A few seconds of silence before Nik nodded. “Okay. Sure.” Nik finally looked away. “It’s been awhile, though. Not sure how I’m gonna sound.”
Mac slapped Nik on the back, making Nik smile as his entire body shook.
“Kid, I have no doubt you’ll sound like you never left the stage. Audience is gonna go batshit when they see you two.”
Yeah. Baz just hoped he and Nik didn’t go batshit on each other before the end of the show.
* * *
Watching Nik and Sebastian do that awkward will-they-won’t-they dance, Tru hoped like hell that Baz didn’t want to strangle her after the concert.
For one thing, Greg and Sabrina were on their way.
For another, this impromptu reunion was about to be filmed.
Sure, the thousand people in the audience probably all had phones that they’d whip out to record the momentous occasion. But Tru had taken it one step further.
While Nik and Sebastian had been talking, she’d gotten a text from Greg.
Are you at TLA with Baz?
Yeah, why?
My fucking Twitter feed’s blowing up. Hire a freelance photog to film if he gets onstage and picks up a fucking guitar. We’re on our way. Be there in ten. I hope.
She took a few seconds to consider Greg’s demand because, honestly, she wasn’t sure Sebastian would want this filmed. What if something happened between Nik and him and they ended up beating the hell out of each other onstage?
Then again, what if they were amazing and no one with a decent camera and a steady hand got footage?
She’d leaned over to Dana, still standing by her side, her gaze glued to Sebastian and Nik.
“Dana, I need your help. Can you find out how many freelance photographers have passes tonight? I need to hire one of them.”
The girl’s gaze narrowed, her head tilting to the side as if she didn’t understand. Then her eyes widened and she nodded. “Don’t need to. I’ve got the guy for you. Be back in a sec.”
Nik and Sebastian had disappeared, and she made arrangements with a seasoned pro whose eyes had glowed like a kid on Christmas morning when she’d told him why she wanted to hire him.
He’d taken her card, on which she’d written the amount he’d be paid, tipped his fingers to her and walked off with a smile, whistling.
Now she watched as one of the crew wired Sebastian for the guitar and another wired Nik for a mic. Johnny and Mac kept up a steady stream of conversation, which she suspected was designed to keep Nik and Sebastian from thinking too closely about what they were about to do.
Nik kept looking at Sebastian, as if to make sure he was still there, while Sebastian familiarized himself with the guitar Mac had put in his hands seconds ago.
When one of the crew popped his head through the door and announced, “Three minutes,” she saw Nik take a deep breath and shake his head. Then he rolled his shoulders, hopped up and down four times and shoved his hands through his hair, pushing the inky black mess away from his face and showing off his incredible bone structure.
She certainly appreciated his look, but the guy didn’t do it for her the way Sebastian did. Sebastian was handsome in all the right ruggedly masculine ways.
Nik had that perfect male-beauty thing going for him.
And she wasn’t the only one who’d noticed. Dana couldn’t keep her eyes off him. But Nik only saw Sebastian.
Three minutes later, everyone was moving toward the stage. Sebastian held the guitar in one hand and Tru’s hand in the other.
They didn’t say anything as they walked through the maze of equipment and cables and people to the wings, where Nik and Sebastian stayed just out of sight of the crowd.
Obviously members of the audience had seen Sebastian in the wings during the first intermission, which was how Greg had found out he was there. But she’d been checking social media and hadn’t yet seen mention of Nik.
Johnny and Mac stepped onstage and Sebastian’s hand tightened around hers as the crowd began to cheer.
She tried to think of something to say but doubted he would’ve been able to hear her over the crowd or the music.
After two songs, Mac set down his guitar and leaned back in his chair, a huge smile on his face to match Johnny’s.
“Now we’ve got something special for you that you’re gonna love,” Johnny said. “We’ve known these guys since they first started touring—”
The outcry from the audience drowned out whatever else Johnny was going to say and continued to get louder as a crew member brought out two chairs and set them on either side of Johnny and Mac.
Tru swore she felt the floor move beneath her feet and she looked up at Sebastian to find him watching her, a slight smile curving his lips. He raised an eyebrow and she knew exactly what he didn’t need to say. She felt the rush for herself, all that energy focused directly at the stage.
He looked so damn happy, his eyes shone with it.
Then he bent to kiss her, and it was no sweet little brush of lips. No, he took her breath away as he prized open her lips and slid his tongue against hers, stealing her breath and making her weak in the knees.
When he pulled away, his grin widened, just before he turned to Nik. His smile tempered a little but there was a hint of a challenge in his eyes when he looked at Nik.
Nik stared back and waved his hand out for Sebastian to precede him. Instead, Sebastian wrapped his arm around Nik’s shoulders and got Nik moving beside him.
Dana stepped up to Tru’s side and she exchanged a smile with the girl before Dana’s gaze snapped back to the foursome onstage.
Nik and Sebastian acknowledged the crowd with smiles and waves but didn’t say anything as they took their seats. Sebastian played a few chords, adjusted the tuning on the guitar for few seconds, then looked at Mac and nodded.
Mac started to play, Johnny started to sing, Sebastian began to play and Nik joined in with Johnny on the second verse.
With a sinking heart, Tru realized something she’d never considered.
She’d never be able to compete.
Chapter Ten
Johnny and Mac had announced the last song and the outcry from the audience was so loud, Baz figured they could hear it all the way to Society Hill.
They’d already played fifteen minutes past the scheduled time and if they went over any more, they’d be paying a hell of a lot in penalties and overtime.
But they had to stop sometime. Even if Baz didn’t want the night to end.
Holy shit. He hadn’t felt a rush like this since . . . Well, since two nights ago when he’d come inside Tru.
Yeah, it was that kind of high.
For the past hour and forty-five minutes, all he’d known was music. The music he loved to play. The music that spoke to him.
Not to say he didn’t love what he was doing for Greg, but this was different. It spoke to a different part of his soul, to a primal part of who he was.
The fact that Tru had been there to see it had made everything that much better. And with Nik by his side . . .
As Johnny and Mac thanked the audience for coming and the four of them stood to bow, the applause rose to thunderous levels that would probably mean noise violations for the TLA.
Nik and Baz headed offstage before Johnny and Mac, who wrapped their arms around each other and took another bow before leaving. The two older guys had huge grins and were slapping each other on the back when they left the stage. Dana immediately ran up to her dad and gave him a big hug, which he returned before tucking her into his side as they all made their way back to the green room.
Baz and Nik had said a few words to each other onstage and for a minute it’d felt like old times. Like before everything had gone to shit.
But when he’d walked offstage, he’d wanted to see Tru. And there she’d been, sweet smile on her face and her eyes bright. He’d bent for another kiss and lingered a little longer than he had before he’d walked onstage. This time, she responded with a little more heat of her own, which made him want to get her somewhere dark and private. But they couldn’t do that. At least not yet.