Chapter 17 #2
Richie handed the microphone to him. “Thank you so much!” Oliver started, pausing as the cheers surged yet again.
He waited a moment for the crowd to quiet a bit before continuing.
“Thank you. My fiancée Adelaide”—here he nodded toward me, waiting through another round of applause—“and I are honored to join you for the opening of this year’s Eros Festival.
Today we got the chance to meet and speak with many of you, including a number of the small business owners participating in the market.
It cannot be overstated how important small businesses are to our economy; thank you for all that you do. ” We all clapped at that.
Oliver continued, “And finally, thank you to Risky Business for inviting me to join them tonight. Many of you may not know that I grew up playing guitar, and it has always been a dream of mine to play in front of such an amazing crowd. Music is one of my favorite outlets for processing my thoughts and emotions, and seeing the joy in this theater tonight has been a gift I will cherish for the rest of my life. For every young person here this evening, I hope you can find your own outlet, whether it be music or athletics, literature or art, or something else entirely. Explore that passion and never let anyone tell you that it is silly or unimportant.”
A shiver ran down my spine. It was so special to hear Oliver speak with such passion. The way Oliver felt about music was the way I felt about books. I loved finding characters I could relate to and whose words or experiences gave me the courage to navigate difficult situations.
“Make sure you tag The Thorne Conservancy in any photos and videos you share tonight, and let’s share and support their projects as much as we can.
The work they are doing here in Wexstone and beyond is inspiring and so important.
” Oliver turned to the band. “Now, I think it’s time I gave the mic back to Richie.
Let’s enjoy the rest of this evening!” The audience cheered and he gave a small bow before descending the stairs near our seats and making his way to me.
“Thank you, Your Majesty!” Richie roared into the microphone. “Let’s keep this energy going!” The drummer hit the snare a few times and the band launched into the next song.
I flashed Oliver an exuberant smile. “You were amazing!” I yelled over the music.
He laughed and leaned in close to my ear. “That was surreal. I can’t believe I did that! My dad is probably going to freak.”
I shook my head. “Who cares! You’re the king now. This is the new Oliver Era.”
Oliver’s eyes sparkled as he took my hand. Keep it together, Adelaide.
Skylar placed a hand on Oliver’s elbow, getting his attention. “Your Majesty, look at the response already flooding in on social media,” they said, showing us their phone. Photos and videos of Oliver’s solo filled the feed, and #KingOliverRocks was already trending.
Oliver squeezed my hand. “You know what?” he murmured in my ear. “You’re right. It’s time to follow my heart and stop worrying quite so much about everything else.” He looked deep in my eyes, and I knew he wanted to kiss me. And, in spite of myself, I found I wanted him to.
“Ladies and gentlemen,” Richie crooned as the song ended, “we’re going to slow things down just a bit. This next song is a special request from our king himself. And who am I to tell the king of Wexstone no?”
The spotlight zeroed in on the keyboardist as he started to play. I knew this melody. I had listened to this song over and over again after the graduation party, crying my eyes out to Dash as I told him about how Oliver had left without a word.
I turned to Oliver, my eyebrows furrowed. “You requested this song?”
He nodded. “I did.”
“Why?”
The corner of his mouth tipped up. “It’s the song we danced to on our first date.”
I narrowed my eyes. “Only date,” I corrected.
He shook his head, lips still tipped in a half-smile. “First date. And it seemed fitting for our second date. Maybe it’s all coming back to me?” He winked at me mischievously and pulled me into his side.
I rolled my eyes and elbowed him playfully. “You’re so cheesy.” But I couldn’t help turning into him.
“When I touch you like this,” Oliver sang to me as he ran his thumb along my bottom lip. “It’s all coming back to me now.”
“Oliver,” I whispered, my breath hitching.
“Dance with me.”
“What? I—”
A camera flashed and broke our eye contact, reminding me that we were, in fact, in public as an engaged couple. Dancing together would be a good way to keep up the pretense.
“All right,” I agreed.
We stepped forward into the space between our seats and the front of the stage, our security guards giving us room while staying close.
Oliver placed one hand on my waist, then took my hand in his other and held it over his heart as we started to sway.
He smelled heavenly, like tobacco and caramel.
I laid my head below his shoulder as we danced in a small circle.
“You were right about something else, Laidie,” Oliver murmured into my hair.
“What’s that?” I asked, lifting my head to meet his gaze.
“You once told me not to discount music as a diplomatic tool. I never imagined it would happen like this, but it seems that you were correct.”
I smiled and returned my head to his chest. I had remembered that conversation, but couldn’t believe that he had, too.
In my periphery, I spotted other couples dancing in the aisles and wondered what it would be like to go back to the first time that Oliver and I danced to this song.
The only care we had at that time was him graduating and hiding out from a crazy fan.
Not much life had happened yet, and our futures had stretched out, big and bright ahead of us.
Now here we were, years later, pretending to be engaged so that he could take the throne and I could advocate for those who needed it. Meanwhile, I was fighting for my life not to let those old feelings resurface—a challenge that was proving more difficult by the minute.
From our first tutoring session together, I had always felt safe with Oliver. It would be so easy to let myself fall for him and to believe that he’d be there to catch me this time. But being together, being his queen, was simply not an option.
The song’s bridge built and Oliver spun me around, lowering me into a dip. “You’re in your head,” he whispered as he brought me back up.
“I’m not,” I lied.
“Don’t lie to me, Laidie.” He spun me around as the music softened into the final lines of the song.
Oliver spun me out once more. This time, when he brought me back in, he held my back to his chest and wrapped his hands around my front. “It’s all coming back to me now,” he sang into my ear as the keyboardist played the ending chords and the song ended.