Page 117 of Cherry Beats

“I don’t want—”

“If you matter to him, you matter to the band now. We’ll make sure everything gets taken care of.” And just like that, Dicky walked away, following the path Julia had taken, leaving me standing there alone.

There were so many people around, but I only needed one, and when his arms wrapped around me from behind and he rested his chin on my shoulder, I couldn’t help but sink back into him, close my eyes and smile.

He loves me.

I curled my arms around his and tilted my head to the side to allow him access to my neck. He littered delicate kisses there, the kind that make your whole body sing with promises of what’s to come next time you’re alone together. We both knew that the next time would be the most special of all because we’d finally said those three words.

“You’re so fucking sweaty,” I whispered through a smile, watching people passing us by with knowing smiles on their faces.

He buried his face deeper into my neck, making growling noises that turned my knees to jelly. “Don’t worry. I’ll shower before I fuck you.” He swayed me in his arms, and I closed my eyes to enjoy the moment, soaking him in.

When I let my eyes flutter open again, I exhaled quickly, seeing something that made my heart skip a beat.

Trey.

He was milling through the crowd wearing a black denim jacket, dark jeans, and a white T-shirt—so much more relaxed than when I’d seen him suited and booted at the bar with Molly, but his face was unmistakable. The anger he brought to life in the pits of my stomach made me want to run and rugby tackle him to the floor.

Presley froze, feeling me tense in his grip. “What’s wrong?”

I followed Trey as he moved through the crowd of people—his gaze drifting around him.

Squeezing Presley’s arms, I leaned closer, never taking my eyes from Trey.

“You see that guy over there in the black denim jacket?”

Presley took a moment to study the crowd, his chin rising. “The good-looking dude?”

“Yeah.” I nodded once, my nostrils flaring. “That’s the guy who tried to get information from Molly about you and me. His name is Trey, and shit, Presley, he works for Janey Dominic.”

“Are you sure that’s him?”

“One hundred percent. What the hell is he doing here?

“Attending his own funeral. I’m gonna kill him.”

“No!” I hissed, gripping him tighter and turning in his arms. “If you react, he’ll drag your name through the mud. They’re counting on one of us losing our tempers.”

“Like I give a fuck.”

“You should.” I reached up, pinching Presley’s chin between my finger and thumb and forcing him to look down at me. “You’ve already been arrested once, you idiot. Don’t give them exclusive access to the second time.” I tried to look to the side to see Trey again, but he was nowhere in sight, and that only made the hairs on the back of my neck rise. “Shit, he’s gone.”

“Stay here.” Presley pressed a soft kiss to the top of my head before he pulled away from me.

“Wait.” I grabbed his arm, holding him in place. “Don’t do anything stupid.”

He smiled, flashing his handsome at me to wear me down—the kind of handsome you couldn’t say no to. “I just took my girlfriend on stage in front of nearly seven thousand people and told her I loved her. I think my stupid is all used up for one night.”

Girlfriend.

Holy shit. That sounded so hot knowing that the girlfriend was me.

“Trust me, Cherry.”

Presley disappeared into the crowd, taking the same route Dicky and Julia had taken only minutes before. The realisation that he was going to them instead of taking matters into his own hands had me relaxing a little. Only a little.

A woman dressed in a white shirt and black tie walked closer towards me with a tray in her hand, several glasses of neat whiskey and ice sitting on top of it. I grabbed one carefully and offered her a thank you, only to be met with narrowed eyes and a fake smile that told me she did not like me for some reason.

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