Page 28 of Sinner's Vow

Chapter Nine

NOAH

Kennedy has constantly goneto bat for me. She’s slain my greatest enemy. She’s cast out the demons in me.

The entire world exploded that moment I walked into that hall in a hotel in Spain.

Gina was fired.

The guys, Tori, they all knew my secret.

And Gina had lied.

She’d fucking lied about the event that tore apart my entire life for six months.

And Kennedy was the one who exposed it all.

But there was no time to sort through it all. Sinner’s Run had a show to put on. We had sixty-thousand fans to perform for. And there were only twenty minutes before we needed to get out for the sound check.

“I can’t believe that viper,” Gabriel growled during the sound check.

“How the hell did this happen?” Tyler asked in disgust.

“I’m so sorry, man,” Owen had offered. “What Gina did…”

I never wanted the guys to know that I’d fucked up and slept with Gina. I didn’t want them knowing that I’d let her get into my head. I didn’t want them knowing that she’d been flirting, touching, looking for so long, and that I’d just brushed it off. I didn’t want to admit that she’d been trying to drag me into her trap for such a long time and that I’d finally just caved.

But now that they know, I’m just relieved.

I’m angry. So fucking angry. All that turmoil, and she lied about it?

But I also just feel lighter than I’ve felt in such a long time.

I have no more secrets.

My shame is gone.

And I feel like this is the start of a new life as I walk out onto the stage that night.

I hold the microphone after we finish our introductory song. I stare out into the crowd. There are so many people out there. Over the course of this tour, we’ve performed for over one million people, and there are still three stops before we go home.

They’re here for us. For Sinner’s Run.

I still remember when Gabriel, Tyler, Ben, and I came up with the name.

We’d all been on a camping trip. It was in the middle of nowhere. Tyler was still a junior in high school. We were walking down a dusty stretch of road, and through the course of the conversation, I admitted that I’d stolen the answer key to a college math test and copied them down before the exam. Gabriel admitted that he’d gotten fired from his job for taking some extra cash from the till to buy his younger sister a volleyball uniform. Tyler told us he’d lost his virginity two days previous. And Ben told us all he’d been drinking too much, and that his single dad didn’t seem to care.

We’d all confessed our sins on that dusty stretch of road.

And Sinner’s Run was born.

No one in this world is perfect. We all screw up. We all trip and fall.

It’s what makes us human.

So that night, finally freed from one of my greatest sins, I stand on that stage, and I expose every bit of my soul. I leave myself raw. I sing until my vocal cords feel like they’re going to give out.

The world has given us everything. We’ve achieved more success than I ever dared imagine as a teenager. There isn’t much higher to go than this.

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