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The moment passed, but Harry’s arm still tensed around my waist, the line of his body stiff and firm. I tried to think about what this time last year would’ve looked like for him, and then realized that I didn’t know.
I looked up at Harry, at the line of his jaw, at the scripting quality of the tattoo at his neck. Sometimes I forgot that the lines actually formed a hand because I was so enamored with how it looked against his skin. Sometimes I forgot that Harry—this sweet, innocent Harry that I knew—once got a neck tattoo at sixteen without permission. In a friend’s garage.
They seemed like two different people.
Everyone decided to go out and celebrate, and Natasha and Vincent loaded their equipment, ready to take it out to their vehicles. “Stay here and enjoy the free drinks in the mini fridge,” Harry told us with a grin, grabbing his own guitar case. “I’ll be right back.”
“I should head out,” I murmured to him, quietly enough so the others couldn’t overhear. They were talking to one another anyway, most likely weren’t listening. “My parents probably know where I am, but sooner or later they’ll send out a task force after me.”
Harry reached out and drew his thumb down my cheekbone. “I’ll take you home.”
I didn’t want to agree, but I also didn’t want to say no. Staring at him now made me think of the future. I had no idea when my parents would let me see him again. “I’m not sure what will happen after tonight,” I told him in a quiet voice, not looking at his expression. “I snuck out to come, and I can’t imagine that’ll go over well.”
“You shouldn’t have—”
“You thought I’d miss tonight?” I asked, keeping my voice light. “As if. Even if I wasn’t dating you, I’m still Untapped Potential’s biggest fan.”
“You shouldn’t have snuck out,” he finished anyway. “Things were already tense.”
“I wasn’t going to miss this,” I insisted, making my tone as serious as possible. “This is huge for you.”
He watched me for a long moment. That buzz of excitement had dulled down now, my words probably not helping the mood. “Give me five minutes to load this all up and I’ll drive you home.”
Before he had a chance to back away, I pressed a firm kiss against his mouth. His lips immediately responded, savoring the moment before parting. “Five minutes,” I echoed, letting him go.
Once Harry hurried out into the hallway, I turned back to the three who still remained. Jonathan and Terry were bent over Addy’s phone, and suddenly music filtered out. “Ugh, you can hear my horrible voice singing,” she said with a groan, glancing up. “Stella, come look.”
“I think that’smyvoice,” I teased, plopping down in the seat beside her. She’d recorded the stage for a little bit during our dancing, holding the camera high above the heads in the crowd. “You have to send that to me.”
“Just think, one day they’ll have it all recorded on an album,” Terry said, slipping his hands into his pockets. “That quality is going to be amazing.”
Addy let out a soft, happy sigh. “I hope it doesn’t take too long.”
I thought of Mr. Preston out there and wondered what else Margot could’ve said to him. Whatever it was, I hoped it was convincing.
“Excuse me?”
We all turned toward the doorway at the voice, finding a woman standing over the threshold. She was tall, almost taking up the entire archway with her cropped blonde hair tucked behind her ears. She looked at all of us. “Is Harry back here?”
“He ran some stuff to his car,” I told her, flattening my palms over my knees. “He’ll be back in a minute.”
She nodded, but didn’t move out of the doorway. Instead, she scanned us once more and then began looking at the space, not saying anything else.
I caught Jonathan’s eye and saw the way he tilted his head ever so slightly toward her.Go.So, with a sharp breath in, I pushed to my feet. “I’m Stella,” I told her, coming closer to extend my hand.
“Lily,” she returned, and took it.
“Lily,” I echoed, looking at her in a new light. “Santiago?”
She tilted her chin at her full name. “Do I know you?”
“I’m Harry’s girlfriend,” I told her, glancing back at everyone. They all had expressions of confusion, except for Addy. She looked at the woman closely. “You came to listen to him play?”
Lily nodded, folding her hands in front of her. “He mentioned he was playing here tonight at our meeting on Thursday. Thought I’d come support him.”
Meeting? Before I had a chance to ask, Addy spoke up. “How do you know Harry?”
I turned back around to tell her that Lily was a family friend, went way back, just as the woman said, “I was assigned to him when he got out last summer.”
So many of the words didn’t make sense.Assigned.Got out.Last summer. Lily’s expression was calm and collected, which made what she said even more confusing.
“Wait, you’re not—you’re not a friend of his family?”
“No,” Lily said. “I’m his probation officer.”
