“Someone will come get you when it’s time for you to go onstage,” Rook continues, eyes darting nervously in the direction Damon disappeared to, as if he’s half-expecting him to come charging back at me. “We’ll be watching in the background.” He claps his hands. “That’s everything, so I’ll leave you to prepare.”
As soon as Rook’s out of earshot, Nash grabs my shoulder and jerks me around to face him. “What the fuck was that?”
“Faye’s one of Delilah’s friends, if Faye’s here…” My words come out in a hurried frenzy, addled with simmering excitement. “Maybe Delilah is too.”
“We don’t know that.” Despite his negativity, I detect a hint of hope in Nash’s voice. “Let’s just get this show over with and get home, okay?”
Hoping it will calm the anxiety ripping through me, I take another long swig from the bottle. This is more than a concert. What if the song I wrote for her isn’t enough? What if nothing will ever be enough? I take another drink before Nash pries the bottle from my fingers. “You’re done.”
“Curtain’s up in twenty,” the stage manager calls, a finger on their earpiece. “Follow me.”
They lead us through heavy doors into the backstage area. It’s small with a few leatherette sofas. Beyond us, I can already hear the crowd stirring. The whole building feels abuzz with anticipation. I’ve always enjoyed playing for a crowd, and I intend to give them their moneys worth. But there’s only one person I truly care about being in the audience, and I hope she’s ready to hear what I have to say.
EIGHTEEN
Delilah
What do you wear when you’re about to see the rockstar who broke your heart? After trying on every single outfit combination I could think of, the contents of my entire wardrobe is littered at my feet. It figures I ended up settling on the very first one I tried on.
I put on a short denim skirt and my brown cowboy boots, pairing it with a cropped lilac tee that clings to my figure. I leave my curls loose, clipping a few cute bows in them.
“Why do you even care what you look like?” I ask my reflection. “He won’t be able to see you anyway.”
A soft knock comes at my door. “Delilah?” Faye’s gentle voice comes from the other side. “Can I come in?”
“Yeah,” I call back while hastily gathering up armfuls of clothes and hurling them back into the closet.
“How are you feeling?” She looks amazing in an autumn-colored floral dress with a layered skirt, her long golden hair styled in a loose side braid that trails down to her waist. “Everyone’s waiting downstairs.”
“Do you think I’m making a mistake by going?” I scrunch my curls, but that only seems to make them frizzier. “Maybe we should just stay home.”
“This is all about you,” she replies. “We’ll do whatever you want.”
“Let me check my horoscope.” Right now, leaving fate in the hands of the stars seems like the best option. I decide to read it out loud. “Today is the day to push yourself out of your comfort zone.” Nervous energy skitters through me. “I guess that settles it, then.”
“Are you—” Sabs appears, poking her head over Faye’s shoulder. “Woah, Del. You look fucking hot.”
“I didn’t want to go too dressy,” I say, momentarily reconsidering my outfit when I see she has squeezed into a sexy black dress that displays all her stunning curves.
“Good to show that asshole what he’s missing.” Sabs winks. “If I saw you, I’d be kicking myself.”
“This is about closure, Sabs.” Kady joins us. Her white dress with its sweet-heart neckline makes her look almost ethereal. “Stella balm time.”
She holds out the small, circular, golden box full of the cloves, sage, and amber-scented balm. We pass it around, each of us dabbing it on our pulse points. It’s tradition that we apply it before nights out to provide us with added protection and make it easier to scent each other in a large crowd.
When we’re all done, Kady frowns at her watch. “We better hurry, if we want to get there in time. I’ve heard the lines are crazy.”
“Don’t worry about that.” Unfazed, Sabs grabs a lipstick and compact from her purse to apply a touch-up to her glossy red lips. “Drax will make sure we get in. Plus, we have VIP tickets. We’ll zip straight through.”
“I didn’t think you and Drax were still talking.” Kady raises an eyebrow at the mention of Sabs’s childhood friend who has been forever crushing on her. “I thought he’d been avoiding you since you and he had the ‘just friends’ discussion?”
“He was never avoiding me. Okay, maybe he was a little…” Sabs stows away her lipstick and compact, suddenly deciding to pay close attention to the strap on her purse. “But we saw each other at home over the holidays. No big deal.” For Sabs, who usually divulges every little detail of her life, she’s being uncharacteristically cagey. “Anyway!” She claps her hands. “Chop, chop! We’d better go.”
Usually, I’m excited for a night out with the girls, but I’m a ball of nerves. I can’t even focus on the details as Sabs relays a funny story about her volleyball practice where someone dressed up as the mascot.
Faye checks her cell phone, shaking her head as we climb into the cart while Kady gets into the driver’s seat. “Looks like the guys are having fun.” Before we set off, she shows us a photo of Riven and Laz kicking ass onDance-Dance Revolution. Kady’s eyes soften when she sees the photo. Her blonde Viking alpha can be a little socially withdrawn, so seeing him let loose is great. “Laz bullied everyone into going to the arcade club. Well, except for Damon. He’s working Jagger’s concert.”
“I swear, he asks for jobs just to keep an eye on you,” Sabs teases Faye.
