Page 80 of For One Night Only

JM:It’s sold out, but you can still catch the livestream. The concert will be broadcast on The Network, and you won’t want to miss it.

MKH:Can’t wait. But for today, we have a game for you, if you’re up for it.

KC:Of course we’re [****]ing up for it.

VQ:We’re a very competitive group.

MKH:Perfect! So the game is called…

24

Valerie

City lights stream through the gap in the hotel curtains the night before the concert. I toss and turn for the thousandth time, unable to stop my mind from racing. At least Caleb is totally out, his face smooshed into the hotel pillows, snoring softly. I’d hate to disturb him with my insomnia.

A sleepless night isn’t unusual before a performance, but this one feels particularly ominous. Finally, at three a.m., I slip out of bed to pee and brush my teeth again, hoping I can maybe trick myself into going to sleep with the familiar bedtime rhythm. I should have taken a gummy, but I was afraid I’d be groggy onstage. So much for avoiding that. I’ll just throw back espresso like candy when it’s time to go, because there’s no way I’m sleeping on this performance. The adrenaline will keep me running if nothing else does.

I slip into bed, but my shoulders are taut with nerves, and I curl into a little ball, willing myself to rest.

“Val?” Caleb asks sleepily. I glance over at him. His voice is alittle husky from sleep, but as he turns to face me, he’s smiling out from underneath his curls in the darkness.

I wince, staring back up at the ceiling. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you.”

“Nervous for tomorrow?” he mumbles.

I sigh, sinking into the pillows and adjusting to look at him. “It’s today now.”

He turns over to look at the white LED of the in-room alarm clock. “Damn, you’re right.” He flips back onto his side, facing me, and twines his fingers through mine. Maybe it’s because it’s three a.m., and maybe it’s because I have nothing to lose, but I speak the words that have been stuck in the back of my throat ever since we kissed on the beach.

“I’m not nervous for the concert. I’m afraid of what happens after,” I whisper. The last time we performed, it wasn’t the show that went wrong—it was everything after.

He proposed. I said no. Everything was ruined. What if it all falls apart again?

“I know you’re worried about what’s next. I am too,” he says, squeezing my hands gently. “I’m not ready to say goodbye.”

“You don’t have to leave, you know,” I murmur, finding my courage. “We could do it. Make more Glitter Bats music. Be a band again.”

He sighs, scrubbing a hand over his sleep-heavy eyes. “I wish it were that easy.”

“It could be.”

He smiles sadly in the dim light. “This summer, playing music, finding you again…it’s made me so happy, but I have a life back home. Hell, everyone has established a career outside of the band. Say we all agree to do more, and thenEpic Theme Songcalls. What would you choose?”

You, I want to scream, but I know I can’t promise that. I haven’tearned the right. “I don’t know. I think we could maybe make it work.”

His shoulders tense. “I want to believe that, but you know this industry. Schedules are the one thing you can’t control. If I could see the future, that might be one thing, but I don’t know if I can give up my life back home for a maybe.”

I do my best to smirk. “Do you need a push?”

He rolls his eyes, but his smile has softened a little. “If anyone could push me, it would be you. It’s always been you.”

My voice nearly breaks. “I’m not ready to give you up again.”

“Val, before we get up on that stage, I just want you to know…” he trails off, breath hitching as he draws me closer. “I never stopped loving you, and I don’t think I could if I tried.”

My heart races, and this time it’s with a hopeful beat. I never thought I’d hear those words from him again, and I’m completely overcome. Tears prick the back of my eyes, and I blink them away, determined to hold it together.

“Caleb.”

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