"Damn right." She hopped onto the makeup counter. "Setlist good?"
"Same as last night," Jake said.
"Encore swap?"
"Maybe."
She nodded. "Crowd's insane already. Girls screaming your names like you're gods."
"We are gods," I said.
She snorted. "Keep telling yourself that."
We talked logistics, sound levels, cue times, what to do if the pyrotechnics fucked up. Normal shit. Family shit.
Then it was time.
We walked to the stage wings. Crowd roar already shaking the floor.
Sydney squeezed my hand quick. "Kill it."
"Always do."
Lights dropped. Intro track hit.
We walked out.
Spotlights blind. Screams deafening.
I stepped to the mic. "Vegas."
They lost it.
First song. Voice raw. Guitar heavy. Adrenaline hit like a drug.
Halfway through the set I scanned the front row, habit. Faces blurred. Phones up. Signs. Glitter.
One girl caught my eye. Wavy hair. Wide eyes. Not screaming like the rest. Just... watching. Like she was actually listening.
Pretty. In a quiet way.
I didn't think much of it.
Just sang.
.
Chapter 4
Hadley
The roar of the crowd still echoed in my ears even after we slipped through the side door into the backstage hallway. My legs felt shaky, not from fear, just from standing too long pressed against that barricade, screaming lyrics I didn't even know I knew.
The energy from the concert clung to me like sweat, my heart still racing from the lights, the bass, the way the whole place had pulsed like one giant heartbeat. Zariah was vibrating next to me, cheeks flushed, eyes bright like she'd swallowed lightning. She kept squeezing my arm, whispering things like "That was insane" and "Did you see Cal's solo?" but I could barely nod, my mind still replaying the show in fragments.
The door to the green room swung open before we even reached it, spilling out laughter and the faint hum of voices.
"Z!" Holland's voice boomed first. He barreled out, arms wide, scooped her up like she weighed nothing. She squealed an actual squeal, and wrapped around him like a koala, her legs kicking a little in the air.
