Page 43 of Lyric & the Heartbeats

Lyric sighed and nodded. Then she gave them the light version of what was going on with Andi, ending with, “So we might be working with a new tour manager.”

“Will Andi be okay?” Adra asked, and her heart cracked open a little more.

“I don’t know. But all we can do is keep practicing and show her that we’ll be okay without her. Out of everything she has going on, I want this tour to be the last thing on her mind.”

Emerson nodded, brows dipped in seriousness. “We’ll help however we can.”

She swallowed hard and nodded, their concern reaching right into her chest to squeeze her heart. “Thanks, guys. For now, let’s just make sure at least the stage production is good to go. Are you ready for this?”

Lyric sucked in a deep breath, trying to answer her own question as a chorus of ‘hell yeahs’ reverberated around the arena from their little huddle.

“Let’s do this!” Desi cheered.

By the time the set wrapped up, she was exhausted.

Heaviness dragged at her limbs, but after saying goodbye to some of the crew, she left the venue and stepped outside into the evening sun. The others were right behind her, and she stretched, muffling a groan of pain.

“I’m starving,” Adra said, and scratched his stomach. Lyric watched as the shirt he was wearing formed to his body as he wiggled his fingers across the fabric, noticing that not an ounce of fat seemed to lie beneath it.

No alphas. No pack. No distractions, no conflict.

Yet, despite her mantra, what came out of her mouth was, “There’s still an hour and a half before the fitting appointment. How about food?”

“Alright, spill,” she said, wiggling her fingers in Desi’s direction. “I wanna know all about this girlfriend of yours.”

Lyric shoved another bite in her mouth, her tastebuds zinging with the hot and tangy spicy lime sauce she’d squeezed on top of her chicken tacos.

Desi got this dreamy look on her face and pulled out her phone with no hesitation. “This is her,” she announced, swiping through her photos. When she landed on one, she chuckled softly before turning her phone around.

Lyric couldn’t help the giggle that burst out of her. “Is she holding a sandwich?”

The woman in question was asleep, eyes closed and mouth half opened in slumber. And resting next to her head was her hand… with a sub sandwich.

“Yes! She had a shoot last way longer than anticipated, and by the time she got home, she grabbed half of my sandwich and crawled in bed. When I got in there, she’d only had like one bite before she fell asleep. She’d kill me if she knew I showed it to you. Here’s a better one.”

Lyric stared at the adoration on Desi’s face and a gentle pang squeezed her heart. How fucking sweet were they?

The next picture Desi showed made Lyric’s eyes bug out of her head, while Adra murmured, “Damn.”

“She’s a total babe!” Nohen shouted.

“She really is, whoa. Who took that?” Lyric asked.

The photo looked professional. Against a brick wall stood a woman with a pixie hair cut hidden by a wide brimmed hat, in a long, flowing dress as she posed. She was looking down, a secret little smile on her face. Even though it was clearly a timed or at least directed photo, it still managed to look completely candid.

“I did,” Desi announced. “Well, I mean, only a little. Amber picked the spot and the pose and even set the camera up, I was just supposed to press the button.”

Desi went on to share more about their relationship, how they met—at a beta bar—how they originally just hooked up but kept running into each other. “At first, she was dead set on avoiding me, so I figured she wasn’t interested.” Desi shrugged. “Which, fine. I’ve been rejected before. But she cornered me in the bar one night when I was two seconds from taking someone else home, and she stole me away.”

Desi sighed and stared off into the distance. Then she blinked and focused on them before her cheeks heated. “Wow, I just info dumped on you guys in a big way. Sorry. Someone else go.”

“You guys sound so cute together,” Lyric said instead. “How long have you been together?”

“Almost a year.”

“When’s the anniversary?” Adra inquired, his deep voice kind and excited. “Are you going to do something big?”

Desi glanced to Lyric before looking away. “Actually, I’ll be on the road the day of, but I’m planning a big surprise before I leave. It’ll be the longest we’ve spent away from each other since we moved in together.”