Thankfully, Oren came back to claim his phone, removing the temptation to give in to my morbid curiosity and read all the others.
“I can’t believe this. Not that it means anything, but it’s kind of huge,” Parker rambled.
“I’m happy for you guys. You’ve been busting your ass this past year.”
“For us,” Ash clarified. “We have been busting our ass.”
I held up my hands, taking a step back. “Uh, no. I’m not part of this.”
“Hell yeah, you are,” Brogan explained, hooking me back into the circle with a burly arm around my shoulders.
“I don’t think so.” I ducked out from under his arm, the thought a little overwhelming. Okay, a lot overwhelming. I just couldn’t quite decide if the overwhelming was good or bad. I stood closer to Parker, hoping he’d back me.
“Don’t go running to brother-dearest. We’ll have him kidnap you and take you with us when we go on tour,” Ash threatened.
“And I’ll do it,” Parker confirmed.
I turned to him with a dropped jaw. “Traitor.”
“Come on, Supernova. You have to sing with us again. They love you,” Brogan cajoled.
“Yeah, come on,” Oren added, winded from his run. “We need you.”
“You guys will be fine without me.”
“Nah,” Ash said. “You’re like the glue that keeps us grounded.”
“Truth,” Parker agreed. “Brogan and Oren would be arrested ASAP if they didn’t have you to be concerned about.”
“They’ll be arrested anyway.”
“Maybe,” Parker agreed.
“Probably,” Ash confirmed.
“But,” Parker said. “They will be less likely to be arrested as they will be on their best behavior because you expect nothing less.”
“Come on, Nova,” Oren whined, brushing his hair back and flexing. “I’m too pretty for prison.”
“Me too,” Brogan added.
“Say you’ll be in the band,” Ash pleaded.
“Nova. Nova. Nova,” Oren started chanting, and the guys quickly joined in.
“Oh, my god,” I groaned, laughing. These guys were crazy, and I couldn’t imagine not doing this with them. “Okay. Okay. Fine. You win. I’ll sing a few songs. Occasionally.”
This time when Oren did a victory lap, he tossed me over his shoulder and took me with him.
I laughed, and the guys followed behind, my hair flowing all around me. All of it played out—surreal but amazing.
I’d had such an exhilarating time on stage. I loved it.
Parker reached out, and I latched on to his hand. He pulled me from Oren’s shoulder and wrapped me in his arms.
Why not give in to the intensity a little bit longer?
Besides, I had Parker to keep me safe.
Twenty
Parker
P A S T
“Do you really think I should do this?” Nova asked me when we stood outside the apartment door.
I was just about to unlock it but stopped, giving her my full attention.
Even after hours of sweating under the spotlights and being exhausted, she still looked more stunning than ever before. I loved the way her hair curled along her hairline, the way her freckles showed more from where her makeup faded. Her bare lips, puffy from where she chewed the lipstick off all night.
I loved it all.
I framed her face in my palms, brushing my thumbs along the freckles I always loved to map, and stared into her emerald eyes, trying to remember why I couldn’t lean down and kiss her.
“Nova, I can’t imagine doing this without you.”
Her cheeks pinkened up, and her teeth came out to chew on her lip again to hide the smile I couldn’t get enough of.
“I’ve imagined this for a long time, even before I met you, before it had any form beyond an elusive shadow I knew I needed to have. But it was like each moment with you clarified that shadow. It shaped into something tangible. It shaped into something with you in it. This is my dream, and I need you there to help me reach it.”
She nodded slowly, her smile growing. “Okay. I’ll do it with you.”
God, I wanted to kiss her then. I wanted to pull her in my arms and never let her go. It’d been a month since that night we gave in, and not a day goes by that I don’t think about it—about her and the way she tasted, about the way she felt on my lap and under my hands.
Brushing my thumb along her lips, I considered it—could feel myself already leaning in when I heard laughter beyond the door. A reminder of exactly why acting on our attraction had to come to a screeching halt. It almost pained me to do so, but I dropped my hands and nodded my head inside.
“Sounds like the parents are still awake.”
She dragged a hand through her hair and blew her cheeks out with a big exhale. “Yeah. We should head in. It’s late.”
Before sliding the key in the lock, I looked her over one last time. One side of her mouth tipped in a rueful smile matching exactly what I felt—hating being stuck in a position that kept us apart but aware there was nothing we could do.