Whatever hope I had of asking my dad to help Phoenix and Storm is dashed with those words.
Screw it. They don’t need him.
“I know you think I’m just an old guy on a power trip right now, but I’ve been around the block a few times. I know guys like him. I know how they think. Hell, I was one.”
Then he should know people are capable of changing for the better. Not that Phoenix even has to because he’s surprised me at every turn.
Every time my insecurities convinced me he would go right…he’d do the opposite and go left.
Because he cares about me.
And I’m not going to let my dad fill my head with doubt because I have spent my whole life believing I’m not the kind of girl who gets the guy.
But I am.
“I don’t want to keep fighting with you about this,” he says softly as he ambles to the door. “I just wish you’d listen to me.”
I know my dad is only saying this stuff because he’s worried and he loves me…but in my heart, I know he’s wrong about Phoenix.
Because I love him.
CHAPTER 17
PHOENIX
Adrenaline courses through me as I roll my shoulders back and close my eyes, letting the energy hum and vibrate before it becomes a roar.
A lot of artists get nervous before they perform, but not me. I know once I’m on that stage…nothing else matters.
“When’s your girlfriend coming?” Storm questions, spinning around on the only chair inside the dressing room.
Like me, he doesn’t get nervous either.
I glance at my watch. We aren’t on for another forty minutes, so Lennon still has plenty of time to get here.
“Don’t know. I’ll shoot her a text in a bit.”
It’s only then that I realize I didn’t bother correcting him about the girlfriend comment, but before I can scrutinize it any further, Storm mutters a curse.
“What?”
If he’s going to throw another one of his bitch fits, he can take his ass outside.
He stares down at his phone. “My buddy Mike just texted me and said he spotted Vic Doherty from Phantom Rock Records in the crowd.”
I heard the rumor going around about a record executive showing up tonight, but not the record executive.
Dude is a motherfucking legend in the music world. Hell, the world in general. He’s the name behind some of the greatest rock legends on the planet.
The adrenaline surging through me quickly turns to a nauseating mixture of anxiety and dread.
We’re so fucked.
“What the fuck are we gonna do?” Storm grunts, echoing my thoughts. “We can’t just go out there and play a bunch of covers. Without original music, there’s no way in hell he’d even think twice about us.”
He’s right.
While I’m confident in both mine and Storm’s capabilities, it won’t be enough. He’s not gonna be impressed by us performing another band’s greatest hits…no matter how fucking good we are.
He wants originality. Something rare and unique.
Something special.
The dread and anxiety coiling in my gut kicks up a few notches.
Because I have exactly what he’s looking for…
It’s just gonna cost me the only person who’s ever believed in me.
I hate the forked road I find myself standing in front of, but only one of those roads will lead me to my dreams.
An opportunity like this comes once in a lifetime…if you’re lucky.
I have to take it.
Blowing out a breath, I turn to Storm. “I’ve been working on something.”
Storm’s eyes nearly pop out of their sockets. “Way to wait for the last fucking minute to tell me.”
“I’ll give you the rundown, but we don’t have time to rehearse, so you’ll have to follow along while we’re up there. Drums are heavy at the end.”
Normally it wouldn’t be an issue because we’re always in sync, but this is completely new material.
Despite looking uneasy, he gives me a nod. “I can work with that.”
With those words, I know there’s no going back and our fate has been sealed.
I just hope like hell it will be worth it.
Taking out my phone, I use the voice-to-text option and hit send.
CHAPTER 18
LENNON
I finish putting on another layer of lip gloss and close my compact. Once again, I enlisted Mrs. Palma’s help with my makeup and hair, and she did an amazing job.
Instead of nerdy Lennon, I’m now cute and—dare I say—sexy Lennon.
Only this time, while she worked her magic, I gushed about Phoenix and she squealed like she was the teenage girl dating the hottest guy in Hillcrest.