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“Yes, and then he turned around and went back to find you, but you had left. He loves you, Lola. He loves you so damn much that it hurts to see it. I was meant to be you, you know.”
I stared at her.
“It was meant to be me he fell for. But it's you. Dion is a complicated man and loving him isn't easy, but he does love you and he will adore the baby you are carrying. You can trust me on that. You just need to give him a chance. A real one.” She reached out a hand, patting mine. I pulled my hand away. We weren't friends, and she didn't get to act like we were.
For a moment she looked hurt, and then her sigh echoed around the car. “I'm not a threat to your relationship, Lola. I never have been, and I'm going to prove it to you.”
I didn't believe her. She was a threat. I’d had something she wanted, and in reality, who would tell her no?
No one, that was who.
I couldn't compete with her beauty or talent.
I was too tired to even try to.
“Lola,” Erik spoke up from the front. “Dion did come back that night, not long after you left.”
“He did?” My voice was tiny.
“Yes.”
“So why hasn't he contacted me?” What did it matter if he had come back to talk? He’d had the days that followed to get in touch, and weeks now to make things between us right. And I'd had nothing but silence. That silence had spoken volumes.
“Because we told him a simple apology wasn't going to cut it this time.” Isla smiled.
“Work, sweet work, Lola babe. I bet this is going to be a first day to remember.”
Isla and Erik chuckled at Chance's words.
“Oh, I bet it is.”
Chapter Thirty Three
Dion
I couldn't remember the last time I was so nervous going on stage. Not that what faced me was a stage as such, but it was where I was going to perform. And I didn't get nervous before a performance, not anymore. That kind of went out the window pretty early in my career, swiftly replaced by longing. A longing to hear the crowd screaming my name, and their heartbeats thumping in time with our beats.
There would be screams today, but not the usual type. I couldn't feed off the adoration of the kids filing into the hall in perfect snake–like lines to sit on the floor. They were fans but not the kind of fans that I usually had any interaction with.
No, there was only one person I wanted to impress today. One person whose heart I wanted to beat a little faster, and she was the only person in the whole building that really mattered. And that made this the most important performance of my life.
Turning my back on the tiny gap between the door and the frame, I studied my band members. Friends, all of them. No, more than friends, they were family. My family. And that's why they were there. They knew I needed her. So they had given up their time to make it happen. And it had cost the band more than just today.
We would be coming to this school a lot in the future. As mentors, as ambassadors. Hell, as anything the head teacher wanted us to be. The others might not be happy about it, but they had agreed so I could get the woman I wanted.
“Is everything ready?” I whisper shouted over the hubbub of noise outside the tiny catering office we had been stowed away in. I knew it was, but I had to keep asking. There was a sinking feeling in my stomach that something was going to go wrong. That I'd forgotten something important.
“Everything is perfect, brother.” From his place leaning against the far wall, Louis cracked a smile. “Brother, it kind of has new meaning now, huh? Soon you will actually be my brother.”
His words did not fill me with the same dread they would have a year ago. Back then, I couldn't think of anything worse than spending the rest of my life with just one woman. Now I couldn't think of anything I wanted more. “She might say no.”
“She should say no after all the shit you've pulled this last year.” Erik pushed his way through the door, giving me no option but to move out of his way. He wasn't alone. Chance and Isla were close on his heels. I gave them all a nod.
Isla’s face was drawn tight, her expression unreadable. This was hurting her, and I hated that. But I couldn't go through my life worrying about everyone else's happiness and neglecting my own. I’d hurt Isla more than I'd ever hurt another living thing and I would have to live with that guilt. But I knew she would be ok. She would get over me.
“I’m ok.” She touched my arm gently for a second before going to stand next to Tate who wrapped his arm around her shoulders. “It's just going to take me a minute.” Leaning her head on Tate's shoulder, she tried to smile. “She's actually a nice girl.”
I grinned. That was praise indeed for Isla.
