Page 38 of Once Upon a Boyband
“Good,” Freddie says gently. “Just keep breathing. Air is your best friend right now.”
I’m sure he thinks I’m overwhelmed because of him. Stuff like this is probablypart of his day-to-day. Women fainting in front of him, freaking out badly enough that they forget to breathe. That’s not exactly what’s happening to me, but I’m happy to let him think it is. I mean, Iamoverwhelmed by his presence, but I’m more overwhelmed by the reality he’s presenting.
Adam is Deke Driscoll.Midnight RushDeke Driscoll.
I still can’t make it compute.
Adam and I have talked about Midnight Rush. Joked about naming Taylor’s puppies after the members of the band. I told him right to his face that myfavoriteband member was Deke, and he didn’t say a word.
Thiswouldexplain why he recognized the group’s song so quickly, but if itishim, why is he living in the middle of nowhere, hiding behind a different name? And why does he look like a completely different person?
I scour my brain for something,anything,that might make it make sense. At one point, I knew everything there was to know aboutallof the members of Midnight Rush. Even Deke’s full name. I knew birth dates, astrological signs, names of pets, and every other scrap of information the band ever revealed.
I wasthatfan. At least, I was at sixteen.
But then I got older. I went to college, and my brain filled with other more useful things. Essential things. Vet school things.
It’s still in there. Somewhere in my head, there has to be a piece of information that would explain all of this.
If I remember correctly, after the band broke up, Deke fell off the map pretty quickly. I was naturally devastated, but I was days away from heading off to college and was, for the first time, preoccupied with something a little bigger, a little more important than my Midnight Rush obsession. Still, I remember talk in entertainment news about family drama, maybe a disagreement between Deke and his management team. Or was it his agent? Both, maybe?
I can’t remember any specifics about the breakup, so I dig deeper, reach even farther into the back corners of my mind.
Adam told me he moved to Lawson Cove from Tennessee. Was Deke from Tennessee? Did he have a Southern accent at all?
I think through the names of the band members one by one, trying to trigger a memory.
Freddie Ridgefield from Seattle, Washington.
Leo LeClair from Bridgeport, Connecticut.
Jace Campbell from San Diego, California.
Deke Driscoll from…Knoxville, Tennessee.
Suddenly, the information I need drops into my brain like candy falling out of a vending machine.
Adam Deacon Driscoll. Born in Knoxville, Tennessee, May 27th.
Deacon.Deke.
Itishim.
I have been on a date with my favorite member of Midnight Rush. Held his hand. Almost kissed him.
I lean forward, resting my arms on my knees and take a stuttering breath. “Ohhhh no,” I say, staring at the floorboards. “I think I might be sick.”
“Keep breathing,” Freddie says, his voice growing slightly more alarmed. “I’m going to go inside and grab you some water. Can I do that? Can I go inside?”
I nod numbly. At least if he leaves, I’ll have a minute to wrap my head around this new reality. Except…wait.
Adam being Deke might explain Freddie’s presence on his porch, but it doesn’t explain the other part of what he said.
Why does he think I’m Deke’s fiancée?
Freddie reappears with a bottle of water, cold from Adam’s fridge, and he slips it into my hands, the cap already gone.
I take a slow drink, brain still reeling, as headlights appear at the end of the driveway. It can only be Adam, and sure enough, his white SUV quickly comes into view, the familiar Hope Rescue logo emblazoned on the side.
