Page 7 of Cadence
“So what, you’d risk having to cancel this tour just because she’s not who you expected?”
“She’s not what any of us expected,” I hiss.
“Dude, what’s wrong with you?” Eli asks. “This isn’t just you being harsh. You’re sorta being cruel. She did everything right out there.”
Beau lets out a sharp breath, grinding his teeth. “Are you sure your ego’s not just bruised because she could keep up with the great Maddox Knox?”
My fists clench tighter, nostrils flaring, my thoughts pure noise against the war drum of my pulse in my ears. “My ego’s not the problem.”
“Then what is it? ’Cause this sure as hell isn’t about her playing.” He scoffs. “You want to tank our shot because you’re spiraling over agut feeling?”
I open my mouth, not even sure what I’m trying to say, but the lie is already there.
“I just think there’s someone better out there.”
“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me,” Eli mutters, pushing back the dirty-blond strands of hair curling across his forehead.
Beau stares at me like he doesn’t recognize who he’s looking at before throwing his hands up. “Unbelievable.”
The silence is instant, the hum of the amps suddenly too loud, the two sets of glaring eyes sending chills rippling through the room. I can’t stand any more of this.
I shoulder past them, boots hitting hard with every step as I head for the door.
“Where are you going?” Beau calls my name, but I don’t stop. I grab my jacket slung over an amp, fingers fumbling with the sleeve, then shove out into the hallway, ready for this shitshow of a day to be over.
The second I step into the foyer, I freeze, watching Paige push through the glass doors to the street outside, phone held to her ear. She pauses, one finger looped through her necklace chain, sliding the charm back and forth while leaning against the wall.It’s a casual motion, absent, automatic, but it hits me like a punch. A memory, or the ghost of one, stirring behind my eyes, hidden behind a thick and heavy fog.
I’ve seen her do that before.
Not here, not recently, but…somewhere.
“Didn’t go well?” Thea’s voice cuts through the static, as she adjusts her glasses up her nose.
I grunt, my pulse a hammering, angry beat in my ears.
It went too well.
She was perfect.
The problem isn’t the audition.
The problem is me.
And I don’t have a fucking clue why.
Chapter Three
Paige
Theenginehumsbeneathme as I pull onto my street, the adrenaline from the audition still filtering through my veins. It’s dulled slightly during the drive, but not enough that my hands won’t stop shaking with the aftershocks.
Maddox Knox.
Even his name sounds engineered for the spotlight. You’d think someone like that would be arrogant as hell, all loud and self-important with an air of smugness so thick it could choke. But he wasn’t. He just stared like he saw straight through me.
And if I’m being honest, that look has followed me the entire way home.
The closer I get to my apartment, the more the sensation of standing in front of the band’s frontman and being toldnobegins to stir. Especially as my mind replays that final moment.And by the time I reach my front door, I’m practically vibrating with leftover nerves.
