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Chapter Twenty-Six
Andrea
Andrea had arrivedin London the night before, checking into the hotel and letting Rhys drag her out to dinner with Jameson. They didn’t mention their bandmate and Andrea was grateful for the reprieve. Rhys was taking it easier than he normally did, which was a shock to Andrea but she didn’t mention it.
When a group of Irish girls spotted them, Rhys was more than happy to pose for pictures while Jameson didn’t seem all that comfortable with the attention, frowning when Andrea told him to get used to it, because, after tomorrow, there was no going back.
Jameson went off to answer a phone call and then he came back to the table, tossed some money onto it, and left, a grim expression on his face. After Rhys was done taking selfies, they walked the short distance back to the hotel where Andrea saw a figure leaning over the wall by the river and she unlinked her arm from Rhys.
“I’ll see you tomorrow.” She told him, surprised when Rhys blocked her way.
“Be sure, Andi, be sure before you pull the pin on the grenade and we can’t get back from you and him.”
Andrea opened her mouth to respond but Rhys was already heading into the hotel as she looked over to where Declan leaned, looking out at the water. She knew he couldn’t sleep the night before a performance, at least not when she knew him back then and even when it was a stupid school play that he was singing in, Declan had nerves that betrayed his cool and calm exterior.
Her trainers made no sound as she came to stand beside Declan, leaning over the wall and gazing into the murky water to avoid looking directly at him. “Not thinking of jumping, are ya?”
Declan chuckled softly, glancing at her before he looked back at the water. “Nah. Water looks cold. Just bracing myself in case you wanted to chuck me in.”
“Tempting as that might be, I need you to be able to sing tomorrow. Otherwise...” Andrea let her voice trail off and then she shrugged, causing Declan to bark out a laugh and she watched some of the tension leave his shoulders.
They stayed standing side by side, their elbows almost touching for a while, and then Declan grew restless like he had too much energy to burn. He kept sneaking glances at her, as if he wanted to say something but was afraid of saying something stupid again.
“Hey, you wanna take a walk? I could do with working off the dinner Rhys and Jameson all but shoved down my throat. I feel like it put on a stone in weight or maybe that was the sundae I pigged out on.”
“You don’t need to ever worry ‘bout your weight, Andi. You always look damn sexy to me.”
Andrea flushed, pushing off the wall and striding down along the riverfront, Declan falling into step with her, his long lazy strides powerful. They didn’t say anything, just walked and when Andrea shivered, Declan removed his hoody and draped it over her shoulders, and Andreas almost forgot why there was this awkwardness between them.
Almost.
“Are you nervous about tomorrow?” Andrea asked, slipping her hands into the arms of Declan’s hoody and rolling up the sleeves because it was miles too big for her.
“I’ve been dreaming for the last week that when I open my mouth to sing, it just comes out in German like I’m taking part in Eurovision or some shit.”
Andrea narrowed her eyes. “But you don’t speak German.”
“I think that’s the crazy part. I have no clue what I’m singing.”
Laughing out loud, Andrea shook her head. “You’ll be grand. And sure, if you feel yourself getting nervous, just close your eyes and pretend there’s no one else in the room. Just you and the music. There’s no one listening to you but the empty room, and everything will be okay.”
“I do that but when I close my eyes, I imagine it’s you standing there and the nerves just go away. I think I could die a happy man if I could just spend my life singing to you and no one else.”
She didn’t know how to respond to that, so she just smiled and changed the subject, asking if Luna would be okay. “I told the presenter that any questions about Luke were off-limits and the moment someone had the audacity to bring him up, I’d cut them off. Same with Jamie’s past. Tomorrow is about the music and not the gossip pages.”
Declan skidded to a halt and turned to face her, Andrea tilting her head up to look into his bright blue eyes. He tentatively reached out, running his hands up her arms.
“You always have the band’s best intentions at heart, dontcha. That’s why you have to stay and manage us, stay and be part of this journey with us, with me. Don’t leave us, Andi, don’t leave me.”
Andrea was shocked at the way his voice broke at the end of his sentence, even more so when he leaned down and pressed his lips to hers for the briefest of moments before he took a step back, turned, and walked back the way they had come, pausing to glance over his shoulder and wait for her.
Her mind was a jumble, unable to process the most civil conversation they'd had in years and the softness of the kiss that happened so quickly, she wasn’t sure if she had imagined it. When she lifted her fingers to her mouth and saw the slight smile on Declan’s lips, she knew it had happened, but she wasn’t sure how she felt about it.
“Me mam made sure the boys all knew to tune in tomorrow. She had invited the entire street over to tune in, and has warned me to make sure that we don’t let the family down by singing something lewd or swearing. I told her that it was Rhys and Luna she needed to talk to 'cause I was an angel and never fucking swore.”
Andrea snorted and rolled her eyes. “Dream on, Dec, dream on. Wait until you have to do magazine covers and do all rockstar sexy poses that will leave your ma’s bingo club reaching for their hot flush medication. You’ll have an army of cougars after you.”
Declan barked out a laugh. “You’ll protect me from the cougars, right?”
