow her gaze. Watch Koko spin, toss her hair, reach for the crowd.
“She’s brilliant,” Avonna says. “Not a fit for them.”
I gulp. The weight of her words settles into the idea I’ve been thinking about for months.
She leans closer. “They’re all in sync. Technically. Something’s off, though.”
“What is it?”
“Intimacy.” She narrows her eyes at the stage. “Trust. She sings at him, not to him.”
Avonna doesn’t need to elaborate. I feel it too.
When the final song begins, the lights cut low. Liam steps forward, voice raw. The crowd sways, singing with him. His body folds over the chords. The sound swells, thick with emotion.
Avonna’s lips part slightly. Her breath catches. I watch her closely.
She holds perfectly still, every line of her body is tuned to the music. The moment the last note fades, she exhales. Closes her eyes and fans her hand back and forth in front of her face.
We slip out before the encore, back through the crowd, out the front door unnoticed. The street is busy but we walk in silence back to the car.
Before we get in, Avonna’s hands slide up my chest, eyes shining. “He’s even more than I imagined.”
“I know.”
She sighs dreamily. “I see why you couldn’t let go.”
I nod.
She cups my face. “We have to be careful. He hides behind charm but there’s pain in every movement.”
“He’s always been this way.” I sling my arm around her.
She kisses my cheek. “We’ll go slow.”
“If we wait too long…” I shake my head.
She finishes, “He’ll disappear.”
Avonna strokes my chest. “Let’s follow through with our plan.”
I breathe her in. Her scent. Her strength. Imagine the life we could have with him.
“We have to,” she insists.
Leaning down, I kiss her deeply. “We will, love.”
The two of us are going to give Liam something he’s never had.
