Jamie stood up. “Nope, this is actually something I care about.”

Lila said nothing. She seemed more consumed with whatever she was typing on her iPad.

Teagan smothered a grin. “So, what’s going on?”

“Queen Bee gave us carte blanche on the setlist tonight.”

I cocked my hip. “Fuck off, Jame.”

She crossed to me and threw an arm around my shoulders. “Come on, you love playing queen to all the honeybees. You know it.” She blew a kiss over my shoulder. “Besides, it makes Snack get all unruly. Then you get a doubly good fuck. Win win for all of us, right?”

Cooper barked out a laugh. “Well, that means we’re definitely doing some ‘Dear Agony’ if I’ve got a vote.”

“Sounds like a plan to me.” Oz stood. “I’m singing duet.”

Everyone went silent.

My mouth dropped open. “What?”

He shook his hair back. “I’m feeling a little wild tonight.”

Oz hadn’t sung with me in ages. He used to do it all the time when we did the club tours, but it had been damn rare for the last few years.

My grin spread. “Tonight is going to be amazing.”

“Damn right.” Jamie flashed a grin. “You know I’m going to have to have some Pat or Joan.”

“As if that was a question.”

“Just checking.” She gave a war whoop and ran over to the little cluster of fans who were waiting. “Who wants a picture?”

I finally relaxed, some of the tension in my shoulders loosening. It was going to be an interesting night.

Seventeen

All I had to do was to get through tonight. The stage was my favorite place in the world to be, even if nothing seemed the same after the days I’d spent with—

I shoved it down. There was only this right now.

My skin was dripping with sweat. I’d lost my shirt around the third song. The Brooklyn Bowl was an interesting venue, one we hadn’t played even when we were younger. The acoustics were surprisingly good, and the bowling alleys along the side made for a crazy crash of sound to compete with.

Everything was a throwback to a simpler time.

Even the costumes we generally relied on had been stripped away. Jamie had changed out of her scrap of glitter into a concert T-shirt she’d attacked with a pair of scissors. It was still little more than a bra by the time she was done with it, but at least I didn’t have to worry about leaning on her and flashing the crowd.

As the last notes for “Judgement” faded out into the screams from the crowd, Jamie suddenly spotted something. She twisted her Warlock around her back and climbed on one of the amps along the side of the stage. “Excuse me. Yo!”

The crowd went quiet. Mostly. The crash of a bowling ball and pins colliding made her crane her neck toward the lanes. “Hey! You too!”

The guy in the last lane turned around and held up his arms. “Strike!”

“Awesome! Now shut the fuck up!”

“Come over here and make me,” the dude shot back.

Jamie climbed up one more level of speakers and swung out as far as she could with one arm. “We shall work on your fucking manners—after we play a song.” She focused on a girl in the middle of the pack of fans. “You. Is that a goddamn Madonna shirt on you?”

A blond woman—who looked far too much like Daisy for my peace of mind—screeched. She jumped up and down, doing a damn good simulation of a breakdown.