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I cast my gaze around, making eye contact with my sister, who had taken a seat on a small loveseat, and Barry, who sat beside her. My best friend wore a black muscle tee. He held his sticks, resting them on one jean-clad knee, and that knee was bouncing.
Collin stood alone in the corner, his guitar already strapped to his shoulder. My sister, the stylist, had a hand in his look too. If she’d put makeup on him, I couldn’t tell. He was as handsome as he always was, though his silver eyes were brighter, and the black button-down shirt he wore was completely undone, showing off his chiseled physique. It practically set my panties on fire just skimming my gaze over him.
“But you’re the leader,” I said, returning my gaze to Andy. “Remember that. The rest of the band will follow you.”
He nodded. “I hear you.”
Sound check, which had just been an abbreviated walk-through, had gone well. But it had been the full band practice at Andy’s that made my music-loving soul sing.
“You guys are ready,” I said. “Better than ready. I haven’t wanted to say anything before now. I guess I didn’t want to jinx it, but there’s nothing to jinx. The way you sound, the way it feels when you’re making music, is magical. Who the fuck cares if anyone else gets you? We get us. That’s what matters.”
“Fuck yeah,” Barry boomed.
Collin nodded. “Well said, babe.”
“Right.” Andy stood. “Let’s huddle up.”
I reached out and my sister took my hand. Collin moved his guitar behind his back and threw his arm around me. Barry ended up standing across from me. Unsurprisingly, Andy and Collin were side by side.
“Let’s show them who we are and what we can do,” Andy said.
A knock sounded on the door.
“I’ll get it.” I released my sister’s hand, ducked out from under Collin’s arm, and opened the door.
“Hey, Addy.” Miranda looked past me—at Collin, no doubt. Andy was hot, but Collin was like a supernova. “You need to come see this.”
“Okay.” I glanced back at the others. “I’ll come get you guys in five.”
“Hurry,” she said.
“What’s going on?” I asked Miranda as she dragged me through the deserted backstage corridor. I started to make a quip about her making a habit of dragging me everywhere, but my words got caught in my throat as we turned the corner and the noise of the crowd hit me.
“Everyone we invited came.” Her brown eyes shining, she squeezed my fingers.
I followed her up the stairs to the stage and peeked around the column. Winston’s was packed, wall to wall and shoulder to shoulder with people. And they were pumped up.
My mouth dropped open. “Wow!”
“We did it.” She nodded excitedly.
Squeezing her fingers back, I said, “It was a group effort.”
I’d done most of the talking, telling everyone about the band, but Miranda knew where large groups of her friends were gathered. She was popular, an approachable type of popular, but less transparent around her peers. I knew she’d invited me to her home for a reason. She wanted to give me a chance to meet her and see who she really was.
“The place is hopping,” she said, and I nodded. Patrons were lined up several rows deep in front of the bar. “The VIP section is sold out. Liquor sales are going through the roof. Martin is pleased. He wants to talk to you after the show.”
“Okay.”
“Go tell him.” She pointed back the way we had come.
“Tell the band, you mean,” I said, correcting her when I realized she meant Collin. “And you should come with me. You worked as hard as I did getting the word out.”
“I did it for you and for Collin. He doesn’t need to know.” Miranda released my hand. “Go. Bring them out.” She gestured to the VIP area. “I’ll be over there if you need me, talking up the band some more with my friends.”
“Thank you, Miranda.” I kissed her cheek.
“You’re welcome, Addy.”
