Page 52 of Before We’re More Than Friends (When We Faced the Music #1)

“You can do this,” Raina whispered in my ear before planting a kiss on my cheek, her lips soft against my skin.

“Thank you,” I said, even though my knees were weak. I gave her a quick peck on the lips, hoping it would calm a fraction of my nerves.

She gave me a quick peck back.

I put on my best smile as I held the mic.

“Hey, everyone,” I said, my hands shaking.

“We’re Like Airplanes, and we’ll be performing ‘She Looks So Perfect’ by 5 Seconds of Summer.

” I drew in a sharp breath that made my chest hurt, ignoring everyone’s gaze on me.

You can do this , I told myself as the blood rushed in my ears. You can’t let everyone down.

Everyone started with the instruments, and we all sang the “ Heyyy !” part over and over. Our opponents clapped along, and Somewhere in the Sky seemed to be pretty into it already.

I started the first verse, focusing on the lyrics instead of the crowd in front of me. I knew I’d already messed up once or twice by the time I got to the first chorus, which made me worry it was already too late. But Raina sang with me, her voice loud and confident.

She gazed at me with stars in her eyes during the chorus as if she were singing to me. I channeled all my feelings for her into the moment and sang back to her, my heart close to bursting from how perfect she was standing there.

And I was so down.

Before I knew it, the song was almost over.

I’d gotten lost in the song and how happy my bandmates were and how much I loved performing with them.

Minutes ago, we’d been nervous wrecks who were clearly about to watch Caleb get in a fight.

Now we were thriving on stage as we finished the last chorus.

Belting the lyrics was just as easy as breathing.

We finished the song with instrumental riffs, similar to what Joker Avenue had done. Hayden finished with a short drum solo before hitting the symbols and finishing the song. The audience clapped for us, enthusiasm spreading throughout the café.

“Now that was perfect!” Ivan said with a beam. “Outstanding job, guys.” He winked at us, and I swore I heard Sienna’s soul leave her body as she let out a little squeal.

“Thank you so much,” I said, heat spreading all over my body. “I hope you have a great afternoon.”

When the rest of our bandmates went back to their seats, Raina pulled my arm and took me backstage. A few people were in here to get their instruments ready, but Raina brought me to a corner where a bookshelf blocked us from everyone else.

“I didn’t expect kidnapping to be the first thing on your mind,” I said, the hairs on the back of my neck standing up from her firm touch.

“Just want to steal you for a few moments.” Her glossy purple lips made a pop sound. “Maybe more.”

“You read my mind.” My mouth met hers halfway, and I wrapped my arms around her waist. The vanilla taste of her lips made me crave sweetness, and I pulled my chest closer to hers until her back was against the wall. Her pattering heartbeat almost rivaled mine, a melody to my senses.

She let out a soft moan and giggled. “Sorry,” she said, her lips brushing mine.

“No, I love it when you laugh,” I murmured before stroking her thick waves. I pressed my other hand on the wall to keep my balance. “As long as I’m making you happy, I’m doing the right thing.”

“You are.” She gripped onto the button-down I wore as a jacket over my shirt, letting out another gasp.

My legs wobbled, reminding me of how I felt when she’d first kissed me at the dog park.

This wall could only keep me stable for so long.

Her fingers traveled down from my shirt to my belt, where she hooked them through my belt loops.

A jolt of electricity coursed through me, my body surprised that her hands were traveling there. I let out a half-gasp and half-sigh.

“Guess I’m doing the right thing, too,” Raina said, smiling against my lips.

“Just watch where your hands go,” I told her in a sultry voice. “I want to leave here with my clothes on.” Wild thoughts were running through my mind, but they definitely weren’t that wild. For now, I wanted to enjoy this moment for what it was.

She snorted. “As if I could handle more than this.”

I held both of her arms against the wall, and another moan escaped her throat. Gosh, she was enjoying this. Way more than I’d ever imagined her enjoying something as intimate as this with me. Not that I’d imagined making out with her before.

At least not before I met her and realized she was just as perfect for me in real life as she was on paper.

“You’re my moonlight,” I whispered against her lips, my sharp sensation burning underneath my ribs. “And you feel like it, too.”

“Moonlight makes you feel this good?” she asked, her teeth grazing my bottom lip. “If that’s the case, I’m banning you from going outside at night.”

I laughed. “Never this good.” My kisses traveled from her lips to her cheeks. I didn’t want to mess up her makeup because I knew how much effort she put into it, but I didn’t want my lips to travel too far. I settled for the side of her cheek, pressing hard against her smooth skin.

