Page 154 of Movers and Shakers

But Barry Murray would never make it up there.

“Think about it,” Justice said. “I have a meeting with Malia for another first round of auditions for the guitarist. I’m sure you’ll be in them tomorrow, Lila.”

“I’ll be there,” she replied. She smiled at Justice, but it didn’t reach her eyes.

“Are you okay?”

“She’s right,” Lila said. “The setlist feels empty without that song. It’s the last song on the album for a reason. It’s supposed to wrap everything up.”

“I’m sure if you did it, you’d nail it.”

“I don’t think I could sing it by myself. I’ve tried and it’s not the same without you there.”

“I doubt that.”

“Then let’s play it,” she said. “And you’ll see how perfect it is as it was on the album.”

She moved into position and gave me an extra mic. I played what I remembered. Lila started us off, singing her part in a high-pitched tone. I came in on the second verse, and then we sang together.

And yeah, she was right. When performed live, it was meant to be a duet.

I’d never hated the bar before, but this was as close as it would come. My first dream had been to be a rock star. My second was the bar.

But I wouldn’t leave what I’d created the moment something better came along. I refused to.

It still hurt to make that choice, though.

We sang the last note together and a slow clap rang out from the front of the room.

“I see why you’re hesitant to perform that by yourself,” Malia said, walking forward. “It really is better when both of you sing it.”

“I thought you were with Justice,” Lila said.

“I swung in for a second to chat, but you were busy.”

“It was just practice,” I replied.

“That’s still important. You’re the singer on the original, right?”

“Yeah.”

“I’m not the tour expert, but you would be so perfect onstage.”

“No,” Lila rushed to say. “I’d rather keep it out of the tour.”

Her tone was sharp and I wondered if Malia would snap back. But she didn’t.

“Okay, I won’t push it. I respect your decision.”

“Thank you,” Lila said, some tension leaving her shoulders.

“I do need to head out. Our chat can wait.” She made a move to leave but paused and looked in between us. “You two are good together.”

“We aren’ttogether.”

Malia’s eyebrows raised. “Could’ve fooled me. Let’s meet tomorrow. We need to talk.”

Chapter Thirty-One

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