Collaring Chaz (Dante's Infernal #2) - Joel Abernathy Page 0,87

I had my way.

And I always got my way eventually. Just came with the territory of being a cocky rock star.

As the final notes became ghosts in the air, my heart picked up the rhythm where Cash had left off. Dante had taken over the mic to announce our next tour spots, and there was a mischievous gleam in his eye as he informed the audience there was one last special performance to close out the evening.

Chaz’s face echoed the confusion coming from the audience in murmuring waves, but it was far from the first time Dante had made an impromptu change to the set on stage, so it was a good cover. Gave me time to get the black box out of my pocket and put my guitar somewhere safe before I approached him.

I cleared my throat, and my mic was back on, so Chaz turned to face me with a startled look in his eyes. It turned to adorable confusion as I took his hand and dove off the cliff.

“There’s something I want to ask you,” I told him.

He was still looking at me like I’d lost my mind as I sank down on one knee and opened the box. The audience started screaming so loud I could barely hear my own thoughts, let alone his impending answer. Unfortunately, the blank look on his face made it impossible to read him, which I was usually pretty damn good at, so I just froze for a second, petrified for the first time in my life.

Not that he’d leave me on this stage looking like an idiot, but that this was going too fast for him, even if it felt like it had been years and years in the making to me. I could only hope I didn’t look half as afraid as I was.

“Oh my God,” he mumbled, clamping the hand I didn’t have an iron grasp on over his mouth. I still couldn’t tell if that was a good reaction or a bad reaction, but the way the green in his eyes became just a sliver around his big, black pupils said he knew what was coming well enough.

“You’ve been my best friend since we were kids,” I said, holding his gaze. Whether he accepted my proposal or not, I needed him to hear these words. I needed the world to hear them, so there could never be any doubt exactly where I stood. “It took me too damn long to realize it, but since then, you’ve become everything else, too. My bandmate, my boyfriend, my muse… At the risk of asking way too fucking much, will you be my husband, too? Will you marry me?”

He mumbled something into his hand, but I couldn’t make it out. I was pretty sure he hadn’t blinked at all in the last couple of minutes, either.

I laughed nervously. “Mind running that by me again?”

Instead, his answer was diving into me, taking us both down to the floor. Well, the three of us, if you counted Cherry, who was presently digging into my spleen, but I really didn’t give a shit when he leaned down and kissed me like he never had before. Just when I thought we’d explored every facet of our relationship, there ended up being some door I’d never opened. I returned the kiss, slipping a hand into his shaggy hair as he straddled my hips.

I smiled against his lips. “Is that a yes?”

“Yes!” he laughed, wrapping his arms around my neck as I sat up, keeping him on my lap. “That’s definitely a yes.”

I finally let myself breathe, but only so I could go back to kissing him. I just needed to touch him, to convince myself this was really happening and it wasn’t some dream I was going to wake up from.

The sound of Cash clearing his throat drew me out of the trance I fell into every time I looked into my boyfriend’s eyes, and the drummer gave my side a nudge with the toe of his boot. “I’m happy for you guys and all, but we didn’t charge enough for that kind of show.”

I rolled my eyes, but I helped Chaz to his feet. There’d be plenty of time for our own celebration backstage. For the moment, I accepted that I had to share him with our bandmates as they each offered their congratulations and Dante squeezed him so tight he started to turn blue. When we were finally backstage, Drake came up to us,