AllFreeNovel
Share Us
More laughter.
“It’s not just any coffee or tea!” she argued. “I have a whole way of taking both drinks that involves a lot of detail. Julius cared enough to learn how I like it.”
The crowd gave a collective: “Awwww.”
“Can you share anything else about how you spend your time with Julius?” someone called out.
She located the person in the crowd and gave all her attention to them. “As you might have seen from those engagement photos…”
A cheer cut off her words, and she had to wait for them all to quiet down.
Heidi reached over to touch her arm in a display of approval. She might not like Julius, but the woman had to appreciate how much his being in Avalynn’s life helped her.
Once the crowd silenced, she went on, “You can see how much he spoils me.” Tiny sparks flitted around in her stomach. “And when he looks at me…” She shook her head.
“Avalynn Ray is blushing!” someone called out.
Dozens of cameras flashed to capture the moment.
“I started to notice how he looked at me. He saw the same things in the looks I gave him…” She shook her head again, her smile private and genuine as she thought of so many of those moments.
Moments that wereso real.
Her mind flipped through a mental album filled with snapshots in time, and for the first time she realized that she wasn’t making up a story to get her reputation back on track. She said these things because she meant them.
So many thoughts and emotions plowed through her head. All of a sudden, her fingers itched for her guitar strings. There was only one way to get these feelings out—in a song.
She leaned close to whisper to Heidi. “I need to wrap this up. I need to write.”
She blinked at her. “Now?”
“Rightnow.”
Heidi took the floor. “Okay, everybody, Avalynn Ray has a lot of engagements today. Thank you all for coming, and we hope you’ll attend tonight’s show!”
Avalynn popped out of her seat. Before she could take more than two steps, Clay was right behind her, guiding her out of the room.
As soon as she reached the bus, she kicked off her high heels that pinched her toes but looked killer with her outfit and reached into the overhead compartment for her guitar.
When she pulled down the case, a melody already swirled in her mind like cream in hot cocoa. A sweet tune. Sweeter words. Her cheeks were warm with excitement as she unlocked the case and drew out her guitar.
It was the first guitar she ever owned. Oh, she could afford better ones and instruments that came with all the prestige that someone with her status should own. But she preferred her tried-and-true.
Each ding and scratch in the blonde wood had been placed there by her love for music. As she sat down in the plush seat and began to strum, the vibrations of the strings shivered in her soul. Words poured out of her, and the song wrote itself.
She didn’t even need to write it down—it was that imprinted on her soul.
As the final note faded away, a tender smile claimed her lips.
“For Julius,” she whispered the title of the song she planned on performing for him.
Tonight.
* * * * *
Julius firmed his mouth into a line. Dammit, despite all their efforts, not much progress had been made to find Avalynn’s stalker, and they were no closer to identifying the man on that video. Whether or not they were one and the same was yet another concern.
Just knowing that someone had abused her that way made his fists curl. The entire situation was fucked up, far from okay. But he would do everything in his power—and whatever power he gathered from his team—to make whoever was responsible pay for it.
