Chapter 25
Chapter Twenty-Five
Cadence
“Cadence!” a voice yelled from behind me.
“Hi!” I threw my arms around Liam’s neck. “I’m so glad you made it.”
“Having a friend on my side of town, I’d move mountains to see you.”
I shoved him playfully. “Well, come on. I have a backstage pass.”
I grabbed his arm and pulled him toward the back entrance.
Rebel Rebellion wasn’t the only band playing here tonight.
They were the second supporting act, performing right before Shinedown.
The first band, Smoking Bullets, was about to go on, and everyone was in a buzz of nervousness and excitement.
Hands grabbed my shoulders and I turned to find Damien and the rest of Rebel Rebellion behind me. “Hey, guys. You remember my friend Liam?”
“It’s good to see you again,” Damien said with a nod.
“I’m glad I had some free time.” I watched as Liam’s gaze jumped from Damien’s hands on me to his face.
Fuck. I should have told Liam about Elijah and me breaking up, and how Damien and I are using our mutual attraction to screw each other’s brains out.
Yeah… I should have warned him.
“We have a little while before the show. We can swing over to the restaurant and grab a bite if you want?” Damien moved to stand next to me.
“That sounds great. I haven’t eaten since the pier.”
Heat flashed behind Damien’s gaze. After the ferris wheel, we were supposed to get some food before heading to the venue, but we’d gotten lost in each other and… well… didn’t make it. “I’ll follow you.” His voice came out huskier than usual.
“You go first, I’ll walk with Liam.” I broke away from Damien and looped my arm around Liam’s.
Liam scowled at me but said nothing, while Damien looked at me suspiciously. “Okay, that’s cool.”
I pulled Liam down to my level.
“What is going on?” he whisper-yelled at me as we walked.
“I just need to make a few things clear.”
“And they are?”
“You are not allowed to be crabby tonight. That’s the first thing. And two, Elijah and I are over.”
“Seriously?”
I nodded, “Yes, and I’m here visiting Damien. And things have been… heated.”
“You slept with him.”
My cheeks burned at his words. “Yeah.”
Liam’s eyebrow raised, and he lifted the corner of his mouth. “And you look delighted. Good man.”
“God, you’re such a guy.”
“Yes, I am indeed.”
When we got to the table the restaurant had reserved for the band, Damien pulled his phone out and looked instantly annoyed. “Sorry, false alarm guys. They need us backstage.”
Hudson sighed. “I was really looking forward to a nice cold beer right about now.”
“Me too. We’ve been working our asses off since this afternoon,” Colton agreed.
“We’ll see you after the show,” Shane said as he whipped his bangs to the side.
Jeremiah waved as the four started walking back. I grabbed Damien’s arm and pulled him toward me. He moved slowly, timidly. It was so different from how he’d acted only moments ago. “What’s wrong?”
He ran his hand through his hair, plastering a look of indifference on his face. “Nothing. I didn’t want to do anything to upset your friend. You didn’t seem like you wanted us to act like… like we were before.”
I wrinkled my nose as I smiled. “You’re adorable. I needed to tell Liam that I’d broken it off with Elijah, and you and I were… well, together.”
Damien stepped into me, chest to chest. “That’s all that was?”
I nodded as his lips came closer to me. “That’s all.”
He placed a light but powerful kiss on my mouth before pulling away. “I adore you, Cadence.”
“I’d say the feeling is mutual.”
“I’ll come find you after the gig.”
“Don’t worry about me. I know how crazy it gets after a show. I’ll be with Liam.”
“You see me. You truly see me.”
I ran my fingers down his cheek. “I do.”
We kissed one last time before Damien waved to Liam, who had made himself comfortable in the squared booth, and walked back to the big stage.
“Okay. What happened with Elijah?” Liam said as soon as the waitress brought our drinks and appetizers. He was a typical guy with a gin and tonic, but I went with a Cosmo. Something a little fancier than my usual drink.
Jumping right in, I told him about coming home from Fayetteville and getting fired without Elijah’s support.
Liam voiced the classic grunts and ‘Are you kidding me?’s.
“So, there it is. I moved back to Fayetteville and am looking for a place and trying to figure out what I want to do with my life.” I took a sip of my drink.
“Okay. Now explain to me how you got to Los Angeles.”
“Well, Jade thought it would be good for me to be spontaneous.”
“And Damien is your spontaneous? Is he okay with that?”
“We aren’t labeling anything. We are just enjoying each other’s company.”
“Understandably so. You just got out of a long relationship. But does he want more from you?”
“Honestly, I’m not sure. I don’t think so. We haven’t had that kind of talk.” I looked down at my hands in my lap as the idea of letting Damien go made my chest physically ache.
