Page 19 of Perfect Pursuit

“The sexual tension is ridiculous between those two.”

“I can’t wait to see this myself.”

“In the time I’ve worked here, I still haven’t figured out how he can ignore what’s right in front of his face.”

“Maybe he’s deliberately choosing to ignore it,” Austyn remarks. Her voice cracks when she says wisely, “Caroline has the right idea, though.”

“What do you mean?”

“If you’re waiting for a man to make you feel like enough, you’ll wait forever. They may be the hunters, but only in their own sweet time. Otherwise they can’t be bothered putting in the effort to maintain a relationship.”

Later, as I lie in bed, Austyn’s words run through my head. As much as I hate it, she’s right. Still, I can’t help but reach for my phone.

Fallon:

I’ve got eyes on our girl tonight.

I wait for a few minutes before giving up on him. It comes to me that Caroline and Austyn have the right idea. I’ve worked hard to have a beautiful life and I’ve done it without a man at my side. I’m done trying to hold on to the threads of what may be and am ready to grab onto the fabric of what is—possibilities.

I lay my chin on Austyn’s shoulder as we wait alongside the stage the next evening. “Last chance to maintain your anonymity.”

She leans her head back and gives me a play on the words she said earlier to convince me, “You and me together, Fal. Let’s show Galileo’s what we’re made of tonight.”

Levi weaves through the crowd and Austyn murmurs, “Yeah, I’m definitely getting hot but you totally nailed the slime vibes. Except when he looks at Caroline.”

“When she’s not looking.”

“Pfft. Of course.”

I throw my head back and laugh just as he reaches us. His lips part at the way we’re snuggled together in the wings of the stage. Levi James at a loss for words is something I’ll cherish for some time when he stammers, “Ms. Kensington…”

Austyn holds up her hand. “It’s just Kensington. Or DJ Kensington, if you must.”

I bury my head into the crook of Austyn’s shoulder, trying to hide my ear-to-ear grin. I think I have it locked down, but when I raise my eyes, I meet Levi’s and know I’ve completely failed. Shrugging, I beam at him. “What can I say, Levi? My girl is a badass.”

He might require a trip to the dentist by the time he walks out to introduce us. He looks like a barracuda whose teeth have been wired shut, trying to not piss off the hottest star to hit the planet since, well, her father hit the music scene almost twenty years ago. “Right. Thanks, Fallon. As I was saying, I’ll introduce you both. Play for as long as you like.”

Austyn drawls, “Oh, I only plan on stopping when I have to leave. You, Fal?”

“I can keep up.” I run my hands over her hair before I purr, “I always could.”

Levi’s eying me like I’m some two headed creature who just escaped from an alien spaceship before he spins on a heel. Austyn waits until he’s out of earshot before she wonders, “Do you think he wonders if we’re together?”

“Nope.” I smack the “P.”

Her brow furrows. “You don’t think so?”

Levi begins our introduction as “two long-time friends who have decided to avail us with the gift of their music tonight. We’d like to welcome one of our own, Fallon Brookes and…”

Just before he announces Austyn’s name, I mutter directly in her ear, “He’s trying to figure out a way to get in between us in bed.”

Austyn almost falls flat on her face due to laughing while walking out on stage in her Louboutin heels to the screams of the crowd as Levi barely gets her name out. We’re both holding our guitars aloft as we stride toward the microphones set up in front of bar stools center stage.

I catch her eye and we immediately launch into one of our favorite song—Alanis Morissette’s “Hands Clean,” alternating verses back and forth and coming together for the chorus.

Hours. We sing together for hours. But knowing what I do about Austyn being pregnant, I don’t know how she’s enduring the spotlight beaming down on us. Sweat beads along my hairline as we keep the crowd on their feet, singing along with us. When Austyn takes a long drink of water, I tell the crowd, “I think y’all are the first crowd we’ve sung live for since high school.”

Austyn grins before reminiscing while I take a slug of my own drink. “It was a father-daughter dance neither of us wanted to go to.”

---