Page 86 of Starstruck
She shakes her head, blinking at my hand before looking at me. “I-I know,” she stutters. “I’m a huge fan.” Her hand connects with mine, shaking it nervously. I’m almost certain I’ve met her before, but I can’t for the life of me figure out where.
“Thank you.” I laugh. “What’s your name?”
She pulls her bottom lip between her teeth. “Sadie…” she states. “Sadie Armstrong.”
And then it clicks.
My eyes widen, and I lean forward, resting a hand on her arm. “Oh, my god!” I exclaim, realizing exactly who she is. “You’reSadie? I’m so sorry I didn’t recognize you! God, you’re performing at my concert next month—I should’ve known who you are.”
“That’s okay.” She chuckles, her eyes lighting up. “I’m just a baby artist, and I’m sure you’ve had a lot on your mind with planning that. It’s a super fun idea, by the way. Thanks for including me. I’m excited for it.”
I smile. “Thank you for agreeing to it. Though I’m sure you weren’t given much of a choice by the label, I’m glad you’re looking forward to it.”
She laughs softly.
“What are you doing here?”
She glances toward the stage before looking back to me. “Colt is my older brother. He invited me.”
My eyes widen again. I guess I don’t know as much about Colt as I thought, because I had no idea he had a sister, and especiallynot that it’s Sadie. “Oh, wow. Goes to show what I know.”
“What about you?” she returns my question.
I tear my eyes from her, an awkward chuckle falling from my lips. “I’m, um…kind of seeing Baxter?”
Now it’s her turn to be shocked. Something tells me if Sadie is close to Colt, she’s close to Levi and Baxter, too, and she would find out soon enough.
“Shit,” is all she says.
I pull my lips between my teeth, desperately trying, and failing, not to laugh. “My thoughts exactly.”
“BRIDGES BURN” BY NEEDTOBREATHE
I stand with Sadie until the last song of the night starts up, then I turn to her and ask, “I’m going to head to the bathroom before they’re done. Wanna come?”
She nods and follows me, heading toward the bathrooms near the green room.
When we finish, I grasp Sadie by the hand, both of us pushing our way through the crowd of backstage-passholders so we can be the first to greet the guys as they make their way offstage. I’m staring at the floor, trying to watch my step, when I bump directly into someone. Hands wrap around my biceps to keep me from falling over as I glance up, startled.
“Shit, sor—” I begin, losing my train of thought as my eyes find Nathan’s.
Oh,fuck. What are the chances I’d run into my ex-boyfriend at the show of the man currently rocking my world both on and off the stage?
It’s been eight months since I last saw Nate at my parents’funeral. We stayed in touch a bit over Christmas, but we haven’t spoken since then.
If I’m being honest, I haven’t even really thought about him since then. Which sounds bad, considering we were together for six years, but breaking up with him right after my parents died kind of numbed it for me. The accident changed me for the worse, and it got to the point where I couldn’t stand to be around him.
Our romantic relationship had died long before that day, but I held on simply because even though we weren’tinlove anymore, I still loved him dearly. Even now, I hold love in my heart for him. He was comfortable for me—we’d been together since we were seventeen and eighteen and had been friends for even longer than that.
But then the accident happened and my parents died, flipping my whole world upside down. I stopped loving myself entirely, constantly feeling like I was to blame.
I still feel that way from time to time, just a little bit less so now.
Everything changed with my parents gone. I didn’t know who I was anymore. They’d been my biggest constants since the age of six, and I didn’t know how to cope with losing them.
All I wanted—all Istillwant—was for them to come back, even if just so I could tell themI love youandthank youandgoodbye, which I never got to say.
But they couldn’t, and nothing felt right anymore. I didn’t recognize myself. I didn’t recognize my life.
