Page 66 of Forever Flames: Padraig & Stevie
I’m not the one holding it together, I’m the guy holding everything back.
My band. My relationship.
It’sdevastating.
We come offstage to applause, thin and distant, as if filtered through water. The hollow ache in my chest drowns everything else out. Liam drops his guitar onto its stand with a clang. Felicity is radiant in the corner, preening in the mirror, like she delivered the set of her life.
I can’t breathe.
“Enough,” I shout, cutting through the low buzz of crew and chatter.
Heads whip around.
“Dar?” Liam frowns.
I step forward, fists clenched. “I’m done. I’m not playing another fucking note with her.”
Felicity turns slowly, like a queen interrupted. “Excuse me?”
“You heard me.” My voice is steel. “This is over. You’re toxic. You make every show, every rehearsal, about you. Fireball is bigger than your ego and I’m not letting it die because you can’t do your part.”
Her smile twists into something feral. “Oh, please. Spare me the holier-than-thou speech, Padraig. I’m the one who’s been wronged here. You and Liam are fucking predators. First, he forced me into some fucked-up threesome with Linus and ever since Stevie went to Switzerland, you’ve used me as some sort of fuck toy then pretend it didn’t happen so you can keep the façade of your perfect little relationship.”
I go cold. “You’re a pathological liar. You’re the one who’s thrown yourself at me time after time. I’ve tried to gracefully turn you down to no fucking avail”
“Don’t act like you’re innocent.” She steps forward, voice rising. “Or did you forget the night in Boise? Or Portland? All those nights you told me I was the only one who understood you? How you were trapped because you didn’t want to break her heart?”
“Jesus Christ,” I seethe, shaking my head. “You’re delusional.”
“Am I?” Her voice cracks and tears glint under the harsh dressing-room lights. “You’d text me when she was asleep in your bed. You kissed me three nights ago and begged me to fuck you. Or maybe you’ve blocked that out, too?”
I can’t find words.
Liam steps in, “Felicity, this has gone too far—”
“No!” she shouts, mascara streaking down her face. “I’m not going to let you or him throw me under the bus to save face. You both used me. Hid me. Let me think we had something and then shoved me aside, I’m not either of your dirty little secretanymore. You can’t fire me, I quit. You’ll be hearing from my lawyer.”
The silence is deafening.
I’m in utter and total shock.
Then I feel it. A shift.
I turn and see her.
Stevie.
Standing frozen in the doorway. Her eyes wide, glassy, locked on mine.
I know without a shadow of doubt she heard every single word.
“Stevie—”
She takes a step back.
“It’s not true,” I blurt out, desperation scraping my throat raw. “None of it’s true. She’s twisting everything, you have to believe me—”
“Don’t,” she whispers, her voice breaking.
