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He grabbed a coffee off the tray and nodded. “It’s insane, right? Falcon, our new promo and tour manager, and the team want to see us play to get more of a feel for our music.”

“It’s getting real.” Excitement skipped through Slip’s voice as he hooked his arm around my shoulders and shook me.

The tray of coffees wobbled in my hand. I grabbed it with my other one just in time to save the drinks from toppling onto the floor.

The energy bouncing between the guys rattled and rocked the room. It was just like before a big show. Their hype and vivacity always electrified the air and hit my soul.

Was there something in that? Being around the band again? There was something new brewing in the base of my belly that had nothing to do with Lewis. I just couldn’t put my finger on what it was.

I interrupted Lewis’s pacing and handed him a coffee. “Cappuccino. One sugar, right?”

“Perfect.” His hand trembled as he wrapped his fingers around the cup. “Thank you.”

Wait. “Are you nervous?” I hadn’t expected that when he’d played in a band for years.

“Yeah.” He nodded. “I’ve never played in front of this many execs before. Falcon’s been to the studio, but the others haven’t. I don’t want to fuck up.”

“You’ll be fine.” I play-punched his arm. “Remember the first night we met? I said I liked to watch you in action. So you better give me a good show.”

He chuckled and shook his head. “You’re not helping.”

“Yes, I am. Now you’re worrying about me, not your playing.”

“Trust me. I’ll worry about both.”

“Nah. You’ve got this.” I spun on my heels and handed a coffee to Flint. “You good?”

“Sure am.” Flint grabbed the cup, but before he took a drink, he kissed Sutton on the lips. “Ready to see us play, babe?”

“Always.” She cupped his cheek. “Good luck.”

“Tee? Come say hi to Gena quickly.” Cole waved at me and walked toward the control panel. I hobbled after him as fast as I could.

“So good to see you. It’s been too long.” I gave Gena a huge hug and scanned the mixer and monitors in front of her. My fingers twitched, wanting to play with the buttons and dials. “Mind if I hang here while they perform?”

“Sure. That’d be nice.” She swayed on her feet and rubbed her tummy. “But I might not be very good company. I flew in last night and had curry from the corner store. It’s not agreeing with my guts.”

“Gena?” Worry lilted Cole’s tone. “Are you going to be okay?”

“Yeah.” She rubbed her perspiring brow. “Let’s just get through this set so I can go back to the hotel and sleep it off.”

“Deal.” Cole clapped his hands. “We’re ready.”

Five minutes later, after I’d said quick hellos to Everhide and Kara and Lexi, Blake whistled. Everyone fell silent and most took a seat on one of the chairs lined in a row in the middle of the room. Blake poised his fingers in the shape of a gun and pointed at the band. “Okay, fellas. Show Falcon and the team what you’ve got.”

Nervous excitement skipped in the air.

Flint slipped on his guitar and stepped up to the mic. “Okay, ladies and gents. We’ve got Cole on drums.” He waved behind him. “Slip on electric. Lewis on bass, and I’m Flint. Lewis has only been with us for three weeks. These are all new songs for the album and we’re still working on them in the studio. If we fuck up, bear with us. But we’ll do our best not to. Here we go.”

With the thumbs-up from Blake, the guys hit their first song, “Fallen For You.” Cole pummeled his drums. The loud beat reverberated across the floor. Slip and Flint ignited the amps with their electrics. Lewis’s bass rocked the speakers. But no matter how much I tried, I couldn’t draw my gaze away from Lewis. With every flick of his hair, strum of his fingers, and shimmer in his eyes, my pulse quickened. My core clenched. Oh God. He was good.

Flint took to the mic:

It was a moonlit night,

Partying on the beach.

Hanging out with friends.