Page 72 of Everything After

“And you appeared like a player, so I’m excused for forming that opinion.”

“Now, now, kids,” Lennie mumbled. “Let’s just say their rise to the top got in the way of their passion.”

“That was a long time ago,” I suggested. Holding Lily’s chin between my thumb and forefinger, I gently pulled her toward me and pressed another kiss to her mouth. “Can we leave now and make up about that again?” I joked.

Lily laughed and shoved me away with her elbow. “You have your end- of-year showcase soon?” she asked Delilah.

Delilah nodded. “One classic piece, I chose “La Campanella” by Liszt, one original score, I’ve called that “Destiny in Lilac”, and one alternative arrangement.”

“Oh, what did you choose for that?” Lily asked, genuinely interested.

“I’ve decided on “Life on Mars?” by David Bowie, right, Alfie?” she asked, needing validation that it outshone the other pieces she’d rearranged.

“Definitely and you’ll blow those markers away with it,” I confirmed. “You need to hear it, Lily,” I added.

Once the ice had been broken between Lily and Delilah, they chatted mostly about what it was like traveling with four guys, how she felt about being a front person in a band and finally the lack of privacy that comes from being famous.

I sat listening while Lily handled Delilah’s questions with grace and the guys chipped in here and there. After an hourit was easy to see Delilah could hold her own in celebrity situations.

“I really like her,” Lily confessed, turning to me when Delilah excused herself to visit the restroom.

“Me too, she really didn’t need me… she has great instincts for how to adapt music to suit her skill and personality.”

“She’s really pretty,” Lily suggested.

“God, right?” I agreed. “She puts me in mind of you when you were that age, although Delilah’s confidence is far greater than yours ever will be.”

“Huh,” she huffed, looking hurt.

“Baby, you are every bit as talented as her, but even after all this time, there are occasions where I read imposter syndrome in those beautiful eyes.”

“So true,” Lennie interjected. “Yet, I’d go as far as to say, without you in the band, we were still good, but you added that missing spark that took us to the next level.”

Lily’s face pinked up and she looked shy for once. “You really think so?”

“It took us exactly two seconds after we all walked back into that room after your audition to know you were our new band member. It killed us to sit there for that ten minutes pretending we were deliberating before we came to tell you,” Digs replied.

I glanced at Cody who sat head down, eating his food, and it didn’t take a genius to know he was trying to appear invisible.

“Who voiced they wanted her first?” I asked, putting the cat among the pigeons and feeling confident Cody had been first to voice his opinion.

“Cody,” Shawn mumbled.

“And why doesn’t that surprise me?” I said in a tone laced with sarcasm as I glared at Cody across the table.

“But in all fairness, he was always going to be the band member with the most sway because he was the one that hadto perform joint lead and harmonize with whoever we chose,” Lennie argued.

In that instant I had to concede at the time Cody had acted on his instincts as to who would be the best match. And fortunately for him, there was a distraction when the server approached our table with Delilah’s and my food.

“Fair point,” I admitted. Lily’s hand reached out to mine and she gave it a tight squeeze. I took her gesture as a silent thank you for not questioning if there were any other factors in place when she was picked by Cody.

CHAPTER 42

LILY

“It was more luck than anything when I saw the audition for XrAid, and I really fell on my feet,” I admitted to Delilah. “I mean, what girl gets chosen to be in a rock band at their very first audition?”

“Insanely talented ones,” Lennie stated before he took a huge bite of his pizza.