I didn’t want it all, but I didn’t need it all. Rachel let out a sound vaguely like a squeal, and I worked my way over to her, aware that one of the guys moved with me at all times. They were adorable, and I wasn’t complaining. There was a lot of people here.
The shirts she found had my eyes widening. Holy crap, I’d never seen ones like this before. Each one sported an artist’s rendering of one of the girls in the group. The back of the shirts declared whose team you were on, with the Torched logo following it.
Team Kaitlin, Team Aubrey, and Team Yvette. “All three of these times two,” Archie said from the side, and he gave our sizes. Rachel glared at him, and I poked her.
“Don’t argue, he’s really good at that. And those shirts are to die for.” I grinned, and Rachel made a face at me, then laughed.
“Fine, but if we’re getting all three, then we need the booty shorts to match.” When she held up a pair that were just hip hugging, boot cupping shorts with the Torched roses on fire across the ass, Coop let out a whistle.
“Hey, Arch…”
“Already on it.”
I laughed, and Ian pointed to a hoodie with a single microphone on it and musical notes on the back. It was simpler than the others, and when I nodded, he hooked it down and turned it around so I could see the front. Oh, it had the Torched logo over the breast. It was a plain zippered hoodie otherwise, but super soft.
“We’re going to have to come up with a name for us,” he said as I ran my finger over the logo and then glanced up at him.
Holy shit.
I twisted to look up at him. “I…”
“Not right now, Angel,” he said with a laugh. “Just something to think about.”
It hadn’t occurred to me at all. I mean, I wanted to do this with Ian because he wanted me to do it. The entertainment lawyer had pushed back on the recording contract, so we hadn’t signed anything yet. As long as Ian and Arch were content with waiting for better terms, I really didn’t argue. There was already so much on our plates.
A name.
“I thought we’d just be Frankie and Ian,” I admitted, and he grinned as he tugged the hoodie from my hands and pulled me over to the checkout. Archie was paying for our stuff, but Ian wouldn’t surrender the hoodie. When Archie shrugged, we moved forward, and Ian paid for my hoodie.
“We can do that, or we can work on something else,” he said. “I’m open.”
I grinned at him. “You’re the best.”
He winked at me. With water and loot acquired, we followed the velvet ropes past the throngs and down to the floor of the arena. Apparently, our VIP tickets included seats near the front, and not just the front, right off one of the runways where the girls could dance and move when they sang. Oh, I was already bouncing again. This time, I had my hands on Jake’s shoulders as I hopped down the steps.
“Don’t break anything,” he warned, even as Rachel laughed at me. I couldn’t begin to describe just how awesome today was and in all the different ways that it was amazing. I didn’t want to. I just wanted to bask in the feeling of having them all here, including Rachel, and of how happy and content everyone looked. We’d made it.
It was like crossing a finish line in a race I hadn’t even realized I’d been running. It wasn’t over, but at the same time, we had come so far.
We had almost a whole row to ourselves, though there were a few people down at the end where there were two extra seats. They put Rachel and I in the middle, with Coop on the other side of Rachel and Jake on the aisle. Archie was next to me, and Ian on the other side of him. Rachel reached over and pinched my thigh hard enough to make me jump.
“Ow, what the fuck was that for?” I asked as I swatted her hand.
She laughed. “Just making sure you knew this was real.”
I rolled my eyes and then bumped my shoulder to hers. “I know it’s real, and wait until you hear them up there. It’s so much better.”
“Yeah, yeah, rub it in.”
“Don’t pinch me next time.”
It took an hour almost before the first act opened, and we swapped seats a few