She never promised me anything beyond this tour, and honestly, I’m scared to ask.
Connie’s phone vibrates again, and I grab it, handing it to her. She squints and reads the messages before she sitsupright so fast, it makes me dizzy, and my body craves her softness back against me.
“Oh my God,” she says.
I’m instantly on alert. “What happened?” I sit up, and she turns her face to me, tears welling in her eyes.
Shit, shit, shit.
“Are you okay?” I ask again. Her mouth stays shut but warbles as she nods. Something isn’t right. “Connie, talk to me.”
She lets out a sob. “I’m sorry,” she cries. “I shouldn’t be crying.”
I hold her close, still very confused. “Shh, it’s alright, Stardust. You’re safe.” I’m throwing darts in the dark. Is she having intrusive thoughts? What’s happening in that mind of hers?
She’s sobbing into my chest now, and oh man, I’m going to destroy whoever is making her cry. Suddenly, her shoulders shake, and I realize she’s not crying—she’s laughing.
“I really, I’m sorry.” She pulls away and wipes the tears from her face. “I spent so long thinking I wasn’t good enough.” She’s holding her phone to her chest like a prized memento. “I just got an email from Ripple Records.”
“About what?” I ask.
Connie’s beaming now. “I guess they sent a letter to my apartment the same time as Lilli’s, but it was marked ‘return to sender’ since we weren’t home. Lilli had her mail forwarded to her parents’ house.”
I sit there and listen, not seeing where this is going, but she seems to be getting excited.
“When they sent Lilli an offer for a recording contract, they had sent me one too! They just emailed it over to me since the snail mail one never was delivered!”
My eyes go wide. “Oh, shit! You did it!”
“I did it!” I hug her again and roll on top of her, pressing kisses into her face, her neck, her lips, her nose, her collarbone.
She’s laughing and I’m so, so fucking proud.
The hotel phone is ringing, so I begrudgingly pull myself off her and pick up. “Hello?”
“Connie!” Lilli is screaming, so I hand the phone over so the girls can scream at each other over the line.
After Connie is dressed and ready, I walk her and her luggage out to the tour bus. She finds a seat on the couch inside the bus gestures for Lilli to sit with her.
“Lilli, I have to tell you something,” she says. “Eric and I are…” She looks at me and takes a deep breath. “We’re together.”
Lilli looks between us, then over at Ash before they both start laughing so hard, Lilli forgets how to breathe.
“Sorry, sorry,” Lilli says, “but I fucking called it. Ash, you owe me twenty bucks.”
I look over at Ash. “You bet against us?”
Ash hands two tens over to Lilli, shaking his head. “That wasn’t the bet.”
“I bet Connie would tell me you guys were together before we left this hotel, and he bet that you wouldproposebefore we left the hotel.”
“Technically, I’m the driver,” Ash says. “I can wait a long time.”
“Tops needs the bus,” Connie mutters with a blush.
“Alright, but Eric, I’m out of twenty bucks because of you.”
“Noted,” I tell him.
