Page 26 of Introvert

"You'd lose that bet," he said back.

"Cool, collected, confident rockstar with not a care in the world."

"Wrong."

"Am I?"

"Maybe we should reintroduce ourselves," he said then held out a hand. "Felix Cordova. My biggest fear is messing up, onstage or off, and letting down the ones I love most.I'm no prince. But I'll hold your hair back if you need it."

When he lifted his chin in challenge, I sat a little taller.

"Aurora Kent," I said. "Too many fearsto mention, but the top three are probably crowds, hot guys, and letting life pass me by. Waking up one day and realizing I nevereven tried, never went for my dreams. Not perfect or poised enough to be a princess. Just happy to be here, and hoping I don't puke onstage."

As I took his hand, we shook, and I couldn't stop the smile that appeared.

"Nice to meet you, Felix."

"You too," he said, giving my outfit a nod. "Mercurydo that?"

Swallowing, I looked down at myself. "Yeah, she's going to be so mad if I messed up my hair. Does it look okay?"

His eyes moved from the smooth waves of my long brown hair, down to the blazer with black rhinestone trim and fitted shirt underneath to the dark jeans that fit me like a glove to the black rocker boots that laced up to my knees. When our gazes collided, his eyes were bright, andmy cheeks were on fire.

"You look good," Felix said roughly.

"We better get back," I said, shivers running down my spine as his fingers brushed against mine. "Before Taylor has a heart attack."

Felix nodded, and once we were standing, he held out something to me.

It was a little bottle of mouthwash.

He shrugged. "Always be prepared, right?"

"Thanks," I murmured. After swishing and spitting asinconspicuously as possible, I rinsed with water, thenhe stepped up to the sink and did the same. When we walked out and found the band waiting by the stage, everyone looked at us. Ryker was the first to nearly tackle his brother.

"All good?" I heard him say to Felix, and it was clear by the look on his face that he knew about the panic attacks.

"All good," Felix confirmed.

Ryker gave me a searching look, and I nodded. I was good. Definitely better than a few minutes ago.

"Now that we're all finally here," Taylor said, sounding exasperated and relieved at once, "get out there and give these people a show they'll never forget."

The guys nodded, and I picked up my violin.

As I walked onstage, Hayden was already revving up the crowd. The sheer volume of sound was startling. The bright lights shined down as I took my mark. I was behind HERS, not in the spotlight but close enough to feel the heat. The people were eating upevery wordas Santino and Hayden welcomed everyone. Ryker was holding a steadytempo on the drums, his kick drum like a heartbeat. Elliot stood at the front of the stage cool as a cucumberas the fans screamed. Felix was somewhere, but mygaze was stuck on all those facesin the crowd. Iclosed my eyes trying to center myself, but then the first notes of the opening song of the set sounded, and it was time.

Suddenly, something blocked out all those lights.

I opened my eyes and saw Felix standing right in front of me.

"Don't think about it," he said. "Just play."

Easy for him to say.

"And if you need a distraction, just look at me."

Felix shot me a wink as I shook my head and bit back a smile.

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