Page 79 of Hayden's Stalker

“I love it,” I tell her with a smile. “There are some light-up sticks at the merch tables. You can grab some before the concert for the kids. They’ll love them.”

“Do they make noise?” she asks as she narrows her eyes at me.

I laugh and shake my head. “No.”

We talk for a little while more before I hug my mom and sister again, then head away from them. I spot Heather talking to April, and I’m excited to have the opportunity to introduce Tati to her again.

I tease Tati in a quiet undertone, “As much as I think it’s cute that you fangirl over April, try to be cool.”

“I don’t think I can. I’ll just go hang out by the door with Jesse,” Tatiana groans.

I nudge her with my elbow and assure her, “Yes, you can. If you have to fangirl, you have to fangirl.” I think about the infamous gatherings she’s held at her place with fans and warnTati, “Just don’t expect April to invite you over to her house if you do.”

She halts mid-step and turns to glare at me. “Why would you say that? She’s not going to do that anyway. Now you’ve just made me nervous for no reason.”

She’s not wrong that April’s unlikely to be inviting fans to her house tonight anyway.

“Good point. She doesn’t know you. I’ll tell you what. I’ll get April to invite me over, and you can tag along. You’re not a secret kleptomaniac or something, are you?” I joke.

Tati’s eyes go wide, and she gives me a baffled look. “No. Why would you think that?”

“I just wanted to judge the likelihood that you might snatch yourself a souvenir if you went to her house,” I grin at her.

“Can we just avoid talking to her? Now I’m all paranoid that I’ll act like a dumbass and embarrass you.”

She chews her bottom lip, looking adorably nervous, and I shake my head as I put my arm around her shoulders to angle her at April and Heather.

“Nope. Face your fears, Tatiana Swanson. Meet your heroes and see that we’re just people.”

My heart beats faster as we get closer to my friends. Heather has a drink in her hand, and she sips it as April talks animatedly with her.

When we get near, they stop talking, but I watch them immediately look at Tati’s shoulder. They dart a glance at one another before Heather scrutinizes me carefully for the last few seconds before we stop in front of them. I keep my expression as natural as I can despite my pounding heart.

“Tatiana, it’s so lovely to see you again.” Heather says with a smile at her before she looks at me and says, “Hi, darling.”

“Oh yes, we met at Club Delirium,” April says. “Good to see you both again.”

“Tatiana was wondering if she could get a picture with you, April.”

Her body stiffens under my arm before she relaxes almost instantaneously. I dart a glance at her face, and it’s beet red. I have no doubt she never would’ve asked, but I also know her well enough by now to know that she wants it.

April smiles pleasantly at her and nods her consent. “Of course, you can.”

Tati doesn’t move, and Heather glances at me again. I look away from her and down to Tati as I drop my arm from her shoulder to her lower back, then give her a gentle push toward my friend.

She takes her place next to April, who drapes her arm around Tati’s shoulders and pulls her close. I pull out my phone to take a picture of them.

Tati smiles, and I snap one of them together. She relaxes a bit after the first one, and I take four of them all together.

I have a strong urge to commemorate the first night of this tour and have a reminder of it, so I turn to Heather. “Can you take one of the three of us?”

She raises an eyebrow at me, giving me a shrewd look as she says in an interested tone, “Of course.”

I keep my face neutral as I hand my phone to Heather and move to stand next to Tati. I put my arm around her waist and pull her closer. She fits perfectly next to me, and I smile a little wider than usual as Heather takes our picture.

Heather looks at my phone screen and frowns. “You need to smile, Tatiana.” I hold my post as Heather looks down at the phone, then takes another couple of pictures. “I think I got one.”

She hands her phone back to me, and I immediately scroll through the pictures. Tati’s as gorgeous as ever, and if I didn’t know that she was nervous purely because I’ve spent so muchtime getting to know her, I’d think she was just as relaxed in these pictures as April and I are.

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