“I am sorry, Birdie,” Paige added. “That was—incredibly tacky of her.”
For Paige this was about the worst thing you could imagine, so I nodded my thanks.
Forrest drew me aside.
“Are you ready to raise the curtain again?”
My heartbeat had not returned to normal.
“I don’t know if I can do this. She’s right that you originally wrote this for her. It’s her role, not mine.”
There were firm, strong fingers on my chin.
“Look at me.”
Forrest pulled my chin up.
“Of course you can do this. Didn’t I change up the songs? Rearrange them so they’d showcaseyourvoice perfectly?”
“You’re just saying that because you want to fuck me.”
“That’s not true.”
That was it. I knew that was the root and source of the problem.I didn’t want this to be only about sex. Could not ever trust him if I thought it was just sex.
“Everyone says so. Everyone says I only placed so high in the competition because you wanted to fuck me.”
He frowned, tightened his fingers on my chin.
“Obviously I want to fuck you, but listen to me. I’mobsessedwith you.”
“Then why did you do it? You ruined the wedding I planned so carefully. I don’t know if I can ever forgive you for that.”
Maybe this wasn’t the ideal time to let out my bitterness, right before a show, but I couldn’t stop myself.
“It wasn’t because I didn’t love you. I’m just a damn egotist, baby. Look.”
He opened his phone and flicked back through something, then turned it around.
“If you want to see something embarrassing as hell, listen to these.”
“What, voice notes?”
He pressed one and it took me a minute to recognize what it was. But then I looked at him in wonderment. It was the song I had sung the very first time we’d ever met. Thevery first notesof my audition.
“You were secretly recording me under the table? Pervert.”
“Iknewyou were extraordinary. The first moment I saw you. I wanted that smoky, sexy, goddess voice all to myself, and I shouldn’t have done that. I was being a controlling asshole. I’ll produce anything you want, baby girl. You don’t have to forgive me. I’ll do it because it’s what you want.”
“Manipulative,” I said, and he gave me a crooked grin, those laugh lines crinkling up around his eyes.
“I promise you are talented as hell and you are going to bring the house down.”
Well, he was right. Icoulddo this.
And then Percival was next to me.
“Just imagine you’re in church,” he said.
