“Be out in just a moment!”
Soon, Oliver and I were following Skylar and Vanessa to the concert venue, both of us bundled up in coats and scarves. On instinct, I laced my arm through his as I took in the beauty of the festival now that the sun had set.
A gust of wind hit my face, and I couldn’t help but move closer to Oliver and embrace the warmth that came off him. The corner of his mouth turned up in a small smile. Sometimes I got the impression that he didn’t mind the moments when we blurred the lines between friends and fake fiancés.
It always felt easy to be this way with Oliver though; that had never been the problem. I had to remind myself that this was not and could not be real. The butterflies trying to take flight in my stomach could go right back into their tiny little homes. We had been down this road before, and I had already determined why we couldn’t venture that way again.
Once we arrived at the venue, security waved us through and we made our way backstage, where we were greeted by the band.
A man with a long black mullet walked up to us and bowed. “Your Majesty. I’m Richie Pot, the lead singer. We’re so honored to have you join us tonight.”
Oliver extended his hand to shake Richie’s. “It’s nice to meet you, Richie. This is my fiancée, Adelaide. It’s our pleasure to be here.”
I shook Richie’s hand. “Nice to meet you.” I smiled warmly. “I’m sorry, I didn’t catch the name of your band.”
“We’re Risky Business.”
“Wait!” Oliver exclaimed, unable to contain his excitement. “I’ve seen you play before! I went to a showcase at The Phoenix about eight years ago. You were great!”
Richie’s eyes went wide. “Really? That was when we were just starting out. We really have a passion for rock music and it’s so fun to see people fall in love with a song all over again.”
A cheeky grin spread across my face. “Oliver is actually quite the hair band fan,” I said, nudging him gently with my shoulder.
“Is that right?” Richie asked eagerly. Oliver was blushing.
“It is. He even plays the electric guitar. He’s quite good!”
A man with a Flock of Seagulls haircut approached us with a bow. “Did I just hear that King Oliver knows how toplay the electric guitar? I was just warming up; would you like to play with me for a few minutes?”
Oliver shook his head. “Oh, I?—”
“He would love to,” I interrupted. “Go on, go play. I’ll be right here.”
Oliver glanced at me, his look clearly sayingI’ll get you back for this.I smiled at him innocently as I waved him away. He had pushed me outside of my comfort zone more than once recently; I had no problem doing the same to him.
Oliver disappeared with the guitarist, Faxon following a few steps behind. While we waited, I introduced Richie to Skylar and Vanessa and chatted with him about how he had met his bandmates.
A few minutes later, Oliver and the guitarist (Danny McDuff, Richie had told me) reappeared.
“Fun?” I asked, looping my arm back through Oliver’s. Beside us, Danny was whispering something into Richie’s ear.
“Yeah, it was. But Laidie, I know you’re up to something. I’m not sure what just yet, but I am onto you.”
I batted my eyelashes. “Who, me?”
Before Oliver could respond, Richie and Danny turned back to us. “Your Majesty, Danny says you are quite talented! We would be honored if you would join us for one of our songs tonight.”
Oliver’s cheeks reddened to a shade indistinguishable from a summer-ripe tomato. “I couldn’t,” he answered, eyes wide.
“Oliver,” I gently chastised, squeezing his arm. “It would be rude not to take them up on their offer.”
“I insist, sir. It would be the perfect way to kick off the first night of the festival,” Danny said, pushinghis red and black guitar toward Oliver. “Pick any song you like and we’ll add it to the set.”
Oliver took the guitar and stared down at it. “Oh, I really don’t know…”
“Just one song,” I encouraged.
“Please, it really would be our honor,” Richie added.
