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I smacked Jennifer’s hand. “That’s Campbell.”
Jennifer nodded vigorously. “Holy shit!”
We were idiots. Neither of us cared.
He wore ripped black jeans, a black V-neck T-shirt, and a black leather jacket. His dark hair was short on the sides and long and slightly curly on the top. He looked like he’d just walked off of a photo shoot.
But before either of us could say anything else stupid, Hollin started laughing. “What the fuck are you wearing?”
Campbell looked down at his clothes and then back up at his cowboy of an older brother. “Clothes?”
“You look ridiculous.”
“Why thanks,” Campbell said with the smile that made girls’ panties melt all over the world. “We call this rockstar chic.”
“Let me get my hat,” Hollin said jokingly. “It’ll really complete the do.”
Campbell rolled his eyes at his brother and joined us. “Sure. Cowboy hat goes perfectly with this jacket.”
“Oh,” Julian said with a laugh. “So, Hollin is this much of a dick to everyone, huh?”
Campbell chuckled. “Pretty much his MO.”
“Good to know,” Julian said.
“Hey!” Hollin said.
I covered my laugh with my hand to try to keep from laughing. We stood around and chatted for a while longer until the noise from the other side of the stage became practically oppressive.
“I’ll check on it,” Nora said quickly. She scurried off with her clipboard and came back a minute later, eyes wide. “How many people did you invite again?”
“About a hundred,” Hollin said.
“Why?” Julian asked.
“The place is already packed,” Nora said.
“What?” Julian asked in confusion. “How?”
Campbell frowned and looked between them all. “Shall I guess?”
They all looked back at the casual rockstar in their midst.
“Oh,” I whispered. “Someone leaked that Campbell was going to be here. It probably got back to Tech, and all the students showed up to see him perform.”
Campbell shrugged helplessly as if this were his every day. Which…I suppose it was.
Nora bit her lip. “I guess I should have anticipated this. My jerk of a brother always ruining things.” But she smiled when she said it.
Campbell just laughed easily. “It’s fine. You hired security, right?”
Julian looked at Hollin. “We did. Right?”
“Um…”
“Oh shit,” Campbell said.
The night was definitely going to be interesting.
“Maybe you should go out there before there’s a riot,” I said with a laugh.
Campbell nodded. “Good idea. Let me get my guitar.”
While Campbell headed back into the suite, I left with Jennifer to check out what was happening. My eyes rounded in shock. It certainly was more than the hundred people we’d anticipated. I could see some familiar faces—Blaire, Piper, Sutton, the rest of the Wrights—in the crowd, but for the most part, it was a sea of unfamiliar people.
They’d all crowded the stage and taken up a chant. “Cosmere! Cosmere! Cosmere!”
“Well, I think the guys are going to have their hands full for the night, dealing with this,” Jennifer said.
I nodded. “I think so, too.”
Jennifer put her hand on my shoulder. “Is everything okay with you two?”
A soft sigh escaped me.
“I honestly don’t know. Everything was going so well. Too well.” I glanced over at her. “I should have known that if things looked too good to be true they probably are.”
“No way. You and Jordan just make sense.”
“I thought so too. But he hasn’t talked to me all week. He’s actively avoiding me. And then did you see the way he looked at me just now?”
Jennifer bit her lip. “Yeah. That was weird. What did he say?”
“Just that we’d talk after the party. That’s not a good sign, right?”
“He just seemed stressed,” Jennifer admitted. “Honestly, I don’t think his mind was on anything but work.”
“Probably. Or at least, hopefully, and now, with this…” I gestured to the rapidly growing crowd.
“He’s probably twice as stressed.”
“Just what he needs.”
Jennifer cringed. “Just don’t think about it until later. I know that’s hard, but it’ll be fine. I’m sure of it. Go hang out with the girls and enjoy the show. I know you like Cosmere as much as I do.”
“I do.” I hugged Jen. “Thanks for being so awesome.”
“It’s just who I am as a person.”
I gasped and hip-checked her. “Was that a joke, Jen?”
She grinned. “You’re rubbing off on me. Now, go.”
With a shake of my head, I headed back out onto the main floor of the barn. After careening through a group of giddy undergrads discussing Campbell, I found Blaire, Piper, and Sutton standing just far enough away from the desperate gaggle of college kids.
“This is crazy,” I said when I finally reached them.
“I’m not surprised,” Piper said. Her eyes swept around the barn, scrutinizing the new interior. “It was bound to get out that Campbell was performing. They should have gotten security, had a guest list, et cetera. It’s an amateur mistake.”
Sutton chuckled at Piper. “Just because you hate Hollin doesn’t mean that you have to hate the winery.”
Piper softened. “I don’t hate Hollin or the winery. I think it’s stunning. They did excellent work. I honestly never would have thought this place was capable of looking this good. But…it’s still the competition,” she said with a wink.
