Page 86 of Worth the Trouble

The man who let me behind the curtain.

“You don’t think I can land Rome?” Some girl’s voice cuts through the crowd behind me, drawing my attention.

I don’t dare look back at her, even if I’m now acutely aware of her conversation. Instead, keeping my gaze fixed on him.

“You and every girl in here are thinking it,” someone, I’m assuming is her friend, says.

“Well, I’mdoingit—him, more specifically.”

They both laugh, and it makes my stomach ache.

“I hear he’s better with his hands in bed than he is on stage.”

“I heard he’s pierced.”

I should not be listening to this. I don’t want to hear this. I should shut it out or shut them up. Why does this man make me feel violent?

“Fuck, maybe I should try to go home with him.”

“I called him first.”

I’m tempted to turn around and tell them I actually called him first, like some immature teenager. But the music kicks up again and drowns them out.

“Don’t listen to them.”

I turn to see Cassie leaning in. Sebastian’s arms have loosened enough that she’s edged her way closer to me.

“It’s hard, I know.” She rolls her eyes, gazing up at Sebastian before looking back at me. “Trust me,I know.”

“It’s fine,” I lie. “It’s not like I’m his girlfriend.”

Cassie’s eyes narrow, looking from me to the stage, then back again. “I’ve been where you are. Falling for these guys is like falling into the sun without armor. And people always want a piece of them; that’s not going to change. But trust me when I say they’re good guys, and when they love, they love hard. And Rome… I’ve never seen him with a girl like he is with you. I’ve never seen himlookat a girl like he looks at you.”

“How’s that?” I purse my lips, trying to hold in my unease.

But Cassie doesn’t answer me with words. Instead, she looks back to the stage, and my gaze follows hers until it lands on him. Rome’s playing like his hands move without him having to even think about it.

In a sea of faces, he’s looking straight at me. The smallest smirk tilts his lips, and he winks before turning away to drown in the song again with the rest of the band. Except even when he’s not looking, I feel that wink fluttering inside me, wreaking havoc in a room filled with glass.

I feel myself shattering.

“Like that,” Cassie says, drawing my attention back to her. “Rome doesn’t care about them, never has. But he seems to care about you, and that says a lot.”

She curls back into Sebastian’s arms, and even if he’s kept his eyes averted, I’m sure he heard our conversation because he smirks and bends down to kiss her on the top of the head.

I’m not sure what scares me more, the fact that Cassie might be right or the fact that it doesn’t matter. Because it doesn’t change anything. I’m leaving soon, and these girls fighting over him will get their chance with him the moment I’m gone.

The band is drawing the attention of the room. Sebastian and Eloise might not have been up on stage with Rome, but once people realized most of the band was here, they flocked in droves.

People are pulling band photos out of nowhere to get them signed. And I’m amazed at the kind of attention that comes with being in a rock band because it’s unlike anything I’ve experienced.

There’s one woman talking to Eloise and crying, and I’m not sure how she handles it as well as she does. She’s patting the woman on the arm and listening with what appears to be a genuine look of interest.

Cassie hangs back with me at a standing table off to the side of the bar while the band signs autographs. She doesn’t seem phased by it, bopping her head to the music playing and enjoying her drink. I guess when you have the lead singer of Enemy Muse’s attention, no matter where you are in the room, it’s hard to mind. Sebastian might be signing some girl’s Enemy Muse picture right now, but his eyes follow Cassie wherever she goes.

“Do you get used to it?” I ask her.

“After a while, I guess you do.” She sets her drink on the table in front of us and shrugs. “The first tour was rough. But by the second, I learned how to acclimate. You must understand how that is though; you’re always on the move, and I’m sure you’ve got fans.”

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