Page 86 of For One Night Only

“You good, kid?” Wade murmurs as we’re ushered to the dining room the hotel reserved for this event.

“I’m handling it,” Valerie says, with a nod so sharp and determined it’s almost robotic.

Wade quirks a brow before he moves off to chat with one of the label executives, and I hang back to catch her.

“What was that about?” I ask.

She blinks up at me, eyes wide. “What? Oh, it’s nothing! Nothing at all. I’m fine!”

“You sure?” I raise a brow. I know when Valerie is hiding something, but I also know I can’t force her to talk before she’s ready. Maybe it’s just hitting her the way it’s hitting me, that this is the last night we’ll be together unless we figure something out.

I could trust that more if she would just tell me what’s going on. This woman isitfor me, and I just wish she didn’t feel so far away in this moment.

She puts a hand to her chest. “I promise I’m fine! Everything is going to be fine. Better than fine. It’s going to be perfect.”

Everything does not feel perfect, but I get it. I feel a little uneasy too. Still, I don’t know how to pull her out of this sugar rush she’s been spinning through all afternoon. So I just do my best to stay by her side until showtime, even as she bounces around the room like an overenthusiastic Ping-Pong ball, moving from guest to guest with alarming speed and cheer. Every time I try to pull her away to actually check on her, she finds another diversion.

After we leave the event, change into our clothes for the show, and head to the venue, it starts to hit me that we’re really doing this. Lime Velvet begins their opening set, and even in my anxiety to talk to Valerie, it hits me—we opened forthemon our first tour. How wild that now they’re opening for us. We chatted with them a bit during their sound check, and they’re all still so professional and kind.

I remember, when we were first starting out, really taking that example to heart. How you treat people matters. No one is less important just because they are newer to the scene, or have fewer social media followers, or went indie instead of signing with a label. Things in the industry can really change so quickly. It’s a far better experience if you treat people like colleagues instead of the competition, reaching out a hand to help others up when you can. And you never know—the people coming up behind you might suddenly be the ones in the spotlight.

Even if that spotlight is fleeting.

I finally catch Valerie backstage while Lime Velvet begins their last song. She’s a knockout in a tight black minidress, her lucky bejeweled leather jacket, and platform Docs, and she takes my breath away. Now, at least, the manic look is gone from her heavily shadowed ocean eyes.

As I approach, Valerie grabs my wrist and tugs me toward her. Wrapping her arms around my neck, she draws me into a searing kiss. This isn’t distant.

It’s warm, and hot, and full of feeling.

I don’t even care if she’s wearing lip gloss; it just feels so good to be close to her again after such a strange day. I deepen the kiss, and she tastes like her pre-performance ritual of honey cough drops and herbal tea. So many of our kisses have included these subtle flavors, and I can’t get enough of the intoxicating familiarity. With just the two of us like this, everything feels okay again, and I want to believe there’s no reason to worry.

Valerie has my heart—and my back. If she’s keeping something to herself, I’m sure it’s for good reason. I know she’ll tell me when the time is right.

I pull back, leaning my forehead on hers. “God, I don’t know how I’m supposed to let you go after this,” I whisper, admitting the fear that’s been hanging in the back of my mind.

“Then don’t,” she says. “Trust me. We’ll figure this out together.”

My throat tightens. I want to believe her, but worry still lingers. Instead of hiding it the way I might have when we were younger, I decide to tell her. If we’re going to move forward, we need to be better at communicating. I can do better.

I clear my throat. “Do you really mean that? Because today…it’s like you’re living in a different universe. I’ve been so worried that something’s wrong and you were afraid to tell me. You know you can open up to me, right? I want to help.”

She pulls back, biting her lip. “No! That’s not it. Look, I’m sorry for earlier. I don’t mean to be so distracted. I just…I want everything to be perfect.”

“Me too,” I say. “It’s going to be great.”

“I know,” she says, biting her lip. “It’s you and me, Sloane.”

“Like it was always supposed to be,” I say, pressing another brief kiss to her lips.

“We can talk more after, I promise.” She glances up at me, a cheeky look dancing in her eyes. “One more for luck?”

And then I pull Valerie into my arms and kiss her again.

27

Caleb

The cheers from the crowd for Lime Velvet’s last song bleed backstage, and my mouth goes dry as I realize something is missing.

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