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“The boss is already upstairs with Jace and the others,” he informed us. “I hope you enjoy your evening.”
Kin and Jenna pulled me up the stairs to the VIP floor. We didn’t go downstairs on Thursday nights because the crowd could get rowdy with all the guys in attendance to watch the Bombshells. Harris’s security had broken up many fights because of it.
Unlike the year before, there was no surprise party waiting on me when we got upstairs. I had to admit I was relieved. I didn’t want any repeats from my eighteenth birthday to follow any other birthday for as long as I lived. Jenna and Kin didn’t give me time to look around as they pulled me into our usual corner where we would normally relax and watch the show.
“Lucy!” Jace and Caleb stood to hug me, then I was being pulled down onto the couch with the girls.
I glanced around, disappointed that Harris wasn’t up there yet. “Is he busy?”
Jace shrugged as he retook his seat and pulled Kin down onto his lap. “I think there was a technical issue earlier and he went to take
care of it. Don’t worry. He’ll be up soon.”
“Oh,” I muttered and sat back.
“How about a drink?” Caleb suggested. “I’ll grab a waitress and get us something.”
“Sure.” I nodded. “The usual is fine.”
We sat and talked for a long while, but I couldn’t get into anything being said. I kept glancing at my phone and then around to see if I could find Harris. I was surrounded by all my friends, but I honestly felt alone because all I wanted was Harris. It was ridiculous because I saw him every single day—woke up with him each and every morning. Yet, I missed him like crazy. My need to be with him every second of every day hadn’t lessened with getting to see him so freely on a daily basis. I doubted it ever would, and I was perfectly happy with it never getting any easier to be without him.
“Are we late?”
My head snapped up at the sound of my sister’s voice. Confused, I watched as Lana and Drake walked toward us. Standing, I hugged her. “Late for what?”
“To tell you happy birthday,” Drake said with a grin and wrapped his arms around both me and Lana. “Damn, my little Lucy is nineteen now. You’ll always be that six-year-old who climbed on my lap and asked if I was a real demon to me, though.”
“Can we crash your party?” a new voice asked.
Glancing over Drake’s arm, I saw Natalie and Devlin Cutter walking toward us with Aunt Emmie and Nik right behind them. As I watched, Shane and Harper appeared at the top of the stairs, followed by my parents. Confused, but happy to see them all, I hugged each of them. Natalie gave me a tight squeeze as she released me and turned back to her husband, but I couldn’t stop to question the look I’d thought I’d seen in her eyes as my mom’s arms wrapped around me.
Dad was the last to hug me and he didn’t let go as we turned to face the others. I was so glad he was there that some of the sting of Harris still being gone faded. “Did you have a good day, Lu?” Dad asked.
“It’s been great.” I smiled up at him. “I had no idea you were coming tonight. I thought I wouldn’t see you again until Saturday.”
“Are you complaining? Because I can leave, if you want.” My hold on him only tightened, and he winked down at me. “Thought so.”
“I’d never complain about seeing you, Daddy. Thanks for coming.” It only made the day better to have him and the rest of my family there with me.
Downstairs, I heard the band getting ready to start their show. Still standing with my dad, we moved closer to the balcony to watch. Roanna, Aubree, Genesis and London took the stage, ready to rock the club. It never failed to amaze me at how effortlessly they commanded everyone’s attention. These four chicks were meant to go places with their music, especially Roanna with her killer vocals.
“It’s good to see all your faces tonight,” Roanna said into the microphone as she moved around the stage. Every eye in the club was turned straight at her now, and she knew it. It was odd because up there she became a goddess and she knew exactly what hold she had on people—and she thrived on it. Offstage, she tried to blend into the background, making her beautiful self as small as possible to avoid the attention. “Before we rock your panties off, we would like to take a moment and say a very special happy birthday to the one and only Lucy Thornton.” Roanna looked right at me and grinned, even though I was sure she couldn’t see me with all the lights trained right on her and the other Bombshells.
The fans below followed her gaze and I heard hundreds of them wish me a happy birthday. I felt my cheeks heat with the attention, and I cuddled against my dad a little more.
“Happy birthday, to you,” Roanna’s sultry voice started and her bandmates joined in. “Happy birthday to you.” The crowd below started singing along. “Happy birthday, dear Lucy.” I wanted to kill my friends and family as they started singing as well. “Happy birthday, to you.”
I groaned against Dad’s chest. “Is it over yet?”
He chuckled and turned me away from the band and the fans below. “Almost,” he murmured, but I heard a funny catch in his voice and I looked up at him. His eyes, however, were on something to his left.
Following his gaze, I found Nate and Barb stepping off the elevator with a huge cake, already alight with candles, being wheeled toward us on a table. Laughing, I stepped forward with everyone else to look at the cake. My heart lifted at all the thought Harris must have put into this little surprise and I wanted nothing more than to hug him right then, but he was still MIA.
Pushing through the small group of family and friends already standing by the cake, I finally got a good look at it. As I read the message written in a pretty purple, my heart stopped and I took a shocked step back.
Oh. My. Gods.
It all made sense now. Why both our parents were there with the rest of my closest family members. Oh, gods, this was surreal and so exquisitely beautiful I couldn’t catch my breath.
