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“Yep. But if it helps, I think I saw Catie McHeron in the back VIP area, and she’s a wicked singer. That should make your night better, right?”
“Yeah,” I laughed, thinking of the talented singer. “If I could get her autograph that would be amazing.”
“Might get you kicked out,” he joked. “But seriously, hurry up and get down here. My set starts at one, and if you want, you can join me, yeah? We always made a good duo, you know.”
I hesitated, wondering if that was exactly what I needed to shake off my duet with Jackson earlier this evening. “Are you playing anything I know?”
“Um…I think so. I’ll send you the set list and then you can make your decision on the way. That’s probably the best way to do it. I still need to have at least another three shots before I go on.”
“Deal, text it to me. My ride is almost here,” I added, glancing at the map with the blue dot pulling onto my street. “I’ll see you in a few.” I hung up and headed to the bathroom, dabbing on just enough makeup to make me look a little less than homeless. My hair had naturally dried hours ago, and while it was a little frizzier than I’d have liked, it looked good enough—even if I had to get on stage and once again combat my stage fright.
It didn’t bother me to play the piano in front of people—it never had—but the moment I had to open my mouth and utter a song, it was nearly impossible for me to do it without feeling like I might pass out.
But tonight, it was worth another try…even if it was just to forget Jackson.
I headed out of the bedroom, relieved that Maeve was nowhere in sight. We would have to have a long talk at some point, but tonight wasn’t the night. The hurt was too fresh for me to keep from saying something I might not mean…
I still had Jackson fucking up my head too…
And I needed to fix that.
10
JACKSON
“Do you really want to go back?” Aaron looked over at me, his blue eyes glazed over from a night of drinking. “I’m thinking we should just have a party of our own at your house.”
“Hell no,” I shot back at him. “I don’t want a bunch of idiots tearing up my shit tonight. I’m not in the mood.”
“Since when?” His voice slurred a little. “You’re always into making a fucking ruckus wherever we end up.”
“I haven’t had enough to drink,” I admitted, my eyes landing on my hands in my lap as the SUV took us back toward O.C.’s. I just…wasn’t in the mood to drink or something…
Because she was all I could think about tonight.
“I think we should go back,” Nel said, much more sober than Aaron. “There’s always some of the best hidden gem musicians after midnight. I like to find the good ones and send them to Tim. You never know what might happen. We could be the reason someone makes it big.”
Maybe I should tell them about Lena…
Except there was a big part of me that hated that idea for some reason. It wasn’t that I thought she shouldn’t be fucking famous or something. It was just that…for some reason, I wanted to keep her voice a secret to myself.
And that was just weird.
“What’s your problem tonight?” Aaron punched me in the shoulder. “You’re moping around like you got a big problem.”
“He always does that.” Nel burst into a fit of laughter. “That’s how he writes kick-ass songs.”
I chuckled as the car pulled up outside the bar. It was still really crowded for a weeknight, but then again, this was a city that seemed to never sleep anyway. Our driver unlocked the door, and I shoved it open, the noise from inside penetrating the air around us. I headed for the entrance, not even bothering to wait on the other two. I pulled my baseball hat down to mostly cover my eyes. Don’t get me wrong, it was a shitty disguise, but at this time of night, most people were too drunk to put it together.
“Wait up, asshole.” Aaron came trotting up behind me, his hand landing heavily on my shoulder. “I’m fucking dying to hear this great music that Nel won’t shut up about.”
“You should probably switch to water,” I said, sounding damn near foreign to myself. “Or something.”
Fuck me. I’m really off tonight.
“Take it you guys are back for more?” the bouncer said at the VIP entrance. “There’s a really good dude just starting his set. He always gets the shit slots, but he’s got some real talent.”
“All right.” Nelson pumped his fist behind me. “Maybe we can make his night and get him discovered.”
