Page 49 of Once Upon a Boyband
“I’m serious.” Freddie follows me into the kitchen andleans against the doorframe. “I’mpractically in love with you after that song.”
There are a lot of words Freddie isn’t saying. He isn’t asking about the concert. He isn’t pressuring me into saying yes. But heistelling me all the reasons why Ishouldsay yes. We’re having a conversation without having theactualconversation.
And I’m not even sure Freddie realizes he’s doing it.
“So, what do you say? You got a place for me to sleep around here?” Freddie asks.
“What would you do if I said no?”
“No clue, honestly. I’ve never been so far in the middle of nowhere. I have no idea where I’d go.”
It takes a few more minutes for Freddie to retrieve a giant duffle from the trunk of his car. It’s so huge that I think, one, he has no idea how to pack an overnight bag, or two, he’s planning on staying for the next three months.
“Wasn’t sure what I might need,” he says as he lugs it up the stairs to the guest room. “So I grabbed a little of everything.”
So we’re going with option one, then.
“Hey,” he says before I can head back down the stairs.
I turn and hold his gaze.
“Thanks for having me, man. It really is good to see you.”
I nod. “Yeah. You too.”
I know better than to think Freddie only showed up so we could have a jam session and tomorrow he’ll be on his way. I’m even willing to acknowledge this was probably all a part of his plan—a way to remind me of how much I like making music in the first place so I’m more willing to say yes when he finally mentions the concert.
But I still can’t be mad about it.
It felt good to sing. It felt particularly good to sing for Laney.
If nothing else, that alone will make tonight worth it.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Laney
When I wakeup the next morning, I’ve forgotten everything that happened the night before. But the moment I reach for my phone to turn off my alarm, it all comes rushing back.
Adam is Deke. Adam kissed me last night. And Freddie Ridgefield FaceTimed me so I could hear them play together.
Of all the impossible, unbelievable things I could imagine, I’m not sure I would have put this one on the list.
A wave of trembly nervous energy washes over me as I drop back onto my pillow.
I pull out my phone and open my browser, typing in words I haven’t searched in a very long time.Years,probably.
Midnight Rush—where are they now?
Freddie is the first one every site mentions, which makes sense because he has the biggest career. Leo and Jace come up with about the same frequency, usually withlinks to Leo’s recording studio—he’s producing now—and Jace’s latest album. Though, it seems like Jace gets more attention via his wife’s Instagram than he does through his music.
What I don’t find at all are any mentions of Deke. Lots of speculation. One Reddit post written by someone claiming she attended his funeral after he was killed in a dirt bike accident. A second by someone who said they’d gone to high school together and last she heard, he was in rehab for drug addiction. But nothing that sounds like his current life in Lawson Cove.
I find plenty of pictures of the other band members, but the only ones of Adam go all the way back to their last tour. There’snothingof him in the past eight years. The man really did just go dark and disappear.
It’s honestly pretty impressive that he managed to do it. The transformation with the muscles and the beard definitely didn’t hurt. He’s lucky in that regard.
Freddie never would have been able to hide so easily.
