“Hi!” Jane throws her arms around me. “I’m so glad you’re here.”
She clings to me like a lifeline. She’s nervous. She’s been nervous for days, but right now she’s as anxious as I’ve ever seen her.
“I got you tea.” I hold the cup out to my side so it doesn’t spill as she continues to squeeze me tightly.
“Thank you.” She breathes deeply. “Thank you so much. I don’t know what I’d do without you.”
“It’s just tea.” I chuckle lightly.
“I meant for being here.” She tips her head back to meet my gaze. “Always knowing when I need you.”
“You don’t need to thank me. Tonight, I am just any other guy here to watch my super sexy and talented girlfriend kick ass.”
“Okay, but can you do me a favor and watch from the crowd?”
The plan was for me to hang off to the side of the stage. The closer the better, basically.
“Please?” she adds. “I have a surprise for you.”
“I don’t like surprises.”
She laughs. “I could have guessed that about you. But I think you’ll like this one. Please? Just while I’m on stage. After, you can come straight back here and hover some more.”
“You like it when I hover.” I glide my knuckles over her jaw and then cup the back of her neck. I lean down to kiss her. I need to get back out there and check a few more things, but the urge to get lost in her is strong. These past weeks have gone by in the blink of an eye with her getting ready for tonight.
When we break apart, she looks a little calmer.
“Did you book your flight yet?”
I groan. Not this again.
“I already called Grady. He’ll be here Sunday afternoon.”
“You didn’t need to do that. I told you I will talk to the coach and see if there’s any way we can push back my tryout a week or two.”
“And I told you that I would find backup while you go to L.A. for your tryout. You have to go and figure out what you want.”
I know she’s right. Pushing back the trip is a sure way to piss off Coach Maxwell. He’s a fair and decent guy, but he’s already going above and beyond for me. Plus, I’ve spent too long making decisions for the wrong reasons. It’s not as easy as I thought it would be to figure out what it is that I want. But I don’t want to leave her. She’s been officially spooked since her car windows were smashed out.
“I want you.” That part I know for sure.
“You have me. No matter what you choose.” Those green eyes hold me hostage. “So, you’ll go?”
“Yes,” I agree reluctantly.
“Promise?” She holds up her pinky finger.
“I promise.” I hook mine around it. “Now, I need to go check a few last things. If you need me—”
“Go, go. I’m good. I’m going to drink my tea and freak out some more.” She lifts up on her toes and kisses me quickly.
On the way out, I let the two campus security guards know about the change in plans with me going out front for the end of the show. I do a circle around the venue, quadruple checking everything. Mostly I just need to keep myself busy so I don’t worry about all the things that could go wrong. Tonight, and with whatever the future brings.
The Spring Fling is set up in the middle of campus. Tents are lined up on both sides, with a walkway in the middle. Fraternities, sororities, athletic teams, academic departments, and more are hosting fundraisers for their organizations.
The turnout is great. Students have been roaming around all day, but now they’re crowded around the stage set up in front of the library watching the band. I push my way through to find my brothers front and center. They all came. Even Flynn. There was no way he was missing this.
Archer juts his chin when he spots me. Brogan smiles. “I thought you were standing guard backstage.” He air quotes the last few words, then smirks. “Did she need a hand getting ready?”
“Did she take her Vitamin D?” Knox asks, with a similar smirk on his face.
“Shut the fuck up,” I tell them with a laugh.
The band finishes their current song and Mackenzie speaks to the crowd. “Thank you so much. We are so honored to perform for you tonight. We have two more songs and we’re going to need a little bit of extra help. Please put your hands together for our very own Valley U star, the one and only, Jane Greenfield.”
The screams and applause are deafening. Knox laughs and turns in a circle to take it all in. I don’t take my eyes off the girl walking to the front of the stage. Her steps and smile are confident, but I catch the slightest unease in her eyes as she waves and joins Mackenzie.
“Hey, everyone,” she says, grabbing the microphone stand. Already her nerves seem to be settling in front of the crowd. The crowd that’s still screaming their heads off for her. “Wow. Thank you so much.”
It finally quiets a little. I see Jane take a deep breath, then scan until she finds me. The smile she aims at me makes my pulse quicken.
“This one is for Hendrick.” She steps back and the guys start playing. Mackenzie has moved back to the keyboard, leaving Jane out front.
As soon as she sings the first few words, my chest tightens and the world around us disappears. She sings right to me, and I feel every note. I couldn’t look away if I tried.
I’m brought back only by Knox nudging me with an elbow. “Wasn’t this Mom’s song?”
I nod. It’s a remixed version of the Fleetwood Mac song that basically is my childhood, but Jane does it justice. The crowd sings along with the chorus. With every second that passes, she comes more alive. My pulse still hasn’t stopped racing. My heart is completely outside of my body.
She ends the song, smiling right at me. She blows me a kiss and that has everyone around us looking to see who has her attention.
Brogan claps me on the shoulder. “Ah, isn’t young love the best? That’s hypothetical of course, seeing as I have no experience with it, and you aren’t that young.”
I shrug out of his hold and tell him to fuck off, something I’m sure gets lost in the roar of the crowd. He’s not wrong though. I’m completely in love with her.
They go right into the last song. It’s the one that I heard Jane and Mackenzie practice the night she agreed to do the show. She was right, it’s the perfect way to close out the night. People are swaying and singing, totally enraptured with my girl.
None more than me. She owns me.
