Page 43 of Rock Star

“Wow, congratulations,” I gave her a hug.

“My boyfriend missed me so much while I was away that he popped the question.” She smoothed down her jeans. “God, I’m so scared to go out in front of all those people.” Her voice wobbled. “I mean, Wembley is the biggest, baddest, bossest stadium of them all…”

“You’ll ace it,” I injected confidence into my voice. “You’re amazing.”

“Thanks,” she said. “I’ll be watching ChiMera afterward and making a video for your parents.”

It was what she always did for me from the roadies’ section in front, and I couldn’t thank her enough. “I’ll stand offstage and catch the end of your gig,” I told her. “Enjoy!”

“Will do.” She gave a thumbs up.

I took my iPad from my shoulder bag. As soon as I got home to LA, hopefully Mom would have her stem cell transplant. She was being bombarded with chemo at the moment to kill off the majority of cancer cells. Once that was achieved, she’d be matched to a suitable donor. I drew my eyebrows together and placed the Skype call.

“Hi, Sweetie,” Mom answered right away.

“How are you?” I asked, my heart thudding.

“Fine,” she smiled. “It’s all going according to plan. I will have a bone marrow biopsy tomorrow and will probably need another round of chemo.”

“Okay,” I said. “Good luck. I’ll be home next week. Can’t wait to see you…”

“And us you.” Dad’s face came onto the screen. “Hope the concert goes well tonight.”

“Thea is recording it for you both… I’d better sign off. Hayley will be here soon to help me dress.”

“Bye’, sweetie, love you,” Mom said and Dad echoed her.

I disconnected the call. Tears spilled from my eyes and down my cheeks. I wiped them away and sniffed.The show sped by like a fast train, unstoppable and unbeatable. The stadium stretched up and away from the stage and catwalk, making me feel so small in front of such a massive crowd. I listened to Axel singing ‘London Lovers’ through my in-ear monitors, harmonizing with him while Zach took over the bass and my rock god did his thing on the catwalk. He’d released the phenomenon that was Axel Wainwright and the entire stadium adored him.

Out on that runway, pyrotechnics exploding around him, he jumped, he sang, and he touched the life of everyone here. He spread his arms up toward the top of the bleachers. Every single person in the audience thought that he was singing to them personally, and they were right. It was how he connected with them. Watching him in full concert mode took my breath.

He was on fire.

Burning like a thousand suns.

And I, like everyone here, was helplessly in his orbit.

The other band members were at the top of their game, too.

Zach’s hands floated effortlessly on the keyboards, never dropping a note.

Foxy’s body pulsed with the effort of drumming.

Rhys let the music rip out of him, shredding his guitar like a madman.

It.

Was.

Freaking.

Awesome.

Finally, we got to the end of the show, the moment that always made every nerve in my body tingle and my skin break out in goosebumps. The last encore had arrived, when the audience sang the chorus to ‘Live, Love, Lose,’ and confetti canons showered them with zillions of golden stars.

We bowed, turned and ran.

Ran off the stage.

Ran through the tunnel where the teams entered and out to our waiting cars so we could get away before the crowd made it impossible.

Tonight, we’d been ordered by Jake to have an early night. We still had a concert to play tomorrow, followed by the after-show party. Axel’s family were coming to see him. Even his dad, who hadn’t spoken to him since Ella died.

Axel and I cooled down our voices all the way back to the Langham.

“I’m going to come to your room when everyone is asleep,” he whispered in my ear. “I need you.”

Hmm.

It was risky.

We’d never made love after a concert before. We’d kept to a strict routine of him coming to my suite after we’d hung out while the others were partying.

“Okay,” I whispered back.

He’d said he needed me, and I couldn’t refuse him.

I loved him too much.20I went to my suite, showered, put on a pair of shorts then helped myself to a Scotch from the mini bar.

The smooth sweetness coated my tongue as I surrendered to the numbing effect of the alcohol. I was still hyped up from performing and I couldn’t stop thinking about my sister. Could Kimberly have been her girlfriend or was it someone else? And, if it was someone else, who the fuck was it?

The minutes ticked by until I was sure everyone had gone to bed. Firebird had given me her spare key card earlier. I shoved it into my pocket along with a couple of foil-wrapped condoms.

Stealthily, I poked my head out the door.

The corridor was empty.

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