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Addy picked a seemingly random door and shoved it open, revealing a long room with two couches along the wall and a mini fridge in the back corner. I saw Natasha first, packing her guitar into its case, the biggest smile on her face. Behind her, on one of the couches, sat Vincent, staring at his hands with a blissed-out expression. And then I spotted Harry.
Even though Jonathan, Terry, and Addy all pushed into the room, and Natasha and Vincent were there as well, everyone else simply fell away.
Harry’s eyes immediately lifted to mine, showing me the electricity that crackled in his gaze. An awestruck grin stretched across his lips. He looked at me for a millisecond before moving.
And then he stood before me, arms sweeping around my waist, pulling me right off my feet. A startled laugh burst from me. He was sweaty, but I couldn’t have cared less. In fact, it almost made me burrow closer, drawing in his scent. “Ohmygodohmygod,” he kept saying over and over, his low voice in my ear. He trembled, coming off a high only the stage could provide.
Harry pulled away and quickly pressed his mouth to mine in a deep kiss, causing a shockwave of heat to scatter across my body. And just like that, the memory of how he’d acted last night fell away. His panic from last Saturday became nothing but a distant thought. I curled my fingers into his hair, savoring the taste. One of his hands slid down my spine to press against the small of my back, bringing us flat against each other.
This moment? This one made ittotally worthsneaking out and my possible demise tonight. Totally worth it.
“Okay, lovebirds.” Someone sighed, but my brain couldn’t comprehend who it was. “Single people over here feeling very awkward.”
But Harry didn’t lean back, not for another moment. Not that I was complaining.
When he did, he pressed his forehead to mine, sliding a hand down my hair, fingers twining in the curls. “I didn’t think your parents would let you come.” He pulled back enough to swallow hard, and a shadow of last night swept across his features, threatening that blissful happiness. “How did you—”
“No,” I cut him off, lifting my chin. “Don’t worry about that. Don’t let it ruin this moment.”
He didn’t say anything else, but his expression didn’t immediately clear. When we both pulled away to face the rest of the room, Addy was elbowing Vincent in the ribs, pointing at me. “That’s Stella.”
Vincent snorted. “I mean, given the way they just made out, I hoped it was.”
“Itoldyou I thought I saw someone who looked like Stella.”
“And I believed you,” he insisted, wrapping his arm around her.
“I figured you were you by the way Harry’s face lit up when he saw you,” Natasha told me, expression holding what looked like respect. “He only smiles like that for you.”
By way of agreement, Harry’s lips brushed my temple.
Natasha sat down on the couch with a loud exhale, a faint smile on her lips. “I can’t believe we did that. I mean, wefinallyplayed someplace other than Crushed Beanz.” She glanced over to Addy and Vincent, who cuddled on the other couch beside Jonathan. Terry leaned against the wall beside Jonathan, his hand against the back of the sofa. “No offense, V.”
“None taken. I’m as excited as you are.” Vincent nudged his knee against Addy’s. “Thank you for setting this up, Adeline. I mean it. You should’ve seen Dad’s face—he was so excited.”
“I’m the best, I know.” She flipped her blonde hair over her shoulder. “Where’d your dad go?”
“He wanted to sit and watch the other band play. He’ll be back once we load the equipment up.”
Harry wrapped an arm around my waist. “Addy, thank you. You got us to a place a lot of bands only dream about.”
“What he said,” Natasha added with a grin, glancing between Harry and Terry. “This time last year, things were so, so different, huh?”
“Sodifferent,” Terry agreed.
Natasha shook her head a little. “Dreams really come true, I guess. I mean, I barely got by in school and, Harry, you were stuck in—”
“Tash.”
Harry’s voice was terse, almost as if the word had been dragged out of him. Around my waist, his arm stiffened, mood changing on a dime. When I looked over, his gaze locked on Natasha, his expression almost looked oddly intense.
I opened my mouth to ask him what was wrong, but Natasha carried on. “Well, things were just different last year is all. You and I weren’t even playing music yet, Harry.”
“Crazy how far you can come in such a short time,” Vincent added.
Addy gave a small smile, but it wasn’t at full volume. “So much can change in a year.”
Vincent laid his hand on her knee, giving it an affectionate squeeze.
