Page 60 of How Good It Was (Excess All Areas 3)

Willow leaned close to his ear. “I don’t mind if you want to have a drink.”

Luke placed his arm over her shoulder. “Stopping the coke made me realise that I don’t really know my limits. I’ll probably drink while I’m there, but we’ll find something alcohol-free for the limo-ride back.”

“I’m proud of you. It must be hard.”

Luke glanced out of the window, then back at her. “Not going to lie ... it’s harder than I thought. Even considered making tonight an exception. It’s a constant mental battle that so far I’m winning.”

The shouts and screams of the fans were a dull roar until someone outside opened the limo door. The wave of sound hit Willow as sure as if someone had pressed a fist into her chest. She’d seen similar. She’d done a couple of mall events with other influencers, and there had been screaming, then. But this was a different kind of noise. More crazed.

The volume escalated when Matt stepped out and reached for Izabel’s hand to help her out of the limo.

Jase turned to Cerys. “You okay, sunshine?” he asked.

“To see how people respond to the album, yes. But this madness, not so much.” Cerys tucked her hair behind her ear. She’d blow-dried her curls. “But I’m looking forward to hanging out with Dad.”

“And me, right? Because Little Jase is really digging this dress.”

Luke groaned.

“Is Little Jase what I think it is?” Willow whispered.

“It is, and I’d rather you didn’t think about Little Jase at all.”

She leaned close, her lips to his ear. “Would it be weird if I told you the only ... well, the only one I think about is yours?” Uncertain why she’d suddenly felt so bold, she felt her cheeks heat.

He turned to face her, their lips millimetres apart. “You can’t say that to me when we are about to get out of a limo, possibly in front of media. The last thing I need is a huge boner on our first official outing together.”

“Does it have a name?”

Luke turned and glared as the others clambered out of the limo, one eyebrow raised, before laughing. “No. Because I’m a grown man. But I’m sorely tempted to shut that limo door and reintroduce you.”

“Blurred lines, right?”

“Yeah.” He tucked her hair behind her ear and kissed her. “Blurred fucking lines, flower.”

The flashes of cameras blinded her as she stepped outside.

“Willow. Over here.” She didn’t know which member of the press yelled at her. It was a sea of faces and bright lights and flashes.

“Willow, how long have you and Luke been together?”

“Willow, have you moved permanently to the UK?”

Luke slipped his arm protectively over her shoulder. “I guess this is where we smile and wave and shit, huh?”

Willow grinned up at him. “Yeah. This is where we do that.”

Willow was still smiling three hours later as songs from the band’s album, Unpolished Roots, reverberated from the walls of the old music hall for a second time.

Luke was talking with Jimmy Bexter, the album’s producer, and Cerys’s dad. Matt and Jase were in conversation with the head of marketing for the label. Alex was talking to Annika, a journalist from a popular music magazine, although given how close they were standing to each other, Willow figured the conversation had shifted from interview to flirtation.

Ben sat next to her, with his feet up on the chair next to him.

“Shouldn’t you be networking?” Willow asked.

“Probably. But there’s only so many times I can smile and answer the same questions. And they aren’t really interested in me. Never have been. The story has always been Matt and Jase.”

“I’m sure that’s not true. Tonight’s about this.” She pointed up toward the ceiling where lights and music swirled.

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