Page 102 of Drive

“That scout said the girl who wrote it was in love with the band.”

She wasn’t the only one.

I could feel Lexi’s heartbreak from feet away. I didn’t even have to look at her. She would kill me if I acknowledged it in front of him, so I concentrated on Ben. I sat on the couch in shock. “They read my article inSpeak?”

“That scout came out and saw us a few times. We submitted a demo we made in March. When he read your article, he drew it out of the pile. You made this happen, Stella.”

“No,” I said, slowly standing. I felt like my heart would explode. I was playing off the emotions flying around the room.

“Yes,” Ben said, taking a step forward.

“March?” My attention snapped to Ben, fully focused.

“But that would mean—” My heart began to pound as he slowly nodded. My lips trembled as I looked over to Lexi. “Reid.”

“He was there tonight,” Lexi said carefully, her concern for me evident as her heart began to shed. “They all got signed.”

Pushing all selfish thoughts away, I leapt over the couch and pulled Ben into a hug. “Oh my God, Ben! Oh my God!” He laughed and hugged me back. “I knew it.”

“You called it,” he said with a laugh as I hugged him tighter. “Stella, if it wasn’t for that article, fuck knows what would have happened to us.”

“Stop it,” I said with happy tears streaming down my face. “They signed you because you guys are amazing. It was never a question.”

We both paused, the same thought flickering between us.

“He’s going to be okay,” I whispered hoarsely.

“He’s going to be better than okay. He’s going to rule.”

I hugged him to me again. “King Crowne,” I whispered as he nodded into my shoulder. “Thank you.”

“Damn, Stella, what can I say? We owe you.Allof us.”

“I may ask for a favor one day,” I said with a laugh. “So, where is he?” I pulled back and searched Ben’s eyes. “Rye, Adam?”

“They’re back at the club celebrating.”

I didn’t need any words. I had Reid’s.

We were never supposed to happen.

“Okay. It’s okay.”

He was no longer a lingering ghost. He’d just evaporated. My heart opened the door and swept the rest of the hope out before slamming it shut.

Lexi pulled a chilled bottle of vodka from the fridge and lined up three shots.

“To Dead Sergeants,” she proposed, and we all threw them back. I looked pointedly at Ben. “Just don’t forget about the little people.”

“Never,” he said before he poured another set of shots, his eyes resting on Lexi and hers on the bottle he was holding. “To my girls,” Ben toasted, as Lexi quickly wiped a tear from her eye just in time for him to miss it.

The space between she and I disintegrated in that moment, as she watched any future with the man she loved move past her in a one-hundred-mile-per-hour blur. And I hated that she knew what it felt like. But it was time to return the favor.

CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

“Xanadu”

Olivia Newton-John/Electric Light Orchestra