Page 145 of If Only In Our Dreams

The song ended, and with it, so did my career.

Silence echoed through the room as the notes petered out.

“Thank you so much for coming tonight to my last performance,” I hummed as the crowd remained quiet, and my eyes were all Ben’s. “It means the world to me.”

Ben’s smile grew broader. He had a twin in each arm, despite the late hour. I had no idea how the hell he’d managed this. It felt like magic. The miracle I’d hoped for.

“I want to dedicate that last song to the man who owns my whole-ass heart,” I continued—heart fluttering like wild as the speech I’d prepared flew right out the window. I sniffed, throat tight. “I’m so grateful to be here. I’m so grateful to have been able to dedicate my life to music, which has always been my passion.”

Murmurs filled the air, the quiet shattered as the crowd stared at me almost like they were one entity, not a billion different people.

“It has been my blessing and honor to get to do this for as long as I have,” I hummed, eyes still all Ben’s. “To get to meet you. To perform for you. To get to share with you my heart.”

His eyebrows pinched together, like he was confused.

“Thiswas my dream,” I said softly, ignoring the murmurs, and staring Ben down. “But I have a new dream now. And while I’ll miss all of you—so much,” that was directed to my fans, the people who had built me from the ground up—people who truly felt like my friends, my family. “I want to givehimmy heart now. So I’m going to be taking some time to rest.”

The peace broke, shattered by my words.

After I dropped that particular bomb, Nancy did what she did best.

She worked the crowd, climbing onto the stage and directing the attention away from me. She’d put her phone away, and the livestream to my social media was over. I couldn’t catch a single word she said.

I couldn’t.

I couldn’t look away from Ben.

I was worried if I did I’d discover that I’d imagined he was here.

“Let’s give a round of applause for Trashmouth!” Nancy clapped, urging the crowd to do the same, though they all looked shocked. Applause was slow but erupted quickly, a domino effect. There were a few whistles, and I did my best not to worry about my label or the fact that I knew my rep was somewhere in the crowd.

Nancy would handle it.

She always did.

She gripped my shoulder, leaning in close as the applause grew louder. “I’m so proud of you.” Ben’s smile never wavered. Not once.

Nancy’s words wrapped warm around my heart as she released me, and I made my way to the edge of the stage.

“Robin?” a tiny voice sounded. I blinked, shocked when I glanced down and saw Rosie’s sweet little head peeking up at me from the bottom of the stage. The strange blonde woman from before—Nancy’s girlfriend—was with her. Her fingers gently stroked Rosie’s hair with affection, as my sweet lil goth angel peered up at me.

It took me a solid thirty seconds to realize why the fuck Nancy’s girlfriend looked so familiar. And why the hell she was with Rosie.

Thiswas Trixie.

Holy shit.

What a small fucking world.

Before I could properly freak out, Rosie was talking again. “You didn’t tell me,” she complained, frowning at me like the fact I had been secretly famous and the singer of her favorite band was an epic betrayal.

“I’m sorry, sweet pea.” I sank to my knees, and Trixie laughed, helping lift Rosie up onto the stage so we could talk better. For a second, I was concerned about the vultures in thecrowd—about the cameras—but Trixie didn’t seem worried, so I didn’t either. “I didn’t know how.”

Because she was the sweetest, best kid in the whole wide world, it only took her a second to forgive me. “I liked your song,” she said as I opened up my arms and curled them tight around her. “But your hair looks bad.”

I snorted out a laugh, breathing in her sweet-baby scent, my eyes pinched shut tight.

“Did you wear heels because you’re worried people will think you’re short?” Rosie continued to roast me as I squeezed her close.

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