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“Well that didn’t take long,” she says as she glances at me then looks back at the band.
“Nope.” I lift my glass and inhale the sweet smell of caramel and the woods just before I take a sip. What’s it like for them to play this song knowing I’m here listening? Do they all feel equal to one another, or does the backup guy playing the bass wish he were something more?
Seconds pass and then a minute as I watch them play. Warmth spreads through my veins as I realize even though he’s not the voice of the three of them, he still has a commanding presence. He plays my solos, smiling at the same spots I smile, and they’re one hundred percent genuine. The crowd loves him, just as they love me. He’s not standing in the background, he’s not watching the scene unfold around him, he is part of the scene. He’s uniquely him, owning what he does and loving every second of it, and in no way is he second to the singer. They complement each other, and together, with the others, they are creating magic.
Huh. It never even occurred to me to watch a performance of ours. Would I have seen what I’m comprehending right now, I don’t know, but what I do know is that a few of the bricks I’ve had stacked on my back as I perceived my career come falling down.
“Think they’ll play one of mine?” Emma teases, pulling me from inside myself and bumping me with her hip.
“Maybe. Yours are just as well known as mine.”
Sure enough, their next song is “Cabernet My Way”.
“They actually sound pretty good,” she says, studying them and the little changes they’ve made to her song. People have crowded the stage and are dancing, everyone so happy to be here tonight.
“They do. Then again, Rich has always had a way of finding unique talent.” I glance over at him at the same moment he looks at me. He winks, and I nod. I’m forever indebted to him.
“We should find out their name and mention them to Ash. Maybe the label can give them a listen.”
“All right,” I say, looking down at her. She’s swaying with the music, and she’s so pretty.
“Do you miss it? Playing in venues like this?” she asks.
“All the time,” I answer.
“Me too. We used to play at a place in the city called Talents. It’s a neighborhood bar, but students from Juilliard tend to find themselves there to cheer on their classmates at open mic nights.”
“Do you ever go back?”
“No. It’s hard to go to places like that now and not be recognized. I think of the three of us, I’m probably the most invisible, but if Cora is with us, forget it. With her height and looking like Kate Upton’s long-lost twin sister, I swear the world stops when she walks into a room. And you know how Avery feels about being out in public.”
It’s funny she says this. Yes, both of the other girls are pretty, I won’t deny that, but Emma is so wrong about being invisible. She shines the brightest.
“You’re wrong,” I tell her.
“What do you mean?” She looks up at me, big brown eyes accented by sexy makeup with long eyelashes that make my insides flutter when she blinks.
“You are far from invisible.”
She sucks in some air and her cheeks turn this sweet shade of pink as we stare at each other.
“How do you feel about dancing?” I ask, when really what I want to know is how she feels about kissing me at midnight.
“I feel pretty good about it,” she says, skeptical but intrigued.
I place my glass on the bar and hold out my hand. “Shall we?”
Her eyes bounce back and forth between it and my face. I know she’s searching to see if this is something I really want to do, and it is.
She places her glass next to mine, covers my hand with hers, and says, “Definitely.”
17
EMMA
Coming to Smokey’s was probably the best idea he’s ever had. At first I thought it was just a way for him to get us out of the house so we weren’t alone together twenty-four seven, but I think he actually wants to be here, with me.
Somewhere between the truck, the line, being in the crowded bar, and listening to this band, he’s dropped his reticence about him touching me and me touching him. We’ve talked, we’ve laughed, we’ve danced, and we’ve slung different pick-up lines at each other all night. We’re drifting together versus apart, and I feel like I’m on cloud nine.