After another minute of our mouths dancing together, we pulled away to finally catch our breaths. I fought the urge to touch my tingling lips as I smiled at her, the burning sensation beneath my ribs refusing to subside. But I didn’t mind. I loved this level of pain.

“You good?” she asked, threading her fingers through my curls. “Everyone’s probably wondering if we got abducted.”

“Only by each other.” I cringed. “I’m not good at delivering lines.”

She snorted. “We all start somewhere.”

I held her hand as we left the back room and approached our booth again. The next band was performing, and my blood pulsed with the beat of the music.

“And they return with their clothes on,” Sienna sang as we sat down. “I’m guessing by Raina’s smudged makeup that you had fun.”

“Oh, gosh.” Raina pulled out a compact mirror to examine her makeup. She shrugged before putting the mirror back in her purse. “I’ve looked worse. Dallas is a great artist.” She wiggled her eyebrows at me.

“Thank you.” I laughed. “You look so funny when you do that.”

“Do what?” She wiggled her eyebrows. “This?”

I snorted this time. “Yes.”

“Sheesh, does it really look that weird?” she asked everyone at the table.

“Yes,” Sienna said. “It drives me insane.”

Oliver wiggled his eyebrows at Caleb. “Oh, Dallas, you look so sexy in that shirt.”

Caleb waved a hand, somehow conjuring a blush. “Oh, Raina, it would be even sexier if you took it off my manly shoulders.”

“Hey, now,” I warned, my skin warming against my will.

Oliver wiggled his eyebrows at Caleb again. “Only if you take mine off after.”

“Oliver!” Raina shouted, blood rushing to her cheeks.

I swallowed, trying to erase the image of Raina shirtless from my mind—seeing her bra in her hamper earlier this week was not helping me right now.

Had she imagined me shirtless before? I hoped she wouldn’t be disappointed because it’d been a while since I’d maintained my workout routine. The abs I once had were on the verge of becoming a one-pack.

“Would it be Oliver and Caleb if they weren’t dirty to some degree?” Sienna asked, rolling her eyes.

Arielle smirked. “As if you don’t imagine Ivan shirtless.”

Sienna shoved her. “It’s hard not to.” She let out a sigh as she watched Ivan bob his head to the band that performed. “Why would God make someone so perfect in this fallen world?”

“You might finally get the chance to talk to him,” Raina said. “Being in Battle of the Bands and all.”

“I didn’t think about that.” Sienna’s cheeks flushed as she bit her lip.

I held back a laugh. For someone who seemed so confident, I wasn’t used to seeing her this flustered.

“It doesn’t matter,” Sienna said. “He’s with Celia.” She nodded at Somewhere in the Sky’s bassist, Celia Vega, who rested her head on Ivan’s shoulder as they watched the performance.

“Still doesn’t mean you can’t be friends,” Arielle said.

Sienna rolled her eyes. “Yeah, right. I bet Celia would love that.” She waved a hand, her bracelets jingling. “I wouldn’t do that to her.”

My gaze went to Hayden, who had been quiet the entire time. “Feeling better?” I asked him.

“Uh-huh,” he said, offering me a smile while he fiddled with his watch. I still wasn’t convinced.

After all the auditions were done, Ivan and his bandmates went backstage to discuss their decisions. After what felt like an eternity, they all came out with smiles—well, except for Everett, who barely smiled—before going on stage.

“All right, everyone,” Ivan said. “We’ve picked the ten bands we’d like to take to the final competition.” He went on about how we all did well before looking at the list in his hand. “The first band performing in Battle of the Bands is . . .” The drummer, Nick, did a drumroll. “Joker Avenue!”

Joker Avenue jumped out of their seats and shouted as if they’d just won the lottery, and everyone clapped for them. Out of habit, I clapped for them again before Hayden shot a glare at me and I lowered my hands.

“Sorry,” I said.

Ivan went through the list of the people who had gotten in. By the time he’d gotten to the seventh band name, we started exchanging worried looks.

“We can still get in,” Arielle said, though the hope in her voice was barely present. “Someone has to be last.”

Ivan called the ninth band name, and it still wasn’t us. Which meant that we would either get really lucky, or we were screwed. Hayden let out a deep breath, and I held his hand.

“We’ll be okay,” I told him. “It won’t be the last opportunity for us.”

Hayden only sighed.

“Okay, I know you’re all on edge to hear who the last band is, so I’ll end your suffering,” Ivan said as he glanced at the piece of paper in his hand. “And the last band is . . .”

Nick did another drumroll, loud enough to make the floor vibrate beneath us.

