Page 66 of Wish You Would

The two locked stares, silence like stone passing between them, until I stepped between, snapping them out of it.

“In case you missed it,” I said to Anya, “I’m an adult. There’s no need to…whatever you’re doing.”

She looked back to me, the hardness leaving her eyes. “Sorry,” she said, so quiet I was sure Gigi couldn’t hear. “I’m just a little…concerned about this.”

“Don’t be.” I reached out and tugged a lock of purple hair. “I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”

She held my eyes for a beat longer before nodding. “Text me later,” she said as she pulled me in for a hug. “I need to know how the hell this happened.”

I laughed and hugged her back. “You got it.” Then, I shooed her off.

Once she disappeared through the employees-only door to get to Vaughn’s apartment entrance, I turned back to Gigi. “Anyway,” I said, a grin taking control of my lips. “Hi.”

Gigi grinned back, but her eyes were still dark with concern. “Sorry, I probably should have asked how you wanted to handle…well, everything.” She pushed her hair away from her face and sighed. “But…adrenaline, plus seeing this perfect fucking face in the crowd,” she cupped my face in her hands and squeezed, “and I didn’t think it through.”

“It’s okay.” I placed my hands over hers. “I mean…yeah. There’s a lot to talk about. But we didn’t really get to the…talking.” My face heated and I tried to look away, but her hands were still holding me steady.

Her lips tilted in a wicked little smirk. “I don’t know, I think we talked plenty.”

I laughed and pulled her hands away, playfully shoving her. “Tell me,” I said as I let our fingers link at her waist. “How did that happen?” As I asked the question, I gestured toward the stage.

She rolled her eyes, her face transforming with a huge smile that crinkled her eyes. My heart stuttered. “Long story short, I’m a sucker. Long story even shorter? No regrets.”

I looked her over, from the glowing pink of her skin to her luminous eyes, and I grinned, pride filling me up like a hot air balloon. “Oh, man,” I said, “you are so joining the band.”

In a blink, her smile vanished. The spark in her eyes, too. “It was just a one—well, two-time thing.” Then, in another blink, she sidled closer, a new grin in place. “But you know what isn’t a one-or-two-time thing?” she said as she draped her arms over my shoulders.

Despite the questions still pinging in my brain, I smiled. “I think I have an idea.”

“Good,” she whispered, pressing a ghost of a kiss on my lips. “Because I’ve been thinking about you all day.”

My knees knocked together. I clung tight to her. “Not nearly as much as I’ve been thinking about you.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.”

We grinned at each other like a couple of idiots until we were interrupted by Halle bounding toward us. My stomach flipped. I hadn’t seen her since I left her standing outside of the restaurant. I made no secret of where I was going when I drove away, but still…

“Oh, my god,” she said as we whirled to face her. “You fucking killed, Gi. Like, killed.” She gripped Gigi’s shoulder and gave her a shake. “You are a goddess. A ’90s queen.” She glanced my way, then tossed me a wink. “Hey, Parker.”

I smiled back and waved my reply, thankful for the lack of awkward between us. Halle truly was as great as I’d built her up to be in my head. She just…wasn’t for me. And we were both okay with that.

Moments later, the rest of the band joined us, surrounding Gigi with a flurry of high-fives and Fuck yeahs. I stepped back and let her have her moment. As I watched the pure joy radiating from Gigi in waves and sparks, I tried to understand why she kept refusing their offer to join. What kept her from saying yes to something that clearly made her so happy?

When she caught my eye over Olsen’s shaggy head and winked, I made a silent vow:

Gigi was going to join the band. Whatever it took to convince her, whatever I had to do.

Because she deserved to always be this happy.

27

27 GIGI

EVERLONG

Last night was a fever dream.

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