Chapter 35
CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
LOU
T he moment my fingers close around the flash drive in Nash’s back pocket, victory rushes through me like wildfire.
He doesn’t notice.
If he felt anything, he probably thought I was copping a feel.
As if.
He’s too busy soaking in the applause, too busy pretending this is real, too busy playing his role as the charming, effortless golden boy of country music to care about anything else.
The kiss is over.
Greer is smiling from the wings, and Nash looks like a conqueror who just finished another conquest.
He thinks he’s won.
“We’re gonna take over the world, darlin’,” he whispers, tucking a strand of hair behind my ear.
He wants me to blush. To melt. To let this moment linger.
Instead, I smile. Bright. Secretive. Controlled. Like this is just for us. Like I’m not holding a nuclear bomb in my hands.
Let him think this is his victory.
“Yeah,” I say, voice sweet as sugar. “We’re gonna be something.”
The crowd explodes, the cameras capturing every second of our so-called love story.
I can already see the headlines forming in real time:
A Kiss Straight Out of a Song—Lucy Jane mine does.
And they would do anything for Patty.
So would I.
I start moving.
I need to find him.
I need to make this right.