My blood pounded in my ears as I closed my eyes.

“Like Airplanes!”

The screams that we let out as we shot up from our seats pierced my ears. Everyone applauded us, but the people from the bands that hadn’t gotten in frowned.

I hugged Raina and kissed her cheek before hugging Hayden, who smiled more than he had all day.

“We did it!” Arielle shouted as she left the booth and bounced around in a circle. “We did it, we did it, we did it!”

Ivan laughed. “Congratulations, guys.” He smiled at us, and for a second, his eyes locked with Sienna’s before he winked at her again.

Sienna gasped and smiled back, her cheeks redder than her lips.

Ivan laughed again. “Thank you to everyone who auditioned today. For everyone who got in, meet here on Friday afternoon to test everything out!”

We were still hugging each other as everyone started to leave, and I had to fight back the happy tears.

After a few minutes of celebrating, we got ready to leave.

But while everyone headed out the door to talk outside, I noticed that Hayden still sat at the table, no longer looking as happy as before.

“Okay, what’s up?” I said, sliding back next to him. “We got in, and you’re still upset.”

“What do you mean?” he asked. “I’m happy. We deserved to get in. And you and Raina had a lot of fun.” He smirked. “I can only imagine what happened backstage.”

My cheeks warmed. “Nothing as dirty as Caleb and Oliver think.”

He laughed. “I’m happy for you both. Really. Raina hasn’t smiled this much in a long time.” He swallowed. “She deserves someone like you.”

“Thanks, but I know something’s still wrong.”

“It’s a lot of things.” Hayden sighed. “Ready for it?”

“If I can battle my stage fright, I can battle anything.”

His lips pursed. “I used to be in Joker Avenue.”

My mouth dropped. “What?”

“I joined freshman year. I used to be their drummer before they replaced me with freaking Jaxon Reeves.” He ran a hand through his braids, his muscles tensing.

“Eddie Santiago, the lead singer, was Arielle’s boyfriend for a hot minute.

But then he became an asshat, and when I caught him cheating on her with Lauren Douglas—the guitarist—Arielle dumped him right away.

Eddie wanted me to help win her back, but I refused, so he kicked me out of the band.

No warning. Just boom.” He made a kicking motion with his leg.

“I was devastated, even though I knew it was for the best. My best friend comes first.”

“I’m so sorry,” I said. “But I’m glad you stood up for Arielle.”

He swallowed. “Eddie thought I did it because I wanted Arielle for myself, but I . . .” He looked away from me. “I liked someone else.”

“Wait . . .” My chest knotted up. “Y-You don’t mean Raina, do you?”

“I don’t like her anymore,” he rushed to say. “Trust me, I was waiting for you to get together this whole time.” He offered a smile. “It was always you, Dallas.”

“Thank you.” I looked down at my bracelet, my cheeks warming. “But what happened with Raina?”

“Well, I know it’s stupid, but I asked out the wrong twin. I kept quiet about it, which didn’t end well.” He shook his head. “That’s why I wanted you to tell the truth before it was too late.”

“I understand.” I paused. “Wait, so do you have feelings for Arielle or not?” From the way he looked at her with longing in his eyes, it seemed like he had a lot of them.

“I didn’t at first,” Hayden said. “Then I realized how freaking amazing she was. But hiding the truth on top of the Eddie situation . . .” He shook his head.

“It’s a mess to explain. But that band was my chance to prove myself to them, but it failed.

I need this second chance.” He scratched the back of his neck.

“I’m sorry I come off strong. It just messes me up inside when I think about failing again. ”

I frowned, hurting for the guy who was usually so excited about music. “I’m sorry that you’re going through all that. But we’re all determined to do our band justice.”

“Thank you.” He smiled. “I don’t want this band to be all about me, though.” He brushed a hand through his braids again. “Sometimes I can be over the top. The boys and Sienna get on me about it a lot.”

Worry tightened my chest. Was that what they had been fighting about earlier this week? “I understand where you’re coming from. Though I do wish you were happy.”

“I am. I’m just . . . sometimes I feel like a disaster.”

“We all do.” It reminded me of how Kami would calm me down when I was upset. “But we’ve come so far in the past few weeks.”

“Yeah, you used to be an anxious wreck.” He laughed.

“Who says I’m not anymore?”

“You’ve improved so much. I feel like being around people who you love can help you calm your nerves. It helps me.”

“You’re right,” I said, my chest warming as I thought about how much I loved everyone on stage with me. How much the moonlight in Raina’s eyes lit me up inside. “There’s nothing better than that.”