“He is openly showing you affection in public… I’d lean toward yes.”
I shook my head. “I can’t figure out what he wants and as soon as I think I understand him, he does something that throws me off again. But there is an undeniable attraction between us. We are just giving in to it right now.”
“Cay… I know you…”
I held up my palm. “Stop. I can guess what you’re going to say. I’m handling it.”
“Handling it? How do you plan to keep yourself from falling for this guy? I can tell by that look on your face, you’re already smitten.”
“Shh. If we say nothing out loud, we can continue to live in denial.”
“And that’s how you are handling it? Denial?”
I shrugged. “Maybe.”
Liam shook his head and rubbed his neck. “This is a recipe for disaster.”
Our waitress chose that moment to come by and drop off my loaded nachos and Liam’s Cobb salad.
Saved by the food.
Liam studied me with curiosity. “You look happy, though. A lot happier than you did when I last saw you.”
“I could say the same for you.”
“Ah. Well.” Liam rubbed his hands together. “I wasn’t in the best mood that morning.”
“You don’t say,” I deadpanned.
He picked up his fork. “Yeah, sorry. A lot has been going on.”
“None of us thought you’d be the first one to get married. It was always supposed to be Jamie and Blake.” I took another bite.
“I know.”
“But that didn’t mean we weren’t thrilled when you found someone who made you happy.”
“Is there a point here? Or are you trying to make me feel worse about Belle leaving me?”
I reached over and grabbed his hand with my non-nacho-y hand. “I’m trying to say that every one of us—me, Blake, Jamie, Wes, Erik—we just want you to be happy. We don’t care how.”
Liam squeezed. “Thanks, Cay.”
“If there is anything I can do, I have more than enough extra time on my hands now,” I said with a chuckle.
“I appreciate that, but even I haven’t realized what I’m doing yet.”
“Blake only mentioned that Belle had left. She didn’t tell me any of the details. What happened?”
Liam sighed. He stabbed his fork into his salad as if he had a personal vendetta against the lettuce, allowing time to gather his thoughts. “I guess she wasn’t happy with me anymore. And instead of telling me, she ran off with another man. A designer I helped when the world had kicked him down.”
“Wow, that’s a shitty move.”
Liam gave me the ‘no kidding’ look. “She packed up one day while I was at work, and when I’d gotten home, she was gone. No note. Nothing. I did everything possible to find her, but she had just vanished. Belle Knight was nowhere. I was slowly giving up until a few weeks ago.”
“A few weeks ago?”
“Around the time of the fashion show, actually.”
“What happened?”
“My private investigator found her. She was trying to buy a house with him.”
“Geez.”
“So last week, I started the divorce paperwork. I’d been sitting on it since before the fashion show. I just couldn’t bring myself to file.”
“What made you finally do it?”
“What made you finally break up with Elijah?”
I pulled my lower lip between my teeth before answering. “I want to be happy.”
“And I do too. It’s just not always easy to remember that when your heart is involved.”
I wrinkled my face, remembering, “Self-respect is another reason I ended it. Elijah treated me terribly.”
Liam barked out a laugh. “That fits me too. I deserve better than to pine after someone who doesn’t give a shit about me.”
“Exactly.” I grabbed my martini and raised my glass. “How about a toast?”
Liam grabbed his glass and held it to mine. “To us and finding out what we deserve and who makes us happy.”
“Cheers to that.”
A few moments later, my phone vibrated from a text from Damien.
Damien
Show starts in 20. But I can’t wait to see you after. Should we have an after-party all by ourselves?
I grinned as I let my fingers fly across my screen.
Haven’t you had enough of me yet?
His reply was instant.
Never
“Ugh.” Liam groaned. “It’s like I’m back in Fayetteville, sitting with Jamie while he texts Blake.”
I rolled my eyes, the grin still spread ear to ear. “Whatever. Eat up. We’ve got fifteen minutes.”
Liam had graciously thrown down cash to pay for our tab, and I thanked him as he played it off—being a world-famous fashion designer and all.
For a moment, I had to wonder what his net worth was.
It had to be in the millions by now, which made me incredibly proud of him.
Someone I grew up with had made their dreams come true, literally from the ground up.
If he did it, so can I.
We pushed as close to the stage as we could, waiting for Rebel Rebellion to come on.
They stood on the edge of the platform, doing whatever it was musicians did right before they played.
I once dreamed I’d be up there, putting in the earpieces, drinking water to stay hydrated while I ran around on stage and bared my soul to my fans through the lyrics of my songs.
But not all dreams can come true, and I needed to be reasonable with the dream I pursued now.
It was going to be the one I made come true, after all.