Page 74 of Hard Rock Love

Seth’s face fell.

“You mean, no more sketchy dive bar?” he lamented.

“The bar will stay,” she reassured us. “It’s just the front facing stores that will change. And anyway, it’s just a thought. He might not go ahead with it.”

“As long as he keeps karaoke night, I’m good,” Seth said.

“You like karaoke?” I asked. “I didn’t know you sang.”

“I’m horrible at it,” Seth said with more enthusiasm than his statement warranted.

“It’s like listening to screeching cats,” Nathan jumped in with a wince. “I didn’t know a drummer could be so tone deaf.”

Seth gave an evil chuckle. “Torturing you guys is so much fun.”

“Did someone say karaoke?”

Gael came up and took a seat next to Jessie. He planted a loud, smacking kiss on her cheek and pulled her into his lap. She yelped and flailed, but righted herself and perched on his knee.

“I thought we weren’t doing karaoke tonight,” Gael continued.

“Get enough drinks in you and we can change that,” Seth grinned. “Which brings me to my next topic.”

“I knew you wouldn’t be able to resist,” Cerise said as she and Liam pulled up chairs to the large round table.

I’d wondered where they had been. Her lipstick was smudged and her hair was a mess, and I thought I caught a hint of a bite mark on her neck. The self-satisfied look on Liam’s face solidified my suspicions.

“I’ve got a special extra something for you guys tonight,” Seth said.

He gave me a conspiratorial wink, and I had an idea what he was talking about. He had mentioned more than a few times getting Pop Rocks for his next drinking game.

“I can’t wait to see the look on your faces,” he said with wicked glee.

The others all groaned, expressions pained.

“Why are you like this?” Nathan asked. “What happened in your childhood to make you this deranged?”

“You know you love me,” Seth said smugly.

The entire band looked exasperated, but there were fond smiles on each of their faces. Seth looked elated, grinning widely. It was so different from that fake smile he’d given me when he talked about Julian skipping out on their guys’ weekend, and Cerise no longer going to art stuff with him. He was in his element, surrounded by his friends.

A loud ringing sound came from Cerise’s cell phone. She looked at it, eyes wide, before leaping on it and clutching it to her ear.

“Hello?” she asked breathlessly. “Yes. Right. Okay. Definitely. Thank you. Thank you so much.”

The conversation was brief. She hung up and stared down at the blank screen. Her face went pale, then red, then purple.

Liam put a hand on her back.

“Breathe,” he said softly.

She made a strangled sound, putting a hand to her mouth. Alarmed, we all stared at her. She let out a choked chuckle. Then another. She dropped her hand, and we found an almost manic, beaming smile on her face.

“We made the shortlist,” she said. “The shortlist for headliners. They want us to come do a short private performance for the tour coordinators as a sort of audition, so they can make a final decision.”

“Are you fucking kidding me!?” Gael blurted, a disbelieving grin on his face. “For real?”

“For real. There’s only three bands in the running, and we’re one of them.”