Page 34 of For One Night Only

Riker pumps his fist. “That’s the best we’ve ever played this song, I swear to god!”

He’s right. It’s like now that we’ve truly made amends, there was space to recapture this lightning in a bottle.

Valerie unshoulders her guitar before walking over to me. “You ready?” she asks. There’s no judgment in those words, no frustration. She just wants to know if I’m okay. She’s made a habit of this, checking in on me, and I don’t mind.

I nod. “I had a session with my therapist yesterday. I’m as prepared as I can be for anything they might throw at us.”

Valerie nods. “Good. I’m glad.” Her hand jerks to the phone outline in her pocket, and then she hesitates, thinking better of it.

I chuckle. “What are they saying?” There have been morerumors about our relationship every day—but this time, it feels like we’re in on the secret. It only sometimes makes my anxiety stronger, but I know I owe her this, especially because I’m only coming back for the concert. I want to do as much for her as I can.

Maybe this will make up for walking away on theBittersweettour.

She shrugs. “I don’t know! I haven’t checked today.”

I raise a brow. “Really?”

Valerie pouts. “Okay, fine, I haven’t checked since we started rehearsal. But…I think it’s working. They’re saying nice things about us.”

“Good,” I say, and I mean it.

Suddenly, Valerie freezes. “Oh my god. What about your students?”

I pause. “What about them?”

“Is it weird that they’ll be reading about us in the media?”

I shrug. “If they even pay attention, maybe. But it’s fine. I knew some of them would figure it out eventually.”

Valerie raises her hands like the shrugging emoji. “Maybe they’ll be inspired to keep making music if they see us out here.”

My jaw falls open as the idea hits. “You’re a genius.”

She laughs, twirling a finger in her pink waves almost flirtatiously. “I know, but why do you say so?”

“Bear with me,” I say, trying to ignore the way that tiny motion affects me, because this is important.

I’d love for my students to learn from the Glitter Bats—they’re some of the best musicians I know. Mind spinning, I turn to the rest of the group, who are sitting in a semicircle on the tiny stage with water bottles and snacks. “I have a wild ask.”

“We like wild,” Riker says, voice muffled by the carrot stick he’s chomping on.

I plop down next to him.

“Would you all be willing to film a couple of tutorials for my students? I could pay you, of course—not much, but I think they would really get into learning from some real musicians.”

Keeley finishes taking a sip of her water, then laughs. “You’re about as fucking real as it gets, dude.”

I roll my eyes. “You know what I mean. It’d be a way to share this with them, and they might take you all a little more seriously than their boring old teacher.”

“Uh, why haven’t we done anything like that already? Let’s do it,” Riker says. Jane and Keeley nod in assent, and we all turn to look up at Valerie, who is pursing her lips in thought.

“Only if we’re all on board,” I say carefully, trying to gauge her reaction.

“It’s not that,” Valerie says quickly. “It’s a really great idea, but would you be willing to think a little bigger?” she asks, almost like she’s nervous to ask.

“Go on,” I say, trying to encourage her with a smile. She catches my eye and bites her lip shyly as she steps over to join the circle.

“Okay, so you know how we were talking to those music students a few weeks ago? We could totally do a series of mini master classes on social media or something,” Valerie says, folding into a seat on the floor next to Riker. “We could do a lot—who knows, maybe we’ll inspire some kids to pursue music.”

---