Page 91 of The Darkest Note

“Who? Cadence’s friend?” Zane clarifies.

Finn nods.

“I don’t know.” Zane takes the mike cords out of my hands. “What I do know is Dutch isn’t allowed to take down our instruments tonight.”

“What? Why?”

“We’ll take care of this.”

“I got it.” I reach for the music cord.

Zane blocks me. “We spent a crazy amount on these wires and you’re bending them wrong. If they stop working in the middle of a set, I’m blaming you.”

“Go spike the punch or something.” Finn slaps me on the back and retreats to his bass where he carefully sets the guitar in its case.

“You boys need any help?” A nerdy-looking teacher wearing glasses approaches us. But he’s not really looking at us. His eyes dart around like he’s on the search for stowaways.

I start to notice how empty the front of the stage is. We usually get lots of girls coming up to us after a set. By the looks of the teachers hovering around us, I’m guessing the lack of interaction is intentional.

I drag a hand through my hair and peruse the crowd again. It’s dark and almost impossible to make out any individual faces, but I locate Cadence anyway by the shimmer of her dress.

Hell, I spent most of the drive over to the school trying not to think about her in that dress but I failed. Big time.

Everything about her affected me.

The way her rack spilled out of the top.

The way she chewed on her glossy mouth when she realized where we were going.

The way she kept playing with her earrings.

I shouldn’t be thinking about her.

But there’s…

I don’t know. There’s something there.

In the distance, Cadence stumbles back as a tinier girl pounces on her. It’s too far to tell, but I’m guessing that’s her little sister. The other girl is wearing a frilly dress and big hair.

Looks like Cadence comes from a family of huggers.

Zane motions to me. “Can you put this in the truck?”

“Yeah.” I accept the mixer from him, glad for an excuse to leave the gym.

When I return, Cadence is standing closer to the stage.

And she’s with some guy.

My hand curls into fists when I see how close the other guy is to her. She laughs at something he says and her hand lands on the sleeve of his jacket.

The sight makes me livid.

I’ve felt a ton of dark feelings in my life, but the ones that are currently thrumming inside me are the most frightening because I have no right to them. Not with Cadence.

I roughly grab my guitar case and stalk outside. The night wind does nothing to cool my fury. I bend over the backseat, tensing my shoulder muscles and doing my best to keep still.

Say I do walk in and cut off that guy from talking to Cadence? Then what?