My hands were clammy as I grabbed the guitar from Silas. The guys moved to make space for me in the circle until I fit right in.
We began to play, the melody unravelling from my fingers into the room. Even though this was my first time playing this song with all of them, we sounded just right, as if we’d practiced it for weeks. I couldn’t believe how natural this felt, and something similar to my awe played out across all of their faces. That feeling of being infinite, of being part of something larger than myself, swept through me with enough force to make me stumble.
We finished and let a quiet moment linger for a little while.
“Adeline, we have something to ask you,” Ezra said in a steady voice even as his eyes danced with excitement.
“What is it?” I asked, raising my brows.
“We want you to join the band.”
I froze, his words slicing through my euphoria.
“What?” Everything around me began to spin. “I could ne—”
“Before you say no, hear us out,” Cole insisted. “We need a guitarist, and you’ve more than proven yourself over the past few weeks. You wrote this incredible song with Abel, which captured our sound perfectly while at the same time pushing us forward. You can’t tell me playing it together just now didn’t feel like magic.”
I shook my head, not to refute anything he was saying, but rather to show my disagreement with the conclusion they had settled on as a result.
“More importantly,” Silas sounded from my left, “this is what you’ve always dreamed about. This is your chance to push past your fear and pursue your calling as a musician.”
What they were saying was insane, and I looked at Abel for backup. There was no way he’d agree to this.
His eyes were softer than I’d ever seen them before. “I agree with everything they’ve said. I think we can be amazing together.”
The way he said that last sentence made my heart skip a beat. There was a waterfall of feelings contained in those few words, engulfing me and making my head pound.Together. He wasn’t just talking about me joining the band, was he? Did he know about what had been going on behind the scenes?
“Look, this is impossible,” I muttered, panic creeping up my neck like a dozen sharp vines. “I thought you didn’t even know if you wanted to keep going after this recording the album.”
“For a while, we didn’t,” Ezra said. “But after working together—after working with you—we realized we wanted to give this another chance. You helped us see that there is still a band here. That we can pick up the pieces and glue them into something even better than before.”
My laugh was an empty huff of air. Inside my head, alarms rang.Danger! Move away! High-voltage area!
But as I looked at their resolute and hopeful faces, I knew I couldn’t just dismiss their request outright. I owed them more than that. “I need some time to think about it.”
“Of course,” Cole responded. “Take as much time as you need.”
I nodded and walked out the room, feeling their eyes on my back.
22
ADELINE
We got into the SUV,Abel and I in the back row, and began the drive to the venue while I tried to come to terms with what they had asked of me. I was glad they’d decided not to break up, and I was even more glad that I had helped them make that decision, but asking me to join the band was madness.
I couldn’t just leave my life behind. I couldn’t work with four people when I was sleeping with three of them. Abel must know—they had to have told him. How could this possibly work? None of it felt real.
Abel, probably sensing my unease, reached over and squeezed my hand. This action from the moody singer only added to my bewilderment. Who was this guy, and what had happened to the cold asshole who couldn’t spare me more than a few words only a few weeks ago?
Ezra plugged in his phone and started blasting In Flames loud enough to make it hard to think. Instead of fighting it, I surrendered to the music. My brain needed to be wiped clean if I wanted to enjoy the show I had been so excited about.
“You ready to meet the guys from Mastery, Ade?” Cole called out over the music.
“As ready as I’m ever going to be.” In the midst of all the craziness, I had nearly forgotten I was about to meet the members of one of my favorite bands. My life was a surreal reality TV show.
The rest of the drive over passed quickly, and soon we were weaving our way through the back parking lot to the venue. A pair of security guards checked our backstage passes before leading us down a long narrow hallway.
Silas tugged on my hand. “Let me know if you want to talk,” he whispered in my ear. “I know it’s a lot to process.”
