Page 59 of Lyric & the Heartbeats

“Maybe,” she drawled, dragging out the first syllable and staring up at him innocently. “I’ll bag them up and bring them on the bus.”

“Did you ask every venue for the same request?”

Her lips quirked to the side as she gave him a droll stare. “Now that’s pretty boring, don’t you agree?”

Before answering, he reached a hand out to grab another sweet, and she smacked at his hand. Startled, he shifted his gaze from the bowl to her, and she rolled her hand out. “Don’t you agree?”

“Oh.” He cleared his throat. “Yeah, pretty boring.”

Lyric offered him the bowl and he carefully plucked a gummy from her collection, eyeing her the whole time.

“I organized it by weeks. The first week’s venues are in charge of peach. Then there’s strawberry lemonade, watermelon, blue raspberry, green apple, and grape.”

As she listed flavors he hadn’t even realized gummy bears came in, he shook his head.

“What?” she asked defensively. “Andi said I could request anything I wanted.”

“Why gummy bears?” he inquired. “Not that I’m complaining,” he added. “I just haven’t had them in forever.”

“They’re the perfect road trip snack. Sweet and bite-sized. And they’re so cute,” she said, holding out a tiny bear.

Without even thinking, Nohen leaned forward and nipped the gummy bear right out of her perched fingers. His gaze was glued to her face so he could watch her cheeks turn as pink as the candy and her lips pop open in shock.

“You’re right. They’re perfect,” he drawled.

An alarm cut through the room, shattering the moment and alerting them that sound check waited for no one.

Lyric’s cheeks flushed even hotter as her gaze skated around the room.

Nohen didn’t care who’d watched their interaction. In fact, he hoped the alphas had seen.

He was expecting jealousy. To turn and come face-to-face with a challenge in their gaze, maybe even judgment.

What he wasn’t expecting when he turned to face Odd and Emerson?

The heat in both of their gazes.

Cold air was pumping full blast backstage, and Lyric felt each pebbled goosebump as they moved in waves over her skin. The chanting of the crowd, the shrieking walkie- talkies, and the adrenaline-filled shouts of the crew as they readied last minute preparations, it was all one big, overwhelming rush of noise.

The opening band, a local crew arranged by the venue, had left moments ago. Finally achieving part of her dream, she’d wanted to give other locals a chance to do the same in each city.

Lyric sighed and took another breath to ready herself.

Nerves crawled around in her stomach like living vines, and she bounced lightly from foot to foot, shaking her hands out at her sides and humming distractedly.

A soft touch on her wrist pulled her attention to the present, and everything came into focus with a whoosh.

“Hey, you’ll be fine,” Nohen offered in a shout.

She nodded absently, not really listening. All she could hear was the crowd, which was growing louder by the minute, until Lyric could hardly find her own thoughts in the melee.

Nohen grabbed her hand. “Hey,” he shouted, leaning close so she could hear him better. “Remember. There’s no such thing as a perfect show. Take a deep breath.”

He was right. They could spend two years instead of two weeks, and it would still never live up to the expectations she had in her head.

He pulled back from her, meeting her gaze pointedly and touching his chest before ballooning his hand away from his pecs as he inhaled.

Lyric sucked in a deep breath with him, finding an odd calmness in the depths of his honey colored eyes. As they breathed together, it was like sinking into a pool of honey. Everything slowed down, her movements, her breathing, and best of all, her anxiety.