Page 82 of Lyrical

“What do you mean might?” Perry asked, never taking her eyes off me.

He shrugged. “I caught a glimpse of someone going down the hall towards the bathrooms. It could’ve been her, but her back was to me. But she was blonde and wearing pink.”

“Ooh, yay. Hopefully, she wore the right dress and not the one reserved for the party. Was it a fitted pencil dress with a V-back?”

He just stared at her. “How the fuck should I know, Perry? It was fucking pink.”

She rolled her eyes. “Men. No offense, Chase.”

“I’ll be back,” I said, rapping the table. “Just going to say hi to the guys while they’re setting up. I’ll keep watch for Jillian.”

“Wait.” Perry tried grabbing my wrist as I moved past her. “Don’t think we’re finished here.”

“No idea what you’re talking about.” She narrowed her eyes before releasing her grip. I chuckled and walked off.

I came around to the side of the stage. Last time I was with the group, I was up there playing with them. Except for Drew.

He saw me and walked over, Breedlove strapped over his shoulder. “Hey, man. Good to see you.” He reached out his hand, and I shook it.

“Yeah, you too. Nice,” I said, referring to the acoustic. “Buddy of mine had one of those, said it played like a dream. How’s the family?”

“Couldn’t be better. Can’t believe Elle’s almost one already. Shit, it’s crazy.” He shook his head, then pulled the guitar off and lowered it to me. “Go ahead. Bend a few. I owe you one.”

“Just glad it all worked out.” I’d filled in for him the previous summer when his wife went into labor. Had the fucking time of my life and… “Actually, I’m the one who owes you big. And your wife.” I sat at the edge and strummed; it pulled sharp.

“Not following.”

“I met my woman that night. I’ll introduce you later.” I handed the guitar back over. “I think it’s sticking a bit.”

“Yeah, I need to get the lube. All right, man. I’ll talk to you after the show. Looking forward to meeting her.”

I nodded and he was off, sidling up next to Cleo. I glanced around for Jillian and came face-to-face with Perry. “Looking forward to meeting who, Chase? Hmm?” She wore a dopey smile like she was up to something. “Your fiancée?”

Fuck. I took my eyes off hers and made sure Jillian was nowhere in sight. Yeah, I liked Perry, but she had a big fucking mouth sometimes.

“That wasn’t her before, so don’t worry. She finally stopped ignoring me and responded to my text. Said she’d be here in about twenty minutes. We have time.”

Fuck it. I waved her off to the corner. “You already admitted that you confide in each other about everything, so—”

Her lids popped wide. “Oh my God, Chase. No, I’d never,” she said, knowing what I was about to say. “I would never ever ever tell her. Jills knew Stephen was going to propose and kept that a secret. She didn’t want to ruin it for me, and I’ve been wanting to get back at her for that ever since. This is perfect.”

“I’m not sure I even understand that, Perry.”

“It just means I won’t tell her. I swear.” She crossed her fingers over her heart. Her eyes lifted up to the ceiling. “Holy shit, I’m so sorry. I’m the dickwad here. I can’t believe I interrupted your night over her stupid fucking ex. I should’ve known it was nothing important.”

“You couldn’t have known that. Don’t worry about it. There’ll be another opportunity.”

Perry grabbed both my arms and hopped up and down, then gave me a crushing hug. “I know! You could do it tonight.”

“Tonight?”

“There’s a bunch of sand still on the floor.”

“So?”

“So, you can pretend you’re on a romantic beach somewhere.”

I laughed. “No, I’ll figure something else out.”

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