Page 98 of Hope & Harmony

“I’m not sure I know all the lyrics,” I hedged, looking from Kingston to Kellen and back again.

“I still have all the lyric sheets from when I first joined the band,” Devon said turning to her guitar tech and motioned him over. “Pete, do you still have my lyric sheets?”

He nodded and ran toward one of the supply cases rooting around until he pulled out a stack of papers and brought them to us.

“Look at me,“ I said, motioning to my ratty jeans and T-shirt as I realized this was going to happen. “I’m not stage-ready.”

“So you’ll do it?” Kellen asked, his eyes sparking with excitement.

They were all watching me expectantly.

How the hell could I say no?

“And what happens if I fuck it up?” I demanded. “My voice isn’t trained for this anymore.”

“Doesn’t matter,” Kingston said, before grimacing and holding up his hands to Devyn, who glared at him.

“Here.” Pete pulled a leather vest out of one of the supply chests. “Tommy wears this sometimes but he gets too hot. It should fit.”

“Take your shirt off,” Devyn instructed, motioning for me to hurry up.

Thank God I spent a lot of time at the gym.

I pulled on the vest, thinking I looked ridiculous, but Devyn grinned. “You look awesome.”

“What song do you know the best?” Z asked.

My mind momentarily went blank.

Did I know the full lyrics to any of their songs?

I had to think fast because Tommy’s solo was almost over.

I caught him looking in our direction and he seemed to understand something was happening, because instead of winding down, he picked up speed again.

These guys really were amazing.

I owed it to them to make this work.

Two or three songs would save the show and Kingston’s voice.

“Probably ‘Judgement Call’,” I said after a few seconds. “And ‘Break Your Promise’, but we’re saving that for last, right?”

Z nodded. “Yeah. So let’s do Judgment, then ‘Symphony of the Broken’. Devyn can sing that one with you while King plays piano.”

“I can do the background vocals on that one,” Kingston said, before quickly clapping his hand over his mouth and backing away from Devyn.

“You guys suck, you know that?” I stared at them.

“You got this, bro.” Pete nodded and clapped me on the shoulder. “Ross Rocket is in there somewhere. You just gotta dig deep.”

Christ.

Had everyone known all along and just pretended they didn’t?

What did that mean?

Was I the asshole for trying to pretend to be someone I wasn’t?

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