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My stomach twists. I feel really self-conscious sat here, in my dungarees and mustard sweater like some weird fangirl, maybe I should leave. I should definitely leave.
Decision made, I bolt to my feet, only to be instantly yanked back down by Ember and Saint.
“What are you doing?” Ember hisses through her teeth.
Saint is much more demanding. “Sit down!”
“I need the toilet,” I lie.
“No, you don’t,” Saint hisses under his breathe, leaning closer. “My darling, I will tie you to this chair if I have to, but you are absolutely not leaving.”
Groaning, I settle back in my seat, accepting my fate. My brain however, didn’t get the memo and instantly torments me. What if Jax saw me run away earlier?
Heat floods my cheeks. Of course he saw me, how could he not? I practically sprinted in the opposite direction like some emotionally stunted idiot. I cover my face. How am I supposed to explain that? Sorry I saw your agent and immediately convinced myself I’d imagined our entire relationship? Wonderful, very normal behaviour.
My stomach twists again.
The lights dim slightly, and a ripple of excitement moves through the crowd. The audience erupts, clapping, whistling and cheering as the cast step on to the stage. Daria appears first, then Raffi, then Naithan, and finally Jax. My pulse spikes, and for a second everything else disappears. He looks out at the audience, scanning the front row, and then his eyes find mine. My heart stumbles, and when he smiles—right at me, like there’s no one else in the room—I forget how to breathe.
The cast take their seats, all of them except Jax. He walks toward the microphone at the front as the room gradually settles, a thousand conversations fading into silence around him.
He clears his throat. “Good afternoon, everyone.”
The audience cheers again, and he laughs, but I catch him glancing down at something in his hand—something small, something that’s making his fingers tremble.
My confusion deepens. Why is he shaking? What’s happening?
“So…” He rubs the back of his neck. “We’re doing things a little differently today.”
The audience laughs, and Daria looks at me, smiling. Meanwhile, Raffi is grinning so hard it looks like he’s about to split his face open.
Naithan rises, gripping a guitar.
My stomach drops. Oh no. Oh no, no, no. My head is spinning. What is he doing?
Jax says something else, but I barely hear it over the rushing in my ears.
“…someone very special…” The words drift through the fog. “…this is for her…”
Her? My heart hammers against my ribs.
Before I can process it, Ella appears in front of me, smiling as she hands me the most beautiful bouquet I’ve ever seen. Soft white roses are interspersed with sprigs of silvery-blue thistles and tiny pink blooms tucked between fragrant eucalyptus. My mouth falls open as she places them gently into my arms, then disappears back the way she came.
The first notes of the guitar ring out—a melody I’ve never heard before—and the audience quietens almost instantly. Jax never looks away from me. Not once as his voice fills the space around us.
The room falls away. There’s no crowd, no convention, no embarrassment or panic. Even the noise in my head vanishes—there’s only him. His voice, his eyes, and the way he’s looking at me like nobody else in the world exists.
You found me in my dark, and saw my worth,
Never flinched away, when my demons showed up,
You looked into my eyes and called my bluff,
We talked the night away and said too much,
Until you came along, I never knew I was enough.
His voice is warm. Gentle. The lyrics feel intimate, like a private conversation—no, a confession. A sob catches in my throat. Oh God.
