Page 44 of Stuck with a Billionaire Rockstar

“You will be, trust me.”

As much as I’d love to talk to Mallory through the duration of our ride, I can’t stop all the thoughts swimming in my head that drown everything around me out. Eventually, they become too much, and I end up with my head pressed against the window, and my eyes fall shut. I’m shoved awake by Mallory at some point, and I jump up, my gaze pointing out the window at the crowd of people heading toward a large stadium.

“We’re here,” Mallory says excitedly.

My stomach drops and I place a hand over it, then close my eyes to calm my nerves. I can do this. I can do this.

“I can’t do this,” I whisper.

Mallory sighs and forces me to turn toward her. “Yes, you can, and you will. He deserves to see how much you can thrive without him. Plus, we came later than the show start time because I wanted them to start their set before we got here.”

“They’re already playing?” I ask, then shove the door open and fix my clothes before hurrying toward the stadium entrance. Mallory’s heels click behind me as she tries to catch up and throw a glare at her over my shoulder. “Why would you come late?”

She shrugs, although there’s something weird going on with her eyes – almost as if she’s got something up her sleeve – and she says, “I thought it would be easier for you.” Mallory hands the staff member our tickets and they lead us through the halls until we come to a stop at a door no one else is waiting by.

My heart beats wildly, with the bass bursting through the speakers. Then, we’re being led up a flight of stairs and into an empty room. The staff member leaves us there, then says something into a walkie-talkie that I don’t understand because when I shift slightly, my eyes lock onto Brent’s from a distance, and he winks at me before continuing with their current song.

The rest of the world grows dark, leaving only me and him, and I try to convince myself to look away. He’s only going to hurt me. What if he doesn’t though? He’s tried getting in touch with me enough these last few months that maybe I’d gotten things all wrong before I disappeared on him.

As the song comes to an end and the crowd goes wild in front of the stage, Brent walks over to his bandmates and nudges his head in my direction. Each of them looks over at me, then nods at whatever their lead singer says, and Brent plants himself on a stool that’s brought out for him. I watch with fascination as he strums the chords of his guitar, fixing them as needed, and he smiles into the microphone in front of me.

“How are we doing tonight?” He asks, the crowd cheering loudly in response, and it has him chuckling. The sound swirls from my head to my toes, and I close my eyes to bask in the sensation of it. “I’m slowing things down a bit because, the thing is, I’ve fallen in love, and I wrote about it.” My eyes snap open, and I find him looking at me, while the crowd makes a noise I can’t distinguish. His eyes are still on mine as he says, “She happens to be here tonight, so I thought I’d sing the song for her and hope that she’ll take me back. Even though I don’t deserve it.”

Mallory bumps into me, and I finally turn my attention to her, finding a bright smile on her face. “Good, huh?”

My mouth parts, and I look back at him, listening to the soothing words about regret and hope, then back at her. “You knew about this?”

She scoffs. “Of course I did! now go get your man before someone else does.”

Can I do it?

I close my eyes once more and let the notes take over. His soft tone swirls throughout my body and rests on my heart.

You’ll never know how sorry I am,

All I want is to be your man.

Your green eyes are what I see,

Every night in my dreams.

How could I possibly deny this?

As he sings about being in love with me, I get the courage to take steps toward the stage where his bandmates already have a space open for me to walk out, and the crowd goes crazy when I appear. I’ve only got eyes for the man in front of me though, and him the same. His eyes never leave mine, even as the crowd gets louder and louder, and he lifts from his seat so I can take it while he still sings to me.

When the song comes to an end, I wish that he would start it over and never stop. He steps up to me, the mic away from his mouth, and rests his forehead against mine with a small smile. “I fell in love with you, Julia. It’s not what I expected, and I got scared, but I’ve realized I’m more scared of a life without you.”

A tear falls down my cheek slowly, and he swipes it away. “Will you give me another chance?”

“Can you give the audience an encore?” I ask with a bright smile.

He nods. “If that’s what will get you back, then yes.” I nod and he presses his lips against mine, the sparklers on the stage going off like they would in the movies, and there’s nowhere else I’d rather be right now.

24

Brent

As soon as we finish with the last song and I’ve said my goodnights to the audience, I make a beeline for Julia, still standing backstage on the side with a dopey smile on her face. Mallory’s standing next to her and glares at Ryker as he pushes past the two of them, making me wonder what’s going on with them this time. When Julia walks up to me, thoughts of my sister and best friend fade from my mind as I lift her into the air and spin her around.

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