Page 77 of Little Monster
I shift my thumb slightly, run it over the ring Dex wears around his first finger.
“What is this?” I whisper, and the familiar shape of the words on my tongue has my chest tightening up, like it’s trying to shield my heart. I’ll ask him this question once more. For the last time, I walk right up the edge of oblivion and ask, “What am I to you?”
And this time he doesn’t pull away, doesn’t shut me out and lock the door. Instead, he tugs me closer, and his breath tickles the shell of my ear when he whispers, “You’re myeverything, Little Monster. And I’m so sorry it took me this long to admit it.”
He pulls back just enough so that I can see his face, can pick up on the different shades of blue in his eyes. And when he leans in to kiss me, his lips finding mine, it feels like I’m coming home.
chapter 27
AS DEX KISSES ME, SOMEONE cheers in the crowd.
“Fucker,” Dex whispers, breaking our kiss.
I lean around him to see who it is, and as I suspected, Sebastian is standing in the aisle, pumping his fist in the air. Michael, Lucas, Jordan, and Alisha stand around him, wearing smiles and shaking their heads. And slightly behind them, staring at me with tears in their eyes, are my parents.
“Oh my god,” I whisper. Mom waves at me, and Dad slips an arm over her shoulders, giving me a thumbs-up. “What are they doing here?”
Dex’s laughter is soft. “I wanted them to be here for your last show.”
My gaze snaps to him, and I search his eyes. “You did this? You brought them here?”
He nods. “I hope that’s okay.”
“Okay?” A laugh slips from my lips, and then my free hand is easing into his, and I squeeze his fingers softly. “Thank you.”
Dex leans in to press a kiss to my forehead. “You’d better go grab your stuff. I’ve got another surprise waiting for you.”
I pull away to arch an eyebrow at him, but he just smiles.
THE AFOREMENTIONED SURPRISE IS A celebration at Jordan and Michael’s house. The band is there, plus my parents, and, of course, the Sanchezes’ pack of rescue dogs, who run around our feet and wait for someone to spill a bowl of chips or bump a full plate from the edge of a table.
“Did you do all this?” I ask Dex, gesturing to the insane amount of food that’s taken over the kitchen.
My mom is sipping a martini and laughing with Jordan and Alisha in the kitchen, and on the counter behind them is a tiny chocolate fountain surrounded by a platter of strawberries and bananas.
Meanwhile, Dad is in the living playing some sort of VR game with the guys, giggling like he had one too many Mike’s Hard Lemonades.
I wasn’t sure how they would do surrounded byliteralrock stars, but my parents seem perfectly at ease, completely unfazed. Seems I’m the only uptight one in the family. Figures.
“No,” Dex admits. “It was my idea, but Jordan helped me put it all together.”
Jordan catches us looking at her. Her gaze shifts from me to Dex, and then she offers me a tiny smile and lifts her martini glass. The gesture gives me the feeling she’s approving ofhim, of us, and I remind myself to ask her later about how all of this came to be.
Dex stays by my side most of the night, lingering in my vicinity. When he puts a hand on my low back or leans close enough that I can feel his chest against my shoulder, I want to melt into him.
Michael pulls Dex away for an impromptu acoustic session on the back patio, and my mom joins me outside to watch.
The air is warm and comforting, wrapping around my bare shoulders like a sweater. The sun has long set, but the twinkle lights hanging in the veranda light up the back patio with a sort of magical glow.
“Congratulations,” Mom says into my hair, pulling me in for a big hug. Her body is soft and familiar, and it makes me feel safe, like I’m a child again and nothing in the world can ever hurt me so long as my parents are by my side. “I knew you’d get that role if you put yourself out there.” She steps back, one hand patting my cheek lovingly. “What changed your mind?”
Without meaning to, I look across the patio to where Dex is seated on the edge of a whicker couch, an acoustic guitar perched on his knee. He stripped out of his suit jacket hours ago, and now he’s just wearing a crisp white button-up, the sleeves rolled to his elbows, his dark tattoos curling over the edge of the pressed collar. His left hand moves up and down the neck of the guitar, fingers shifting over the frets, and when he catches me staring, he gives me one of those little smiles I love so much.
“I guess I realized that being afraid wasn’t actually going to protect me,” I say softly.
Mom’s hand slips into mine, and she gives my fingers a reassuring squeeze. “Did he teach you that?” She nods toward Dex, and when I turn to meet her eyes, she’s giving me a soft knowing expression.
“He helped. But when it came down to it, I had to make the decision. And I chose courage over fear.” Squeezing her hand back, I look at Dex, and watching him play under the twinkle lights, with my mom and dad here, everything just feels... right. Like maybe this will actually work out. “Hey, Mom?”
